Gibbering Madness: November 2011

I like games. Boardgames. Card games. Table top miniature wargames... all kinds of games... the internet has spawned a whole new genre of non-computer 3 dimensional games: PRINT & PLAY... basically anyone who's got the idea for a new type of game can produce it on their computer - upload it to a website, and then anyone who wants to play it can download the rules and print out all the bits they need to play - cards/tokens/board...whatever! -It's a great idea, and in the old punk rock spirit of D.I.Y, quite a lot of this stuff is available for free! (of course you have to pay for ink/paper/card etc...) A lot of these games have their own community forums, so people can play-test the games and give feedback to the designers, or even upload their own modifications, additions, or even their own alternative versions...

Here are a few links to things that have caught my eye... Please note - I haven't played any of these games yet - but they certainly look up my street!! Watch this space for reviews at a later date!

ZOMBIE IN MY POCKET - a solitaire game involving small tiles and cards... play time 5 - 20 mins... really nicely designed - and it's about zombies!! - Looks great and fits in your pocket (like it says!).. there are a load of other versions of this (pirate / alien in my pocket etc) - but this apparently the original and best!! You can download a copy from the files section at :

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33468/zombie-in-my-pocket

Next up are a couple more zombie games - these two are both zombie survival board games...ZOMBIE PLAGUE and DEAD OF NIGHT... not sure how they compare, they both involve map tiles and zombie standees - there seem to be a couple of versions of each:

http://www.fortressfigures.com/zombieplague/

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27736/dead-of-night

THE ISLAND OF D - looks like good fun, I read a good review of it... seems to be another solitaire card game - this time with a sword and sorcery theme...
http://www.hullahop.biz/jackdarwid/IOD/IOD.html

"The Island of D is in great danger. The Black Knight has seized the Dark Castle, and he wants to rule the island by chaos.
The Black Knight seals the castle gate with a strong magic so noone can go in, and he prepare the Dark Ritual in the castle's tower to
open the portal to the dark world.
Goblins, Orcs, and Goblorcs slowly spreading in the Island of D. The Black Knight just needs another 4 weeks to complete his ritual, to
pour those creatures into the island.
The Village of Dew, the nearest village to the Dark Castle has call upon all heroes in the Island to defeat the Black Knight, since the
Village Elder can help only one person a day to enter the Dark Castle's gate. Many heroes and wanna-be heroes have tried, and so far
no one has returned...."

GOBLORKS indeed! -

And now for some giant Japanese monster action... Here's what it says on the boardgamegeek page: -

"“Oh No, There Goes Tokyo!” is a multi-player combat game in which each of 2-4 players controls a segment of Tokyo under attack by the dreaded Godran, Self-Appointed Emperor of Monsters. Players must protect their areas from the rampaging monster by deploying units of the national guard while at the same time evacuating tasty populace units. As key production units in each sector are destroyed by Godran, the players’ resources dwindle. Perhaps only a hastily-developed super weapon can save the day!
Players have many options in “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo.” Each turn, their remaining production centers generate a number of “Mega-Yen” to be spent in a variety of ways. First, players bid “Mega-Yen” to control Godran. Each turn, Godran could be controlled by a different player. Victory point incentives will keep Godran rampaging - but if you win the bidding, Godran will rampage someplace other than your back yard!

Mega-Yen can also be used to activate defense units, to evacuate panicked yet recalcitrant citizenry, and to develop super weapons to combat the mighty Godran. Jury-rig a Death Ray and hope for a quick knockout punch, or undertake the longer and more expensive, but more sure-fire, process of researching Godran’s origins to find his weakness. The Mega-Yen is an imaginary currency whose value, for the purposes of this game, is ridiculously high.

“Oh No, There Goes Tokyo!” plays essentially the same with two, three or four players.

“Oh No, There Goes Tokyo!” (Also known as ON,TGT!) contains a fold-out map that represents a hypothetical section of downtown Tokyo. It could be any city, but Tokyo seems to be the most attractive to monsters. Players are encouraged to substitute cities they particularly dislike if the urge strikes. The game includes a set of counters representing Godran, destroyed buildings, the national guard in four colors and populace units in four colors. Also included are a small selection of cards - representing potential origin points for Godran and hair brained schemes to control the beast. Relevant charts are included in the back of the rules for ease of access. Play requires the use of multiple six sided dice to resolve combat and scrap paper for record keeping."

I've downloaded the files - the whole thing looks mega!! - A lot of work has gone into designing this game, the artwork is great - I hope the game plays as good as it looks! -

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14410/oh-no-there-goes-tokyo

Kaiju attack part two!! - Another Japanese monster boardgame that looks absolutely fantastic is

SMASH MONSTER RAMPAGE...3d papercraft boardgame involving a giant monster.... all available for free - a game for 2 players, and really nice touch by the guys who made the game, is that they explain on their website exactly how they designed the game.... looks like there is going to be a huge amount of papercrafting involved in making all the bits - but that's all part of the fun, and check out their little trailer to see how cool the whole thing looks when it's done!

http://www.smashmonsterboardgame.com/

And lastly for now, (thanks to a link I came across on the cardboard warriors forum) is FLIPIT PAPER COMBAT...

"Flipit: Paper Combat is a fast-paced tabletop miniatures game in a setting similar to WWII. Players lead forces from one of the four major nations into the conflict for Jurop. Armies are built of models players can download, print and build for almost free (you still have to supply the ink, paper, and glue). There are simple starter rules available, which may be supplimented by optional advanced rules to make gameplay more challenging."

This presses all the right buttons for me - papercrafting and wargaming on a big chunky scale... the minis are absolutely superb - beautifully designed with just the right touch of humour... the whole thing is the brainchild of J.Bowen (the same guy who did all the hammerheadz paper model designs).. FLIPIT has it's own forum, and there are a load of rules updates and other designs and photo's and stuff to see on there - well worth a look!

http://www.flipitpapercombat.com/index.html

A couple of good places to find out about other Print & Play games are THE PRINT AND PLAY PODCAST, and on the boardgamegeek website at:

http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/46557/item/1047869#item1047869

There is a world of great free stuff out there (if you know where to look!)...