New Hampshire Trip

 Mrs Dex and I took a two day mini-cation to New Hampshire last week to go on a moose excursion. We stayed in Lincoln and visited a few other interesting places there. It's a small town (pop. 1,631 as of 2020 census!) that gets a lot of skiers going to Loon Mountain. Obviously, July is not ski season.

 

The excursion was a lot of fun. It took a few hours of driving around before seeing a moose but the guides on the tour bus kept us entertained and we even got to see a Bullwinkle cartoon. We only got to see one but it was definitely worth it!

 

Haunted Halloween Board Game

In September 2023, I found a Kickstarter for Haunted Halloween, a board game about trick or treating. It had almost everything I would put in my dream trick or treat game, so I had to back it! 

 

In case you're wondering, the only thing really missing that my dream version would have is a "take that" element where you can play tricks on houses...or other players!

The game arrived just in time for Halloween! Being the Hallo-weirdo that I am, I went in for the Deluxe version of the game which includes a lot of fun extras. 

 

I should take this time to mention that this game is put out by Castle Clark, which is a small family owned and operated business. I've been in touch with them regarding a couple issues with the shipping (not their fault) and they have been super!

The back of the box shows what all is included. The Deluxe version extras include 3D printed player figures, ghost figures, candy corn trays to hold the treats you earn, a 3D printed coffin, and a 3D printed Jack-O-Lantern to hold all the candy pieces.

Let's get a closer look after the break!

Halloween Party Card Game

 You're invited to a Halloween Party!

This Halloween Party is put out by Trick or Treat Studios and features really fun art by Drew Rausch. I collect Halloween themed games anyway but having Rausch's art gracing the cards is an extra bonus!

 

Each player is holding their own party on Halloween night, sure to be filled with spooky monsters of all types. However, some guests are better than others. To win, you must try to guess who is at the door and assemble the most festive group of party-goers!

The party-goers come in "suits" of ghosts, vampires, monsters, skeletons, and pumpkin heads. Looking through the cards, you'll no doubt catch references to some well known pop culture representations.

 

 This game is all about bluffing. You have to play a card every turn by sending them face down to the next player's door. If they let them in, the card joins their party. If they decline, the guest joins your party instead. Most of the guests are worth points and some have special effects that might allow you to steal guests from another party or cause guests to leave a party altogether, costing points.

The rules are pretty simple and fit on a small double-sided sheet. 

You can check those out here.

Here's a brief overview of the game.

Halloween Party is available direct from Trick or Treat Studios and I've spotted it in Barnes & Noble.

 Swing on over to the link below to visit the other Countdown bloggers!

Wednesday The Card Game

Step into the woeful game of Wednesday, where darkness reigns and colors cause allergic reactions. To prevent breaking out in hives and having the flesh peel off you bones, you'll use your innate selfishness and stubborn tendencies to collect Deliciously Dark Cards and repel horrible Putrid Color Cards.

 

Wednesday The Card Game is the first orignal game based on the Addams Family inspired Netflix series. There is another card game called Wednesday: Creatures & Outcasts that will also be releasing soon. Whether it turns out to be good or bad, I can't pass up any game based on the Addams Family!

They did a fangtastic job with the packaging. Fans of the show will instant recognize her dorm window that contrasts her personality with that of her roommate, Enid Sinclair, who is just as much into the colorful as Wednesday is into the drab and dreary. 

 

Star Wars Bounty Hunters Card Game (2024)

 I happened to see someone post about this in a Facebook board game group and pretty much ordered it immediately. Who wouldn't want to play a game where you get to play bounty hunters?

The other reason I ordered it is that I really like the art style they used. Some of the characters have a very manga-esque look to them.

Here's a few of the bounty hunters in the game. All the ones from Empire Strikes Back are in there as well as a couple from The Book of Boba Fett. Below them are some of the droids you can "purchase" to help take down your targets.

