GMS Magazine Podcast

Frankenstein is one of the most lovable “monsters” of literature. The nature of its genesis, the helplessness, the unfairness of the time and situation… It’s a truly sad and tragic story. To say that movies, plays, paintings, sculptures and pretty much any art expression you can think of has been used to illustrate and otherwise express what this novel conveys. And that includes games. Latest is F...

Our hobby has a nasty side sometimes and when it shows its ugly face it is very difficult to roll high enough to save for the trolls. And some trolls don’t go away even if you pour acid or burn them to the ground. That’s what happened recently with a Kickstarter project from Daring Entertainment. The company released a project to fund a FATE based super hero game and some people took it to heart t...

Dig Mars is a quick to play game we found at Spiel 2013. In this game players must turn tiles to reveal value and gather fortunes that will allow them to win the game. A simple gameplay that promises to make it a good game for beginners, the box’ contents have an average production that, although doesn’t blow away, it does what is supposed to and does it well. But is the game any good? Michael and...

Legendary Games has been creating Pathfinder material for a while now and they do indeed know what they’re doing. Our very own Endzeitgeist has written numerous reviews of their products and more often than not he’s very complimentary, which is a good sing indeed! It seems that now they’re setting themselves up for something bigger and better than anything they’ve done before and for that they’re...

Quantum is fantastic. Let me say that from the start. I saw this game at Spiel 2013 and spoke to the minds behind Funforge to find out about the game and I was sold pretty much right away. It looked gorgeous, people seemed to be having a great time playing it and it was quick and easy to play. What’s not to like, right? Well, I didn’t really know what wasn’t to like because I hadn’t played it, but...

Dungeon Fighter was launched by Cranio Creations to much acclaim for being fiendishly difficult and a ton of fun to play. And silly. It’s very, very silly. This game sees you rolling dice on a strangely shaped board in order to determine if you’ve succeeded to attack monsters that inhabit… yes, you guessed, dungeons. But the way you roll is dictated by different icons that come from decks of cards...

The Mistborn Adventure Game, published by Crafty Games, took the world created by Brandon Sanderson and turned it into an excellent game. And I mean really, really excellent. Now they’ve come out with a new supplement for the game that explores and expands on the canon of the world and cities for the world. To find out more about this book and what it contains, I spoke to writers Alex Flagg and Lo...

Relic Runners was released at Spiel 2013 by Days of Wonder and I was super keen to take a proper look. Designed by Matthew Dunstan, Relic Runner puts the players in the roles of intrepid treasure hunters who will have to search for treasure and uncover the secrets they need to obtain the relics needed to win the game. A light game with simple mechanics and great components (you wan see the unboxin...

Braggart is what happens when Michael goes Christmas shopping. He gets games for his friends. In this case for Max, who gleefully and expectantly opened this game with tears in his eyes at the thought of what wonderful time we were going to have playing this cute looking card game. After all Braggart is a very cute looking game and who doesn’t like the idea of bragging about the many adventures an...

Once again we’re Jim and I are back ready to talk RPGs to our hearts content and, hopefully to your heart’s satisfaction. Firstly Jim talks about systems that don’t manage to match the rules and the setting. We discuss how to go about choosing a set of rules for your game and when it’s more appropriate to create one’s rules and when choosing an existing set of rules. We talk about my game, Deimono...

Slavery has played a horrific role in the history of many countries for a very, very long time. Far from being a thing of the past, slavery is still very present in modern day and efforts to eradicate it continue. Learning from history is probably the best way to understand where we come from and where we’re going. Freedom – The Underground Railroad does exactly that. Taking a massive risk, Academ...

I have been looking forward to seeing Mindjammer for a long time. The Space Opera game that will probably set a new precedent for future sci-fi games is finally almost here and I am seriously looking forward to seeing what Sarah Newton is going to bless our gaming shelves with. I came accross Mindjammer years ago when Sarah Newton published her first novel. I read it in a lot less time than I was...

Mage Company, the guys behind Wrong Chemistry and 12 Realms, have now gone to Kickstarter to fund their latest game, Hoyuk, a game in which you take on the role of a human 10,000 years ago trying to erect a village. Although Hoyuk was released in 2006 as a print and play, the game has been reworked to be produced as a physical product and bring it onto the table. As always, I was very curious abou...

