Steve Jackson's Blog, page 340

August 8, 2016: Can New Art Keep These Zombies Fresh? Figuratively, Yes

Nothing says "versatile" like "zombies."



They can be genuinely scary. They can be funny. They can be romantic. They can be cute and cuddly. They can be tools of capitalism or tools of critical thought. They can be a cereal flavor or a nightmare, a dessert topping or a floor wax. They can be anything – which is why approximately 50% of modern movies are about them.



It's this adaptable quality of zombies that made it so easy to choose Munchkin Zombies as one of our Guest Artist Edition games. And it's why we're so excited now to show you more of guest artist Greg Hyland's zombified art!







Where John Kovalic's original zombie illustrations are more cartoon-like and family-friendly, Greg Hyland's new Munchkin Zombies Guest Artist Edition – due out in October – is a bit more graphic and loose. Both versions are great in very different ways – like, say, Night of the Living Dead and Army of Darkness, or peanut butter ice cream and mountain pine-scented hand soap.



Just look at the Ghoulbladder cards. John's drawing is hilarious, but there's not a gut or a glob of blood in sight. Greg's zombie, on the other hand, has an open chest cavity. Mm-mm, good.



Other cards from Hyland are reinterpretations, like his Slacker or his Tax Man. 







This is why we're doing these Guest Artist Editions – these cards lend themselves to interpretation. You can see Greg's fresh take on the other 164 cards when the game rolls out in October. 



Hyland is the creator of Lethargic Lad, a comic strip (and now webcomic) that has been running since the late 1980s. He has worked with us before; he did the original Munchkin Fu , as well as Burn in Hell  and Chez Guevara . 



So when Halloween season rolls around, remember that this game will be in stores, and that it's probably a better use of your money than yet more zombie movie tickets. 



– Ariel Barkhurst



Warehouse 23 News: The "Most Wanted" Supplement For GURPS Games?



The forces of law and order make for great gaming, and they come to life in Pyramid #3/93: Cops and Lawyers . With so much GURPS material to challenge heroes and criminals in the courts or on the streets, this issue is sure to make your most wanted list. Download it individually, or subscribe today – only from Warehouse 23!

August 7, 2016: See Through The Looking Glass With Munchkin Wonderland

One of the many cool perks of being at the Munchkin Tavern is hearing new game announcements before anyone else. But if you didn't have a chance to hear the good news last night, here you go:  Munchkin Wonderland is coming out later this year, exclusively from Amazon!



Munchkin Wonderland is based on the previously released Munchkin Treasure Hunt , with simple rules perfect for the entire family. It features positively popping art from John Kovalic depicting the oddball cast of characters that Alice encounters in Lewis Carroll's Wonderland novels. Fantasy icons like the Hatter, Dormouse, and White Rabbit make an appearance in this bright and colorful game of beating up baddies and collecting treasure.



Things will get curiouser and curiouser later this year when Munchkin Wonderland releases on Amazon! 



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: You Need More Exclamation Points!



Augment your Munchkin Steampunk game with Munchkin Steampunk SCIENCE! Dice , featuring six amazing randomizers plus four new cards. Your experiments cannot delay; get these dice today from Warehouse 23!

August 6, 2016: Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition Takes Flight

If you were at the Munchkin Tavern here at Gen Con 2016 last night (or follow us on social media), you might have heard about Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition , illustrated by Lar DeSouza! And if you weren't, you are hearing about it now.



Super Munchkin is one of the most popular versions of Munchkin , so it's only logical that it would get  Guest Artist Edition treatment for our 15th anniversary. Lar is known for the webcomic Least I Could Do , his amazing pop culture mashups, and our upcoming Munchkin Playmat: Spyke's Christmas Wish . He's a unique voice and style in the industry, and we're very excited about his take on this super-powered game of Munchkin . As with the other Guest Artist Edition games, this will be a limited run, so make sure you grab a copy before it escapes!



But you have some time to fit into your best spandex suit; Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition appears in mid-2017. And if you're at Gen Con, remember to swing by Tavern on South from 4 p.m. - midnight for the last night of  Munchkin Tavern, where you may hear more announcements before anyone else!



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: More Munchkin Merriment



Equip the Stab-A-Matic and the Magnificent Hat, fight the Auntie Paladin or the Dopplegangsters, and get all the loot! Power up your Munchkin game with Munchkin 3 – Clerical Errors , a set of 112 additional cards. Goodness awaits at Warehouse 23!

August 5, 2016: It's No Curse: We're Going Back To Oz

If you were at the first night of Munchkin Tavern at Gen Con, you can probably stop reading. But if you weren't, this is where you find out about two 2017 releases that Andrew Hackard revealed at the Tavern.







