My most played games of 2014

It's that time of year again: the time of the 'looking back' blog post. This is going to be a post like my holiday wish list post or my best 15 new games of 2014 post, it's going to be another list of great games.

This time I'm going to list the 10 games that I played the most in 2014. These don't include any expansions and also don't include iOS games, just physical board games. If I did include iOS plays Star Realms and Ascension would top the list by far.

Starting with number 10, the least of the most:

Hive - My wife and I love Hive. To me it's one of the best designs out there. It also helps that I have a rediculously good win/loss ratio in the game. For me Hive just clicks and I don't loose often.

Besides being a great game, Hive is very compact which means you can bring it anywhere. My wife tosses our copy in her purse and we play at coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, parks, wherever.

The CG Realm CGame Night - January 10th

The first CG Realm event of 2015

Saturday January 10th the CG Realm is hosting their first game night of 2015. The event runs from 5pm until 11pm.

This game night will be a recurring event hitting the 2nd Saturday every month. 

The CG Realm is located at 3147 Tecumseh Road East, right here in Windsor.

The CG Realm used to be focused on retro video games and collectible card games, but have recently expanded into carrying a lot more Board Games and RPGs. In addition to a growing collection of games they also have a great gaming area with lots of tables, lots of room and great lighting.

We had a great time at the CG Realm for the WYC'd game night where people played games of Star Realms, Space Hulk, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Settlers of Catan and lots more. We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.

10 games off of my 2014 holiday wishlist

My last post listed the 15 best new games of 2014. These were the best games I tried for the first time last year. Today I thought it would be worth looking at some of the games on my 2014 holiday wishlist.

These aren't in any particular order and include a mix of brand new games and older stuff I've been wanting to pick up for some time.

Star Trek: Fleet Captains - I've never really gotten into the Wizkids Heroclix games. I tried out the first Marvel game when it came out and decided it's not for me. That alone kept me away from this Trek game for a long time.

Over the years though I've been hearing really good things about this game. A variety of podcasts from reviewers I respect have said enough good things that this one got added to my wishlist this year. Added to that my wife is a big Trek fan and I think I won't have to twist her arm to play it with me.

Brimstone Game Night - January 3rd - Featuring: Pandemic

The first Brimstone Game night of 2015!

The Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday January 3rd as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Pandemic

One of the most popular co-operative board game ever made is Pandemic. This game really hit the market big when it came out back in 2007. At the time there wasn't really anything quite like it out there.

Pandemic is the only game I own that I think is actually more fun to loose. That whole "we were only one cube away!" feeling when you almost win is what keeps you coming back for more.

We will be giving away a copy of the latest printing of Pandemic from Z-Man games at the event. 

The 15 best new games (to me) of 2014

It's that time of year again, time for all the look back posts and all the wishlists. All the holidays, feasts and parties. All the gaming!

This is one of those look back posts. Here I'm going to list the best new games I played this year. Note these are games that are new to me. They may not have been released this year but I played them for the first time this year.

Lastly: these are in the order I discovered them through the year, not ranked by how good I think the games are.

Trajan - I'm cheating just a bit with this one. Technically I played it on New Years Eve 2013 as part of my annual Gaming In The New Year party. That's close enough for me and if I remember correctly the game may not have ended until after the ball dropped.

2014 was the year I discovered how much I love Stefan Feld. I picked up no fewer than four other games by him this year. Of them all though Trajan remains my favourite.

Like most Feld games it's a point salad. This one has a cool Roman theme and uses a very unique mancala based action selection system that I really dig. There are so many paths to victory and so far I've yet to find 'one true way'

2014 Windsor Gaming Resource Holiday Boardgame Bash - Friday December 12th

Join us at the Green Bean Windsor Star News Cafe at 6pm on Friday December 12th for our second annual Holiday Boardgame Bash!

What better way to celebrate the holidays than by playing some games with friends? This is a free, all ages, open gaming event. It's an excuse to get together one more time before all the holiday craziness starts. It's a chance to try out some new games and find stuff to add to your wish list. It's a great chance to discover the perfect gift for the gamer that has everything.