And these are the targets and contract cards. To "capture" a target, you have to play hunters and/or droids on them to beat all three color shields. Bounty points (top left) start high but each hunter you play reduces the score. Droids don't have an effect on score but cost credits.

Contract cards are a way to earn more points for your bounties. For example, with the first one, each time you capture Qi'ra or Solo, you get one point. (Yes, you can capture targets more than once, they must be pretty hard to lock up!) If you have them both, you get a total of five points, one for each and three for the pair.

I haven't played yet but did read through the rules. It seems like it could be fun but a little weird that bounty hunters negatively impact scoring. Wouldn't it make more sense to have to pay the bounty hunters credits? That's what they do!

 

Also, the contract cards have odd pairings of characters. But these are minor complaints from someone that wants the game to stick to the lore of Star Wars as much as possible.

You can read a review, and detailed explanation of how to play, over at BoardGameGeek.com.

 

If you want to pick up the game, please use this Amazon affiliate link.

1-Up Dice Sets by Infinite Black

I got into D&D at an early age, which naturally lead me to explore other RPGs over the years. Anyone that's ever participated in tabletop role playing will tell you there's one thing you absolutely need: your own set of dice. Sure, there's books upon books for every game but you can always borrow those from a friend, but dice...dice are sacred to some and aren't to be shared.

 

I can't tell you the last time I picked up a die to make a saving throw or an attack roll so a new set of dice is something not even on my radar but when I saw this Kickstarter awhile back I had to get in on it. Not only did it combine RPGs and video games but the packaging really grabbed me.

As you can see, I liked the sets so much, I got two! It was just too hard to pick only one. And I got a few bonus items: silver and gold d20s and a special d2 coin.

Let's dig into the sets!

 

Haunted Halloween Boardgame

 Fully funded in under 48 hours, Haunted Halloween is a game I'm very excited to see coming!

For a long time, I've had this idea for a tabletop game where you play as kids trick or treating. I thought it might be a card game where you pick another player to "trick or treat" at their house. The treats would have different points from 0 for pennies or a toothbrush to 10 for full size candy bars. They would have to give you a treat from their hand or play something like "Lights Out" or "No One Home".  

 

You'd also have trick cards! Get a low score treat or no treat at all? You can play a trick like "Eggs", "TP", or "Flaming Bag of Poo" to boost your points. (Honestly, I just want to make this game to have a FBoP card.) Of course there would be trick counters like "Door Cam" or "Big Kids".

Anyway, this is as far as my idea has gotten but the fine family at Castle Clark Games are Kickstarting this Haunted Halloween board game which feels like the game in my head made real (minus the trick part).

The campaign ends on October 12th so there's still time to jump in on this. I went in for the deluxe edition because the upgraded parts look great. I'm really hoping they add the standee figures as a stretch goal (they may have by the time this post goes live) because seeing the standee figures really takes me back to playing board games as a kid. And if you can't feel like a kid playing a game about Trick or Treating, when can you?

If you happen to be a game designer and my idea sounds cool, please contact me :)

Click below to see the full list of Countdown blogs!

Star Wars Rivals by Funko Games

I first heard about Star Wars Rivals during the lead up to this year's May the Fourth "celebration." (May 25th will always be Star Wars Day for me!) From what I saw it was going to be a Walmart exclusive and in conjunction with the Fourth, they were supposed to have events or something to kick off the release. 

 

 Now that I'm actually reading the Funko game site, the starter set was available for pre-release online at Walmart starting 5/4 with wider availability in June. Still doesn't explain why I haven't seen any until a few weeks ago. Update: I stopped in Walmart today (7/27) and they had the starter set next to the action figures but the boosters are still in the game section...two aisles apart!

No Starter Sets to be found, just a lonely, single box of booster packs near the board game section. Luckily, you only need one Light Side and one Dark Side to play the game. 

 

We'll break it open after the...well, break. 

Indiana Jones Role Playing Games

In 1984, TSR acquired the license to produce a role playing game based on Indiana Jones. Seems like it would be a sure fire thing, right? In the mid-80s Satanic Panic was in full swing and you couldn't mention RPGs without people immediately going back to D&D. I don't have any supporting evidence that this was responsible in any way for the poor sales but it probably didn't help.

