[ENDED] Contest: Win a Copy of Click Clack Lumberjack

It's the season for giving, and Mayday Games has graciously offered to give one of our readers a shiny new copy of Click Clack Lumberjack, a dexterity game for two to seven players. (Reviews here [first edition] and here [second edition].)

Check out the contest details below!

Lumberjack Jenga 2: Revenge of the Golden Ax (a review of Click Clack Lumberjack)

Back for more, eh? It wasn't enough that you felled the first tree when you were simply trying to harvest the bark. No, now you've been practicing. Your skills have leveled up, and you're ready for a new challenge, like going for the golden bark or using hidden grubs to your advantage. And you've even sharpened your special tiny golden ax for good measure.

But can you wield it to great effect?

News Bits: 11/25/2013

"It's the holiday season..." Or at least it's coming. And that's probably why this was a slow week. (That, or everyone was at BGG.Con.) In any case, here's this week's NEWS:

Race for the Galaxy: Alien Artifacts coming soon [Link] The news has to be legit this time, since the designer diary was posted on Board Game Geek. Also, Tom Lehman comments that it is in transit now to the Rio Grande warehouses. Alien Artifacts takes Race for the Galaxy in a new direction, beginning a new arc for the game. It may be time to jump back in...

Swimming with the Sharks (a review of Get Bit!)

Jaws was a terrifying movie when I was younger. Terrifying. I didn't want to go near the ocean (not that I had much opportunity), and I was even suspicious of our landlocked Midwestern lakes.

But you know what is significantly less terrifying than a giant shark destroying boats and eating humans? A giant shark tearing unsuspecting swimming robots apart. See, that? That's not terrifying. That's just plain fun. That's also the premise behind Get Bit!, the game where you don't have to swim fast, just faster than your mechanical friends.

News Bits: 10/14/2013

This week's NEWS:

Terra Mystica, Le Havre: Inland Port win International Gamers Awards [Link] The International Gamers Awards focus on gamer games rather than the Spiel des Jahres' (and to some extent the Kennerspiel des Jahres') more family-oriented games. And the results look like two big wins for Z-Man Games in the US. I know supply problems have hampered the first, and I've not played either. Anyone have any thoughts on these winners?

Lumberjack Jenga (a review of Toc Toc Woodman)

The life of a lumberjack. The smell of the forest, the sweat on your brow, the satisfaction after a hard day's work. But what if this life also involved a tiny ax, a bark-only harvesting method, and lots of laughs?

Well, then you'd be playing Toc Toc Woodman. And you'd probably be having a good time to boot.

News Bits: 7/29/2013

The big news this week was a failed Kickstarter campaign and the discussion surrounding it. But there's more than that. Here is the NEWS:

Fred Hicks discusses the Doom That Came to Atlantic City Kickstarter campaign [Link] Kickstarter for board games is coming out of its infancy into the shaky years of adolescence. This kind of scenario (along with many, many, many others) has with good reason made many people wary of using the platform. I know there's a lot of idealism surrounding Kickstarter, about it being used to fund people's dreams, but really, I think Hicks's advice is on the money. And because there is no great way to test first-time campaigners (to see if they're overreaching), and since I've had several less than stellar experiences myself, I'm much more likely to use my money to fund Kickstarter veterans. Against the spirit of the service? Perhaps, but less risk. (Also, the game's designer responded here. Designer/publisher relationships are complicated, to say the least.)

News Bits: 7/15/2013

Exactly one year ago I started writing a weekly news post for iSlaytheDragon. When Futurewolfie initially suggested that I write a news column for our blog, my thought was, Isn't this what W. Eric Martin is for? And I continue to ask myself that same question now, albeit much less frequently, thanks to all of you. It's been exciting to see our weekly news post grow from a tumbleweed witnessed by a few faithful readers into one of our most-read and discussed posts of the week.

So, to all of you who have been with me since the beginning (and those who are just joining us), thank you. Your energy and enthusiasm has kept me going despite the frequent questions of identity and utility.

But enough of this. The NEWS: