Today’s #TableTopGails journey is a super fun one because it’s different from all the others.
A lot of people have said gaming is an expensive hobby, and it really can be. Collectible games and KS games can run into the three figures easy.
So I did a thing.
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I decided to look online and see if I could find a good deal on a box of games I knew NOTHING about.
The idea was to see if I could make a small starter game library for less than the cost of many big box games.
Yesterday the box arrived. THIRTY POUNDS OF GAMES.
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No is paying me for any of these, nor did they send them like most of the games I receive. I looked at my favorite gaming bargain site, @Tabletop_Deals (I really do look every day) and found a sale and just ordered like a big goober.
I know NOTHING about these games!
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SO, I need your help with this one. I don’t know a thing about any of these games (with two exceptions) so if you worked on any of these, or have played them or publish them, I would love to hear from you on this thread, okay?
LET US DELVE INTO THE BOX OF CHAOS!
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Here’s the box (which arrived raggedy as all hell, which only makes it more fun because I picture it traveling through secret rivers in the Amazon).
JOIN YOU, WON’T ME?
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Here’s the heap and thirty pounds of games is a LOT!
Wow!
Some of these bigger box games are $40.00 or more by themselves.
How much did I pay?
$70 for the entire pile!
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Here’s a quick video, AND bonus Bear Points to whomever first correctly names the song and artist!
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Let’s look!
First is PANDEMIC HOT ZONE: NORTH AMERICA
And PANDEMIC: RAPID RESPONSE.
Pandemic is a deserved classic, but we haven’t played these. The first says it’s co-op, the second says it’s a ‘real-time dice game.’
Fun, anyone played these?
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Next is DON’T SWEAT IT which comes with six headbands and a tennis ball and I don’t know but I think it looks like it might be weird.
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Then we have PRISM ARENA, which looks pretty adorable in its style…it appears to be an arena combat game, 12-4 players. The board is really very nice looking.
Cool, fun look. From Hub Games.
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This box is huge and heavy, not sure what to make if it, it’s a French game called LAST HEROES. It says it’s a ‘forced cooperation’ game with one winner…the art reminds me a little bit of some great Image Comics work. Anyone played this?
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This next looks very intriguing, very ROAD WARRIOR, and the art is really nice. It’s KERO, a strategy game where players fight/compete for scare kerosene. The components look great, might try this today. From Hurricangames.com, who made the excellent Mr. Jack!
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This is BLANK, which says you make it your own game, adding rules each time you win.
Not sure how this works, but we generally enjoy these types of games.
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This one is YUM YUM ISLAND which has a game description that is sort of beyond understanding. Apparently a giant is eating all the food and the animals have to…I don’t know. But it looks plenty cute!
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This game, I don’t know how it plays but it’s a visual stunner. It’s about an exodus from Earth…components and art are GORGEOUS.
Looking forward to this one, from Ludonaute Games!
Also it’s a HUGE HEAVY BOX. Looks a bit like Moebius!
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This one is maybe the most exciting, great creative team. VICTORIAN MASTERMINDS, another huge heavy box game, set in a Victorian England where Sherlock Holmes is missing and players compete to be the best evil villain. Gorgeous!
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This might have been an error as it’s an expansion, not a standalone, and I don’t yet have the original game. It seems to be one of a series…anyone know anything about this one?
This one sounds cute for three to five players, SNOW TIME, where villagers in a snow-covered island send heroes to fight on a mysterious tree.
THAT’S JUST MY USUAL SATURDAY NIGHT.
From Lui-meme editions!
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Now, I have heard of this one, it looks really entertaining. It’s a card combat collecting game, I know it was really popular with some folks. KEYFORGE MASS MUTATION the 2-player starter set!
Here’s NO MERCY FOR MONSTERS, which I bought in case we have kids as guests at some point, it’s an adorable monster game, for players four and up. From Helvetiq.com!
MONSTERS!
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And the final game, ATLANDICE, which I have to say, has a beautiful steampunk look (it’s from Ludonaute). It looks like a dice and drafting game, looks easy to learn and nice visuals!
LAST GAME!
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Okay, so!
Fifteen games (some of them really big games!) and two expansions for $70, including shipping. How?
Because shop.asmodee.com is clearing out some backstock, including stuff up to 90% off.
I don’t know any of these games, as I said.
But good starter set!
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Just saying that even though games are sent to me all the time, I do enjoy looking for bargains out there, and gaming doesn’t HAVE to break the bank.
A game/comic retailer correctly pointed out that LOTS of stores have bargains and slightly used games CHEAP.
Look there first!
