Scott King's Blog, page 30
July 3, 2014
Cannoli Cupcake!
This is a cannoli cupcake! It’s vanilla bean cake stuffed with the sweet cream of a cannoli. It was soooo yummy.
On a side note if you like Cupcakes then you should checkout my new book, “Cupcakes vs. Brownies!”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
It’s a candypunk novel and Cupcakes are one of the most important things in it!
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July 2, 2014
Fantasy Frontier Preview!
Fantasy Frontier, designed by Michael Coe and published by Gamelyn Games is a tactical pattern creation game that uses a mix of euro style worker placement and pure ameritrash battles!
Players in Fantasy Frontier control a Zeppelin and its crew. Their goal is to score victory points and the most common way to do so is by creating patterns out of environmental tiles. This is mostly done through exploration but can also be completed by firing on the land, destroying it, and then replacing it with a new tile.
Actions are taken by placing crew members on specific Zeppelin stations. For example if you wanted to move the ship you would need to have someone at the pilot station or if you needed to search for new tiles you could have a crew member assigned to the scout station.
By the end of the game, the play area becomes a beautiful mix of colors and is a real mind bender when trying to figure out if a pattern has been successfully completed or not. Because spacial reasoning and pattern recognition is so important to gameplay, Fantasy Frontier has the potential to be a thinky game without the weight or pressure of a full Euro like Agricola.
One of the main things players will do throughout the game is gather resources. They do so through dice rolling and the resources can be used to take extra actions, used to mitigate dice rolls, or even spent to build cities. Although these seem like minor things, they really give players meaningful choices to make.
If players are feeling a little more confrontational, the Zeppelins do have guns and victory points can be earned through battle. When attacking a player can damage a station on their opponent’s ship or even target and try to destroy some of their resources.
Fantasy Frontier is a smart and no two playthroughs are alike. If you want to pick up a copy you can do so from Game Salute!
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July 1, 2014
I’m on Funding The Dream!
I got a chance to be on Funding The Dream podcast. I talked to the host, Richard Bliss about books, publishing, and running small Kickstarters. You can download and listen to the episode here.
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June 30, 2014
Final Week for Cupcakes vs. Brownies!
We are in the final week for the Cupcakes vs. Brownies Kickstarter Campaign. If you’ve not yet seen the trailer for the book then checkout the video above and then head over to the Kickstarter page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
A print copy only cost $19, but you can get a DRM-Free e-book for just $4. That’s less than the cost of a fancy coffee!
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June 26, 2014
Pancakes!
Chocolate Chip pancakes with REAL maple syrup. We did these the other night when doing “Breakfast for Dinner.”
On a side note if you like pancakes you may want to checkout my new book, “Cupcakes vs. Brownies!”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
It’s a candypunk novel and pancakes show up in the first third of the book.
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June 25, 2014
Hegemonic Preview!
Hegemonic is a space colonization game published by Minion Games and designed by Oliver Kiley. Although at first glance Hegemonic looks a lot like Eclipse or Twilight Imperium it’s drastically different.
For starters instead of micromanaging a fleet of ships, players control space from a more zoomed out level. Hegemonic is more about the big picture. Because of this the gameplay is abstract and it feels more like a euro than players going head to head in a huge space battle.
Because of the density of the game and the dry feel of the theme, Hegemonic is best suited for players that enjoy abstracts or games with perfect information. It is all about calculations and strategies as opposed to taking a big ship and trying to blow up someone else’s big ship.
The components in Hegemonic are fantastic and the game looks gorgeous so make sure you peruse the photos below. Also, Minion Game’s website has several gameplay videos and tutorials if you’re curious on how the game works.
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June 24, 2014
Double Chocolate Crispy Cookies!
These bad boys are another treat I scored at Central Market in Houston. They have a super crispy crust but the inside is soft and moist like a cake. They were delicious.
On a side note if you like cookies you may want to checkout my new book, “Cupcakes vs. Brownies!”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
It’s a candypunk novel and chocolate cookies plays a big part in one of the locations.
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Stretch Goals for Cupcakes vs. Brownies!
We hit our funding goal for Cupcakes vs. Brownies on Kickstarter so I’m pleased to announce stretch goals!
Having the chapter headers (one will be a cupcake and the other a brownie) will help raise the overall production quality of the book while having the map in the front of the novel will help sell that fantasy adventure vibe. Plus with the map, readers will be able to track Karim’s journey as he explores the world of “Cupcakes vs. Brownies.”
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Adam P. McIver’s work, he’s an artist, game designer, and best known for having created Coin Age so he’s no stranger to map making.
If you’ve not yet checked out Cupcakes vs. Brownies then now is a great time to do so!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
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June 18, 2014
Dulce De Leche Cheesecake!
I’m a salty guy but Lisa is a sweet gal so we’ve scouted a lot of dessert places in Houston and so far The Chocolate Bar is the best. Its where I got the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake pictured above, which was absolutely yummy!
On a side note if you like Dulce De Leche you may want to checkout my new book, “Cupcakes vs. Brownies!”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/cupcakes-vs-brownies
It’s a candypunk novel and Dulce de Leche plays a big part in one of the earlier scenes!
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June 16, 2014
Alien Frontiers Preview!
Alien Frontiers was released before I got involved in the gaming community. I’ver heard publishers say its the reason they got into publishings. I’ve heard gamers declare it THE GAME of the Kickstarter generation.
Unfortunately I’ve never played it because it’s been sold out and out of print… until now!
It’s hard to explain what Alien Frontiers does right because it does so many different things and does them all so well. At its core, it’s a dice rolling worker placement game with a touch of area control and hand management.
On a player’s turn they roll their dice and then place them around the board. Each location has a not only a different effect but also different rules on how the dice may be placed. For example in the Lunar Mine the dice to the right must always have a greater value.
Ultimately, players are trying to collect resources and maneuver their dice in such a way that they can place a colony on the planet. For end game scoring, it’s the control of the areas on the planet that really matter and each area offers a special ability.
That means much of the game is about using the special abilities along with cards to create system that edges you forward past all the other players.
I was shocked at how solid of a game Alien Frontiers is. At first glance it has cool components but because because it is an older game it carries the stigma of not being fresh. Yet once you get to play you realize it’s not out dated in the slightest. It’s also a fantastic medium level game, perfect for gamers or groups who are ready to movie past Catan or Lords of Waterdeep.
The fourth edition of the game not only plays wonderfully but looks amazing. The components have been upgraded and the colors as well as the overall graphic design give Alien Frontiers a fun retro vibe. The board itself is even two sided so that when Game Salute releases the fabled Rocket Die (dice in the shape of rockets) players can truly pimp out their copies!
Although Game Salute has already sold out of Alien Frontiers, it is currently available on Amazon and through some local game stores. If you’ve never played, its definitely a fun game worth checking out.
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