News Bits: 4/1/2013

No fooling this week. Here's the NEWS:

Wil Wheaton announces TableTop season 2 [Link] For those who are interested, geek darling Wil Wheaton has announced the second season of his very popular board game show TableTop. Due to be played this season are The Resistance and Smash Up, among others. The season will begin this Thursday.

Smile and Wave, Boys (A Review of North Pole)

Imagine you’re a penguin. First of all, you’re a bird that can’t fly. That’s got to be embarrassing enough. Then, on top of that, you live somewhere way down at the bottom of the globe, not too far north of the South Pole, on some desolate island or coastline with a bunch of other flightless yokels staring at ice all day. Pretty boring stuff. That is, unless you’re frantically running (again, not flying) for your life to keep from being some sea lion’s next frozen dinner. I’d say you definitely deserve a vacation. So check out these wonderful travel brochures I have on…um…the North Pole?

Raising Hellenism (A Review of Plato 3000)

In humanity’s darkest hours, as technology regresses and knowledge of mechanics fades, your task is to restore hope. Not based on your own measly, arrogant ideas. No, the world has re-discovered Plato’s Republic and you will forge a new Utopia based upon his philosophical musings with the aid of physics and engines and such. Never mind that the Athenian thinker had no such mechanical inclinations. He was decidedly headier in nature. Not to fear, though, the game has philosophers to help. And farmers. So maybe you should also scour old libraries for copies of Principia, Poor Richard’s Almanac, and perhaps even an old Microsoft manual. Alas, then the game would have to be called Plato-Newton-Franklin-Gates 3000 and, man, that’s a long title. Especially for just a little tuck box.

Huge Tracts of Land (A Review of Barons)

It seems the king must prove his piety by building a grand cathedral. Of course, as typical of most monarchs, he wants others to do the job. Therefore, he has charged the lords of his domain to a race in completing the glorious edifice. Surveying the vast lands extending into the horizon, you realize you have your work cut out for you. There are fields to plant, improvements to build, knights to hire, and serfs to tax. A little raiding on the side wouldn’t hurt the cause, either. I mean, the castle’s bills don’t just pay themselves. Will you prove to be the realm’s wealthiest and most powerful noble? Or will you end up just another spoiled, wet-behind-the-ears toff who just happened to inherit his daddy’s estate?

Rome Demands Excellence! (a review of Glory to Rome: Black Box Edition)

I'm a sucker for card games. I like their (generally) compact nature as well as the simple variability and infusion of luck that are inherent in playing cards.

I was lured in by the attractive (and explosive) Glory to Rome: Black Box Kickstarter campaign. I hadn't paid much attention to Glory to Rome before its Kickstarter campaign because of the ugly packaging, but when I investigated the Black Box, I knew it was a game I had to have. After many false starts in their postcampaign production, backer's remorse set in. Now that I have the final product in hand (nine months after the projected delivery date), what is my verdict on this gamer's card game? Read on!