Board game upgrades transform the games we bring home from the FLGS into unique and personalized setups. The first type I knew of was custom storage. I remember how exciting it was when there was a new release of Dominion. After the third expansion it became tedious to haul the boxes around when we wanted to play a game. My …
What’s on your shelf? : A Vintage Board Game Collector
Welcome to “What’s on your Shelf.” This series features the analog games of those who send in pictures of their shelves to gamemaster@multiverse.world. Today we feature this image sent in by reader Rick Koeppen. Rick says: “I’ve been seriously collecting modern and vintage board games for the past seven years, beginning in 2009 with the tabletop miniature rule set ‘Hordes …
Squirmish: A Monstrous Good Time
Squirmish is a new card game aimed at kids and families. I was lucky enough to be able to preview one and test it out with my daughter before the Kickstarter was launched. The first thing to mention, is that this game is made in direct response to collectible card games aimed at the pre-teen age group, such as Pokemon. …
Analog Games in Pop Culture : The Cannes Games Festival Celebrates its 30th Year
The Cannes Games Festival is the second largest convention celebrating board games in Europe. Many attendees are seeking to break into the industry. In the past, authors like Antoine Bauza—known for 7 Wonders (2010) and Hanabi (2010)—or Bruno Cathala—creator of Five Tribes (2014) and Cyclades (2009)— started their careers by showing their first prototypes during these sessions, and so now …
International Tabletop Gaming Day!
In honor of International Tabletop Gaming Day, we here at Multiverse decided to discuss our favorite games and memories in the hopes that our readership may glean something of value from our veritable EONS of tabletop gaming experience. Timothy Connolly Favorite Tabletop Game: First edition AD&D. My journey with this particular edition of the hobby began on Long Island in 1978, and it would …
New Dice For Axis And Allies
World War II ended more than seventy years ago. And yet, the AXIS & ALLIES board game has remained a hit with gamers around the globe for more than thirty years. Give your next AXIS & ALLIES session a boost with these dice from Field Marshal Games.
River Horse wants to steal your baby brother
A small board and war game company, River Horse, started by Alessio Cavatore is starting to snag some interesting licensed properties. One that is greatly anticipated for release this summer is the family friendly Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Board Game. Much like the movie, players have to rescue their baby brothers from The Goblin King. The board and the tokens …
The Elephant Game
Did you know that Earth’s most widely-played boardgame (Xiangqi) is also one of Earth’s oldest boardgames? Xiangqi (pronounced “Shang Chi”) is also known as Chinese Chess (or “The Elephant Game,” as it translates to in English.) Chess scholars can trace the roots of Xiangqi all the way back to the 2nd century B.C.E.. In addition to being a “must play” …
Making board games more fun with modern design
Design is about so much more than aesthetics — something software designers, especially user experience designers, have known for a very long time. In the analog gaming world, the discipline known as “user-centered design” is starting to come into its own as well, making games not only look good, but helping players understand what’s happening while they play.
Analog gaming is winning with the smartphone generation
One of the reasons cited for the downturn in RPGs and board games was the popularity of video games. Home consoles and advances in personal computers created a market where no one had to leave the house to visit an arcade, making video games a surprising recession resistant market despite the high price tag. With the invention of tablets and …