Steve Jackson's Blog, page 312

May 27, 2017: Hong Kong, China, And Game Manufacturing

I'll be out of the office the first third of June, visiting our factories in China and getting a close look at the status of:



Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game  - We have seen the tooling samples, and now the game is moving into final production. Over 5 pounds of GURPS roleplaying-game goodness in a single box!


Munchkin Shakespeare  - The plastic pawns are in tooling, the rest of the game is in production, and I may get a chance to meet the sculptor who worked on the game pawns.


Ogre Miniatures Set One  - Tooling is still being tweaked, but I may get to see the steel molds as they currently stand. I am not sure if I'll get a look at the current CAD work on Set Two , but we do know that project is reaching a point where we can start building the Kickstarter plan to bring those new minis to life.
Additionally, we will also run through dozens of other projects and discuss upcoming games. These trips to the factory are always productive, even if we accidentally let four years slip between visits; the last time we were there, Sam and I oversaw the final assembly of the Ogre Designer's Edition and were blown away at the number of people working to complete the game. My understanding is that the current projects are small enough that there's less hand labor involved, so it will be good to see some of the automation behind game assembly.



As a personal gift, I have also scheduled two solid days for myself in Hong Kong to enjoy the city. I may take the ferry to Macau one day - Macau was once a toy manufacturing center, and the chance to set foot on the land where toys like the Marchon Road Bots (cheap transforming robot toys of the eighties) and millions of Matchbox toy cars were made cannot be missed - and I am certain at least one afternoon will be lost to toy shopping. Hey, after long days of travel and factory visits, I deserve some me time, right?



– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: An Expansion For Chess??

Knightmare Chess is cards you play during a game of chess that break the rules in various ways. You can extend the movement of pieces or lock them in place, create barriers and obstacles on the board, or even change the conditions of your entire game! Go "check" it out at Warehouse 23 now!

May 26, 2017: Ghosts Love Candy Game Day Locations!

When you play Ghosts Love Candy , it's Halloween, and you're an adorable specter floating through the neighborhood in search of your favorite sweet treats. Choose the right trick-or-treaters to haunt for their candy - lollipops, chocolate, candy corn, and more - but be careful not to scare the kids off! Will you be the ghost to nab the most sugary snacks? Or will another apparition snag your treats before you get them? 



If that sounds like fun to you, you're in luck. This June, Steve Jackson Games and nearly 200 game stores around the United States and Canada will host a #GhostsLoveCandy Game Day in June! Most events will be held the weekend of June 16, but call your local store ahead of time to confirm the exact date and time of their ghostly gathering. 



Each event will feature demos of the game, plus promo cards and promo finger puppets. And don't forget, while you're trying out the game, post photos to social media with #GhostsLoveCandy. Tag @SJGames on Twitter and Facebook, and @SteveJacksonGames on Instagram, and you'll be automatically entered to win prizes. Tag your store in the post, too, so the store will be entered to win a separate retailer prize. 



Want to check out the game before the event? Watch our live unboxing and how-to-play videos to get the inside scoop.



Here are the event locations. Happy haunting! 

CANADA



British Columbia 



Comic Encounters - Terrace 
K-Max Games & Videos - Quesnel 



Manitoba



A Muse N Games - Winnipeg 



Ontario



Thunder Games & Gifts - Thunder Bay  
Twice The Fun Games - Kemptville 



Saskatchewan



Comic Readers (Downtown) - Regina 

UNITED STATES
Alabama 



Bud's Place Games and Comics - Leeds 
Game Time Hobbies - Opelika 
Haven: Comics Etc. - Madison 
Quality Collectibles - Jasper 

Alaska 



Bosco's - Anchorage 

Arkansas  



Gamer Utopia - Rogers
Imagine! Hobbies and Games - Sherwood  

Arizona 



Game Depot Arizona - Tempe 
Isle of Games - Tucson



California 



All Ways Gaming - Chatsworth
B & E Games - San Jose 
Davis Cards & Games - Davis
Empire Collectibles Comic Books & Games - San Diego 
Game Empire - San Diego
Gator Games & Hobby - San Mateo 
Green Tower Games - Santa Clarita 
North Coast Role Playing - Eureka 
Ottos Video Games and More - Bakersfield 
Pair A Dice Games - Vista 
Paladin's Game Castle - Bakersfield 
Paper Hero's Games - Sherman Oaks 
Shuffle and Cut Games - La Habra 
So Cal Games and Comics - Temecula 
The Game Chest - Mission Viejo 
The War House - Long Beach 
Game Kastle Santa Clara - Santa Clara
Comic Cult Torrance - Torrance



Colorado 



Black & Read Inc. - Arvada 
Digital Dungeon - Greeley 
Shep's Games - Aurora 
Total Escape Games - Broomfield 

Connecticut 



Time Machine Hobby LLC. - Manchester 

Florida 



Arena Comics and Gaming - Panama City 
Dark Side Comics - Sarasota 
Gods & Monsters - Orlando
Heroes Landing Comic Shop - Clermont 
Kitchen Table Games - St. Petersburg 
Dogs of War Gaming - Palm Bay 
Coliseum of Comics - Orlando

Georgia 



Meeple Madness - Flowery Branch
Tyche's Games - Athens 

Hawaii 



Other Realms Ltd The Comic & Game Specialist - Honolulu

Idaho 



All About Games Downtown - Boise 
Safari Pearl - Moscow 

Illinois 



Amazing Fantasy Comics and Games - Frankfort 
Castle Perilous Games & Books - Carbondale 
Off On The Square - Jacksonville 
The Paper Escape - Dixon
Top Cut Comics - Rockford 
Dizzy Dugout - Collinsville 
HobbyTown USA Orland Park - Orland Park 

Indiana  



Comic Quest Inc. - Evansville
GameQuest - Fort Wayne
Empire Comics - New Albany 
Hometown Comics and Games - Greenfield 
JustForFun - Peoria 
Merlin's Beard - Lafayette 
Reader Copies - Anderson 
Saltire Games - Indianapolis 
The Sage's Shoppe - West Lafayette 
The Traveling Gamer - Walkerton 

Iowa 



Acme Comics & Collectibles - Sioux City 
Critical Hit Games - Iowa City 
Geek City Games and Comics - North Liberty 
Mayhem Comics Des Moines - Clive 

Kansas 



Game Nut Entertainment Iowa St - Lawrence 
Game Nut Entertainment Massachusetts St - Lawrence
Hometown Games - Lawrence 
TableTop Game & Hobby - Overland Park  

Kentucky  



BluegrassMagic Gameshop - Louisville 
Cafe Meeples - Richmond
Comic Book World - Florence 
Comics 2 Games, LLC - Florence 

Louisiana  



Go4Games - Metairie 

Maine 



Game On - Augusta 
The Dragon's Lair - Norway 
Weekend Anime - Westbrook

Maryland 



Dream Wizards - Rockville 
Walt's Cards - Baltimore 

Massachusetts 



Comicazi - Somerville 
Round Table Games - Carver 
Video Game Castle - Chicopee
New England Comics New Bedford - New Bedford 

Michigan 



Backstage Hobbies & Games - Ludington
Dreams of Conquest - Bay City 
Flat Land Game Store - Wixom 
R.I.W. Hobbies - Livonia 
Squirreled Away Books - Armada 
TC Paintball - Traverse City 
The Gaming Cantina - Charlotte 
Topps Trade Center - Benton Harbor 
White Cap Comics - Grand Rapids 
Ziege Games - Howell 
Mike's Comics and Games - New Baltimore 



Minnesota 



Collector's Connection - Duluth 
Lionheart Games - Waite Park 
Paddy's Game Shoppe - St. Cloud 



Mississippi  



Caster's Den - Iuka 
Tupelo Sportscards - Tupelo 

Missouri 



CCYDNE Hobbies - Lebanon 
Thompson Productions L.L.C. - Warrensburg  

Montana  



Orion's Keep Games - Hamilton 

Nebraska  



Game On - Grand Island 
Game On - Kearney 
Game On - McCook 
Game On - North Platte 
Gauntlet Games - Lincoln
HobbyTown USA Lincoln - Lincoln 

Nevada  



Frank-N-Fred Comics & Cards - Elko
Games Galore - Reno
Little Shop of Magic - Las Vegas 

New Hampshire 



The Broken Lance - Farmington 
The Relentless Dragon - Nashua 

New Jersey 



All Things Fun! - Trenton 
Fairy Glen - Howell
Hobbymasters - Red Bank 

New Mexico 



Zia Comics and Gaming - Las Cruces 

New York 



Brooklyn Game Lab - Brooklyn 
Cloud Giant - New Hartford 
Flights of Fantasy Books & Games - Albany 

North Carolina 



Bear's Lair Games - New Bern 
Cape Fear Games - Wilmington 
DreamDaze Comics Fun & Games Inc. - Wilson 
Hillside Games - Asheville 
The Gamer's Armory - Cary 

