Monday 19 May 2014

A look at Damage Report, a refreshingly different co-op disaster aversion game

A while back I was approached by Alex Barbieri of Break From Reality Games about reviewing his new game: Damage Report

Damage Report was funded through Kickstarter where it made $48,642 of it's initial $10,000 goal. Quite the success. As part of that success a huge number of cool game upgrades were added to the final product.

Alex sent me a pre-production copy of the game and I've managed to get it to the table with a few different groups of local gamers. We've now tried out a few of the different missions and I feel confident in my ability to accurately review the game.

The main thing we have all found is that this game is very different from other games like it. While you can't help but compare Damage Report to games like Space Alert and Space Cadets, it has a very different feel, though it has a similar theme. While it's a co-op game where you are trying to stop your ship from being destroyed, the unique timing system really changes both the pace and the feel of the game.

Saturday 17 May 2014

The Great Canadian Board Game Blitz returns to Windsor on June 1st

June 1st, as part of the Geek Zone at the North American Sport & Hobby Expo, the Windsor Gaming Resource will be hosting the fifth annual Windsor Great Canadian Board Game Blitz. The Expo is being held at the WFCU center and runs all weekend. The Blitz will take place on Sunday.

This all day, no elimination, four round board game tournament will run from 10am until the Expo closes at 6pm. Sign in and registration will be from 10am until 10:30am and game play will begin at 10:30am sharp. Participants are asked to gather as soon as possible in the gaming area in the Geek Zone so we can get going right away.

There will be over $500 in gaming prizes to be won. Including a pass to Fan eXpo Canada in Toronto to participate in the Great Canadian Board Game Blitz finals on Sunday August the 31st.


Friday 16 May 2014

Settlers of Catan Tournament Friday May 30th at the North American Sport & Hobby Expo

On Friday May 30th, as part of the Cardboard and Plastic Challenge in the Geek Zone at the North American Sport & Hobby Expo, the Windsor Gaming Resource will be hosting a Settlers of Catan Tournament. The Expo is being held at the WFCU Center and runs all weekend, the Catan Tournament is Friday night.

Registration will run from 4pm to 5pm. The first round will start at 5pm and the tournament will close around 8pm. Exact times will vary depending on attendance. There will be some great Catan related prizes to be won.


Tickets to the event are $15 in advance and this includes, not only your entry into the tournament, but also a full all access pass that is good for the entire weekend for the North American Sport & Hobby Expo.

Tickets can be purchased at Rogues Gallery Comics, Brimstone Games and Hugin & Munin. Tickets will also be for sale at the door but will cost $20 and won't reserve you a spot in the tournament. If we have room we will fit you in but we strongly recommend purchasing tickets in advance.

Note: the WGR is hosting two tournaments at the Sport & Hobby Expo. This one and the Great Canadian Board Game Blitz. Access to one can get you free access to the other. You only have to pay the $15 once. Just be sure that when you buy your advance tickets you let us know you want in on both events.

For more information on the Sport & Hobby Expo:
http://sporthobbyexpo.com/

For other gaming events going on at the Sport & Hobby Expo:
http://sporthobbyexpo.com/gaming/cardboard-and-plastic-challenge/

Thursday 15 May 2014

Games & Grub at the Green Bean - May 23rd

Friday May 23rd we've got a Games & Grub event being held at The Green Bean's Windsor Star News Cafe. This all ages event runs from 6pm until 11pm.

The Windsor Star News Cafe is located at 300 Ouellette Ave, 3rd floor. This is the cafe that is part of the new Windsor Star located where the old downtown palace theater was.

The Green Bean Cafe has great food and offers bottomless coffee along with lots of other yummy things. The location is also licensed and offers some awesome beer from Walkerville Brewery as well as local Wines. Street parking is free after 6pm if you can find a spot and there are two parking garages in a very short walking distance if you can't.

We play a wide variety of games at these events. You will find card, dice and board games. We've even seen some miniature gamers bring their armies out. There's no theme to the event. Our last gaming event saw games of Suburbia, Quarriors!, Marvel Dice Masters Avengers vs. X-Men, Robinson Crusoe, Takenoko, Tokaido and lots more.

We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.



Monday 12 May 2014

Flick Wars: a strategic dexterity game ending soon on Kickstarter.

Flick Wars is a really cool new dexterity game by Andrew Tullsen of Print & Play Productions that's running on Kickstarter right now. There are only three days left and you should go back it. Seriously this game is good and fills a niche and you should back it, I will tell you why in a bit. I'll make it easy for you, here's a link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printplaygames/flick-wars-tabletop-dexterity-combat-game-with-3d/

Okay, now that you've backed it let me tell you why I think that was a good decision. I was given a prototype copy of the game and have been playing it at a variety of local events. It's been a hit at pretty much every session. Even my wife who hates dexterity games and won't even touch games like PitchCar rather enjoyed it. Note that the copy I have is a prototype and all comments are based on the version I received.