GMS Magazine Podcast

A couple of weeks ago I brought you an interview with Sarah in which we talked about the game and the Kickstarter campaign. However we left behind some important aspects of the game, like the illustration and the physical products, as well as the schedule for the production line and the Traveller version of Mindjammer that has already been backed. So here we are again, having another chat with the...

By Paco Garcia Jaen Those of you who know me at all, or listen to the podcast, know that I am in love with Mindjammer and its universe. I liked it when I read the novel, I liked it even more when I read the book and the adventure Hearts and Minds consolidated what I already knew with a superb setting packed with action. Of course the whole concept is by Sarah Newton and I still believe she’s proba...

Thanks to Piotr Żuchowski, I managed to get my hands on an early production copy of Heroes a few months ago. Since then, I’ve managed to do the Unboxing video and play the game a few times and must say loving it every time I play. This is a weird thing for me to say because, to be perfectly honest, I don’t like real-time dice-throwing games. They make me very anxious and the lack of chance to thin...

Rome: Rise to Power is another history based game, this time from Golden Egg Games, creators of City Council and Athlas Duel for Divinity and also with a nice twist: A trademarked mechanic system. It’s all in the podcast… Also very interesting is that this time the game is also going to be finished, printed, produced and delivered in time for Spiel… And it has four days to finish! Hope the intervi...

Prime Time Broadcast Tycoon is the latest offering from Golden Egg Games, a company that keeps coming up with great game after great game. This time they are offering a TV channel simulator in which the players have to create their own shows, arrange a weekly schedule and compete to get the most audience and generate sales through advertising. That sounds very much close to real life… And they kee...

For those of us who are on the other side of the planet, GenCon is a very difficult to reach convention. And that can be frustrating because, inarguably, GenCon is the best RPG convention in the world and the biggest. And we can’t be there. Or I can’t. However both Vickey and Jim do get there and spend a lot of time working and doing cool stuff and can tell us all about it. And we discuss the Enni...

Heroes is a deck building game for 2 to 4 players that combine real time dice rolling mechanics with deck building and battling all in one. And it looks truly stunning. Now, I am not a friend of real-time dice-rolling mechanics. It just drives me mad, but in this occasion it works really well and the game is a joy to play at every single level. The battle side of things is also pretty cool and I l...

Sometimes people have great ideas and they need to go to Kickstarter to get them realised because money is tight. That’s the whole principle of Kickstarter, I know. But I also know that some people have grown increasingly cynical of some projects that go to Kickstarter for the marketing and not the need. This is not one of those situations. The Bespoke Geek is a newly created company that wants to...

I came by Soulfall, from Smallbox Games, after my friend Alf Seegert recommended it and I pretty much right away backed the game based on the artwork alone. With dreamy and very evocative illustrations, this game for two to four players already had something to pull me in even though I knew nothing about the theme or mechanics. It didn’t matter. This time I was buying out of a recommendation from...

Some of us have friends all over the world and with social networks and convention attending, it’s very easy to meet people with a common interest. And continuing with a game you start while away, or simply when you’re on holidays be able to attend your weekly game and keep the paladin doing paladin stuff. Virtual tables have been the topic of much talk in the last few years and they’re getting be...

I think it’s safe to say that every single roleplaying games out there has, at some point, wanted to write games. Whether it is for their own adventures, new classes, professions, spells… and fully fledged games too, of course. The RPG industry relies quite heavily on freelancers because few companies can afford to hire full-time writers. And when they do, they can afford to hire the best of the b...

In 2005, Green Ronin published a pretty different fantasy game called Blue Rose. It defined itself as a Romantic Fantasy Roleplaying Game and it made a point of having social inclusion and diversity as part of the setting and ethos of the whole game. As oftentimes happen, the game became in need of some updating and TLC and it languished for a few years despite the fact that it was far from forgot...

