Kickstarter Preview – Santorini

Photo from kickstarter.com

Photo from kickstarter.com

Santorini is a game I’ve been aware of for a while, and the game looks amazingly fun and yet simple to play. The game has high visual appeal and also features Greek mythological characters. In Santorini players are said mythological characters/gods and are attempting to aid villagers in building “a beautiful village in the middle of the Aegean Sea.” The 3D board looks great and so do the miniatures. Check out the Santorini Kickstarter Campaign page by clicking here.

Photo from kickstarter.com

Photo from kickstarter.com

Blood & Plunder

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Blood & Plunder is an upcoming 30mm miniatures game by Firelock Games that looks absolutely amazing! There’s a ton of sci-fi and fantasy miniature games on this market, but but this one looks truly unique. The Kickstarter for Blood & Plunder will launch on April 19th and I am very much looking forward to seeing the available bundles. You can tell that a lot of work went into this game so do them a favor and check out the Firelock Games website, Facebook page, and if you’re really interested, here’s a great article on Beasts of War about the game!

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Photo from facebook.com/Firelockgames

Click for a few more pictures, and don’t forget to check out their websites where there are a ton more!

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DIY Prototype Game Box Instructions by Pub Meeple

While I do not know that I would have the patience to do this more than once or twice, I do find this video on making prototype game boxes very interesting. Hopefully you will as well!

Tom Vasel’s ‘Vasco da Gama’ Apology Video

I watched this video years ago and was reminded of it recently. If you haven’t seen it before, you might enjoy it if you are fond of passive aggressive apologies and sarcasm. Some people do not like Tom’s videos, but I have always enjoyed his reviews and respected the level of influence he has in the board game world. This video was a response to anger caused by his original, negative review of Vasco de Gama, a game by Rio Grande Games. I have never played the game personally so I cannot speak to its merits, but I do enjoy this video about the game.

Kickstarter Report #13

Kickstarter Report

There’s a good spread for this edition of Kickstarter Report; high end dice, a game of samurai reflexes and a card game featuring great artwork. Click on the title of each entry or on the direct link at the end of each entry to jump over to Kickstarter to view the following campaigns.

Prism Dice

Photo from kickstarter.com

Photo from kickstarter.com

For the lovers and collectors of unique dice out there, feast your eyes on Prism Dice which are handmade from a material similar to bullet-resistant glass.  The final product if beautiful, durable and clear. From the Prism Dice Kickstarter Campaign page:

“Our dice were designed to be a functioning tool first. Plastic dice are too soft, and with rounded corners may not be quite as random.  Metal dice have sharp corners but Some people feel they are way to heavy, and awkward for normal use.  We have found the perfect balance for these dice for maximum randomness, while still keeping the die lightweight. Prism die both look amazing and feel great in the hand.”
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Recent Changes to this Website

In our ever evolving attempts to make this site an easy to navigate resource for reviews, article and videos about board games we have included some changes and revisions. The ability to share posts on Reddit and Pinterest is a small change, but hopefully one that will be utilized. The Flaming Dice Reviews Twitter feed, newly created, has also been added to the sideboard of the website. You can follow us on Twitter @FlamingDiceRev.

The largest change has come in the master list of games reviewed on this website. The name of the tab at the top of the page has been changed to a more fitting ‘Game and Accessory Review List’. Also, since many games are featured, played and examined in our recurring article, Game Night Report, these games are listed on said tab for easy access.

Game Night Report Screenshot

Board Game Giveaway #8

Photo from alderac.com

Photo from alderac.com

It’s time for another Board Game Giveaway! This time it’s AEG’s small box game, Ravenous River, designed by Isaac Shalev! We’re giving away at least 3 copies of the game! This giveaway ends on Tuesday, March 22nd 2016 and the winners will be chosen completely at random. If the giveaway post gets 150 ‘Like’s then we’ll throw in another copy to be given away as well!

What do you have to do to enter? It’s pretty darn easy, just do these 3 incredibly quick and simple things:

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More Artwork from our Upcoming Game

Our upcoming deck builder is still awaiting a name, but the artwork is coming along nicely! Here’s a couple more items available to players. These two cards assist players in surviving long enough to complete the objective.

