Tzolk'in expansion??!?!

Exciting news about my favourite game of the past year!  This coming from the latest Gathering of Friends (where our giddy contributer Daryl just spent the weekend):

"Tribes and Prophecies"

Looks like special starting powers for the different players

You should check out Dale Yu's complete article at OG for more details about a few other games....

Two more reasons why I love Days of Wonder...

This is mostly due to my somewhat unhealthy ongoing obsession with all things Ticket To Ride, one of the greatest board games ever made.  In any case, here they are:

1)  'Heart of Africa' expansion with new terrain cards that can increase the value of routes when claimed.  Yes, yes, please.

2)  A new set of orange Halloween-themed trains for no other reason than the sheer awesomeness of miniature freight cars bearing pumpkins.  Amazing.

First play: Dominion - Dark Ages....

Instead of reviewing this, I'll just tell you that the theme of Dark Ages is the trash pile. 

And now I'll show you a picture of our trash pile near the end of a 3-player round.  Epic.


About 70 cards in there...



Dominion: Dark Ages preview...

After a few delightful games of Hinterlands with the parentals last week ("I'll buy that card which lets me take that card which gives me that other card, letting me have two of those cards!  Woohoo!"), I decided to get all re-excited about Dominion again.  So without further ado, 15 cards from the upcoming Dark Ages expansion and a description direct from Donald himself on BGG:

Dominion: Dark Ages is the seventh addition to the game of Dominion. It contains 500 cards but is not a standalone game. It adds 35 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus new bad cards you give to other players (Ruins), new cards to replace starting Estates (Shelters), and cards you can get only via specific other cards. The central themes are the trash and upgrading. There are cards that do something when trashed, cards that care about the trash, cards that upgrade themselves, and ways to upgrade other cards.

New Dominion: Hinterland cards...

I'd say that this expansion is shaping up to look as good as Prosperity.  Thanks to Prosperity, getting into and expanding your deck very quickly makes for a dynamic game and has revived of our enjoyment of Dominion.

You can see the rest of the new cards in the ruleset here.

The new Ticket to Ride maps!

Yep, they're almost here!  Two new sets of maps for Ticket To Ride, one of the greatest games ever invented, and they're supposed to be available before the end of the year.  These include two of the TTR map contest winning designs and there are also some clever new rules to go along with both sets (including a team variant!).  You can read the new rules at the Days of Wonder website.

But if you're if like me, you just wanna see what the new maps of India and Asia look like.  Click on them to see larger images:

Indian subcontinent, with the new "Mandala" bonuses

Team Asia, for 4 or 6 players in teams of 2

Legendary Asia, with mountain passes that destroy your trains!  Wicked.

It's gonna be a fantastic Christmas....

More images from upcoming 7 Wonders: Leaders....

The Geek points us to new images of cards and pieces from the upcoming expansion to my favourite game of 2010.  Take a look....

It's hard to say whether this will change the game all that much or bring a little more depth of strategy, but I'll probably pick it up anyways. We're still playing 7 Wonders and a little more variety sure wouldn't hurt.

Brilliant marketing....

Days of Wonder never ceases to impress with their ongoing campaigns.  The videos to drum up excitement for Cargo Noir, the contest to invent a Ticket To Ride map...  They just always have something going for fans.

Well, a quick peek at the hidden pic on BGG or the creepy shadowy figure on the Small World page suggests another, darker expansion on the way.

Ok, I'll bite.  I'm excited.

Dixit: Odyssey card preview...

Asmodee has images from the upcoming expansion to one of the most creative party games ever made.  Here's a few of my faves.  Lovely.

 

Godzilla!!!!!!

Enjoyed a few expansions in the last week or so.  Dominion: Prosperity (which really should have been called Dominion: The World Is Friggin' Yours!) has reignited our love for the game after a long Tichu-filled hiatus.  All the reports are true, the Scarface edition is a riot and every person who ever loved Dominion should try this one out.  Worth every platinum coin.

Oh, the poor mid-west.

Also, played TTR: The Monster Expansion yesterday night.  Definitely adds a nasty element to the game although in our 5-player game, the person who won by a lot actually moved the monsters the least.  This might not bode well for the expansion.  We shall see...

Dexter humbly ponders the utter devastation of LA.  Sigh.

Side note:  Biblios, the long-awaited reprint of Dr. Finn's acclaimed Scripts & Scribes, finally arrived in the mail today.  Most of us only heard about how good this indy card game was but never got a chance to play it.  Now, it's time...

Ticket To Ride contest...

In anticipation of my first game of TTR with the Monster expansion this weekend, I must mention the new contest being put on by Days of Wonder (contest details here).  They are giving away 10,000 bucks to the person who designs the best TTR board for the upcoming expansions due out the end of this year.  To be honest, I probably won't bother designing a board for the contest, I'm just excited about NEW TICKET TO RIDE BOARDS IN OCTOBER!!!!!!   WOOHOO!!!!

Mannequin piss?!?!? What the....

No, no, no, 'Manneken Pis', which is the 8th wonder from Belgium that can be played with my favourite new game 7 Wonders.  Although Wikipedia describes it as

...a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.

Okay.  So maybe the name is kinda appropriate.  In any case, boy, was I excited to receive this (nearly) free expansion.  I'm really loving the Geek right now.  With it, I also ordered a new card for Dominion, the Stash, all for a cost of ten bucks, most of which covered the shipping.  You should really check their online store.  I can't wait for the Power Grid expansion cards to arrive.  Definitely will be worth the five bucks!