Ohio 



Beyond The Board - Dublin 
Comic Shop Plus - Newark 
Diversions - Newbury 
Flying Monkey Comics and Games - Delaware 
Fun Factory - Mount Gilead 
Heroes and Games - Columbus 
HobbyPop Shop - Cincinnati 
Next Level Gaming Center - Gallipolis 
Recess - North Olmsted 
Sci-Fi City Cincinnati - Cincinnati 
The Rook OTR - Cincinnati 
Toledo Game Room - Toledo 

Oregon 



Funagain Games Eugene - Eugene 
Guardian Games - Portland 
Rainy Day Games - Aloha 
Red Castle Games - Portland 
The Portland Game Store - Portland 
Wild Things Games - Salem 
Funagain Games Ashland - Ashland 

Pennsylvania 



Comics Store West - York 
Firefly Bookstore - Kutztown 
Gamers Heaven - Phoenixville 
Showcase Comics and Games Bryn Mawr - Bryn Mawr 
Six Feet Under Games - New Holland 
The Brothers Uber - Grove City 

South Carolina 



Cornermagic Gaming Center - Piedmont 
Firefly Toys & Games - Columbia 

Tennessee 



Hall of Heroes - Ripley 

Texas 



8th Dimension Comics & Games - Houston 
Bedrock City Games Westheimer - Houston 
Black Dog Enterprises - Lubbock 
Cards and Comics Connection - Conroe 
Childs' Play: Games & Geekery - New Braunfels 
Collected TCU - Fort Worth 
Common Ground Games - Dallas 
Court of Gamers - San Antonio 
Dimensions Comics - Seabrook 
Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy - Houston 
Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy - Austin 
Emerald Tavern Games and Cafe - Austin 
Fleur Fine Books - Port Neches 
Madness Comics and Games - Denton 
Space Cadets Gaming Gaming - Oak Ridge North 
Three Suns Unlimited - Longview 
Wonko's Toys & Games - Austin 

Utah 



Game Night Games - Salt Lake City 
High Gear Hobbies - Taylorsville 

Virginia 



Comics & Gaming Fairfax - Fairfax 
Kaboom - Virginia Beach 

Washington 



Dice Age Games - Vancouver 
Fantasium Comics and Games - Federal Way 
The Dragon's Hoard Games & Collectibles - Silverdale 
Calico Toy Shoppe - Bainbridge Island 

West Virginia 



Nerd Rage Morgantown - Morgantown 
The Industry WV Game Center/J & M's Used Bookstore - Parkersburg 

Wisconsin



Gnome Games Appleton East - Appleton 
Gnome Games Green Bay West - Green Bay 
The GameBoard - Sheboygan 
Lake Geneva Games - Lake Geneva 

Wyoming 



Games of Chance - Riverton 



– Ariel Barkhurst



Warehouse 23 News: The Road To Adventure Is Now Open!



Undertake a journey where East meets West in GURPS Hot Spots: The Silk Road . Discover the history, culture, people, food, and faith of this historical region . . . and unleash the campaign ideas herein to add this realm to your own game! Download it today, only from Warehouse 23.

May 25, 2017: Visit Us At BGG Spring 2017 This Memorial Day Weekend!

Fun in the sun is nice, but if you're a gamer, BGG Spring 2017 is where you should be spending Memorial Day weekend! We'll be there, with games and swag galore, for four solid days of gaming, May 26-29. 



The convention has sold out, but if you are lucky enough to be attending, stop by booth 401 to demo recently released Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game  and upcoming releases like Ghosts Love Candy and Port Royal ! Plus, we'll be giving out a ton of promo swag just for stopping by, so make sure to come see us! And if you show a staffer a social-media post with the hashtag #SJGamesBGG, we'll hook you up with some bonus swag. You can't lose!



We'll see you in Dallas!



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: Strap On That Wire And Jump Into The Action!

Munchkin Fu takes you on a tour of lovingly curated Hong Kong action-film tropes. Play as a Samurai, Yakuza, Ninja, or Monk battling all manner of mooks, demons, and kung-fu villains. Wield wacky weapons and show off your school's specific flavor of high-flying martial arts mastery! Kick it out of Warehouse 23 today - you don't want to be the only one not kung-fu fighting! 

May 24, 2017: SJ Games And Shane White At PaizoCon This Weekend!

Guy and I are on our way to Seattle for PaizoCon, May 26-29! Four days of tabletop gaming, with a focus on Paizo's awesome Pathfinder RPG , await us. So I think it's time to reveal some of the surprises waiting for you!