That’s it, just thought it’d be fun to buy a big old box of nonsense and see if I could find some hidden gems.
Thank you again for @Tabletop_Deals and @Asmodee_USA and as always, no one is being paid for these threads, I JUST LIKE GAMES, ALL RIGHT.
:)
Thanks, all!
Thanks everyone for reading another #TabletopGails, opinions are my own, no one’s getting paid anything (except I bought these games this time), and also, I don’t trust Cyclops.
Mr. Biscuits says Have a great day!
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All right, so this will take a bit, but this is a thread I have wanted to do for a while.
This is it, the X-MEN: FROM THE ASHES mega-thread!
Interested in the upcoming X-books but a little overwhelmed by the new characters, creative teams, and titles?
Well, I had an idea!
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In this thread, I am going to give an unapologetic personal opinion about each of the upcoming titles, starting with tomorrow's X-MEN #1.
I admit up front I am biased, okay? These are MY opinions, I have not consulted with the creative or editorial teams.
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I have read all the issues of all these books so far. They are all creative teams I like. They are all pushing for the best books they can. And I am on a bit of an X-Men high and don't deny my OBVIOUS enthusiasm.
I have a @jimlee story. Legendary comics writer John Ostrander needed eye surgery. A couple others and myself went all around SDCC to ask artists for an art donation to raise the funds to literally save not just his eyesight, but his eyes.
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It was for John Ostrander. And so I asked legendary artists that normally I would be intimidated just to talk to. We got pieces from Neil Adams, Matt Groening, and lots more.
Again, because it was for John, I worked myself up to ask the giants.
Everyone was lovely.
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But it was still intimidating. Asking legends whom I know get asked for stuff ALL THE TIME.
At the time, just as now, Jim was the biggest artist in comics. Not to mention…
DR. PHIL: Now, I’m just an impartial observer, okay?
PENNYWISE: Heh heh heh we all float slobber drool heh
DR.PHIL: You’re an entertainer, You do great work with kids.
PENNYWISE: come down into the sewers Georgie heh heh hee
DR. PHIL: You have a great smile, you know that?
DR. PHIL: I want to thank you for agreeing to an interview, but I warn you, I won’t be pulling ANY punches.
ZOMBIE: …
DR. PHIL: Zombie, why don’t people like you?
ZOMBIE: BRAINS
DR. PHIL: You have a thick skin.
ZOMBIE: SKIN YUM YUMMERS
DR. PHIL: Well, I’M sold.
DR. PHIL: Dr. Lecter, I’m just gonna say it. I think you got railroaded by a ‘woke’ court system and the lamestream media who focused on the word ‘cannibal,’ and—
LECTER: Excuse me.
DR. PHIL: Pardon?
LECTER: My agent set this up. You disgust me. (Leaves)
I have a Roger Corman story. It’s fun, but weird, as I am gathering most Roger Corman stories tend to be.
I was a fan of his movies and his legend and legacy.
At the very beginning of my comics career, his office contacted me.
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I was very new to writing professionally. I didn’t become a writer to make films, comics were not a stepping stone. And I had mostly been drafted, so my sense of value in myself as a writer was a bit shaky and tinged with a lot of, ‘how did I get here? What’s happening?’
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The idea that a legendary movie guy would contact me for anything made no sense. I still had my hair salon. I hadn’t even written very many comics, and I was pretty sure it was all going to go away very quickly.
I remind everyone of this each year, apologies for repeating myself.
This Saturday, May 4th, is @Freecomicbook Day! Please go and enjoy and have a wonderful time. Some great shops have sales, cosplay, events, guests, even treats planned for you, PLUS FREE COMICS!
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Howerer, this is just a gentle reminder that, unlike what many think, the stores DO have to pay for the comics they give away for free. They pay for them in bundles. This year there are dozens of individual comics being given away...imagine how much that might cost!
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But that's not all. They also pay (often outrageous) shipping on all those books.
Stores often pay for extra employees, decorations, advertising, cosplayers, guests, and lots more. It is EXPENSIVE.
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Here is my central core thought while writing Deadpool.
It is no secret that I don't like endlessly 'zany' Deadpool. He was described as 'serial killer Daffy Duck' to me early on, that's the version I don't care for.
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I also don't care for endlessly bleak, 'nothing matters,' kill everyone Deadpool.
I think that could be a thousand other characters, and it's far from the magic potion that makes Deadpool fun.
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So the Deadpool is a subverted version of both of those.
He is a goddamn loudmouth, whose humor comes from tragedy.
But he's so endlessly high energy that it saves him from being insufferable and dreary.
And ALSO so internally sad and broken that he's not a constant punchline.