Like all of TSR's RPGs of the day, they released everything you needed to start playing in a boxed set. It included: the rules, dice, world map, a Referee screen, fold-up paper miniature figures, and character sheets for the heroes. A set of metal miniatures was also released for the game.

The rule book has a short adventure to introduce you to the game mechanics as you read each chapter. It was called the Ikons of Ikammanen and the story was actually taken from the first issue of Marvel's The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones from 1983 (more about those in coming weeks!). One of the Adventure Packs, The Fourth Nail, was also based on a couple comic issues.

Funko's Return of the Headless Horseman Game

 If you're a fan of both Disney and tabletop games, you may have noticed Funko has been cranking out games like crazy. Most of them have been based on park attractions like last year's Haunted Mansion game. They've put out so many in recent years, I'm not sure if this is the first one not inspired by an attraction.

Now, I've only fully seen this one and the Haunted Mansion unboxed but I'm guessing they all have the same great level of art and care put into them.

 

Gallop on after the break!

Retro Gaming - Flipsiders by Milton Bradley

 The title is a little misleading. Usually when you hear retro gaming, people are talking about video games but today I'm talking about a series of pocket sized board games from the 80s called Flipsiders released by good ol' Milton Bradley.

Image from Ebay

The reason I picked this particular thing to talk about is that I found one of my games recently while digging through some boxes of stuff. Flipsiders was a series of games that came in a cassette style housing. Everything you needed to play (except the instructions) was inside the cassette: a spinner, four tiny player movers cleverly stored in a small compartment, and a 3 panel game board.

 

The game I have is Dragon Master where two players race to be the first to fight their way through three dungeon levels and defeat the dragon.

Uno Ultimate - Doctor Strange & Scarlet Witch

If you're the type of person that regularly checks out the board game section when you're doing a toy run, you may have seen the latest incarnation of Uno, Uno Ultimate Marvel. Although I don't currently have the "base" game, I had to pick up these add-on packs for two of my favorite Marvel characters. I'd been hunting for these and finally bit the bullet on eBay only to find them in Target at 50% off a few days later! 

You might be asking what makes Ultimate Marvel different from the endless re-themes of Uno we get. In this version, each player chooses a specific hero deck to play with. The base game includes Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. There's also one other add-on deck for Spider-Man. As you might expect, each deck has a different strategy to it.

Star Wars Uno

From the "I can't believe it took them this long" department, it's Star Wars Uno!

Also, I'm trying out my new photo box so please excuse any light reflections while I get used to it.

 

There's not much to say about Uno. You either know it or you don't. Prior to bringing this to Thanksgiving, I can't remember the last time I played.

 

 Surprisingly, the images on the cards feature more original trilogy characters than prequel or sequel. They could easily make a version for each trilogy if they wanted. Or Clone Wars. Or Rebels. Or The Mandalorian. 

The cards in this deck are smaller than your standard playing card. I guess to make it easier for little hands to hold.

Every licensed version of Uno has a Wild card that is unique to it. Star Wars has the Force Wild (bottom right). When you play it, you choose a player then call your color. That player has to show you their hand and if they have your color, they draw two. I was able to put one to good use after someone played their own Wild and called Uno. I played the Force Wild and named the color they just changed it to and they had to draw two more cards.

As I mentioned, it's been awhile since I've looked at a new Uno deck. Looks like the current ones are being as language friendly as possible by no longer printing any words on the cards like Skip, Draw, or Reverse. This leads me to my one minor gripe, which could also apply to the standard version for all I know: the Draw 4 Wild.

They did next to nothing to indicate this card is a Wild, aside from giving it the same black background. When you've got new, or re-learning, players it would definitely help if this card had the Wild symbol on it.

