Summer 2013 - Best Summer Ever For Games

According to a new report in ICv2's Internal Correspondence, the long bull market for game sales continued throughout the Summer season, with some retailers describing it as "the best summer ever". For the first time, single-category stores selling almost exclusively CCGs, with event space, appear to be developing as a viable business model.

The Kickstarter phenomenon is still kicking - no pun intended - with more Kickstarted products going into trade release and, in general, selling in rough proportion to their popularity with Kickstarter.

Exposure on the second season of TableTop continues to have a sales impact when it comes to bringing games to your tabletop - again, no pun intended - with varying opinions on whether its the same size or a little smaller when compared to last year. As owner/operator of a gaming store, we can tell you that TableTop has had a considerable impact on the sale of board games. Every month we get several orders for whatever board game Wil Wheaton just featured in TableTop. If he ever visits Puerto Rico, dinner is on me!

Major shifts in the bestseller charts include Shifts below the top in collectible games, a new #1 in board games, Steve Jackson's Munchkin's return to the top in card games, Star Wars moving up in miniature games despite supply problems, and a *BIG* move in the RPG category. All these lists and more coming up tomorrow and the following days!

Geek TV Now As Popular As Jock TV

Ratings for geek-themed television shows are now overtaking the ratings of major sports programming. The Walking Dead's ratings in the 18-49 demographics topped both Sunday Night Football and the World Series this past Sunday night. The Walking Dead had a rating of 6.8 while Sunday Night Football hit 6.3 and the World Series ranked at 5 for this demographic group.

As a result of this surge in popularity, ad rates for air time during geek TV shows has also risen accordingly. For example, The Big Bang Theory has high ratings that keep on rising in this demographic. As a result, so does the price of commercial ad time during the show. A 30-second spot during the show goes for $326,260! Except for NFL football, which still charges more for its air time because of its larger overall audience, ad time during The Big Bang Theory is the highest right now for any 30-second spot.

This is actually good news for geek TV programming. If geek TV shows are doing the best in the most desirable demographics, it is only logical that more geek TV shows will hit the airwaves as TV networks fight for viewers' attention.

Knights Templar: A Secret History

Born during the dark days that saw the struggles of the great crusades, the warrior monks of the Knights Templar vowed to defend the pilgrims traveling to the Holy Lands. In actuality, there are few, if any, historical records of the Templars ever fulfilling this task. Instead, historical records show that the Templars' history is one of bloodshed and conquest, wealth and power, dark secrets and conspiracies. Today, their story is intricately linked with the story of the Holy Grail. But what exactly is this ancient artifact?  How has it been used to manipulate history for the last one thousand years?

This book is based on the notes of the recently diseased historian Dr. Emile Fouchet and his attempts at unlocking the secrets of the Knights Templar. It begins with an examination of their historical origins, their growth in the early middle ages, and their supposed destruction under charges of heresy. From there, it uses the clues left by the Templars to reconstruct their secret journeys as they moved the Holy Grail from Europe to the New World and back. It also charts the secret, three-way war that is still being fought today between the Templars, the Freemasons, and the Catholic Church. Finally, the book reveals the greatest of all conspiracies, the attempt to found a new world order under the auspices of the European Union.

You don't have to agree with the author's conclusions to appreciate the historical anecdotes contained in this book. Well worth the read, if not for the treatment of controversial historical societies, then for the good ideas you will get the next time you wish to run an intrigue/conspiracy based RPG session or campaign.

Tatooine Disappearing Soon...

Northwest of the city of Tozeur, deep in Tunisia's Sahara desert, is an abandoned settlement of about 20 buildings that are partly submerged by the sand. Strangely familiar, they remind you of something alien you might see in a galaxy far, far away... it is the set George Lucas created for Tatooine, the birthplace of Anakin Skywalker. Thanks to the Tunisian government, is has remained intact, up to now.

Lorenz (center) with colleagues at the Mos Espa
site in Tunisia in 2009.