Playing RPGs is a source of joy and entertainment for those who play them, but sometimes, just sometimes, things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes there’s someone who ruins your game. And it can be you ruining it and not even realise. In this episode, Jim Pinto and I talk about some of the bad experiences we’ve had at the table and we air some dirty secrets, as well as a few tips on how to sto...

Legendary Games has been creating some impressive material for quite some time now. With a great ability to surround themselves with terrific writers, they hit the mark very, very often. Now Legendary Games have joined forces with a terrific plethora of authors to create Legendary Planet Adventure Path, a very interesting take on the fantasy and science fiction games with this new adventure path f...

Onix Path has created some of the most iconic and popular roleplaying games out there and now they want to repeat the feat by publishing Beast: The Primordial, a game in which the players take on the roles of creatures that are the product of nightmares. Or the cause. This game has been in development for over a year by writer and author Matthew McFarland and, if in the past he’s had some good ide...

Sometimes players have to leave the room for a few weeks at the time and sometimes they leave their characters behind so they can come back and retake the session. That happens more often than not in long term campaigns. What should happen to those characters? In this episode Vickey Beaver, Jim Pinto and myself discuss the dos and don’ts of dealing with characters that have been left behind and th...

Academy Games is currently in Kickstarter with a new version of a game called Mare Nostrum; a game of building empires, defending territories, building alliances and managing lots of resources. The company has had massive successes in the past with games like Fief – France 1429, 1775 Rebellion, Freedon – The Underground Railroad and the Conflict of Heroes series and now they’re poised to repeat th...

This project has nothing to do with Kickstarter, I am pleased to say, but it nonetheless relies on the community and its collective imagination. Imagine an imaginary arena where foes are pit against each other. And stories were told about those mighty battles with a winner to be crowned the winner. Well, that is what Tournament of Souls is all about and it sounds pretty excellent. I spoke with Dan...

I bought Boss Monster two years ago and just now I’ve managed to do a review. I know… I know… lazy bugger I am. It’s even worse because the game is very good and fun to play (though annoying at times too). This a dungeon builder game in which the players take the role of the bosses in a retro videogame from the late 80s and early 90s. Said dungeon is built by placing cards beside the boss and comp...

Although not many people think about countries like Greece a country with a board game tradition, some companies are keen on setting a stepping stone and bring some excellent games to the table of as many as possible. Mage Company has been doing that since they released Wrong Chemistry a few years ago and then levelled up with 12 Realms only to then get even better with Hoyuk and now they have som...

Probably the most anticipated game I’ve backed in Kickstarter, Cthulhu Wars was going to be a massive hit or a huge flop. In this game, you, the player, take the role of one of four faction of Great Ones who are battling to conquer our planet and turn it into your realm. You’ll have to manage you cultists, summon your creatures, fight for the control of lands… And have fun. Lots of fun. The delays...

Apologies for the initial problem with the sound. Using new editing software and found about this too late. Recently a massive outrage exploded onto the Internet on the back, of Bruce Cordel’s game The Strange and a recursion within the game that treats with the culture of Native American people. A petition was started that demanded the immediate removal of the Thunder Plains from the book and tha...

Shadow of the Demon Lord is a game that I have been looking forward to for many months. Robert Schwalb is a talented designer like few others and anything that comes out of his inkwell is worth paying good attention to. This Kickstarter has funded has funded a game that is breaking with a lot of the traditions of Role Playing Games and offers a new system, both mechanically and in its ethos, to sh...

Fablesmith has now a new game in Kickstarter by the name of Hylaria. A storytelling game with different mechanics and quirky art work that sets it apart from the rest. In the past, Fablesmith has brought us Ortus, an abstract game for two players with more strategy one can shake a stick at, and Oh No! Invasion a cooperative game in which the players will have to work together to fight of a series...

Running a game is not an exact science. Not even sure it is a science but sometimes it feels like it because you have to experiment a lot to get the desired results. And then you have to try again in a different group to get results and you might not get the results you wanted because… well, because people. And yet we do learn to keep our games smooth so they are fun for everyone involved. Or we t...