I Liked Lifeforce and I Am Not Ashamed To Admit It!

Okay, so I do believe the title says it all. 

I saw Lifeforce in the theater twice.  I own it on DVD.  I've read Wilson's Space Vampires from cover to cover.  And yes, the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this film is the naked lady walking around the building. 

But honestly, I didn't know there was so much hostility aimed at the film.  It's not great, but it's entertaining - sometimes that's all you can ask for.  Anyway, here's the piece from Roger Ebert's site that got me thinking about it:  2315 Words On "Lifeforce." Yes. "Lifeforce" - by Peter Sobczynski.

May have to go dig out my DVD now . . .

Update on Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 09:29PM by Jeff Sergent

Just saw this - Lifeforce is coming to us in Bluray at the end of April.  You can pre-order at Amazon.  In case you're wondering, yes, I did.

Borderlands Re-print Coming from Fantasy Flight...

...and I could not be more excited.

I know I'm about two-weeks late with this news, but I just stumbled on the press release announcing Gearworld, Fantasy Flight's re-theming of the Eon classic Borderlands.  Cosmic Encounter is much more popular, but I have always considered Borderlands to be the most intriguing of the Eon games.  There was a time when it was at the top of my best games list on Boardgamegeek.com [just looked, still rate it a 10].  The only reason it fell was lack of opportunities to get it played.  While I was on BGG looking for my rating, I noted that I only recorded one play of this since BGG implemented the feature [sad face].  Like all Eon games, the components were not up to modern Euro standards (obviously, since they are decades old) and my game groups recoiled at the wargame-like look.  The small sub-group of my larger game night crew that would play the game all loved it.  I don't, however, think the re-release will have the same love-it-or-hate-it trait since the components will be Fantasy-Flight-beautiful.  Hopefully, this will bring a bunch of new gamers to this great game.  Fingers crossed that the reprint will stay true to the spirit of the original and not mess too much with the rules.  Borderlands was ahead of its time when it was released and, though the combat-system has been lifted (though simplified) for Vinci and Small World, the game should still seem fresh for gamers new to its intricacies.  Expect a review as soon as I can get my grubby hands on the game.

The (Other) Games of Richard Garfield

A Closer Look at the (Other) Games of Richard Garfield

Richard Garfield is a poor candidate for the white knighting of this nearly unknown blogger. His most revered creation, Magic: The Gathering, has made him both rich and famous (with the pasty-skinned, unwashed basement-dwellers, at least*). However, despite having designed what is arguably the most successful hobby game of all time, Garfield gets very little love from hobby board game and card game enthusiasts—I'm looking at you BGG users. Ask them who the best game designers of all time are, and you will get varied answers, and many of them, before anyone gets around to mentioning Garfield. Part of that is the reactionary hatred to M:TG among board game hobbyists. The marketing strategy of collectable card games, a genre that Garfield pretty much pulled fully-formed from his own skull, rubs many gamers the wrong way. I read lots of “Magic is simply a he-who-spends-the-most-wins game” type of comments on board game sites. I'm not here to defend Magic, though I may write my guide to playing M:TG on the cheap at some point. What I'd like to do is make the case that, even if we remove M:TG from Garfield's oeuvre, the remainder of his designs places him among the greats in this relatively new field—the hobby-game designer. Here is a look at Garfield's best creations, minus that great big elephant trying to hide behind the bookshelf (also minus the Battletech card game because I know nothing about it).

*JK; Chill

RoboRally

When Garfield first came to Wizard's of the Coast to show off prototypes, Roborally was the game he had highest hopes for. Many years later, he was still telling interviewers that it was his best design. In the game, players control robots racing to navigate a factory floor complete with conveyer belts, pits, and other obstacles. Using programmed movement (they place movement cards that will be executed in order from left to right), the players attempt to get their robot to be the first to navigate to a pre-determined number of checkpoints. The game is chaotic as each player's best-laid plans can easily be foiled by just one play mistake or by another player intentionally getting in the way. For me, the game exhibits the best combination of strategy and luck that I have seen in a game. The randomness, provided by the drawing of program cards and the unpredictability of human opponents, is never so much that I don't feel that I either won or lost because of the quality of my play. The most common complaint about the game is that it plays a bit longer than it should. We always play on just two floor tiles, resulting in a game that runs between an sixty and ninety minutes: just right for a light strategy game with more interesting choices than most games of that play length.

Netrunner

Netrunner was Garfield's third go at a collectable card game and it is about as perfect as the genre can be. It differs from Magic in numerous ways, but most importantly in the fact that the game is asymmetric. One player plays a hacker, the other corporate security. As the hacker attempts to steal data, the corporation attempts to fry the hacker's brain using a variety of security measures. The game was a failure as a product but critically acclaimed. Over the years since its release, Netrunner, rather than fading into obscurity like most failed games, has instead gained in stature. Fantasy Flight Games, happily, saw how popular the dead CCG remained and decided to revive it (without Garfield's input) as one of their patented Living Card Games—a non-collectable, but still expandable, offshoot of the CCG genre). Not long before I began writing this article, Netrunner was the undisputed hit of Gen Con 2012, selling out despite what FFG called a much-larger-than-average number of copies on hand. The new production is great and it's popularity suggests just how far ahead of its time Netrunner was. I can't think of many other TCGs from the post-Magic explosion that could be brought back now without feeling dated (anybody silently thinking Wyvern needs to go wash their brain off with soap).