Today, the sand dunes of the Sahara are starting the process of claiming Tatooine as one more of the lost cities that lie under its sands. If you want to be a witness to what is surely an important piece of film history, you are running out of time. According to a 41-page scientific study from John Hopkins University's Ralph D. Lorenz and other scientists from University of Sousse, Brigham Young University, University of Idaho, and the Universita' d'Annunzio, the Tatooine set is starting to be covered by a sand dune moving at a rate of 4 cm per day.

It seems Tatooine is facing a threat far more serious than the Empire...

High Command: Hordes Deck-Building Card Game

Brutal conflict spreads cross the wilds of western Immoren, fought by savage warriors and terrible beasts. Powerful warlords orchestrate grand strategies and daring battlefield tactics, their actions bringing glorious victory - or the despair of final defeat. Do you have the courage and cunning to guide your forces to ultimate triumph? Take command of the mightiest warriors and beasts to conquer the wilds of Immoren!

Hordes High Command is a deck building card game for 2-4 players set in the foreboding wilds of western Immoren. This stand-alone game can be played with just the contents of this box or combined with other Hordes High Command products for a customizable experience. Leverage your resources, gather your armies, and dominate your foes to stake claim to the wilds of western Immoren!  SRP: $44.99.

Dead Boy Detectives #1 - New Monthly Series

From the pages of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman's dead boys get their own monthly series!

As fans of storybook detectives, Edwin Pain (died 1916) and Charles Rowland (died 1990) will take on any and all mysteries - including their own untimely deaths. The dead boys head back to St. Hilarions, where bullying headmasters continue to rule the school. But when they investigate the lingering mysteries of their own deaths, they meet a young girl named Crystal whose tech skills and strange link to the undead earn her a place as a new detective. Dead Boy Detectives is a fast paced adventure series that takes us from the bustling streets of contemporary London to Japanese-inspired video games and dangerous worlds perched somewhere between the now and nevermore.

Expected release date: 01/01/14.

The Phantom Of The Opera

Her voice became his passion... Her love became his obsession... Her refusal became his rage!

A timeless story of seduction and despair, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is set at the Paris Opera House, where a beautiful soprano becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius. Asmodee Editions' The Phantom of the Opera takes this classic work and turns it into a two-player cat-and-mouse game of wits and deception.

The Opera House is clearly haunted, and the ghost wants to drive off La Carlotta, the lead diva. Chandeliers fall, strange voices whisper from the shadows, and it's only a matter of time before she leaves Paris forever. Portray the Phantom and scare off La Carlotta, or play as the investigator and discover the true identity of the fiend before it's too late.  SRP: $42.99.

BattleTech: Alpha Strike

For centuries, the armies of the Great Houses have fought to reclaim the glory of the fallen Star League, sending regiments of their elite MechWarriors into battle across hundreds of worlds as humanity slid inexorably toward a new Dark Age. The coming of the Clans - descendants of the lost Star League army - did little to stem the slaughter. It only raised the stakes...

Alpha Strike is a new fast-playing form of the BattleTech game of futuristic, armored combat. Developed for the modern tabletop miniatures wargamer, BattleTech: Alpha Strike brings players the ability to wage war on land, sea and air using the Quick-Strike game system first devised in Strategic Operations for truly large-scale play, re-scaled to the tactical level of "classic" BattleTech. 

Alpha Strike comes complete with sample armies and a ready-to-play campaign system - everything you need to fight for control over the Inner Sphere on land, sea and air - one world at a time. SRP: $39.99.

Firefly: The Game

"After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terra formed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under the rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work a gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying."

~ Shepherd Derrial Book ~

The popular television Firefly comes to life in a new board game from Gale Force Nine and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. An evocative universe, great storytelling, and compelling characters made Firefly a fan-favorite for more than a decade. Now, fans of the television show and board games, generally, can chart their own course with Firefly: The Game!