First up, we've got a special Munchkin Pathfinder bookmark we'll be giving away! Swing by our booth to get it, and more. Of course, you'll be able to demo Munchkin Pathfinder as well, and we'll have some of our new releases like Munchkin Pathfinder Guest Artist Edition , Truly Gobnoxious , and the upcoming Munchkin Pathfinder 2 . That's not enough, you say? How about a signing by artist Shane White, illustrator behind those games? We've booked time with Shane at our booth from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 27. Get your games and swag signed by the artist, giving them a huge bonus to coolness. We may even have some giant-sized surprises at the show, but you'll have to join us there to find out.



If you can't make it to PaizoCon, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; you may have a chance to win some signed Munchkin Pathfinder loot! Just look for the posts.



Find a path to PaizoCon this Memorial Day weekend, and play some games with us! 



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: What's This? What's This?

Munchkin The Nightmare Before Christmas transports players to Halloween Town, home of Jack Skellington himself! Arm yourself with gobs of gruesome gear to battle truly creepy monsters like Oogie Boogie or Doctor Finkelstein and take their treasure. You don't have to wait until Christmas to pick up this delightful nightmare at Warehouse 23!
 

May 23, 2017: A Year Of GURPS After The End

GURP S After the End , our "post-apocalyptic campaign-in-a-box" series, recently turned one year old, and I've been looking back at the highlights of my own ongoing "nano and nukes" campaign. The party has changed composition a bit, but always stayed weird and quasi-religious: they started as bodyguards of a Neo-Catholic bishop and are currently the entourage for a superstar singer who preaches the Gospel of Rock. They've fought their way past security bots and squirrel-pions, survived a forest of exploding apples, and created a network of friends and contacts. But perhaps their most notable acquisition was Babette . . .



As described in GURPS After the End 2: The New World , the mutant bears known as "teddies" are terrifying, hideous murder machines. A mated pair of them nearly did the party in. After they prevailed, however, they followed the tracks back to the beasts' lair and found a cub, which immediately attempted to kill them. For reasons I'll never understand, they sedated and abducted her, made a rug out of her mother's pelt for her to sleep on, and named her Babette.



Over the next year, they did their best to socialize and train her, which usually ended up in party-versus-teddy combat and/or got them labeled as dangerously insane. (Who could argue?) I kept expecting them to give up on her, but they never did, and even became experts at Animal Handling (Bears). So last month, I let them know that her Loyalty (which I'd been secretly tracking using the rules from GURPS Social Engineering ) was finally high enough for them to take her as an Ally . . . and there was much rejoicing.



The wasteland is a weird place, and we wouldn't have it any other way. What's the strangest story from your own After the End game? Share it on our forums!



(For a peek under the hood, be sure to watch my YouTube interview about both  After the End and GURPS in general - or read the transcript.)



– PK Levine



Warehouse 23 News: Annual 5/23 MIB Gifts Have Been Shipped!

Warehouse 23 has completed mailing out the annual thank-you (aka 5/23 Gift) boxes to our Men in Black volunteers for all of their hard work throughout the year - just one of the many benefits of being a MIB! Check out mib.sjgames.com if you're interested in becoming part of the SJ Games volunteer family!

May 22, 2017: Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition Available Now!

With Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition right around the corner, we wanted to give fans a sneak peek of the amazing Lar DeSouza art found in the game!



Of course you have new takes on the Door and Treasure cards, with classics like the Bat-Mobile, The Punster, and The Cowl. But you also get a full array of cardboard standies, two for each color, and the board itself. Lar's art looks like it's ripped straight from a comic book, so it's perfect for this new interpretation of Super Munchkin ! We've also had the fortune of interviewing Lar for the Daily Illuminator, where he talks about the process of creating the game, as well as his charity work and other topics. You can find more of Lar's work on the Munchkin Playmat: Spyke's Christmas Wish  and the upcoming Munchkin Shakespeare: Staged Demo ! We'll even be giving away a signed copy (or two) of the game on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to celebrate the launch, so follow us there for your chance to win!



Look for Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition at your local game store, or on Warehouse 23 if you don't have a shop nearby. It won't be around forever, so get it before it goes up, up, and away!



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: Keep Your Munchkin Cards Safe!

Protect your cards from the hazards of the average gaming table, like food spills and dreaded bent corners, with Munchkin Card Sleeves! On top of that, the backs are illustrated with classic John Kovalic Munchkin art! They come in standard sizes with Spyke or Flower, a full set of Doors and Treasures, or even larger ones for Dungeons and the like. Pick up a set at Warehouse 23 to feel safe knowing your cards are covered!