Published in 2012 by AEG, Dominare is part of the Tempest series of boardgame that the prolific company has released and that includes Mercante and others. In Dominare you try to gain control of the city of Tempest by spreading your influence through the city and developing a network to control the different areas of the city. Designed by Jim Pinto and with gorgeous artwork by Andrew Hepworth and...

Doctor Reddy, Paco and Kara mingle a bit to bring you some reviews and conversation on the world of boardgaming.00:00:00 Introduction00:03:30 What games have Paco and Dr Mike been playing including Ghost Blitz and Duko00:06:15 What Paco and Dr Mike got for Christmas including Ligretto, Lego Heroica and Pandemic and a chance to win Dungeon Roll00:16:28 UK Games Expo Guests and Workshops including C...

After a while in which we’ve kept the room under lock and key, we are back to discuss all things role play and cover topics gaming related that might, or might not, be of interest to you, our lovely listeners. Together with the furniture, we’ve made some changes to the hosts. Or maybe I should say an addition. I am very pleased to announce that Jim Pinto, of Postworld Games will be joining us on a...

I haven’t played an Euro with good theme since O2. And that wasn’t a game for beginners either. In fact it was quite a hard day. Michael Chamberlain was very excited about this one but, since for him a headache induced by a game is the best way to rate how good a game is, I was a bit apprehensive. The fact that this game is by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer did put me at ease a bit, but not...

For a long time now I have been looking forward to playing Serpent’s Tongue, a game I came across at Spiel at the Arctic Union booth. The game looked just gorgeous and the premise was seriously alluring; two magi battle by casting spells against each other. Presented like that you’d be forgiven for thinking I am just getting carried away and that there are many other battling games out there. You’...

I have learned to trust Michael Chamberlain when is about games. He kinda knows things I don’t. Tons of things. One of the things he knows how to do is spot great ideas and great sounding games in Kickstarter, and that’s exactly what he has done with Scoville. We got together with Ed Marriot and interview him about his game of chilly peppers farming. Must say it sounds a great deal more promising...

By Paco Garcia Jaen Time travel is one of those subjects that fascinate people throughout the Science Fiction and Fantasy spectrum and Timewatch wants to do something about it. There are tons of movies, novels and games that do their best with the subject, but with something like traveling the waves of time, it’s tough to come up with something truly convincing, specially if you have or want to in...

Star Wars has been at the heart of Science Fiction and geek culture since the first time it was screened in 1977 and the X-Wing has been one of the most iconic space crafts in the series. Thus it was no surprise that Fantasy Flight chose that very name for their Star Wars based miniatures game when they obtained the license from Lucas Arts. No doubt it was a big and pricey gamble for the company a...

Many people hear the words “historical games” and immediately get the unavoidable urge to yawn. Loudly. Yet, Academy Games has challenged that yawn reaction time and time again, and time and time again they’ve been successful. With an impressive collection of games of which their series Conflict of Heroes continues to succeed and draw new fans, Uwe (pronounced “oova”) Eickert and his team of merry...

By Michael Chamberlain and Max Murray In this podcast episode Michael and Max took a look at Rasputin, a game by designer Bob West and published Blue Panther. The premise of the game is to infiltrate the Winter Palace and destroy the menace that is Rasputin. Which is a lot easier said than done, btw. Interesting about this game is that it has, probably, the most durable tokens ever. They’re not ma...

By Paco Garcia Jaen, Michael Chamberlain and Max Murray Firefly, a boardgame with the simple motto Find a Crew, Find a Job. Keep Flying. Can it do justice to the series that inspired it? Firefly is a very much loved Science Fiction series. It surprised everyone when it turned out to be very, very decent, and it has a legion of loyal followers – and rightly so! – who are claiming and longing to see...

I’ve been waiting for Hero Forge for years and years and years and years. A company that can produce customised and bespoke  minis, printed on demand and to a such a high standard that there is no difference between those minis and those produced by more established companies. At least that’s what they claim and that’s why I thought it’d be a good idea to invite the two instigators and chief think...