Trying Out: Keyforge

Keyforge is a card game that came out at the end of 2018. It is designed by Richard Garfield and published by Fantasy Flight Games. The core idea of the game is to gather enough resources (aember) to get three points (keys) to win the game. The gimmick of the game is that it only comes in pre-built decks that are all unique and cannot be altered. I tried out Keyforge a couple of weeks ago and in summary I kind of liked it but it clearly is not for me.

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2018 in gaming (for me)

It’s time to reflect upon this year.

2018 was a bit of a game changer (pun intended). I made a conscious decision to avoid roleplaying since I had felt a major burnout on that subject. I have been roleplaying for about 25 years so it is a big part of who I am and how I perceive myself. And I have to admit that taking that break has been one of the best ideas I have ever had.

Since roleplaying has been my main way to see my friends I felt that I wanted to fill in that void. And luckily our Guild has a vast number of players willing to play different games.

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Trying Out: Arkham Horror the Card Game

As promised in the this year’s Gift Guide here are my thoughts about the Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Horror the Card Game.

Spoiler alert: I think it is one of the best games I have played.

Just to fill up this space next to the ArkhamLCG box cover before the “more”-line I’m adding the fact that this product is not a new game and it is not similar to the older Call of Cthulhu LCG by FFG. I condemned this game to be just a newer edition of that and I was so wrong in this.

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Holiday Gift Guide 2018

I could have sworn we have done this numerous times before but all I could find was the Guide from 2014…  Oh well! Here come the recommendations for this year’s holiday season!

(By the way – those recommendations by Aki? They are still relevant. As are the Top 5 Boardgames I listed in February.)

This year I have been working in my local gaming store Puolenkuun Pelit (Tampere) and have quite a bit better grasp of thing I would like to recommend for holiday gifts. I have a few absolute favorites so let’s get them out of the way first. Continue reading

Lauri’s Top 5 Boardgame Recommendations

Since it has been little over a year since I rediscovered my love for boardgames I decided to list my Top 5 of boardgames. This list consists of only newer games without the advantage of nostalgia and isn’t limited to only games with an actual board.

Lets get started then!

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Trying Out: Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness is one of the games I have avoided intentionally. I had a presumption about it being a dull game of overly complicated gaming system and too much fighting the Mythos. Luckily yesterday proved I was wrong. After visiting a few local caves with Santtu and Sami we headed to my place and I got to try out the second edition of Mansions of Madness by Fantasy Flight Games.

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Designing Eldritch Sigils

Last Sunday I published the beta version of rules for Eldritch Sigils. This is a game I have been working on for about five years. I have actually published earlier drafts over the years but this was the first time it actually has consistency and it is actually playable.

This has been a long process and one that is still in the works. But now that the rules are “out there” I thought it would be a good chance to talk about them. Since game design is quite an interesting topic I hope that sharing my process might produce new ideas or at least be curious.

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Trying Out: Eldritch Horror

Last Solstice I had the uttermost pleasure to finally have a group of friends with me to play some games influenced by the Mythos.

Since I hadn’t had the chance to try out Eldritch Horror before this I convinced the group to play that particular game. And it was as good as I had expected.

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Trying Out: Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game

boxFantasy Flight Games’ Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game is a brand new version of the ageless classic Warhammer Quest. Both games are set in the Old World and feature a group of heroes going into a dungeon to fight a bunch of monsters with quite high odds of them all dying. The original game had miniatures and cardboard rooms but this brand new version only has what FFG is famous of doing: cards, more cards, custom dice and counters. And naturally one of the most disordered rulebook there is.

When this new version of the Warhammer Quest was announced I could not help but to feel a kind of déjà vu. Fantasy Flight Games taking an old classic and turning it into a whole different beast with a boatload of counters on top? Yes – they did that with the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Since I have always liked the approach WFRP 3rd edition had (even though I know a lot of players really disliked it) I was immediately sold on this new approach too. I have nothing against painting miniatures and playing with them (far from it) but if someone is doing a reboot they should at least consider about making it a bit different than the last time (I’m looking at you Film Industry). Otherwise why would I even by the remake?

But since a very few people are interested in the story about “how I bought this new game” I’ll get straight into the juice stuff. Trying out Warhammer Quest: the Adventure Card Game!

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About the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

If the rumours are to be believed Games Workshop publishes a new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles during this summer. I am one of those who actually believe that Fantasy Flight Games might rekindle their ownership on the rpg version of Warhammer. There is nothing to prove this (so it isn’t even a rumour) and I have been known to be wrong before. But still I think it could happen.

This post is not about speculating of what would, could or should happen. As someone who has been playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game through each edition I thought I could summarise some of my experiences with it.

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