Shadows Of Brimstone Tops $1.3M

Another successful Kickstarter project, Flying Frog's first KS project Shadows of Brimstone raised $1,341,305 in a funding period that ended Sunday. A cooperative western horror dungeon-crawl board game, Shadows of Brimstone apparently hit enough hot spots to appeal to over 4,700 backers. The amount raised places Shadows of Brimstone into the top 10 tabletop Kickstarters of all time.

Promising backers a release date of August 2014, Shadows of Brimstone may be one of the first games announcing a release date to coincide  with Gen Con 2014.

Smash Up: Sci-Fi Expansion

Alderac Entertainment Group plans to release a sci-fi expansion to its hit card game Smash Up. Expected in March, Smash Up: Science Fiction Double Feature will bring four new decks to the game.

The Science Fiction Double Feature expansion comes with 88 cards and can be played right out of the box by two players. It also comes with a VP token sheet and a rulebook. It plays in 45 minutes and has a SRP of $19.99. Combine it with any Smash Up set and the game can be played by up to four players.

Each of the four new factions brings new abilities to the game. Time Travelers allow players to use their cards repeatedly. Cyborg Apes take actions that take players' minions to a whole new level. Super Spies can use their espionage skill to plot out not only the player's future but also the opponent's. Shapeshifters could be anybody.

The Smash Up base game was featured in Wil Wheaton's TableTop  and made ICv2's Top 10 Card/Building Games for the Fall of 2012.

More Bad Machinery

Bad Machinery Volume 1: The Case of the Team Spirit was recently named one of Publishers Weekly's best children's fiction books for 2013. Following on its heels, Oni Press announced that it will release the book's sequel, Bad Machinery Volume 2: The Case of the Good Boy, around March 12, 2014.

John Allison's webcomic also won the 2012 British Comic Award for Best Comic for The Case of the Fire Inside. Now, Bad Machinery Volume 2: The Case of the Good Boy will bring together another round of mysteries for the investigative children of Griswalds Grammar School in Tackleford, England.

Wondering if Bad Machinery Volume 2: The Case of the Good Boy is a good fit for your child or someone you know? Well, John Allison has shared a meta version of Bad Machinery with someplot details:

Ender's Game Battle School Board Game Available Soon

Based on the epic movie from Summit Entertainment and director Gavin Hood (from the Orson Scott Card novel) comes a board game of combat in the null gravity arena of the International Fleet’s Battle School. Two fierce rivals square off to see who has the best strategy and the steadiest trigger finger: Ender Wiggin and his Dragon Team or Bonzo Madrid and his Salamander Team. Characters maneuver around the null gravity arena with various amounts of control over where they will end up each time they move. When you move, you don’t stop until something, or someone, gets in your way. Teamwork is key! Win by capturing your opponents’ gates or by freezing all of his units with your laser-light guns. Dice are used to resolve combat, but strategy and tactics will rule the day.

Action Figures Continue Their Decline

Since 2009, the reduced power of movies to move sales of action figures and other factors have caused a decline in the sales of action figures, from around $1.6 billion per year to an estimated $1.2 billion in 2013. 

A report from TD Monthly lists a number of factors that may have contributed to this decline. One of them may be the increasing number of movies with action figures lines. As the number of such films increases, they may be cannibalizing action figures sales from each other.

Another factor may be the increase in movie streaming. The report mentions a correlation between the decline in movie attendance by kids and the increase in home streaming of movies. It may be that while the same number of people are seeing the movies, they may be viewing them at times that do not match the release of the associated action figures.

Finally, Disney's recent foray into the action figures market and the growth of its Skylanders toys have also been a factor. In 2013, Skylanders accounted for about $500 million in sales. That is more than the decline in action figures sales in the past four years.

'Robotech RPG Tactics' Delayed

On Monday, Palladium Books announced that Robotech RPG Tactics will not ship to Kickstarter backers until February 2014.

According to Palladium Books' announcement, the scale and complexity of the project as well as "numerous additions and tweaks to sculpts, and additional cost and engineering considerations for mold-making and manufacturing" will result in delays to shipping. Final mold engineering and mold-making is still in process, leaving manufacturing, transportation, and distribution of Kickstarter orders to take place before trade distribution can commence.

Star Wars VII - In Theaters December 2015

Disney officially announced yesterday that the seventh and latest Star Wars film in the series will premiere December 18, 2015. Director J.J. Abrams also confirmed that the reason he and Lawrence Kasdan took over the screenwriting was due to the time pressure exerted by Disney to have the movie roll out in 2015:

"It became clear that given the time and given the process and the way the thing was going that working with Larry in this way was going to get us where we needed to be and when we needed to be."

The question in Bad DM's mind now is, will the quality of the Star Wars: Episode VII script succumb to Disney's pressure to meet a self-imposed deadline? Will Star Wars fans be let down yet once again? Please, share your thoughts with us.