 Filthy Rich

This advertising-themed game is among the most innovative “board” games ever created. “Board” gets its qualifying quotation marks here because Filthy Rich is actually played inside a three-ring binder. Players buy businesses and place cards representing them in card-protector pages within the binder. The clear pages mean you can see all the layers at once with cards on the early pages blocking cards on the later pages. The game is meant to simulate standing at the end of a street and looking along its length at the signage, with businesses closer to you blocking the signs of those that are farther away. Players roll dice to flip the pages and determine which business gets a visit from customers each round. It is simply a stunning design that is great fun to play. Just writing this synopsis has reminded me that I've got to get this to the table for my new game group as soon as possible.

King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo is Garfield's take on the Yahtzee concept of re-rolling dice in an effort to get a particular combination. The big draw is the theme as the players each take the role of giant monsters battling in the streets of Tokyo. Players gain powers through buying cards (or mutating if the expansion is being played) and try to either control Tokyo, or otherwise gain victory points, or to simply knock out all of the other players. I started writing this article last year, but I didn't own this, Garfield's most successful new design in years, so I held up until I had a chance to get it and play it over the holidays. I'm glad I did. Since the beginning of the year, KoT is our most-played game. The first expansion gives each of the creatures more of an individual identity, which really improves the theme and adds even more variety to the game. Expansion or not, King of Tokyo has been a hit with everyone I've played it with. Bring on more expansions.

The Great Dalmuti

“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking, “Isn't the Great Dalmuti just a trademarked version of the traditional game President (Asshole, Scum, Secretary...)?” Well, yes, it is. However, it is also a great example of how a minor tweak of a game can have enormously beneficial results. Garfield, who, by the way, gives credit to the traditional-deck games that are the backbone of the design, had the simple idea of creating a new deck where the number of cards in the deck matched the numbers on the cards (Geez, that's confusing. All I mean is that there are two 2-cards in the deck...three 3's...four 4's...etc.) and adding to wild cards (jesters). This custom deck gives the Peon (low-man) a much better chance to survive the taxation round (where the players in low position give their best cards to those in the best position) since taxation usually ends with the Peon holding a larger number of cards of a high suit than any of the higher-ranked players could match. If a Peon gets into the lead, he often is going to win the round. The “Revolution” rule (which allows for an immediate flipping of the players' standings) is great fun when it happens also, especially after a string of rounds where the Greater Peon is taking a real beating from the royal players. All that really matters (for me) is that after playing and enjoying hundreds of games of President in high school and college, I now wouldn't consider playing the traditional game if Dalmuti were an option.

 Pecking Order

I can't possibly know if this is true or not, but Pecking Order feels like an attempt by Garfield to create a game for the legendary Kosmos Two-player game line. Though it was published by Winning Moves, it certainly would have been right at home next to Lost Cites, Balloon Cup, and Hera and Zeus. In the game, two players compete to control perches by playing numbered cards on their side of the board (think Schotten-Totten with more spaces and no Poker hands). For my money, Pecking Order is an underrated filler that would have been received more favorably if it wasn't coming from a major designer with high expectations.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (Jyhad)

 Jyhad, the second collectable card game created by Garfield for Wizards of the Coast was based on the White Wolf RPG Vampire: the Masquerade.  Unfortunately, I haven't played enough of the game to have anything to say about it. I do know that the game has seen a revival or two over the years (the first of which saw the drop of the controversial Jyhad branding) and maintains a loyal following.  After being dropped by Wizards, the game was picked up by White Wolf and is still going strong.  

What Were You Thinking?

 WWYT? is the only other Garfield design (along with V:TES) that I haven't played, though it hasn't been for lack of trying. A no-longer-in-print, simple party game, WWYT? continues to fetch huge prices on the reseller market (one copy on Amazon.com right now; the price—$107, though I see that the Ebay prices have fallen to a much more affordable amount). In the game, players draw category cards and then list five things that fit in the category. Points are scored for matching answers on other player's lists. Seems like an easy game to “re-create” with just pen and paper, but I still feel the need to add it to my collection. If any reader feels the need to part with a copy, let me know.

Quick Review: James P. Blaylock's The Aylesford Skull

A Langdon St. Ives AdventureFrom Amazon:  "It is the summer of 1883 and Professor Langdon St. Ives - brilliant but eccentric scientist and explorer - is at home in Aylesford with his family. However, a few miles to the north a steam launch has been taken by pirates above Egypt Bay; the crew murdered and pitched overboard. In Aylesford itself a grave is opened and possibly robbed of the skull. The suspected grave robber, the infamous Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, is an old nemesis of Langdon St. Ives.  When Dr. Narbondo returns to kidnap his four-year-old son Eddie and then vanishes into the night, St. Ives and his factotum Hasbro race to London in pursuit... "

I had come across the name James P. Blaylock several times in my reading, usually associated with Tim Powers, usually connected to the emergence of Steampunk.  I had always meant to get around to checking him out, and now I can say I'm sorry I waited so long.