First up is Munchkin Curses , a new booster by Devin Lewis. Everyone loves Curses! The feeling when your opponent kicks down the door and reveals a Curse, or when you play one on a fellow munchkin, is unparalleled. That's why we loaded this pack with 12 new Curses, a couple Monsters, and a Curse Reverse. Be careful though, your opponents want to curse you, too.



The next is a return to one of the happiest, and weirdest, places. Munchkin Oz 2 - Yellow Brick Raid finds the munchkins back in the land of, well, munchkins! This 52 card expansion adds a plethora of new cards representing even more of the world of L. Frank Baum's 14-book series. Because who has time for 14 books? It's much easier to just play Munchkin Oz !



Look for these packs in 2017, and remember to visit Munchkin Tavern here at Gen Con!



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: Fear In A Handful Of Dice



With the glow-in-the-dark dice of Chupacabra: Survive the Night , you'll try to claim all the dice before the other players do the same. It's easy to learn and fast to play – but surviving the night might be trickier . . . Get it from Warehouse 23 if you dare!

August 4, 2016: Contests, Announcements, And More At Gen Con 2016

Gen Con 2016 is here, and SJ Games has so much cool stuff, it'll make your head spin. 



Booth 1401 is locked, stocked, and ready to show off all the newest and upcoming releases. Get demos of Simon's Cat Card Game , I Hate Zombies! , Ogre: Objective 218 , Moop's Monster Mashup , or even a giant game of Bill & Ted's Excellent Boardgame . The World's Greatest Detective is swinging into action, so come play the newly announced Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game . 



If autographs are more your speed, we have many special guests signing at the booth, including Steve Jackson, John Kovalic, Andrew Hackard, Len Peralta, and Lar deSouza. Get your loot signed, and meet the designers and artists behind some of your favorite games. And don't forget the free promos. In particular, we've had a Moop's Monster Mashup tentacle infestation, so you'll get one for free just for demoing a game! Speaking of giveaways, we'll of course be running contests on our social media outlets, so follow us on all of them to stay up-to-date. And for you Munchkin fans, we'll even have flash Munchkin rules on Twitter for use in game (only for a limited time). 



Last but certainly not least is the ultimate fan experience: the Munchkin Tavern! Come by Tavern on South from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. nightly, August 4-6, for Munchkin-themed eats and drinks, awesome Tavern swag for sale, exclusive promos, surprise announcements, and a casual atmosphere for meeting our guests of honor. Kick your feet up, grab a pint, and mingle with fellow munchkins! 



That's a lot of stuff, so there's not time to catch a breath. We'll see you at Gen Con at booth 1401, and at the  Munchkin Tavern!



– Hunter Shelburne



Warehouse 23 News: It's Hard Work To Slack This Much



Hang out with friends, play with cats, and avoid getting a job if you can. It's another day with the Chez Geek House Party , which includes the original Chez Geek plus cards from two expansions. Get it today from Warehouse 23!

August 3, 2016: Gen Con 2016 Contest Schedule

Gen Con's opening bell is about to ring, so it's time to reveal the amazing contests we're running! We're giving away wonderful swag each day – some you have to be at the con to win, and some you can win from anywhere! For all social-media contests, you must Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, or Follow us on Instagram (whichever is applicable) to win.



A few contests will be running over multiple days of the convention. We start off with Twitter. On Wednesday (before the con even begins!) and each day until Sunday, you can win a copy of I Hate Zombies!  signed by designer Kevin Wilson. Simply reply to the #GenConZom tweet when you see it and follow the instructions. You must enter by midnight EST.



On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, you will get a chance on Facebook to win a copy of Munchkin Knights  signed by the artist, Ian McGinty! Look for the #KnightyKnight post and follow the instructions each day. You can enter until midnight EST.



If you're at the con, you can win a seat to #PlayMunchkin with Andrew Hackard at our booth, at 2 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Look for the contest tweet early each day, reply with the hashtag, and retweet. Winners will be chosen at 1 p.m. EST, and informed via Twitter.



While you're at the booth, be sure to enter the physical drawing for a seat at our Munchkin Tavern guest dinner. Rub elbows with Steve Jackson, John Kovalic, Len Peralta, Lar DeSouza, and more! Enter your name and contact info at our information table at Booth #1401. Winners will be drawn at 3 p.m. each day and contacted.



Speaking of the Munchkin Tavern, I'll give out a copy of the exclusive, hard-to-find Munchkin Sketch Edition  each night! All you have to do is write your name on one of the Moop's Monster Mashup placemats, and I'll randomly select a winner daily at 7 p.m. EST. Winner must be present to receive the prize.



With all these guests around, it would be a waste not to get some signed loot for you guys, right? So of course we'll have some epic giveaways through each of our social-media streams.



