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Board Games and TCGs, gaming news

Pokémon TCG My First Battle coming September 29th

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When the Pokémon TCG My First Battle was first announced, I didn’t pay too much attention to it. It was a neat idea, but I didn’t have any use for it at the time. I’ve since been playing a lot more into the game, but I would love some people to play with irl. I could spend the money to build a competitive deck and make time to go to a local league, but it would also be nice to teach people to play in a more casual setting. I have a few cousins and nephews who collect the cards that might be interested, so I did more research about the product and put in a preorder over at GameNerdz.

My First Battle offers a streamlined way of teaching younger players simplified fundamentals of the card game. The hardest part about any TCG is the overwhelming mechanics and rules that go with them. Pokémon is too hard to pick up, but I can see it being overwhelming for newcomers. 

My First Battle is designed for younger players. It has simplified rules and mechanics to give players the necessary foundation to get started with the Pokémon TCG. This product is meant to be a solid jumping, but its effectiveness is yet to be seen. Decks have been streamlined to guide players through the different phases, terms, and mechanics. 

The kits come with:

  1. 2 17-card mini decks
  2. 2 playmats
  3. A rulebook, a metallic coin
  4. A sheet of damage counters
  5. 6 prize tokens. 

I went out and preordered a set of these kits to play with my nephew. I will be comparing its effectiveness as an introductory and see how it compares to the Pokemon TCG Battle Academy kit. Stay tuned for that review. 

The kits hit stores on September 29 and will retail at $9.99 MSRP each. GameNerdz has a set of two on sale for $14.97. Free shipping is available after $75, which shouldn’t be a problem to hit. They have a lot of great deals on products you are going to want to fill your shelves with. 

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Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

Tanares Adventures – Ultimate Edition is coming to Kickstarter June 27th and it is going to be the biggest dungeon crawler ever!

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Tanares Adventures returns to Kickstarter on June 27th with some much-needed improvements and more minis than you can handle. If you are looking for a dungeon crawler to get into or simply looking to upgrade the copy you already own, go follow the Kickstarter.

Tanares Adventures is a tabletop dungeon crawler that promises hundreds of hours of gameplay through its many quests, choices, and battles. The game is designed for up to eight players, with solo play in mind for those like me who don’t have eight friends. Players control two four-member teams as they go on an epic adventure and meet at the end. The choices you make matter, so make them wisely.

The combat is unique and interesting. Each hero has a unique stat block and access to certain abilities. Gear cards will give heroes access to additional abilities that will recharge after certain conditions are met. There is a level-up system to get you through your adventure. Combat is done by rolling dice and playing ability cards. Enemies have a seemingly well-designed AI, but I would to test it for myself to confirm. The game encourages teamwork and strategy through its many configurations, choices, and skills.

If you a more in-depth explanation of how to play the game and how combat works, check out The Meeple Marathon video on how to play. He does a fantastic job at breaking down the rules and explaining the game in a way that is easy to understand. Make sure you go follow him for some excellent board game content.

What drew me to this game were its minis, but after seeing some of the gameplay, I am interested either way. This game looks perfect for those who want to dive into another adventure, but don’t want to be bogged down by complicated rules. From what I saw Tanares Adventures seems easy to pick up, set up, and play. 

If you want to buy the base game with the minis, you will have to back the game at $189. This gets you 100 minis, inserts to store them in, and all the maps and components you need to get started. The more money you throw into this game, the prettier your game will be. Higher tiers will have access to more minis and storage solutions. But if you only care about the gameplay, you can back the project at $129 to get the Standee Edition. The standee edition gets all the maps and core components, and access to stretch goals, but will receive cardboard standees instead of the minis. There are also some upgrade packages available for those of you who already bought the game. 

Tanares Adventures looks might be worth looking into if you are in the market for a new dungeon crawler. The art is beautiful, the concept is interesting, and the minis are amazing. I can see myself using the maps and minis for my D&D campaign. Whatever your interest in this game may be, make sure you follow the Kickstarter so you know when it goes live. Backers who pledge at least $89 on the first day will receive a really cool dragon mini as a special gift.

Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

The BrikWars are Coming!