In Firefly: The Game, players captain their Firefly-class transport ship, traveling the 'Verse with a handpicked crew of fighters, mechanics, and other travelers. As a captain desperate for work, players are compelled to take any job - so long as it pays. Double-dealing employees, heavy-handed Alliance patrols, and marauding Reavers are all in a day's work for a ship's captain at the edge of the 'Verse.

Coming soon to The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, P.R.

Concordia - Due At Your FLGS This Month

An English version of Mac Gerdts' Concorida, a highly competitive economic board game set during the glory days of the Roman Empire, should be released by Rio Grande Games sometime this month. A 2-5 player Euro-style game, Concordia only has 4 pages of rules and takes a little bit over an hour and a half to play.

In Concordia, players head powerful Roman families who send colonists out to other cities of the Roman Empire to produce key economic items such as food, wine, clothes, and tools. Although Concordia does not involve wars or military conquests, it is a highly competitive game as players compete to gather cards to gain Victory Points. Strategy goes beyond having a well-developed plan of your own, but also requires that you keep an eye out for what your competitors are doing.

Concordia boasts two different mechanisms to ensure two games will never be the same: key action cards that are shuffled between games and a modular game board design. One side shows the entire Roman Empire, with 30 cities for a 3-5 player game. The other side shows just the Italian peninsula, with 25 Roman cities for a 2-5 player game.

An elaborately produced game, Concordia includes 75 houses, 15 sea colonists, 15 land colonists, 5 scoring makers and 80 individually shaped units of goods (190 wooden pieces); 65 personality cards, 5 player aids, 1 Concordia and 1 Praefectus Magnus card (72 cards); numerous cardboard pieces (storehouses, city tokens, bonus markers, coins); plus a two-sided game board, rule book, and a historical information booklet.

Quantum Board Game - Coming To The US In Q4

After an agreement between Seattle-based Passport Game Studios and Funforge, Eric Zimmerman's Quantum board game will finally make it to North America. While still at the prototype stage and with the title Armada d6, Quantum won the 2012 Game Design Award at the IndieCade Festival of Independent Games.

Quantum uses an area control mechanic and modular game boards that can be arranged in one of the 30 layouts that come with the game (or in any number of new configurations) to create a fascinating and infinitely variable game that combines both military and economic (building) strategies.  Each player is a fleet commander from one of four factions of humanity struggling to control a sector of space. Players win by constructing Quantum Cubes - massive planetary energy extractors. Each time a player constructs a Quantum Cube, he or she can expand her fleet, add a new ability, or make a special move.

With elegant mechanics, infinite scenarios, and easy-to-learn rules leading to deep gameplay,  Quantum is a one-of-a-kind game of space combat and strategy that will appeal to both hard-core and casual players.

Ticket To Ride Takes You To Paris

Next year will be the 10th Anniversary of the original release of Ticket to Ride. To celebrate, Days of Wonder is hosting a year long series of tournaments to determine the top players in the world and crown a new Ticket to Ride World Champion! Now through the summer of 2014, regional tournaments will be held throughout the world to determine qualifiers to play in National Championship events. The National Champions will then be invited to Paris in September 2014 for the Ticket to Ride World Championship and a chance to win the Grand Prize - an unforgettable trip for two to Asia on the Orient-Express!

Local tournaments will include prizes for the winner as well as participation prizes for everyone at the event.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends you contact The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo. The owner tells us that they will start running Ticket to Ride demo nights and weekend tournaments sometime between the end of October and beginning of November.

Venezia - Classic Economic Board Game Due In Q4

The English-language version of Italy's Statelibris Games' Venezia, the classic Euro-style economic board game that traces the rise of the trade-based Venetian Republic, will be available from Passport Games sometime in the upcoming Q4. Venezia was designed by Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, creators of the popular War of the Rings and Age of Conan board games.