FFG's Store Championships

Running from February through March 2014, Fantasy Flight Games announced a new tournament level for organized play: the 2014 Store Championships. This new "premier tier"  format is the result of the reduction in the number of FFG-run Regional Tournaments. Through these new Store Championships, local stores will be able to host "high level" events that are a few steps below a Regional Championship tournament but bigger than the "standard 2014 tournament kits."

Stores that host successful Store Championship events will be considered as candidates to host one of the Regional Championship events later in the year. The six games for which Store Championships will be available are:

1. A Game of Thrones: The Card Game;
2. Android: Netrunner The Card Game;
3. Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game;
4. Star Wars: The Card Game;
5. Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game;
6. X-Wing

The event kits are a step up from FFG's standard 2014 tournament kits. Besides exclusive prizes, they also include prizes for the champion, finalists, Top 4, and participation prizes for up to 32 players. The living card game kits feature a championship plaque and deck box for the winner, a deck box for the runner up, four custom "Top 4" playmats for the top four participants, and 32 alternate art cards with full-bleed graphic design as participation prizes. The X-Wing kit will include a championship plaque and card box for the winner, a card box for the runner up, four acrylic range rulers for the top four players, and 32 Ten Numb ship cards featuring movie still art as participation prizes.

This is not the same format as FFG's Game Nights.

Third "Desolation Of Smaug" Trailer

Warner Bros. released a new trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that contains almost three minutes of new footage. See it below in HD:

Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines - Summer 2013

Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines
1.  Warhammer 40k (Games Workshop)
2.  Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures (Fantasy Flight Games)
3.  Warmachine (Privateer Press)
4.  Warhammer Fantasy (Games Workshop)
5.  Hordes (Privateer Press)

* This chart of the Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines (hobby channel) reflects sales in Summer 2013.  The charts are based on ICv2 interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Top 10 Board Games - Summer 2013

Top 10 Hobby Channel Board Games
1.  Ticket To Ride (Days of Wonder)
2.  Settlers of Catan (Mayfair Games)
3.  Pandemic (Z-Man Games)
4.  King of Tokyo (Iello)
5.  Small World (Days of Wonder)
6.  Carcassone (Rio Grande Games)
7.  Mage Knight (WizKids/NECA)
8.  Decent (Fantasy Flight Games)
9.  Agricola (Z-Man Games)
10.  Arkham Horror (Fantasy Flight Games)


*  This chart of the Top 10 Board Games (hobby channel) reflects sales in Summer 2013.  The charts are based on interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Top 5 RPGs - Summer 2013

Top 5 Role Playing Games
1.  Pathfinder (Paizo Publishing)
2.  Star Wars (Fantasy Flight Games)
3.  Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
4.  Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
5.  Fate Core System (Evil Hat Productions)


*  This chart of the Top 5 Roleplaying Games (hobby channel) reflects sales in Summer 2013.  The charts are based on ICv2 interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Top 10 Card/Dice Games - Summer 2013

Top 10 Hobby Channel Card/Dice Games
1.  Munchkin (Steve Jackson Games)
2.  Marvel Legendary (Upper Deck)
3.  Android: Netrunner (Fantasy Flight Games)
4.  Quarriors! (WizKids/NECA)
5.  7 Wonders (Asmodee)
6.  Smash Up (AEG)
7.  Bang! (daVinci Games)
8.  Dominion (Rio Grande Games)
9.  DC Deckbuilding Game (Cryptozoic Games)
10.  Star Wars LCG (Fantasy Flight Games)


*  This chart of the Top 10 Card/Dice Games (hobby channel) reflects sales in Summer 2013.  The charts are based on interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Top Collectible Games - Summer 2013

Top Ten Hobby Channel Collectible Games
1.  Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast)
2.  Yu-Gi-Oh! (Konami Digital Entertainment)
3.  Marvel and DC HeroClix (WizKids/NECA)
4.  Pokemon TCG (Pokemon USA)
5.  Cardfight!! Vanguard (Bushiroad)
6.  Star Trek Tactics HeroClix (WizKids/NECA)
7.  Kaijudo (Wizards of the Coast)
8.  World of Warcraft TCG (Cryptozoic Enterainment)
9.  Star Trek HeroClix (WizKids/NECA)
10. Weiss Schwarz (Bushiroad)

Top 5 Mass Channel Collectible Games
1.  Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast)
2.  Pokemon TCG (Pokemon USA)
3.  Yu-Gi-Oh! (Konami Digital Entertainment)
4.  World of Warcraft (Cryptozoic Enterainment)
5.  Kaijudo (Wizards of the Coast)

Top 5 Collectible Games Overall
1.  Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast)
2.  Yu-Gi-Oh! (Konami Digital Entertainment)
3.  Pokemon (Pokemon USA)
4.  Marvel and DC HeroClix (WizKids/NECA)
5.  Cardfight!! Vanguard (Bushiroad)




*These charts of the Top 5 Collectible Games Over-all, Top 5 Mass Market Channel Collectible Games and Top 10 Hobby Channel Collectible Games reflect sales in Summer 2013.  The charts are based on interviews by ICv2 with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

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.