In this issue:

- Welcome
- IGA 2005 Award Winners
- Red Hot Special
 

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

Welcome

With the sweltering heat during the day our balmy evenings are becoming something the crew looks forward to.  Spending time outside, a sundowner in one hand is just the thing.  However, we will not let that deter us from our gaming – one cannot spend all one’s time outside… ;)

A good time was had by all at Rage – it was great meeting some of our customers, and making new friends.  Boardgaming as a hobby is taking off and it is great to be a part of such an exciting period in South Africa.  We also hope you enjoy the newsletter, and a peek at our featured game of the month that reminds this crewmember of B-grade horror movies, darkened cinemas and munching on popcorn whilst enjoying deliciously scary moments!  But enough of that – do enjoy our newsletter and as always, if you do have any comments, queries or just want to chat about games contact us at info@boardgames.co.za

IGA 2005 Award Winners

The International Gamers Award (IGA) recently announced the winners for 2005 in two categories, namely the multiplayer game of the year, and the two player game of the year.

In the multiplayer category, the award went to the game Ticket to Ride: Europe from Days of Wonder.  TtR: Europe is a follow-up to the very successful Ticket to Ride and allows players to build train tracks across Europe.  The crew finds it quite humorous that even board games have sequels – luckily in this case TtR: Europe did not suffer from the dreaded ‘sequelitis’ that befalls so many of the follow-up films on circuit!

In the two-player category the wonderfully epic board game War of the Ring from Fantasy Flight Games was awarded the IGA two-player accolade.  This one is a firm favourite amongst some of the crew and recreates the journey of the One Ring successfully.

We here at boardgames.co.za are happy to say that both these games are in our inventory.  They deserve the awards, both are fun, exciting, challenging and do indeed bring people together!

Red Hot Special

The crew is very excited to offer a special deal to our customers – one that is bound to be even hotter than the heat wave currently being experienced in Gauteng!

Our special offer for October is the fun board game, Memoir ’44.  We have reduced the price on it to R429!  For more on this wonderfully fun and challenging two-player game, take a look at our Memoir ’44 webpage.  Oh, did we mention that it also took the IGA 2004 two player honours?

Featured Game of the Month - Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal at House on the Hill (BaHotH) is a game from Avalon Hill that focuses on recreating the B-grade horror movie genre in a boardgame environment.  Whilst not quite a Euro-game, the box itself is filled with goodies, from the heavy cardboard squares representing rooms to six cute figures representing the players.  There are also numerous (! No kidding) counters representing the assorted monsters, weapons, artifacts and miscellaneous objects one can find.  There are also three booklets – the rule book, a booklet containing the scenarios from the heroes view and a booklet containing the scenarios from the villain’s viewpoint.  It is targeted at three to six players, although is very playable with only two players.

BaHotH is – in effect – two games in one.  During the first part of the game the players work together as a team, exploring the haunted house room by room and level by level.  They uncover artifacts and weapons that will help them in the second part of the game.  In the second part, one of the players (and who this player is will not be known at the start of the game) turn on the rest, becoming the villain.  Both groups have a secret objective that will allow them to win the game – thus turning the game into a cat and mouse affair as each group tries to achieve their own objective whilst hampering the efforts of the other group.

The game board itself is built up room by room as the players explore the haunted house, collecting artifacts and weapons.  Furthermore various encounters can have a positive or negative effect on every player’s character.  At a randomly determined time the game changes when a chance encounter triggers a change in one of the characters, and that character turns on the others.  The game then becomes a race between the traditional groups of good (those characters trying to survive) and the forces of evil (the character that turned on the rest of the party).  Both groups have their own secret goals that must be met that add to the level of excitement and suspense – one never knows when your opponents may announce that they have won.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a blast to play – there are not many games where one can play chess against Death or face off against a giant worm that wishes to engulf the Earth.  In all fairness, the game is not a serious look at terror, what it is though is a fun romp that reminds one very much of the cheesy horror movies of yesteryear.

Additional Information

For more information on this game take a look at the boardgamegeek reference.

The official web page for BaHotH can be found on Wizard’s website – it even contains a Flash demo of the game to give prospective buyers and other interested parties a taste of how the game plays.

The Errata and FAQ can be found at Wizard’s FAQ page and is a must read as it provides more detail as well as an errata on the current ruleset.

View this game on our website here.

Subscribe

To subscribe to this newsletter, please click here.

Remember that subscribing to this newsletter gives you a chance to win a board game EVERY month. So stay tuned and WIN!

Please forward this mail to anyone who would be interested in receiving this newsletter.

That's a Wrap!

That’s all for now. We will be sending out another update in 2 weeks time. Until then, happy gaming! Please also give us any feedback that you may have.

Happy Gaming,

The Crazy Boardgames.co.za Crew

info@boardgames.co.za