Bandages

Bandages allow players to heal themselves or other players. Most games come down to the wire so Bandages are almost vital!

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Game Night Report #20

Game Night Report

During the last few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to play some great games! Some of them are classics that I’ve played many times like Tokaido, Stone Age and Say Anything, while some were new to me. As always I will focus on the new gaming experiences here.

Tides of Infamy

Photo from kickstarter.com

Photo from kickstarter.com

Wow! I back Tides of Infamy during its Kickstarter Campaign last year based solely on its aesthetic appeal, but I had no idea just how beautiful and well-crafted the game would be when it arrived. Tides of Infamy has some of the highest quality components I’ve ever seen: a sturdy, full art deck box simply for holding the game’s cards when not playing, plastic ships that hold game components during play, incredibly thick game tiles, and linen cards.
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Sushi Go Party!

Photo from gamewright.com

Photo from gamewright.com

Good news for fans of the wonderful, card drafting game Sushi Go! Sushi Go Party boasts 181 cards versus the 108 cards in the original game, and new menu tiles that allow each game to be unique. It will also include a game board and pawns. Read more about Sushi Go Party by visiting the Gamewright website here.

In My Crosshairs #8

In My Crosshairs
So many great new games… so many great upcoming games… so many great games that aren’t even new but that I haven’t had a chance to play yet! Here’s some of the games I’m most looking forward to playing!

Tokaido: Matsuri

Photo from miniaturemarket.com

Photo from miniaturemarket.com

Tokaido is one of my favorite board games of all time. It could be argued that the game doesn’t need any expansions and is perfect the way it is; the zen-like experience of playing Tokaido has yet to be surpassed by any other game I’ve played. The second expansion to this wonderful game looks very promising!
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Kickstarter Preview – Small Star Empires

Photo from archonagames.com

Photo from archonagames.com

Just a reminder that Small Star Empires is launching today! I’ll update this post with a direct link to the Kickstarter Campaign page, but this link will do as well; click here to jump over to the Archona Games website where there will be a direct link in the meantime. I recently reviewed this great little strategy game so here’s the video in case you missed it.

*****The Small Star Empires Kickstarter Campaign has launched! Click here to check it out!

Kickstarter Preview – Make a Mess

Photo from kickstarter.com

Photo from kickstarter.com

With the popularity of games like Exploding Kittens and Kittens in a Blender lately, I thought this might appeal to some out there. According to the Kickstarter Campaign:

“‘Make a Mess is a highly convivial and mischievous board game to play with family and friends, based on the original comic character ‘Catsass’. Created by French illustrator Claude Combacau, Catsass won a Golden Blog Awards 2015 in the “Best Comic” category.” “Developed by board game designer Delphin Druelle at Eclosion Games, Make a Mess’ features the comic’s perfectly irreverent cat making an uncontrollable mess in the house – while trying not to get caught.”

Click here to jump over to the Make a Mess Kickstarter page!

Awesome DIY Gaming Table

This video by Youtube user, Gaminggeek, made the rounds on the internet a while back but I just got around to watching it. It is an inspiring video, because even if you do not want/need the nested layer like it has, it shows how simple the construction can be with only basic tools that a lot of us have access to. It’s a long video but super interesting, and the gaming imagination runs wild when you watch it!

Game Night Report #19

Game Night Report

Even though I missed by FLGS’s board game night this week, I still managed to get a few games in! Trudi, Blake and I found the time to try one cooperative game that got a lot of buzz and one competitive game that just hit the shelves late last month.

The Grizzled

Photo from cmon.com

Photo from cmon.com

The Grizzled is a cooperative game that supports 2-5 players who take on the roles of WWI soldiers in the trenches of Europe. Through the careful balance of playing Threat cards from their hands the players attempt to navigate the horrors of the war without exposing themselves to too much of any single threat. The deck of cards in the game contains Trials Cards that are divided into Threat Cards and Hard Knock Cards. First, the Threat Cards:

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Small Star Empires Review

Small Star Empires is going to be launching on Kickstarter on March 12th, 2016. Visit the Archona Games website for more information!