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If you are in the market for a new quirky tabletop wargame, you should look into BrikWars. Brik Wars aims to give your old brick systems a new purpose with a ruleset that seems like a silly good time. Build and destroy your own battlefield, collect unique armies, gather powerful weapons and items, or go on one of the prewritten adventures. No building instructions are required! All you need are a set of bricks, the core rule book, and some imagination. The combat mechanics seem simple to learn, and there is an interesting build/destruction mechanic that promises a fresh tabletop experience. There are even prewritten adventures you can run through before breaking off and making your own. Players can either use the rules for wargaming or for running a silly TTRPG.

I don’t think this will be anyone’s main wargame or TTRPG, but it does look like something you pull out when you don’t want to get too serious. This also looks like a great way to get kids into tabletop gaming without having to buy too many game pieces, assuming your kid already has a healthy collection of Legos. The art is cute, the rules seem simple enough to teach, it has a very quirky and fun tone, and there seems to be a lot of room to be creative. 

The book is scheduled to ship on September 2023, but you can preorder your core rulebook today. Preorder now to receive a pdf sample of the rule book for testing. The publisher is looking for feedback before the game’s release so that the game releases at its best version, so make sure you share your thoughts on the game. 

You can preorder the book for $50.44. Now seems like a great time to dust off your old Legos or simply buy new ones. 

Board Games and TCGs, video game reviews

Elder Scrolls Call To Arms Starter Set is Coming!

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I would like to take a moment and talk about the board game Elder Scrolls Call to Arms. I have spent way too many hours on Skyrim, and own it on every console. Today I found out that there is also a board game, not for Skyrim, but for Elder Scrolls. While I may not have friends to play with, I enjoy window shopping games I can’t play. Call to Arms looks like a lot of fun, and if you are looking for a new tabletop wargame to play with your friends, this might be worth looking into.

The game lets players explore Tamriel with absolute freedom. You can complete quests, join the civil war, or go treasure hunting. You can even use the minis to play some other tabletop games. It has options for co-op, PVP, and even solo play, and there are already quite a few expansions and scenarios. A great place to start is the upcoming Call to Arms Starter set.

The starter set includes everything you need to get started such as:

  • 1 x The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms Core Rules
  • Core rule book, Quests book, Escape from Helgen Quickstart
  • More than 200 cards including heroes, followers, adversaries, quests and more
  • 2 die cut counter sheets
  • 13 special game dice
  • Imperial Plastic Starter set
    • 1 x Hadvar, Hero of Helgen
    • 1 x Imperial Mage
    • 3 x Imperial Soldiers
       
  • Stormcloak Plastic Starter Set
    • 1 x Ralof, Warrior of the Resistance
    • 1 x Ysrald Thrice Pierced, Stormcloak Commander
    • 3 x Stormcloak Warriors with Greatswords
       
  • Bleak Falls Barrow Plastic Delve
    • 1 x Dragonborn, Champion of Skyrim
    • 1 x Draugr Deathlord
    • 3 x Skeleton Archers
    • 3 x Draugr Warrior with Greatsword

The figures come unpainted and unassembled, and I am very excited to see what the community comes up with. There are some pretty cool paint jobs displayed on the official website.

1 / 10

As of writing this, you can only preorder the starter set in the UK for 110 GBP, which is a pretty good deal for what you are getting. I assume that the price in the US will be around $136 if Google did the conversion right.

There is already quite a bit of content out for this game, so it might be a good idea to look at that while you wait for the starter set. Chapters 1 and 2 content is currently 15% off until June 30th. It’s a good way to save a couple bucks on some minis, but it might be best to wait for the starter set. They’ll be announcing chapter 4 preorders any day now.

Before you go spending any money, it might be a good idea to try out the game. You can download the rulebook for free, and the rules are pretty simple to pick up. There is also a good amount of print-and-play content to help you get started with the system on the official website. You can print out adventures, character cards, and even the dice. This is a very cool thing the publishers are doing because nothing sucks more than buying into a system you don’t like. You can also check out the store page for free content as well.

Make sure you check out some of the tutorials to see how some of the mechanics work.

