In this issue:

- Welcome
- You against the Game
- Red Hot Special
 

- Featured Game of the Month
- Subscribe
- That's a Wrap

Welcome

The nights are cold, the days are not much better. What with winter in full swing, the boardgames crew decided to cook up a red-hot sizzler for our subscribers – take a look at the red-hot special deal section for an unmatched winter warmer.

We also have some bad news, our current supplier of Balderdash have run dry. The crew is rushing around like crazy looking for an alternative supplier – those of you that are on the waiting list for this game, rest assured you will be the first to be notified when we can supply Balderdash again. If you have any queries on this, please do not hesitate to contact us at crew@boardgames.co.za.

Before we get to the meat of the newsletter – for those in the Rosebank area, please do take advantage of our stall at the Rosebank Rooftop market. Pop in for a visit (stand 7B, 4th Avenue, Rosebank Mall) on a Sunday. If you wish to have a demo of a specific game, or want to buy one and make sure it will be available, then give our stall manager – Justin – a call. His number is 084 409-2358 to make any arrangements. Oh, and for those that wondered, the amazing Powerball is also available at the stall!

You against the Game

True cooperative games where all the players play against the game itself is rare. Games such as DOOM still has the player(s) playing against a person - be it the controller, games-master, dungeon master or evil overlord - that controls the actions of the opposing forces. Such actions are typically dictated in broad terms only, with the controller deciding on specific placements, actions and movement.

However, there are a couple of games where all players play against the game - there is no controller. The actions of the opposing forces are strictly controlled by rules governing what must be done. The players either win as a group, and generally one has to work together to ensure a win, or lose as a group.

Such games are rare - one of the first successful ones is the game Lord of the Rings designed by none other than Reiner Knizia. It spawned two very successful expansions: Friends and Foes and Sauron. Sauron is of interest as it actually introduces a human opponent into the game for the first time.

A new true cooperative game has recently been released onto the market, called Shadows over Camelot. Based on the Arthurian legends, every player is a knight fighting for Camelot. Take a look at the official site for more information on the game, along with a truly amazing game-board that was built for marketing purpose (such a board has true drool factor, imagine being able to play on it!). The game has an interesting twist in that one of the players may be a traitor that is trying to torpedo the attempts of all the others to defend Camelot from the forces of darkness.

A third one that has been overhauled and rereleased is a horror board game called Arkham Horror that is based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos. Players play the role of investigators that are trying to stop an unspeakable horror from being released on an unsuspecting world.

The boardgame crew trusts you enjoyed this overview of a different style of game!
 

Red Hot Special!

This month we have the popular Doom: The Board Game on special to our newsletter subscribers. We are offering this game to you at the discounted price of R399, instead of the normal price of R470. Please click here to take advantage of this special offer.

Featured Game of the Month

Our featured game this month is Evo. Have you ever wondered what life as a dinosaur would have been like? Not only would you have to fight off other dinosaurs to ensure that your species became dominant, you also had to evolve to meet changing conditions in the environment around you. And then, somewhere, in the back of your mind was the suspicion that one day an enormous meteor will descend from the sky and destroy your entire world...

Sounds bleak, but Descartes and Euro Games turned the above premise into a fun and exciting game that combines a lot of strategy, bidding, resource management and a bit of luck into a single, highly enjoyable package. Evo builds on the Euro game standard with aplomb. Originally a French game, the English translation is being enjoyed all over the world - including South Africa. Whilst people at first glance may mistake the game as one aimed at the children's market due to the colourful box cover with cartoony dinosaurs; that would be a mistake as it is aimed at teenagers and adults alike. Three to five players can enjoy the game, although rules are available online if only two players are available.

Evo comes in a - it appears obligatory for a Euro game - oversized square box. It is filled with two double-sided map-boards that can be assembled into different configurations depending on the number of players. The map-board represents an island divided into different zones. The rest of the box is filled with wooden markers, gene counters, dinosaur tokens and a number of boards for display, bidding and information purposes. Also in the box is a small cloth bag from which players draw the gene counters - a touch rarely seen in other games.

During a turn the climate may change, affecting the landscape by turning previously temperate zones into areas that could be lethal to a player’s dinosaurs. Each player will then move his dinosaurs, fighting as they encroach on each other’s space. New dinosaurs will be born, some will die and the survivors will mutate. If the meteor does not hit the island, players will get a chance to bid on genes that will allow for further mutations of their dinosaurs.

For more information, images of the game, comments and reviews see the boardgamegeek reference.
 

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That's a Wrap!

That’s all for now. We will be sending out another update in 2 weeks time. Until then, happy gaming! Hope to see you soon at RAGE, at the Dome, Northgate. 30 September - 2 October. Please also give us any feedback that you may have.

Happy Gaming,

The Crazy Boardgames.co.za Crew

crew@boardgames.co.za