Shadows Over Camelot Reviewed by a Traitor

This is a guest post from Aubrey House, a regular in my Thursday night gaming group. Aubrey is a long-time MMO player who's new to tabletop gaming, and I've asked her to weigh in on various games to provide a new player's perspective. Aubrey has played Shadows Over Camelot twice, first as the traitor, then a few months later as one of the heroes.

Shadows Over Camelot is widely recognized as the first cooperative game to have a hidden traitor. It still compares favorably to the giants (Battlestar Galactica and Dead of Winter). I asked Aubrey to answer a few questions about her first time playing a co-op/hidden traitor game, both with and without the hidden traitor mechanic.

Please enjoy a Q&A session with Aubrey!

Gen Con 2014 Designer/Publisher Speed Dating Coverage

Gen Con, aptly nicknamed "The Best Four Days In Gaming", is an event of such size and scale that it can't be experienced fully in one visit. It's the only place I know where you can find anything you'd want from the gaming world.

Of the many events scheduled during Gen Con, "Designer/Publisher Speed Dating" is among the most interesting. James Mathe and his team have created an event designed to provide game designers the chance to demo their games for publishers large and small, and to do so in a structured, rapid-fire environment that promotes professionalism and efficiency. 

I got permission from James to cover the Saturday evening edition of the event, and arranged a series of interviews with game designers Drake Philyaw and Kelsey Domeny (Two Penny Games) and with publishers Jeff and Nathan Cornelius (Cosmic Wombat Games) and Daniel Hadlock and Seth Jaffe (Tasty Minstrel Games).

Gen Con Interview - Jeremiah Lee from Indie Boards and Cards

Jeremiah Lee stepped just behind a giant crowd of Indie Boards and Cards fans to do a quick interview about Coup Reformation, The Resistance, and other great IBaC games. There's a nice bit about Coup tournaments at Gen Con, and just before the video ended I came up with the best idea ever for a "new" game. Bonus HIGH FIVE in the video!



For a full playlist of Gen Con interviews, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Colby Dauch from Plaid Hat Games

Colby Dauch, founder of Plaid Hat Games, took a few moments on Sunday before the dealer hall closed to talk about Dead of Winter, Mice and Mystics, Summoner Wars: Alliances, and other Plaid Hat things. Colby's a great friend of Nerd Night, and was gracious enough to step away for a nice chat. There are a couple teasers for upcoming games too!

Bonus: Colby related a beautiful story about how games helped the life of a sick child.


For a full playlist of Gen Con interviews, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Madison Sites from Days of Wonder

Madison Sites, one of our dear friends from Days of Wonder, took a few minutes out of her insane Gen Con schedule to talk about hot games at Gen Con and future conventions that Days of Wonder will be involved in. Five Tribes was a big hit at Gen Con, as was Memoir '44 and Ticket to Ride!


For a full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Brad Talton from Level 99 Games

D. Brad Talton, Jr., Esquire is one of the biggest supports of Nerd Night in the industry, so we always take the time to chat with him when we can. He stepped away from his insanely-packed Level 99 Games booth to chat with us about his new releases and upcoming plans, including Argent: The Consortium, Sellswords, and Pixel Tactics 3.

For a full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Curt Covert of Smirk and Dagger Games

Curt Covert joined us to talk about Smirk and Dagger Games and their booth at Gen Con. He air-mailed 100 copies of Student Bodies just to have them available for sale, and The Nerds' Table's very own Andrew Christopher Enriquez bought the first copy! Enjoy a quick review of the game and what's coming up from Curt and his team!

For a full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Zev from Z-Man Games

We were especially honored to interview Zev from Z-Man Games, one of the leaders in the publishing community. Zev talked with us briefly about Gen Con, the hot games at their booth, and the upcoming Pandemic Legacy release. This was a fun interview!

For the full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Erica Gifford and Krosmaster Arena

We stopped by the Japanime Games booth and talked about Krosmaster Arena with Erica Gifford, Marketing and Operations Manager for Japanime in all places that speak English. Erica talked about upcoming Krosmaster releases, the game's success at Gen Con, and her favorite characters to use in the game!

For a full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here! 

Gen Con Interview - The Duke from Catalyst Game Labs

We stopped in for a quick peek at The Duke - a giant version with huge wooden pieces - and asked what the heck was going on. This one's quick because the crowd around us was swarming to get a closer look. Catalyst Game Labs had an amazing booth this year!

For the full playlist of Gen Con interviews, click here!

Gen Con Interview - Rob Dougherty of Star Realms

We caught Rob Dougherty of Star Realms fame in between mobs of customers, so we asked him to give us a quick 5-minute chat about the game, future plans, and his role in development. There's some nice info about the recently released apps for iOS and Android also!

For a full playlist of interviews from Gen Con, click here! 

Gen Con Interview - Ben Harkins of Floodgate Games

Ben Harkins from Floodgate Games joined us to talk about Legacy: Gears of Time! The Floodgate booth was huge, and packed with people. I picked up a copy of L:GoT afterwards as promised in the video, so if you'd like to play it with me at game night, just leave a comment!

For a full playlist of Gen Con 2014 interviews, click here!

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, by Blizzard Entertainment

Hearthstone is a collectable card game played entirely online, produced by Blizzard and similar to the World of Warcraft CCG, but with various features only possible in an online environment. Hearthstone is free to play on the computer (Mac or PC) or on the iPad, and while you can pay for things in game, it’s easily possible to be competitive and enjoy the game without ever spending a penny – I know, I’ve done it!

It’s not as deep or intricate as other CCG’s (like Magic: the Gathering), and it doesn’t offer the same visceral pleasure of buying and opening packs at your Friendly Local Game Store, but Hearthstone is a perfect mix of a compelling game, elegant design, beautiful graphics, and a top-notch interface that’s redefining online games. I feel about this game like I did when I saw The Matrix for the first time: “Whoa.” This is something new, something that’s raised the bar.

If you’ve got an internet connection and a few hours to burn, go download Hearthstone and give the tutorial a try. It’s like traveling to Italy or eating some great Thai food… I can explain why it’s great (and I will after the jump) but to truly understand it, you have to do it for yourself.

(Bonus: I’m posting a short Q&A with Phillip Jenne, competitive HS player and co-designer of NOVUS, at the end of this review. Enjoy!)

Suburbia, by Ted Alspach

Did you play SimCity 2000 in 1994, or any year thereafter? I did, and I loved it. There's something about "god mode" and managing an economy that's always held my attention and kept me coming back to the genre for more games - but I didn't expect the latest version to be a tabletop game!

Suburbia is a tile-building game of economic management and city development. It's a pretty deep game, on the level of a game like Power Grid or Concordia, and takes about 90-120 minutes to play. If you're a fan of interactions and building an economy, you should try this game!

I'm including a Q & A with my wife, Amy, and I both answering some general questions after my review. Enjoy!