Door Prizes

We can't have a holiday party without some presents. So in addition to the usual open gaming we will have some cool gaming related door prizes. All you need to do to have a chance to win one of these is show up and play at least one game. I've also got a Mammoth for the first 30 people who show up.

Hidden Gaming Gift Exchange

Bring a gaming related gift to join in the Gaming Gift Exchange. This is completely optional but it's a lot of fun so I recommend everyone take part.

Here's how it's going to work:

Everyone who wants to participate brings a wrapped gaming related gift. These will all be put out on display at the Cafe. The exchange will take place at around 8pm (we'll let people in the middle of games finish up if possible). At that time everyone will receive a random playing card. Then we will draw one card and the first person will pick one of the gifts and open it. Going forward every subsequent person will have an option: open a new gift or "steal" one of the gifts already opened. If your gift is stolen you then get the same choice, open a new gift or "steal" one that's already opened (but no stealing back what was just taken from you). Finally, the player who goes first is at a disadvantage as they have no steal option at the start. To offset that. If no one ever steals from the start player, at the end of the game they can swap their gift with any other person.

Location

The Green Bean Windsor Star Cafe is located at:
300 Ouellette Ave - 3rd floor
Windsor, ON N9A 7B4

6pm - 11pm on Friday December 12th

Brimstone Board Game Night - Featuring WWII

The Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday December 6th as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Theme: World War II

There are a ton of amazing wargames out there and World War II is one of the most prominent themes for these games.

From deep strategy war-games like Advanced Squad Leader to modern Euro games like Duel of the Giants, there is no shortage of WWII based games.

In celebration of the event we will be giving away a copy of one of the most popular modern WWII games: Memoir 44 from Days of Wonder

Games & Grub at the Green Bean Windsor Star News Cafe

The last Games & Grub of 2014!

Friday November 28th we've got a Games & Grub event being held at The Green Bean's Windsor Star News Cafe. This all ages event runs from 6pm until 11pm. Since the last Friday of the year falls on Boxing Day, this will be our last event of 2014. Let's also make it our best event of 2014.

The Windsor Star News Cafe is located at 300 Ouellette Ave, 3rd floor. This is the cafe that is part of the new Windsor Star located where the old downtown palace theater was.

The Green Bean Cafe has great food, coffee and other yummy things. The location is also licensed and offers some awesome beer from Walkerville Brewery as well as local Wines. Street parking is free after 6pm if you can find a spot and there are two parking garages in a very short walking distance if you can't.

We play a wide variety of games at these events. You will find card, dice and board games. We've even seen some miniature gamers bring their armies out. There's no theme to the event. Our last gaming event saw games of Catan, King of Tokyo, Timeline, Tribune, Merchants & Marauders, and more.

We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.

Oddball Aeronauts 2 give away. Create a custom Captain!

Back on November 4th I announced that Oddball Aeronauts 2 was about to launch on kickstarter. Well, now it's live! Even cooler than this though is that maverick:muse has agreed to work with The Windsor Gaming Resource again to offer a really cool give away. A give away that's even better than the one we hosted last time.

For those who don't know or remember Oddball Aeronauts, it's a two player card game that doesn't require a surface to play on. That's right: no table needed. Oddball Aeronauts 2 adds new factions to the game and also adds multi-player rules.

It's a really unique and cool rock, paper, scissors based game with quite a bit added to make it more strategic and interesting. My favourite part though is the artwork and theme of the game. I guess anthropomorphic steampunk does it for me :) To learn more about the game, check out the (p)review that was posted back on January 22nd.

What you can win:

Last time we gave away the chance to design the Bounty Hunter card. This time we are going a step farther and letting the winner name a ship and design their own captain. The winner will also get a copy of all core 26 cards. Here's the details from +Nigel Pyne:

The winner picks the faction of their choice - Pirates, Pendragon, Mechinauts or Free Kingdoms. They then pick a name for their airship and will then receive all core 26 faction cards for their choice with their chosen ship name on the back of every one. Plus, they get to work with Lloyd to design a character that will then appear on a Mercenary Captain Card of their very own - their unique Captain that they also name and they can use that Mercenary Captain in place of a regular Captain in any faction deck. Or they can have their custom Captain unique to a faction - their choice.

How cool is that? 

Join us for a WYC'd (Wicked) Game Night

The CG Realm a great FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store) is hosting a game night to help out the local Youth Center. This looks like it's going to be a great event for a great cause.

The info:

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Come one, come all you gamers to a WYC'd Game Night!

Saturday, November 22, 5pm-11pm The CG Realm will be hosting a game night for The Windsor Youth Centre ! We will be collecting donations for this great place who do great work with Windsor Youth!!

There will be free water as well as snacks!
All board games will be 10% off for this event!
There will also be a draw for 2 games for the event as well!

So come on out and bring something from the following list to The CG Realm that night and help out a great cause!

WYC is in constant needs of the following items:
Mr. Noodles
Kraft Dinner
Granola Bars
Pudding Cups
Crackers
Hot Chocolate Mix (or other hot drink mix)
Bus Tickets

If you would prefer making a small monetary donation instead we will have a donation box set up as well.

 So come on out and bring a few games and lets show the WYC how generous Windsor gamers can be!!

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Oddball Aeronauts 2 launches on Kickstarter tomorrow!

You remember Oddball Aeronauts don't you? The really cool game from +maverick:muse where you don't need a table top play on.

I wrote up a (p)review of the original game back in January and then hosted a give away during their very successful kickstarter in February.

The kickstarter was a great success and +Nigel Pyne and his team even delivered the game on time! 

Remember now? Good! 

A follow up to the original game is about to launch on Kickstarter tomorrow.

Edit: The kickstarter is live now!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lloydashpyne/oddball-aeronauts-2-double-the-trouble

Brimstone Board Game Night Featuring Marvel Dice Masters - November 15th

The Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday November 15th as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

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You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Marvel Dice Masters

It's the new hotness. The latest collectible gaming craze: Marvel Dice Masters from Wizkids.

Wizkids took the great dice game Quarriors! and enhanced it then made it PvP with players attacking each other and tossed a Marvel skin on it and it's amazing!

It's been years since I've been hooked on a collectible game but MDM has me good. I love this game.

Come out on the 15th and see what all the fuss is about. You could even win a copy of the new Uncanny X-Men starter set.

November 1st Brimstone Board Game Night

Hot on the heels of our amazing 2014 Extra Life Event, the Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday November 1st as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Theme: Sports Games

Who says gamers don't like sports? What about Formula D, Thunder Road, Red Tide (the table-tennis card game) or Strat-O-Matic Baseball?

The theme this event is sports games! Any kind of sport. Bring along what ever sport games you own.

In fitting with the theme the game you can win this night is: Blood Bowl Team Manager from Fantasy Flight games. An awesome card version of the classic Games Workshop Fantasy Football miniature game.

This is a fantastic card game for 2-4 players that does an awesome job of capturing the Blood Bowl feel.

October 25th - Gaming auction in support of Extra Life

As part of the Windsor Gaming Resource contribution to Extra Life this year, we will be hosting a live geeky gaming auction. Anyone is welcome to attend and take part. You don't have to be a previous WGR member or be taking part in the 24 hour game-a-thon.

The auction is scheduled for October 25th at 8:00pm and will be held along side our 24 hour gaming event, at Brimstone Games.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Road in Windsor Ontario Canada.

Extra Life is an awesome worldwide 24 hour gaming event raising money for the Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals.

This our second year participating and we've upped our target to $2000! 100% of the proceeds from this auction go towards meeting (and hopefully beating) that target.

The auction items will be a mix of new and used games and some other cool geeky items. Our big ticket item is a sealed copy of the Ticket To Ride 10th Anniversary Edition. There will also be some awesome dice bags from Mercantile 519. Sealed copies of Little Devils, Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom, Alhambra, Smash Up, Oddball Aeronauts. A Hardcover edition of the awesome D6 steampunk Westward RPG and Azamar a D6 fantasy RPG. As well as many other items graciously donated by WGR members and some kick ass game publishers.

If you have something you would like to donate to the auction, that would be awesome. You can either bring it to the event or contact Moe Tousignant some time before the 25th.

If you are interested in supporting us in some other way, perhaps joining us for 24 hours of gaming or making a donation to the cause, check out this post for everything we are doing for Extra Life.

Games & Grub at the Green Bean - Oct 24th

The night before Extra Life, on Friday October 24th we've got a Games & Grub event being held at The Green Bean's Windsor Star News Cafe. This all ages event runs from 6pm until 11pm.

The Windsor Star News Cafe is located at 300 Ouellette Ave, 3rd floor. This is the cafe that is part of the new Windsor Star located where the old downtown palace theater was.

The Green Bean Cafe has great food, coffee and other yummy things. The location is also licensed and offers some awesome beer from Walkerville Brewery as well as local Wines. Street parking is free after 6pm if you can find a spot and there are two parking garages in a very short walking distance if you can't.

We play a wide variety of games at these events. You will find card, dice and board games. We've even seen some miniature gamers bring their armies out. There's no theme to the event. Our last gaming event saw games of Catan, King of Tokyo, Timeline, Tribune, Merchants & Marauders, and more.

We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.

Brimstone Boardgame Night October 18th featuring Damage Report

The Windsor Gaming resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday October 18th as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Damage Report

The featured game this week is: Damage Report from Break From Reality Games.

Damage Report is a very different and very cool co-op disaster game. Players work together to try to save their ship before it is destroyed. It uses a unique timing system that's based on how much O2 your ship has.

Check out our Damage Report Review to find out more about this cool game.

We will be giving away a copy of Damage report  at 8pm the night of the event.

Less than one month until Extra Life! We need your help!

October 25th many members of the Windsor Gaming Resource will be gathering at Brimstone Games to play games for 24 hours straight in support of Extra Life! This is an amazing geek driven fund raiser that is in support of the Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals.

That's less than a month away and right now we are only at 33% of our goal, so we need your help!

What exactly are we doing?

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Saturday October 25th at 10:00am a group of local gamers will be heading to Brimstone Games. Once there it's simple: we game, and we game for 24 hours straight. We'll be going until 10:00am on Sunday. We will be playing board games, miniature games and maybe even some pen and paper roleplaying games.

In addition to all the gaming, at 8:00pm on Saturday night we will also be hosting a live auction. Anyone is welcome to attend this portion of the event. We've got a great selection to auction off and 100% of the proceeds will be going to Extra Life.

What can you do to help?

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Come play games: You should come join us on the 25th and play some games! Even if you can't come out for all 24 hours it would be awesome if you could stop in and say hi, bring us some caffeine and/or play a game or two. We would love the support and encouragement. You can show up at any time during the event. Stop in after work, say hi at lunch, whenever.

If you want to join us or stop in to show your support, you can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. 

Join our team: Extra Life lets groups of participants make a team page and we have one for the Windsor Gaming Resource. Click here to join up!

Sponsor a Windsor Gaming Resource member: Any amount helps, even a buck. The Extra Life site has a wide variety of payment options and offers charity receipts. Just click on our roster and pick someone to support. If you want to support me, the captain, directly click here. You can also donate in person at Brimstone Games or PayPal to gilvanblight(a)gmail.com.

Participate in the live auction: The auction will be held at 8pm on Saturday October 25th and there will be a wide variety of new and used games and other geekery on the auction block, including some awesome Dice Bags donated by Mercantile 519. We will even be accepting Debit (Interac) for the auction so you don't need to bring a ton of cash.

Donate games for the auction: Are you a game publisher? Do you have too many games and don't know what to do with them? How about donating your games to the cause. Any donations can be dropped off the day of the event or contact gilvanblight(at)gmail.com to make arrangement before then.

Huge thanks to our sponsors:

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Apocalypse: Galactic Arena (p)review - on Kickstarter right now!

Apocalypse: Galactic Arena is a 2-6 player battle game by Storyception Games that is currently on Kickstarter.

I was contacted by one of the designers, Christos Chrysou, and provided a prototype copy of the game to (p)review and as of writing this there are 13 days left in that kickstarter.

The game has already funded so it will be be made. Right now they are working towards some great looking stretch goals like a bigger board and new heroes. 

I've played the game a handful of times. Trying it with both one character each side and with teams of three facing off against each other and I feel pretty confident in recommending it. The buy in price for a full copy of the game is only $47 and that includes worldwide shipping.

BARF returns. One night only. September 20th

The Windsor Gaming Resource and Villains Beastro are proud to announce the return of B.A.R.F. - Boardgames Are Really Fun. This one time event is scheduled for September 20th and will run from 5pm until 10pm.

This is an adults only boardgame night were you can expect to find lots of beer and pretzels casual games. It's the prefect venue for games like Cash & Guns, Munchkin and Red Dragon Inn. Deep thinkers are also welcome but here's your chance to have a few adult beverages and enjoy some simpler games.

The Villains Beastro is a unique, funky, weird, mystical, fun, serious, laid back, Viking-feeling, pub-looking rock n’ roll type place that has offered to open their doors for us. It’s the perfect spot for a group of gamers to hang out and play some games. Villains has agreed to give us the space for free and I encourage everyone to support the venue by buying some food and enjoyed a drink (responsibly of course). 

This is an open non-competitive gaming event that anyone is welcome to attend. Any form of game is welcome: board, card, rpg, miniatures, whatever you want to bring we are willing to have you. We aren't rule lawyers. You are welcome to bring your own games or share in some of ours. Everything we bring we are willing to teach and no experience is necessary. 

The goal is to get as many local gamers out as possible to enjoy some good food, some good drinks, some good company and some good games! 

We are not a private club. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come out and join in the games. If you see someone playing a game and it looks interesting, ask about it. If you see a game on a table and you want to try it out, ask around and see if someone will teach it.

The event runs from 5pm until 10pm. At 10 a local band will be playing. Everyone is welcome to keep gaming if they like. I expect it will be a bit loud though. The venue will be open until 2am.

Villains is located Downtown at:

256 Pelissier

Windsor, ON N9A 4K3

Games & Grub at the Green Bean - September 26th

Friday September 26th we've got a Games & Grub event being held at The Green Bean's Windsor Star News Cafe. This all ages event runs from 6pm until 11pm.

The Windsor Star News Cafe is located at 300 Ouellette Ave, 3rd floor. This is the cafe that is part of the new Windsor Star located where the old downtown palace theater was.

The Green Bean Cafe has great food, coffee and other yummy things. The location is also licensed and offers some awesome beer from Walkerville Brewery as well as local Wines. Street parking is free after 6pm if you can find a spot and there are two parking garages in a very short walking distance if you can't.

We play a wide variety of games at these events. You will find card, dice and board games. We've even seen some miniature gamers bring their armies out. There's no theme to the event. Our last gaming event saw games of Shadow Hunters, Marvel Dice Masters, Chattabox, X-Wing, Telestrations, Lords of Vegas, Boss Monster and more.

We encourage you to bring some games out, whether an old favourite or something new you want to try out. If you don't have anything to bring, that's cool too. There's always lots of variety and people are always happy to teach you the games they have brought.

Brimstone Boardgame Night October 4th featuring Dungeons & Dragons

The Windsor Gaming resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday October 4th as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Dungeons & Dragons

The featured game this week is: Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast

Wizards has just released the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons and it's proving to be one of the best, if not the best editions yet.

After a two year playtest this new edition of D&D brings the best parts of all previous editions and puts them into one awesome game.

I will be doing very quick dungeon crawls throughout the night and giving people a chance to check out this amazing game. I'll have pre-generated characters, miniatures and everything players will need.

For the game give away we will be giving away copies of the D&D Starter Set. This great box is the perfect introduction to the world of Roleplaying and Dungeons & Dragons.

Edit: date change!

Due to a Magic The Gathering pre-release event on September 20th, this event had to be moved to October 4th

September 6th - Brimstone Boardgame Night - Featuring Tash Kalar

The Windsor Gaming resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday September 6th as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

Win a Board Game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for each board game purchased. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Featured Game: Tash Kalar: Arena of Legends

The featured game this week is: Tash Kalar: Arena of Legends from Vlaada Chvatil and Chech Games Edition.

Tash Kalar is a very interesting abstract strategy game. Each player takes on the role of a wizard who is competing against other wizards in an arena battle. The wizards aren't fighting each other though instead they are using this clay like stuff to form monsters to battle each other and control the battlefield.