On Friday, Facebook gets a shot at a Munchkin Monster Box  signed by the artist, John Kovalic! Just reply to the contest post with the hashtag #GenConMonster and follow the instructions to enter. Again, you have to enter by midnight EST.



Saturday features a special contest for Twitter. You'll have a chance to win a game signed by Lar DeSouza, the artist behind the Munchkin Playmat: Spyke's Christmas Wish ! The catch is that I can't even tell you what it is, because it'll be announced the night before at the  Munchkin Tavern. Just remember to look for the #GuestLartist contest, reply, and retweet for your chance to win. This is another one you'll need to enter by midnight EST.



Sunday we go out with a bang on Instagram with a copy of Munchkin Apocalypse Guest Artist Edition signed by Len Peralta himself! All you have to do to conquer the wasteland is find the #LenMunchkin post on Instagram, reply with the hashtag, and of course make sure you're following us. The cutoff is (you guessed it) midnight EST.



That may seem like a whole lot of stuff, but there will be more. I'll be posting flash Munchkin rules on Twitter, usable for a limited time. We've also partnered with #GenCant on Twitter, so look for their contests and a chance to win a copy of  Munchkin Cthulhu Guest Artist Edition . And of course I have the full might of my bag of wonders to reward gamers on social media and Gen Con attendees, so keep an eye on all of our channels and come by the booth for many chances to win!



– Hunter Shelburne



(Psst . . . this is Andrew, with one more special contest that I didn't even tell Hunter about, because I'm mean that way. I like celebrating Christmas in August, so watch for the special phrase on Twitter that I'll post each morning of Gen Con, defined as some point before noon. The first person to find me and repeat the special phrase back to me wins a copy of Munchkin Yule Log , the holiday-themed gameboard that's currently hidden in our secret Arctic vault. And if you've been good this year, I'll even sign it for you. Merry Christmas, munchkins!)



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: A Purr-Fect Game For Friends!



Don't get fed last! With the Simon's Cat Card Game in your paws, you and your cat friends can dodge Simon's attention and avoid Blame. Get it today from Warehouse 23!

August 2, 2016: Get A Tentacle For Free When You Play With Us At Gen Con

Just think of all the times in your life you've had to pay for tentacles. You buy a car, you've got to pay the extra tentacle fee. You eat dinner at a nice restaurant, they put tentacles on the bill without even asking you. You're driving to work and you remember you left all your tentacles at home, and you've got to stop at a gas station to pick some up on the fly. The list goes on.



That's why we know you'll be thrilled to hear that at Gen Con, when you demo a game at our booth, or buy one of our games at the convention, you'll get a tentacle – completely free! 



That's right. No hidden tentacle fees, no tentacle tips. Free.



Specifically, you'll get our Plush Tentacle in green. This tentacle giveaway is inspired by  Moop's Monster Mashup , a new Munchkin game that we will be demoing and showing off at Gen Con. In this insane, wordplay-packed adventure, players take on the monstrously mixed-up animal creations of the magician Moop using equally wacky animal-themed weaponry.



Now back on the subject that's really important here: that tentacle. It's 30" long, and soft and furry. And it's fully posable – no matter what shape you need a tentacle to be in at any given moment, this tentacle can fill that role.



Stop by booth 1401 at Gen Con to get yours. Next time you need a tentacle, you'll regret it if you don't.



– Ariel Barkhurst



Warehouse 23 News: Cthulhu Is Back . . . And He's So Cute!



The darkness has never been brighter, thanks to Munchkin Cthulhu Guest Artist Edition . This classic game features all-new artwork by famed illustrator Katie Cook, bringing her amazing style to this tentacular game. The stars are right for getting it today from Warehouse 23!

August 1, 2016: Car Wars Delayed Until 2017

In the 2015 Report to the Stakeholders, I gave us a deadline of July 2 to send Car Wars sixth edition to print for a late 2016 release. Earlier this year, after a close review of the whole line – the first year of planned games and expansions, not just the basic game – we determined that it was best to delay the release of the new edition of Car Wars until 2017. We could have pushed forward and put the game into stores for Christmas of this year, but that would have meant no immediate support which would have left players without any new game options or miniatures for several months.
 
It is best, we decided, to have the first six months of Car Wars supplements complete so that players who enjoy the game have access to new game material – weapons, gadgets, scenarios, accessories – shortly after cracking open the box for the first time.
 
We continue to work on Car Wars , and at the moment we can report that:


The game features twelve different factions: six wasteland factions and six arena factions. Each faction represents a gang, corporation, outlaw group, or other organization within the Car Wars world.


There are three points of entry into the Car Wars game: The two-player Wastelands Starter, the two-player Arenas Starter, and the four-player Car Wars game. A player may buy any one of those and start playing immediately, and buying all three allows up to eight to play at once. 


