'A Touch of Evil: The Supernatural Game' Review

A Touch of Evil: The Supernatural Game is a board game set in the 19th century where terror has struck the village of Shadowbrook. It you have seen the movie Sleepy Hollow, you will have an idea how the game works as it replicates the theme very well. For those who do not know about the movie, the game basically revolves around one or more investigator moving around the spaces on the board game to equip themselves with necessary equipment while avoiding the horror that befalls them every round. Once they are ready, they can find the lair of the villain and try to finish him off once and for all.

To check out my review, click here.

'Dixit' Review

What a charming game! After 2 game sessions, I was brain-dead. I felt tired and wasn't sure if I will play Dixit again. Yet 2 hours later, I found myself thinking of the game non-stop as its dark, quirky, but appealing card images flooded through my mind. All I can think of is: Let's have another round.

To check out my review, click here.

Designed by Corey Konieczka, Battlestar Galactica is a game of politics, betrayal and survival. Throughout the game, the humans are on board Battlestar Galactica, trying to protect civilian ships and defending the onslaught of the enemy cylons, while at the same time finding out who are the cylons that are already on board. The problem is: these cylons look just like the humans.

To check out my review, click here.

Pathfinder Beginner Box: First Impressions

After following the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box for quite some time, it has finally arrived. Here's my first impressions of it: it's worth getting!

John Lasseter - A Day in a Life

I thank those who made 'John Lasseter - A Day in a Life' documentary accessible to the public. Watching this video makes me look at people who pursue their dreams with respect, especially if they accomplished it and make it a success. I believe in doing what you love so that you can create results more than your investment, and not giving up when things go rough is a crucial element. Knowing that Pixar has had a rough start for many years, I am glad that they have succeeded and pioneered computer animation, creating opportunities for those who love CG to also pursue their dreams. Now, sit back and enjoy the clip.

'Fortune And Glory: The Cliffhanger Game' Review

Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game is a game players play the role of adventurers in search of artifacts across the world in the 1930s era. As an adventurer makes his way to the location of the artifact, he can then try to obtain it by overcoming the dangers that lie in front of him. Should he be able to obtain them, he can later head to any city and sell them for fortune coins. Whoever accumulates 15 of the fortune coins win the game. 

'The Resistance' Review

The Resistance is a game of spies, sabotage and paranoia in the veins of Werewolf and Panic Station. Revolving around 2 groups, the Resistance who are trying to overthrow a malignant government, and the Spies sent to thwart the Resistance. Each game consists of missions that the Resistance have to succeed in order to win, and the Spies are there to sabotage the missions. Whichever side accomplishes their goals 3 times will win the game.

Panic Station: 2 Host Variant

My gaming group of 6 has played Panic Station for about 15 times. For the first 10 games, the humans have won 8 times. The mini-expansion adds items that in my opinion are advantages to the humans. After that, we decided to tweak the game.

A 2nd host.

'King Of Tokyo' Review

The King Of Tokyo board game arrived yesterday and I immediately popped it out of the box (together with 3 other board games). Reading through the short and straightforward rulebook, we started the game with 6 players and was on our way to having a great gaming night. However, after 2 games, we all found the game not as fun as we had expected.

(Image taken from BoardGameGeek user, Daniel Danzer)

Tonight (D&D Song)

Do you love D&D? Have you played D&D before? If you do, then you have to listen to 'Tonight', a wonderfully written song that will bring back memories from your table-top gaming experience.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

People say that in life, what we do defines who we are. Actually, who we want to be defines what we do. Our thoughts and motivation are the reasons for the all that we do in life. When things go wrong, it is the purpose for what we set out to accomplish that can keep us moving forward. I thank Steve Jobs for not only having given us the things that makes life better, but for his experience that shows us what we can achieve.

Spend a fraction of your time to gain an experience of a lifetime by watching the above video: Steven Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement address.

Beautiful Advertisement For Wacom's Cintiq 24 HD

The Cintiq 24HD commercial from Wacom has one of the most beautiful advertisement I've ever seen. From the beautiful cinematography to the amazing music, everything fits perfectly to create an emotional ride as I watch this commercial. And seeing how the car drawing appears in the background, it is just breathtaking.

'Carcassonne' Review

Carcassonne is a eurogame about area control and gaining points to win the game. With a certain number of people under your control, you place them according to the best possible option in order to win the most points. It is a simple family game that anyone can enjoy.