Nightmare Before Christmas - Making Christmas Funko Card Game

 If you've even glanced at the board game section of your local big box store, chances are you've seen at least one game put out by Funko. They do games now, because of course they do! From Funkoverse strategy board games to Disney attractions and other movie franchises, they are just cranking them out.

Since it's the holiday season (and I love the movie!), we're having some fun with Making Christmas, the third Funko game based on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

This was actually released a couple months ago and me being me, I pre-ordered it as soon as I saw it. This is a family card game for ages 6+ so it's fairly simple to play.

Among the game components are four pieces you assemble to make the toy workbench play area. The back of it features the artwork from the box.

Gather toys from Halloweentown for Jack Skellington to deliver on Christmas. But the presents are in pieces! Look for clever combos on the workbench that will help you put the toys together. On your turn, swap two toy parts and use assembled toys to complete goal cards. Then refill the workbench, goal cards, and the toy-building continues to the next player! Hurry to put the toy parts together and be the player that completes the most goals to win!

The goal cards are on the left and you score them by swapping two cards, either two on the board already or with one from your hand, to make a complete toy. Some goals, like the top one, only require you to make a horizontal or vertical match. Do that, and you get to make a second swap to try and complete another goal. When the last goal is completed, the player with the most goals wins.

Like I said, it's not a very deep game but seems like it'd be perfect for younger monsters or just some quick holiday fun. The artwork is perfectly spot on and the goal cards feature different residents of Halloweentown. 

 

The Funko board games are pretty easy to find but the card games have been hit or miss for me. If you don't want to hunt for this one, you can have Santa Jack drop it down your chimney via Amazon (affiliate link).

Funko's Boo Hollow Pumpkin Showdown Card Game

 It seems like last year's debut of the cute little Boo Hollow characters was a big hit. The gang is back this year with a lot of new merch including more blind bag figures, larger vinyl figures, plushes, and more. I was pretty excited to also see a new card game.

I've always been a game collector and a few years ago I got on a horror/monster collecting kick. When I started, games on those themes were few and far between which led me to eBay and collecting older board games. Then there was an explosion of horror games so I started focusing more on Halloween themed. So I'm always happy to see a new release!

A fun, fast-paced card game featuring the spooky-cute characters from Funko’s Boo Hollow! Play Pumpkin cards to throw Pumpkins at the other players, but watch out—they can play cards right back! Roll the special die to grab more Pumpkins, or dodge out of the way at the last second! Whoever gets hit with more Pumpkins takes a Hit card. Get hit three times and your out! Who will be the last one standing?

 

Punkin Fight Card Game

 Quirky Co. makes a lot of fun card games with different themes, including a few that are perfect for Halloween gaming. This is Punkin Fight.

In this game 2-4 players toss pumpkin bombs at each others clubhouses to attack them. Last clubhouse standing is the winner!

 

The clubhouses have fun addresses like Warlock Street and Graveyard Way. There's also a few monsters in the deck to give you the upper hand. Instead of me going on about how the game works, here's a quick video from the creator on how to play.

Something I love about Quirky Co games is that they're simple enough to explain in a short video. As far as I've seen the creator has a video for every game he's designed, and there's quite a few! The newest game is Even Monsters Get Spooked which is about monsters scaring each other over Halloween candy.

You can find all of Quirky Co's games on DriveThru Cards.

Click below to hit the Countdown site with a list of all the participants this year!

Ghoullotine Card Game

 I picked this up earlier in the year from their Kickstarter campaign because I really like the art and I'm always on the lookout for Halloween themed games.

Ghoullotine is a sort of a Frankenstein of the "don't bust" of Blackjack and the "take that" of Uno. Players are dealt a hand of cards which have values ranging from -6 to 7. Some of the cards have special abilities that effect play. 

 

You have to play a card every turn and that card value is added to the current total. But if your card pushes it over 13, you're out and the count resets to 0 for the remaining players. The scorecard (above, bottom) is used with the included chips (not pictured for some reason) to keep track of the current total.

Like I mentioned at the top, the art is what really grabbed me. It's a little spooky without being too scary for the younger set, which makes this a great little card game for the season!

If you want to pick up a copy, you can visit the Vindicated Games page for Ghoullotine where they also have a couple of How to Play videos.

Click below to visit the Countdown site with a list of all the participating blogs!

Awfully Cheerful Engine! (ACE!) Role Playing Game

Back in June, the Kickstarter for the Awfully Cheerful Engine! (or ACE!) Role Playing Game was funded. Usually, I'm an all digital guy when it comes to books but for some reason I splurged for the physical books on this one. What drew me to the Kickstarter was the promise of multiple settings and a fast, easy system.

It's also sort of comic book-y. The game books are around 30 pages and comic sized. Each one is an "issue" in the series. Before I dive into the books, I want to get my major gripe with them out of the way.

While they're comic sized, they have a bound spine instead of being stapled. What this means with a thin 30-page book is that you can't lay it flat open and keep it in minty condition. In addition to collecting things, I like to keep any of my books in the best possible shape. Lucky for me, the "all-in" pledge level includes PDFs of all the books too. If I'd kicked in another $40 I could have gone with the deluxe hardcover edition but I really like the comic size format.

Talisman: Star Wars Board Game

 Over the years, the Star Wars license has been slapped on many classic board games including Operation, Clue, Life, Trouble, at least a half dozen versions of Monopoly, and most recently, Uno. Unlike all these other games, you'll have to shop outside the US to get this one. I assume it's because Hasbro has licensing rights to board games in the US.

If you're not familiar with Talisman, it's a fun way to kill an afternoon with friends. The original is set in a generic fantasy world. Each player has a character with its own abilities. You travel around the board encountering creatures and places, finding allies and gear, and building up your power while searching for a Talisman that allows you to travel to the center of the board to win the game.

This version is basically the same but Star Wars-ified. In the original, a character can be Good, Neutral, or Evil. Here, there is only Good or Evil and you're making your way to the center to defeat or overthrow the Emperor on Exegol.

Haunted Mansion - Call of the Spirits Game

 Just released at the end of September, The Haunted Mansion Call of the Spirits Game from Funko may be just the place to get your Mansion fix if you're missing the ride.

This is the fourth official board game based on the attraction and only the second that wasn't a Disney exclusive. The first was simply the Haunted Mansion Game in 1972 which is a work of art in and of itself. The Disney exclusives were re-themes of existing games: Clue (2002) and The Game of Life (2010).

Enough history, let us call in the spirits! I haven't had a chance to play the game yet but the art design all around gets an A+.

This is the inside of the box lid featuring the stretching portrait room. How perfect!

The interior sides of the box each have a different set of portraits that can be found in the ride. I also love the way the game board folds so that when you open the box, you are greeting by the Mansion and "Welcome, foolish mortals".

This is the back of the board, the back! How great is this scene?

And here is the front of the board with different areas of the ride. Madame Leota sits in the seance room in the middle. It has a rotating feature which is why you see that large circle opening on the back of the board. The endless hallway surrounds the room and connects to the ballroom, dining room, attic, graveyard, mausoleums, and crypt.

 

Players are represented by these bat stanchion tokens. If you're not familiar with these, they are in the ride's loading area queue holding up the chains. More info here. I love that they included this guy but why not make the player tokens Doombuggies?

To win, you move around the mansion socializing with the ghosts (collecting them). At the end of the game, you score points based on the sets of ghosts you have. Ghosts of the same color score more points depending on how many you have. Some special ghosts, like the Bride, don't have a set but score better if you collect specific other ghosts. The art on the cards does a great job of capturing the...spirit of the ride.

You didn't think there would be a Haunted Mansion game without the Hitchhiking Ghosts, did you? These guys move around the board haunting the players. Whoever has the highest haunt score at the end loses some of their collected ghosts.

Unlike other Funko games, I haven't seen this one hit a major retailer in my area yet. I couldn't wait so I got my copy from Amazon.

Click the image below to see all the participating Countdown bloggers!