In Venezia, players compete to become the most prosperous and influential noble family in the history of the Serenissima Republic. Each player controls a patrician household vying for power with other powerful families. To gain clout and fortune players must extend their influence outside the city by sending representatives to trading destinations throughout the Mediterranean. Players also participate in power struggles within the city as they compete to become the next Venetian ruler or "Doge", and to acquire more ducats as they attempt to build up their family's cash reserves.

Venetia is played across three epochs, tracing the rise of the Venetian economic powerhouse from its modest beginnings in the 9th Century to the apogee of its power in the 18th Century. Players not only have to deal with each other, but they also have to counter the threat from Genoa, the Turks and the Spanish to Venice's hegemony over the Mediterranean.

Coffin Hill #1 - In Stores This Month

Coffin Hill stars Eve Coffin, a rebellious teenage lowlife from a high-society family with a curse that goes back to the Salem Witch trials. Following a night of sex, drugs and witchcraft in the woods, Eve wakes up naked, covered in blood and unable to remember how she got there. One friend is missing, one is in a mental ward - and one knows that Eve is responsible. After a stint as a Boston cop that ends in a bullet wound to an unintended celebrity, Eve returns to Coffin Hill only to discover that the darkness that she unleashed ten years ago in the woods was never contained. It continues to seep through the town, cursing the soul of this sleepy Massachusetts hollow, spilling secrets and enacting its revenge. 

Set against the haunted backdrop of New England, Coffin Hill explores what people will do for power and retribution. Noted novelist Caitlin Kittredge, author of the Black London series, brings a smart, mesmerizing style to comics. Artist Inaki Miranda (Fables) brings his dynamic storytelling to Coffin Hill, after his acclaimed run on Fairest.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends that you contact The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, because they ordered a very limited number of this upcoming comic from Vertigo.

Relic Runners - From Days Of Wonder

The ancient relics had lain dormant in the darkest reaches of the jungle since time immemorial. But once word of their discovery broke out, all manner of would-be archeologists rushed in...

Days of Wonder introduces a new, large-format board game of jungle exploration. Relic Runners are fearless explorers, traveling the jungle in search of lost temples full of forgotten treasures and relics. Armed with nothing more than a trusty pith helmet and a nose for rare antiquities they'll explore temple ruins and shrines and undertake daring expeditions in a race to unearth the most treasure.

The goal in Relic Runners is to be the explorer who earns the most Victory Points (kept hidden from the others). You score Victory Points by: exploring three different types of Temples; increasing your capabilities via the Explorer's Progression Table; and perhaps most importantly - capturing Relics during well-planned Expeditions.

Players move their explorer figure among trails on the jungle board map - travelling routes to different stacks of Ruins and Temples. While an explorer may only move once along an unfamiliar trail, visiting a Ruin often earns the right to lay a new Pathway. Pathways enable the explorer to mark his familiarity with a trail. giving him the right to move freely along it. This makes it possible to take longer forays along multiple jungle trails - a key to having successful Relic Expeditions later in the game.

Explorers will encounter three different types of temples - layered stacks of various tiles in Ivory, Blue and Purple. Typically, each layer deeper a player explores in a temple, the more riches they will find. Some Temple tiles simply add victory points; some will give the explorer additional capabilities in the jungle; and some provide them with additional tools to work with in their explorations.

To explore any Temple or Ruin the player must spend a Ration Pack. These are limited in number and explorers will need to return to Base Camp regularly to replenish their rations. Of course, some Temple visits may give an explorer the ability to earn additional Ration Packs, making it possible for them to stay away from Base Camp for longer periods of time.

Once the last tile of a ruin or temple is removed from the board a Relic that matches the Temple's color is placed on that location on the board. A Relic can be used as either the starting point or ending point for a Relic expedition, one of the most lucrative ways of scoring Victory Points. An explorer can complete a Relic Expedition by beginning his turn on a shrine containing a Relic, and ending his move on another matching Relic. He can then take the Relic of the shrine he ended his move on and place it on his Explorer's Chart, immediately scoring the number of Victory Points equal to twice the number of Trails he moved along this turn. The longer the Relic Run, the more points he earns.