'Panic Station' Review

Panic Station is a game about paranoia-driven game for 4 to 6 players in which you control two characters, a trooper and an android, and head out to investigate what is happening in a remote station. Sometime during the game, one of the players will be infected by the alien lifeform and become a Host. Once infected, the player will then have an objective to stop the humans from completing their mission. How he does that depend on his ability to 'convince' the other players.

Pathfinder Beginner Box Preview

Paizo is releasing a beginner box of the popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game this October. The beginner box video preview shows the contents inside, and what to expect for both newcomers and veterans to the world of table-top roleplaying. After watching the preview, I went and pre-ordered a copy for my board game club.

Practical Gaming In The Classroom (by Tom Vasel)

Tom Vasel is a pastor who also reviews board games. In fact, he has played over 2,500 board games, reviewed tons of them and uploaded his reviews on the internet. Recently, I saw his video on 'Practical Gaming In The Classroom' on youtube.com, where he shared his views on how to implement board games in the students' learning process. For those interested in the clip, click here.

'Quest: A Time Of Heroes' Review

Quest: A Time of Heroes is a lite-rpg that can be played in a matter of minutes after opening the rulebook. The story centers on a group of heroes (1 - 4 heroes) who came upon the island of Krokk after coming across a treasure map which they spent their last remaining gold with, not knowing that something is happening on the island at that very moment that will intertwine with their fate.

'Ticket To Ride' Review

Ticket To Ride is a game about claiming train routes on the map of United States to fulfill the train destination tickets that the player has. The game mechanic is very simple, and the game is fun and challenging.

Board Game Club

Recently, I started a board game club for the students that I taught. Why board games? Simply because I love them. Well, not only that. In reality, not only are board games fun and exciting, they promote many positive things such as the desire to win, interactivity between group players, learning how to lose 'properly' (under supervision), etc.

Because of the club, I will try to post what I think of the games that are brought to the gaming table.

ThunderCats Reboot

My memory of primary school was the golden era of cartoons, with Masters of the Universe, M.A.S.K., Centurions, Transformers, G.I.Joe, Ultraman, and many others dominating the kids' TV channels. I would be glued to those hours and never miss one episode whenever possible. Among all those, the one that I watched least but has the most respect was ThunderCats. The characters are just so cool and mature. Story-wise, I don't think I remember much. Fast forward to 2011 and Cartoon Network is now rebooting ThunderCats. Having watched some of the clips of the new ThunderCats, I must say things are looking better than ever.

King of Fighters XIII

SNK's King of Fighters has always been a favorite of mine. At the time when SNK and Capcom were competing to see which company would win the fighting game battle, I always favored King of Fighters a tad more. Maybe it's because the characters are cooler, maybe it's because the combos are harder to pull off, I don't know. Now, after almost 2 decade, the King of Fighters is releasing their 13th edition, and I can't wait for it to come out. GameTrailers has a glimpse of King of Fighters XIII gameplay trailer. Have fun and check it out.

Bellagio Fountain Show

Taking a break from my work, I went out with some members to Las Vegas Boulevard to watch Treasure Island's pirate show and Bellagio's fountain show. Unfortunately, the pirate show was cancelled due to the wind condition. We did, however, watch Bellagio's fountain show. It was beautiful. When the song "My Heart Will Go On" played and the fountain starts its magic, I was mesmerized for the whole 5 minutes by how beautiful everything was. Bellagio's fountain show is no doubt the best and time enduring show in this era.

Super Dungeon Explore

Super Dungeon Explore is dungeon crawler type board game that will be released around October 2011. It's a 2-6 player dungeon crawler game that lasts around 90 minutes. From the looks of it, it seems like any dungeon crawler but with 'chibi' characters and probably streamlined rules. As a fan for good dungeon crawler games, I'm looking forward to get my hands on it.

The Sound And Art Of Rage

I have never been an FPS gamer. Not because I don't like that type of game, but I always encounter motion sickness 30 minutes into the game. However, I enjoy watching other people playing the game and the experience they have through it.

When it comes to FPS, I'm always reminded of Doom and id. A decade and a half later, I'm watching the Rage videos and all that comes to my mind is, "Wow!". They definitely convinced me through the game's amazing atmosphere and the feeling of surviving in a demolished wasteland. And I'm glad I have the chance to watch 'the sound and art of rage' at GameTrailers.com.

(Note: You must be 18 and above to watch the video due to the gore and violence shown.)