James P. Blaylock's The Aylesfore Skull, to me, was more of a throwback to pulp's thrilling adventures than the steampunk it claims to be.  Gadgetry and airships were a part of that tradtion long before folks at sf conventions started wearing pith helmets.  That being said, I really, really enjoyed this book.  From the mysterious prologue to the mad dash of a plot that followed, the story constantly rushed forward.  Things would slow down just enough to tease my curiousity once more before another mad dash would set forth.  I enjoyed the steampunk elements, but they never got in the way of the story, which can happen in so many books labled as "the newest epic in the xxxx-subgenre."

I did happen to glance upon a review that didn't like Blaylock's characterization, claiming it tended to be shallow.  I disagree.  I knew enough about Langdon St. Ives (think part Sherlock Holmes, part Professor Challenger) to want him to thwart the evil plans of Dr. Narbondo.  Again, following in the pulp tradition, you're not going to find any Hamlets running around London in these types of stories.  When the protagonist was thinking back to a previous adventure in the first chapter, I knew this had to be a series character.  One look on Amazon confirmed as much.   To find the deeper St. Ives, perhaps one needs to read more of his earlier adventures.  I'm sure you'd find some interesting tales and tangents, but what is in this volume serves.  Everything in here works as a stand-alone yarn.

One of the great joys to me of this book was Blaylock's writing. The prose often reminded me of the best of those turn of the century writers. It was elegant and refined but never stuffy and awkward.  He is defintely a writer I will be following in the future, just as St. Ives is a character I definitely want to revist. 

Several, if not all, of the St. Ives adventures are available in ebook format at Amazon.com.

(Full Disclosure: Titan Books provided Nerdbloggers with a preview copy of this novel. We received no payment or compensation for this review and find the act of writing paid reviews pretty scuzzy).

Kickstarter Preview--Questionable Fun by Robots and Red Tape

(Full Disclosure: Robots and Red Tape provided Nerdbloggers with a mock-up, preview copy of their game. We received no payment or compensation for this preview and find the act of writing paid previews pretty scuzzy).

The Game: Questionable Fun

 Click the image to go to the Kickstarter page

The Pitch: From the Kickstarter description: “A thought-provoking party game where creativity wins points, not luck. If you’re not laughing when you play, you’re doing it wrong.”

Game Play: Players take turns as judge, reading aloud from cards questions meant to provoke interesting and, hopefully, funny answers. Once the answers are written down, they are passed to a reader who reads them aloud. The judge picks his favorite and rewards the winner with a point. The judging shifts to the next player. That is it. As far as a rules set goes, this is as simple and obvious as it gets.

My Take: What you are paying for when you back or buy Questionable Fun is basically a giant deck of cards loaded with questions. It is a very basic parlor game that replicates what happens when a bunch of creative people at a party start throwing hypothetical questions at each other and attempts to turn that activity into a game. This shouldn't be much of a problem if you are a person who enjoys games like Cards Against Humanity, where you are also just paying for the creativity of the design team, not the components. The question for any parlour game that attempts to turn a party activity into a commercial game is does the game offer enough to justify not just skipping the game and coming up with content for yourself? It is the Eat Poop Your Cat versus Telestrations or Celebrity versus Time's Up argument. Here, I think Questionable Fun is more like Time's Up, in that it does offer the player content that they likely couldn't come up with themselves in the spur of the moment. At the very least, it is like inviting a bunch of creative and funny people in to your party without having to provide them with beer. Some of the questions we played provoked hilarious responses from our players. For the sake of clarity, here are some examples of the questions:

• “The Person to my right is a world-famous exotic dancer. What is the name of his or her signature move”

• “I Invented a new drug that cures baldness. What terrible side effect does it have?”

• “The person to my right left their laptop open. What is the most embarrassing web page in their history?”

As you may have guessed from the above questions, Questionable Fun, like Cards Against Humanity, is decidedly an adult party game. I'm sure is would be possible to pull out a subset of cards to play with younger folk, but the game is at its best when it is raunchy and free form.

A certain segment of my game group really likes party/parlour games. This was the group I played Questionable Fun with, and we had a great time with it. If the game was a category in a new version of Beyond Balderdash, it would be right at home with the best categories. On its own, I think it comes down to how much a game of this type appeals to you and your game group. It is something I would like on my shelf to pull out and mix in with Time's Up, Cards Against Humanity, and Say Anything. I think the quality of the questions--their improv comedy feel-- gives the game value and makes it a worthwhile project.

The Kickstarter Project has about two weeks left. If you are a fan of party games designed for almost no other purpose than causing raucous laughter, then I recommend you go check them out and help the funding along as you see fit.