Following on Days of Wonder tradition of quality games and components, Relic Runners features a richly-illustrated jungle board map and beautiful Temple and Ruins tiles, plus 20 highly detailed Sculpted Relics. For 2-5 players, ages 10 and up. It takes approximately 40 minutes to play.

If you are in Puerto Rico, check out The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, where a few Relic Runners board games are about to arrive.

Star Wars RPG: Edge Of The Empire Specialization Decks

Edge of the Empire Specialization Decks provide GMs and players with an easy way to manage character and NPC talents at the gaming table. New and experienced players alike will appreciate these handy reference cards, and GMs will love being able to keep the action moving.

The nineteen career specialization talent trees available in the Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook are each represented by a deck of cards. No matter what your background, your character talents are vital as you and your crew deal with whatever surprises come your way. Keep your focus on the action with the help of the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Specialization Decks!

Each Specialization Deck comes with a reference card, which details how to use the twenty included talent cards. With a description of each talent, along with the icons for dice needed to make any relevant checks on each card, Specialization Decks ensure you'll have all the information you'll need to keep your head in the game. Edge of the Empire Specialization Decks don't replace the talent trees found in the Core Rulebook, but are instead an excellent optional tool, which help you stay focused on the game. The following Edge of the Empire Specialization Decks are currently available, at the SRP of $6.95 each:

• Edge of the Empire Fringer Specialization Deck;
• Edge of the Empire Trader Specialization Deck;
• Edge of the Empire Scout Specialization Deck;
• Edge of the Empire Mercenary Specialization Deck;
• Edge of the Empire Marauder Specialization Deck;
• Edge of the Empire Bodyguard Specialization Deck.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM knows for a fact the the The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, has these decks available.

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Merchandise Available For Pre-Order

Following the success of their blockbuster superhero films, Marvel Studio launched its first live action television series with the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. The series follows the exploits of the word wide law enforcement agency dedicating to policing superhuman beings, led by Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg), who nhas appeared in the previous Marvel movies.

The series debuted on September 24 as television's highest-rated premiere in the 18-49 demographic in nearly four years. Over the course of the series first week, more than 20 million people watched the pilot episode live, through DVRs and Video on Demand, or online.

After his demise in The Avengers movie, the announcement last year that Agent Coulson is alive and will star in a new TV series took fans by surprise in a big way. Now, just how he's alive is still an unanswered question.

In light of the series' popularity friendly local game stores all around the country have available for preorder a wide variety of S.H.I.E.L.D. related merchandise. Spread the good news by stocking up on the Agent Coulson Lives T-Shirt. Coulson fans from way back when can celebrate with the retro-looking Shield Agent Phil Coulson Heather T-Shirt.













The classic S.H.I.E.L.D logo is available in some cool apparel items you can preorder now. The S.H.I.E.L.D. "Night S.H.I.E.L.D." Navy T-Shirt shows the classic logo in large form. Dress for a day at the office with the Marvel Classic S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Exclusive Polo. And stay warm with another exclusive in the Marvel Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Zip-Up Hoodie.

Hats featuring the current S.H.I.E.L.D. logo are available to order, too. The S.H.I.E.L.D. "Hero Wide Point" Knit Hat will guard your head from the cold this winter. You can also look sharp in the comfortable Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Dyad Flex Fit Cap.

Add some sartorial class to a dinner jacket with the S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Pewter Lapel Pin and carry your keys on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Pewter Keychain. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Combo Pack contains a S.H.I.E.L.D. sticker, button, keychain and HYDRA keychain!

Keep money and other valuables in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Billfold Wallet.  Enjoy your favorite beverage in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo 16oz Pub Glass, and carry identification just like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in your S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Lanyard, available in black and navy blue.

So, Coulson Lives, a new TV series is here, and you can preorder at your FLGS all the swag necessary to watch the show in style and show your support for the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wherever you go.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends you visit The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, for your preorder needs.