May 21, 2017: Crowdfunding Focus: Button Men

Our pals at Cheapass Games have a solid track record at bringing back older games in new, shiny editions via Kickstarter. Their latest crowdfunding campaign is for a new edition of one of my favorite games: Button Men .



In Button Men , each player has a character with a "recipe" of several polyhedral dice (usually five dice, although a few have had more or fewer). You engage another player in a one-on-one battle to see who can score the most points. Often, this is the player who captures all of her opponent's dice . . . but not always! Keeping track of the score is vital to success in Button Men . It's one of my favorite games from Cheapass, because so much depends on a savvy selection of character and dice, but there's still plenty of randomness because dice are involved.



Button Men was originally published in the early 2000s as a series of characters on pinback buttons – hence the name. This version uses trading cards instead, and is fully compatible with characters from the earlier edition. You can get a complete game including a bunch of dice, or a lower-cost version that just sends the character cards, for people who have deluded themselves into thinking they have enough dice. Or, if you feel like dropping some extra Gold Pieces, you can have an artist draw you as a Button Men character . . . and lead Munchkin illustrator John Kovalic is one of the people whose art you can select!



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: Create Your Own Fairytale!

Once Upon a Time is an award-winning storytelling game where players work together to create a tale of daring adventure. Play your Story cards to interrupt and guide the story toward your particular ending - the first player to use up all their cards wins! The real fun, of course, is seeing what kind of story everyone tells together. Pick it up at Warehouse 23 to start spinning your own fantastical yarns!
 

May 20, 2017: Play Munchkin: X-Men Edition This Weekend!

Enroll at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers and gear up for this weekend, because game stores around the country are hosting Munchkin: X-Men Edition Demo Days, May 20-21! 

USAopoly is teaming up with local game stores around the country to bring you the X-Men, with demo events and free swag! Simply find a participating store, attend the demo, and get some brand-new promo loot from Munchkin: X-Men, including a new bookmark and the X-23 card. All that just for taking on legendary Marvel foes, collecting iconic weapons like Silver Samurai's Katana, and teaming up with heroes like Wolverine to get to level 10! 



Check out USAopoly's blog post to find a nearby store, and check with the store for the event time. We'll see you in the Danger Room! 



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: "M" Is For Munchkin!

With the Munchkin Alphabet Coloring Book, you can read alphabet verses written by Steve Jackson while coloring 26 all-new illustrations from Munchkin artist extraordinaire John Kovalic. If that isn't enough, the book also contains 10 new Munchkin cards! Pick it up for your little munchkins (or yourself) at Warehouse 23.

May 19, 2017: GURPS Mars Attacks Now At Amazon

We released the GURPS Mars Attacks book late last year, and while the supplement has been available from Warehouse 23 and your local game shop, we have been notified that some of you couldn't buy it from Amazon.com. After repeated messages from GURPS fans about this issue, we looked into the matter and pushed for a solution from Amazon. We're now happy to report that GURPS Mars Attacks is available to those with Amazon Prime accounts who were looking for a free shipping option.



As always, we encourage you to buy your games from your favorite local game store - stores receive new titles much faster than Amazon - but if your town is without a local supply of GURPS books, you now have another online choice for getting the latest GURPS releases.



– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: A Supplement Worth Glowing Reviews?



When something goes wrong with anything nuclear, that's the beginning of a really bad day. Take the lead (shielding) and download GURPS Disasters: Meltdown and Fallout today . . . only from Warehouse 23!

May 18, 2017: Unboxing Ghosts Love Candy On Facebook Live

Rhea recently grabbed a copy of the new Ghosts Love Candy card game and sat down in front of the cameras for an unboxing on Facebook Live. The game has started shipping to distributors and is in stores soon, so please take a look at this short video and then rush out to your favorite local game store to preorder a copy today. Demand is stronger than we anticipated, so we've already been forced to allocate the release and don't expect this one to hang around for long.



If you want to see more unboxing videos, then follow us on Facebook. I know Hunter and Rhea are planning to hold more frequent Live events, so be sure to watch for their next video surprise.



 





– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: Bigger On The Inside!

Easily carry a dozen sets' worth of Munchkin cards, with all the accompanying dice, Kill-O-Meters , and a Level Playing Field , in the Munchkin Monster Box . There's even space for Dungeons and Seals, along with many other accessories! Wrestle this monster out of Warehouse 23 today!