From wheels to machineguns, Car Wars sixth edition is a new game. Everything from combat to maneuvering to vehicle design was designed to get players into combat within moments of sitting down at the table. The driving goal behind the overall creative process is best summed up with three words: Cars. With. Guns.


Car Wars sixth edition features plastic car miniatures at HO scale. Miniatures are included in the three games as well as in faction-specific expansion sets. At the moment, it looks like one faction pack – loaded with three plastic miniatures, several new game cards, and whatever tokens are required to use the cars in combat – will cost players $19.95. That's a lot of new options at a low price!


James Lowder, established author and editor with decades of experience in and out of the game industry, is at work on the first anthology of new stories set in the Car Wars sixth edition world. It is 2117, and this book tells a dozen tales, each centered on a different faction. Additionally, the anthology will include twelve new game cards so that players can incorporate bits of the stories into their game sessions. 


We are taking both the Car Wars anthology and the new game to Kickstarter, and the two projects will connect. The fiction project is first, and backers of the Car Wars anthology project who also back the game on Kickstarter will receive special bonus cards when they receive their rewards.


Additionally, we will offer special retailer reward levels for both projects. We will release information through our retailer newsletter once the projects launch on Kickstarter.
We want to thank all of you for your patience as we work toward completing the first wave of Car Wars sixth edition games and supplements. Retailers who want to play the new game are welcome to join us at our office on October 3, and gamers who are anxious to drive fast and fire weapons are invited to see us at BoardGameGeek Con in November. Austin gamers, watch the Daily Illuminator for playtest announcements; we plan to open to wider playtesting in Austin starting in October.
 
As always, Drive Offensively.



– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: Cthulhu Is Back . . . And He's So Cute!



The darkness has never been brighter, thanks to Munchkin Cthulhu Guest Artist Edition . This classic game features all-new artwork by famed illustrator Katie Cook, bringing her amazing style this tentacular game. The stars are right for getting it today from Warehouse 23!

July 31, 2016: Crowdfunding Focus - Gloom: Digital Edition

Guess what? You can pay money to kill weird people. 



Because in Gloom , the families are weird, your goal is to kill them horribly, and now you can fund the digital version of the game on Kickstarter! 



Remember Gloom ? It's the 2005 card game, designed by Keith Baker and published by Atlas Games, where you strive to make the lives of your family members more miserable than the lives of your opponents' family members, before killing them off one by one. Play cards representing tragedy (like "Mocked by Midgets") on your own family members; play cards with happy events like weddings on your opponents' families. We even collaborated with Atlas for their version of Munchkin Gloom . You can say we are fans. 



Sky Ship Studios is trying to raise $75,000 on Kickstarter to bring all that beautiful unhappiness to a video game – Gloom: Digital Edition . That's the subject of today's Crowdfunding Focus, an occasional series where we tell you about cool and nerdy things you can fund on the internet.



The digital game will have the same great, sad art style as the card game, with plenty more content. And since half the fun of Gloom has always been making up sad stories for your families by tying together all the terrible cards you play on them, Gloom: Digital Edition will feature animated characters that talk and tell the players their own tales of woe.



Pledge $10 or more and get the game. And if you like this idea, you really should fund it – it's got just under $32,000 at the time of this post's writing, and under a month to go in the campaign.



I'll let the Kickstarter write-up take us out: "Exploding with character and style, the denizens of Gloom are simply begging to be brought to life (so you can kill them)!" Oblige them with your kindly given cash.



– Ariel Barkhurst



Warehouse 23 News: Get An Axe To Grind!



Expand your Munchkin game with Munchkin 2 - Unnatural Axe . It adds 112 cards, including the Tentacle Demon, the Slug Thrower, and – of course – the Unnatural Axe itself. What more could you axe for? Get it today from Warehouse 23!

July 30, 2016: Car Wars Line Editor Talks Cars, Games

Steven Hesse over at Geek Apocalypse did a 90-minute podcast with legendary  Car Wars line editor Scott Haring, and it's 90 horsepower of fun. (Is 90 a lot of horsepower nowadays? I'm going with it.)



They talk about playtesting  Car Wars sixth edition, the boardgame industry, what Steve Jackson is like behind the scenes, writing for Ghostbusters and Forgotten Realms, Car Wars games in general, and starting a magazine.



Scott's an interesting guy, and the topics are interesting ones. Give it a listen if you're into Car Wars , or if you're just a geek . . . which you are. 



– Ariel Barkhurst



Warehouse 23 News: Get On Board To Party With Bill And Ted!



What's the easiest way to pass your history report? Travel through time collecting personages of historical significance, of course! Preorder the Bill & Ted's Excellent Boardgame from Warehouse 23, and be one of the first to party on through history!