Movement

Damage

Melee

Ranged

I’ve seen a bit of the gameplay, and I like what I saw. The combat looks fun, the magic and gear system look interesting, and the AI and leveling seem to be well-designed. The game pieces look like they are great quality. I would be interested in using some of the pieces for my D&D sessions as well. I’d love some hands-on experience with the game, so if I can find some folks to play with or carve out some time for myself, I’ll let you know.

Make sure you follow the publisher on their socials to stay up to date on all the news: Facebook, Twitter, and Discord

video game reviews

Game Review: Demeo

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I was given Demeo at GDC to review for my blog. I would like to take the time to thank the Devs for taking the time to talk to me and answer all my questions. I am very grateful for the opportunity to try this game more thoroughly. That said, this will be an honest review of the game.

screenshots and video taken from the pc version

Demeo is a co-op dungeon crawler tabletop game that you can play on PC and VR. You choose from seven classes and move them through different themed dungeons to clear their objectives. Demeo has a minor deck-building mechanic. You use abilities, items, and spells by casting them from cards you buy, find, or earn throughout the dungeon. On each turn, each character has two actions. A character can move, attack, or use an ability. The goal of this game isn’t to clear the dungeon of its monsters but to complete the dungeon’s objectives. It is easy to get caught up fighting monsters only to be overrun by them when you take too long to clear a floor. There is strategy to this game, but it is manageable if you are thinking about your turns carefully. 

I love this game because it gives me the perfect board game experience without having to spend time on setup and cleanup. I came into this game already infatuated by the limited experience I got at GDC, but I wasn’t prepared for how dangerous this game was for my time. One more turn easily turned into hours later, so I had to make sure I at least ran my sessions with a timer.

The game runs and looks great. I love the different aesthetics of the adventures, and you can earn cosmetics by playing the game. I did try both the PC and VR versions of the game and have no preference. I love how immersive the VR version of the game is, but the PC version is a great alternative when I don’t want to put on the headset. There is cross-play between the versions, so you don’t need to buy a VR headset if you don’t need one.

The game is meant to be played with other players. You can team up with your friends, or play online with strangers. I keep the strangest gaming hours, so I wasn’t able to play with others. If you are like me and don’t have friends, the solo experience is fantastic. You can run dungeons with a single hero, or you can run them with four. I liked that I was able to try different characters at once. Both experiences felt vastly different, and they kept the game fresh. The difficulty of the dungeon scales was based on the number of characters in the party, but I felt the scaling was fair.

Demeo is a ton of fun and a must-buy if you like playing board games. The game is available on Steam, PlayStation, Pico, Meta Quest, and Epic Games for $39.99.

Make sure you follow them on Twitter to stay up to date on all the news.

video game reviews

GDC Recap: Demeo

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During this year’s GDC I also got to try Demeo, the survival RPG that I believe is worth looking into. I was fortunate enough to grab a review code for this game, so stay tuned for a full review in the future.

Dameo is a cross-platform RPG that plays like a tabletop game. You choose from seven playable characters and use their unique skills to get through one of their prewritten adventures. Adventures in this game are dungeon themes, each with its unique flavor and the monsters that fill them. Pick up your game piece and move them across a perilous board as you search for a way out. To fight, you use a set of skill cards that you unlock along the way. Some cards you can use repeatedly, but others burn after use. Use them wisely. You unlock cards by looting them from chests or unlocking them from battle. Battles are decided by a dice roll, making your adventure a suspenseful one. 

Demeo started as a VR game but has been successfully ported to PC. I only got to play the PC version of this game, but I will be trying the VR version for my full review. You can play this game by yourself, team up with three other friends, or play with people online. The game is cross-play, making it possible for everyone to play together using their favorite version.

From what little I got to try this game, I am obsessed. I love board games but have no one to play with. Demeo gives me the chance to do something I love, even if it’s just on my own. If you like board games, you should look into this game. The game is available on Steam, PlayStation, Pico, Meta Quest, and Epic Games for $39.99.

Shoutout to the developer that took the time to answer all my questions. I appreciate that they took a chance on my small blog, and gave me this opportunity to review their game. Keep up the good work! Make sure you follow them on Twitter to stay up to date on all the news.

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