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Affilliation
Kongregate’s Kongai has been released!
All the cards I earned by playing Kongregate’s Card Challege games these past months will finally be put to use! David Sirlin announced in his website that Kongai, one of the games he’s been designing, is already released to the public!
Here’s a description from David:
What is this virtual card game that I’ve been working on forever? Now you can find out for yourself here. It’s deceptively simple in that you only make about two clicks per turn: first choose your fighting range, then choose amongst attack / inercept / rest / switch characters. And yet I think you’ll find it tests the interesting skills of yomi (reading the mind of the opponent) and valuation (judging the relative value of moves in a game).
It turns out, I only missed 6 cards (ergo 6 weeks) since the card challenges started. Since you get to pick 3 additional cards from the ones you don’t have yet, I basically missed only 3 cards.
BTW, in case you didn’t realize it, the game is free. You get to pick 3 cards for your “starter” (3’s all you need to play the basic game) and earn more cards by playing the game or by completing the weekly Card Challenges in Kongregate.
Go try Kongai out yourself! If you need some info, tips, or links to the card list, check out Kongregate Wiki’s Kongai page.
Changes to Magic: The Gathering Starting with Shards of Alara
I guess WotC has more changes in mind this year aside from upgrading D&D.
WotC announced quite a lot of changes to Magic: The Gathering starting with the upcoming “Shards of Alara” block. MtG’s head designer Mark Rosewater talks about these changes.
A quick list of the changes:
- Sets will have fewer cards
- A new “mythic rare” rarity type will be introduced
- Booster packs will contain a basic land
- Theme Decks will be converted to “Intro Packs” (US$12.29, 41 cards + 1 booster)
Personally, the “mythic rare” feels like an an additional udder for the cash cow. With a non-standard composition of 56 cards (41 cards plus a booster) the “Intro Pack” feels a bit like an udder too. It does give you 3 rares instead of 2 (unfortunately you get 3 less uncommons).
Read the official announcement.
Here’s Mark Rosewater’s take on it.
Other news about it here, here, and here.
Tenacious Games (producer of The Spoils CCG) Closing Shop
Tenacious Games, the producer of The Spoils CCG, is closing shop. Patrick Meehan, founder, Creative & Art Director, and Chairman of the Board, posted last 2008.05/22 in The Spoils website forums about the difficulties in the past while.
The game got me curious a year ago because of all the positive feedback, and because Jon Finkel helped in its development. It’s personally annoying because I’ve been wanting to try the game out since then and I’ve never really had the time to go to the play/demo sessions around the metro. But I guess it will be much harder to the converts it made in the past while.
You can read Patrick Meehan’s post about the situation here.
[source] ICv2 - Tenacious Raises the White Flag
No tags for this post.Single Player Blue Moon for the PC/Mac
Want to try out the Blue Moon card game hands on? I’ve checked-out the rules before, but it’s one thing to analyze the rules and quite another to actually experience them at work. I never really got around to actually playing the Blue Moon card game because it’s a bit difficult to get the game and I couldn’t find anyone interested to try it out with me.
Blue Moon AI might help solve the latter problem by letting me play against an AI. It should at least give me a better perspective on the gameplay than by just reading the rules, possibly enough to help me decide if this game is right for me and my gaming group.
Download Blue Moon AI here. Source code, PC, and Mac post is avaliable.
Tags: Blue Moon, has downloadsInquest Gamer Magazine Discontinued
I just started to play Magic: The Gathering (online) this year. In order to get to a point where I actually started to appreciate the intricacies of the game (hence, have fun), Inquest Gamer Magazine had to be there to prod me along offine. Although it was focused on collectibles, it did give me an idea of how diverse the collectible gaming spectrum is. The budget decks also encouraged me to play and learn how how the different Magic cards can work together, even without a truckload of cash.
To make things worse, it just started getting cheaper. The prices of imported gaming magazines are typically a little prohibitive, and Inquest just began to make the mag really accessible to anyone. Now, of all times, Inquest will be discontinued.
The last issue will be the September 2007 issue. To many collectible gaming fans, this Inquest Gamer Magazine will surely be missed.
Tags: MtGWhat Color are You in Magic: The Gathering?
Take the Magic: The Gathering ‘What Color Are You?’ Quiz.
I’m a bit surprised I turned out to be White ‘coz I normally play using Green/Black.
Perhaps I should rethink my colors…
Future Sight Cards Listed at Gatherer
Want to know what cards will be in Future Sight? Wizards of the Coast has already updated Gatherer (the official card database) with entries of the cards that will be in Future Sight.
If the Future Sight Mini-site has been teasing you this long, perhaps you can take a look at what’s actually gonna be there.
Tags: MtGHobbycraft Magazine, the Philippines’ Newest Hobby Mag
I went to a nearby local comic/magazine/hobby to look for some back issues of Inquest when I noticed “Hobbycraft Magazine”. It was a local publication from PSICOM, was cheap, was new (1st issue just this April), and it seemed to include stuff about Magic: The Gathering. Being on the lookout for good local stuff, I got myself a copy.
“Hobbycraft Magazine” focuses on various on various “hobbies” in the Western geek context, mainly toys, card games, and collectibles. It appears to be InQuest Gamer, Toyfare, and some Magic: The Gathering website articles put together in local (Philippine) context. I don’t read Toyfare, so I can’t comment on how similar the toy related content is, but I have been reading InQuest regularly for a while, and I can see some similarities, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Budget decks, top cards, and playtests of featured decks are some things you’ll find familiar.
What i did like was the local context of it all. Card prices are in Philippine Peso, the lists don’t appear to be taken from other mags but based on local usage (though I don’t know how they come-up with their lists), and the decklists are based on local competitions. They also give you the who’s who on the various tournaments around.
I also give them credit for the general writing quality. I have been reading a local magazine that delves almost exclusively on online games, and though the news is updated, the writing leaves a lot to be desired in terms of content. Needless to say, I stopped reading that mag. The writing in Hobbycraft, however, generally has a good amount of meat per paragraph, which allows the reader to take in quite a bit of information considering the short write-ups. The quips on their pictures are also pretty good.
Issue #1 focused on Transformers, so it isn’t a surprise that most of the mag revolved around everything Autobot and Decepticon (plug: Transformers fans might want to check this out). Their toy reviews are pretty comprehensive, which is quite impressive. I wasn’t too hot on their “Prime rating” (i.e. using Optimus Prime instead of stars), but otherwise, they covered a lot of ground for each item reviewed. The price is also very reasonable, even compared to the new local price for InQuest.
It ain’t all perfect, tho, there are hiccups. For one, I saw some headings that slipped through editing. Also, I can’t seem to tell who wrote which article. Regarding the writing, as much as I praised the density of information, that style is a sort of double edged sword. There were parts where you’d have to be in the know to understand what the author is trying to say. For the most part, this was fine with me, but it may deter some real newbies to the genre.
Given focus, the local flavor, the price, and how much information they provide for your peso, I think “Hobbycraft Magazine” is off to a good start. Aside from the editorial slips (which I hopte won’t be there next time), I don’t have much qualms. I don’t really mind the jargon, but I hope they know which articles are for the newbies and which articles can handle the geek speak. It’s the debut issue, so we’ll have to see how things will be in the future. So far, though, I’m very glad I found something to read aside from InQuest.
If you’re interested in Magic: The Gathering, Word of Warcraft TCG, and toys in the Philippine context, grab a copy of “Hobbycraft Magazine”.
PS:
Given that the issue is about Transformers, if you’re interested in what “alternative Transformers” might be like should check this out.
Tags: MtG, pics