Descent: 2nd Edition

Fantasy Flight Games has some information about their upcoming game, Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition). The game has new rules, tiles and characters, and other updates. I'm glad that they have allowed gamers to update their original game to the second edition without having to fork out cash all over again. Hopefully nothing is compromised with the upgrade version.

In case you didn't know, Descent is, in my humble opinion, the best dungeon crawler board game available in the market. And yes, it triumphs the D&D board games by a mile.

John Carmack Keynote Speech (Part 2)

This video continues John Carmack's keynote speech (part 2).

John Carmack Keynote Speech (Part 1)

John Carmack's keynote speech (part 1) on the intricate details when he's working on his latest project, RAGE.

Making of 'Turning Point' Trailer

The making of 'Turning Point' trailer explains the process of how Crystal Dynamics approaches the process of creating the trailer, with Visual Works supplying all the CG production work.

'Tomb Raider: Turning Point' Debut Trailer

Tomb Raider: Turning Point debut trailer showcases absolutely stunning graphics, with near perfect realistic CG acting (as of this moment in game cinematics) that tells a dramatic epilogue of how Lara Croft became who she is later on in life.

'Out of Sight' 2D Animated Short Film

A lovely 2D animated short film done by the students of Taiwan University (台灣藝術大學) that not only showcases their talented skills, but also the emotional factor within the film.

Dungeon Run

A group of young teenagers came up with a board game prototype about adventurers trying to make their way to the end of the dungeon. Whoever can escape out alive with the most treasures wins. They spent a good number of days testing their game before finding out that a similar type of game has been done already. It's called The Adventurers: The Temple of Chac. Since then, they have stopped working on it mainly because their game has a similar concept. However, from what I saw, their game actually resembled more towards Dungeon Run, with more excitement and higher playability.

As of now, no video previews are available yet, but from the reviews of those who are fortunate enough to download the free print-to-play version while it was available, the game garnered positive reviews. I am really looking forward to the release of Dungeon Run because the concept of exploring a random dungeon always intrigued me, and for anything that has to do with dungeon crawler, I'll be there.

'Assassin's Creed: Revelations' Trailer

Assassin's Creed: Revelations' trailer is out now. Once again, they outdid themselves with this trailer. Only thing I thought while watching it was: why did they choose that music? Nonetheless, the trailer is nothing short of amazing.

'Letters From Whitechapel': A Board Game Masterpiece

Letters from Whitechapel is a masterpiece in the cat & mouse category of board games. Actually, it is one of the masterpiece board games in history. Upon first reading, the content may throw some players back as they are being asked to play one of the most notorious killer in history, Jack the Ripper. Not only does the player have to run, he has to actually 'kill' women in this game. However, upon playing, this gross thought is different from what one may imagine. There's no gory, blood or anything that may make one puke. Instead, it is as simple as selecting a target and eliminating her. That's it. Even a 10 years old would not have nightmare if he/she should play it. Still, the theme is based on historical facts and therefore parents should know it prior to purchasing it for the family.

In case you are worried if the game is okay for the family or not, simply check out the video review below from Games with Hayden, a family based board game website:

Sung-Bong Choi - An Emotional Ride

I was fortunate enough to view the story of Sung-Bong Choi from "Korea's Got Talent" TV program. His story was truly tragic, something which I never thought I would see in first world country. Like so many others, I hope that his life would be different from now on.

The moment the judge said to him, "I just wanna give you a hug" was the moment when all emotions came up...

'Deux Ex: Human Revolution' Director's Cut Trailer

'Deus Ex: Human Revolution' (director's cut) is a beautiful game cinematic that acts as an epilogue story to the game with memorable moments within the trailer. Although the characters do not look as realistic as those found in Final Fantasy 14 (which is also made by Visual Works), the storytelling aspect outshines Final Fantasy 14 by a big margin. If you love sci-fi, great moments in film, or Blade Runner, watch this trailer.

Samaritan

What an amazing showcase! To be able to make an in-game cinematic that feels like you're watching a film is something that many companies are trying to achieve. But Samaritan pulled it off very nicely. Maybe years from now, this tech clip will lose its luster as newer and better technology surpasses it, but right now, it's at the top of its game.

'Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood' Trailer

I admit I'm one of those who did not get into the whole Assassin's Creed thing. However, I respect the company that does all the CG work because it's just stunning. For 'Assassin's Creed; Brotherhood', the cinematography is beautiful, the environments are created down to the little details, the use of crowd system, incorporating syflex convincingly and hooking the gamers with its stunning trailers, all this adds up to a game cinematic that's worth watching over and over again.