The game is quite a bit of a thinker as players try to position their playing pieces into the proper patterns to summon the right monsters.

There are a few different ways to play and this Saturday I'll be showing off any that people want to try. I personally thought this game was a cool mix of The Duke with an arena battle game.

The Spoils is not dead and has a cool new beginner box

The Basic Box of Awesomeness

A few weeks back I was approached by John Westcott about The Spoils Trading Card Game. It seems Arcane Tinmen has just released something new they are calling the Basic Box of Awesomeness.

This email surprised me. Why? Well I remember seeing The Spoils, like 8 or so years ago at RIW Hobbies in Livonia. They were doing some kind of demo deal. It looked like a Magic the Gathering clone. I never heard about or saw the game again. I assumed it died the same death that most Magic isotopes died.

I guess I was wrong. Seems the game is still going strong and has a new box out there. So I agreed to check it out. I figured if it lasted the CCG glut there must be something there.

Gaming for 24 straight, to raise funds for Extra Life!

Support Windsor gamers helping sick kids.

October 25th members of the Windsor Gaming Resource will be gathering at Brimstone Games to play games for 24 hours straight in support of Extra Life!

This is our second year in a row supporting Extra Life as a group (some individual members have been doing it longer). Last year we raised $1800 for The Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals blowing away our $1000 goal. This year we are doubling that goal to $2000 and we would love to blow that away and hit at least $3000 or more!

What is Extra Life?

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Extra Life was started in 2008 by the Sarcastic Gamer Community as a tribute to one specific leukemia victim: Victoria Enmon. The group created a 24-hour long video game marathon to raise money for the hospital that treated and fought beside Tori. 100% of the funds raised went to the local Children's Miracle Network. 

Now thousands of gamers have joined in this annual event. In 2009 the event spread allowing participants to donate to the Hospital of their choice and now hundreds of websites and tens of thousands of gamers will take part in this charity event this year.

What is the WGR doing for Extra Life?

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As many members as possible are going to head to Brimstone Games at 10:00am on Saturday October 25th. Once there it's simple: we game, and we game for 24 hours straight. We'll be going until 10:00am on Sunday. We will be playing board games, miniature games and maybe even some pen and paper roleplaying games.

In addition to all the gaming, at 8:00pm on Saturday night we will also be hosting a live game auction. Anyone is welcome to attend this portion of the event. We've got a great selection of games to auction off and 100% of the proceeds will be going to Extra Life.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. 

What can you do to support us?

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Come play games: You should come join us on the 25th and play some games! Even if you can't come out for all 24 hours it would be awesome if you could stop in and say hi, bring us some caffeine and/or play a game or two. We would love the support and encouragement. You can show up at any time during the event. Stop in after work, say hi at lunch, whenever. 

Join our team: Extra Life lets groups of participants make a team page and we have one for the Windsor Gaming Resource. Even if you aren't going to actually come out to Brimstone and play with us, if you are going to participate at home or at your own FLGS we would love to have you on our team. Click here to join up!

Sponsor a Windsor Gaming Resource member: Any amount helps, even a buck, and the Extra Life site has a wide variety of payment options even including a monthly donation deal. They also offer charity receipts. Support me directly by clicking here.

Participate in the live auction: The auction will be held at 8pm on Saturday October 25th and there will be a wide variety of new and used games on the auction block. All money raised will be donated to Extra Life through the group page.

Donate games: Are you a game publisher? Do you have too many games and don't know what to do with them? How about donating your games to the cause. You can either give them to us to play during the event or you can donate them to be sold at the live auction. Any donations can be dropped off the day of the event or contact gilvanblight(at)gmail.com to make arrangement before then.

Thanks to our sponsors:

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While organizing this event I sent out emails to a variety of game companies asking if they would be willing to support the WGR in this effort. Last year Stronghold Games and Z-Man Games were awesome enough to support us. This year many other companies have stepped up to the plate.

Huge thanks to Z-man and Stronghold Games for supporting for two years in a row!

Thanks to Rio Grande Games, Loony Labs, Mantic Games, Game Salute, Alderac Entertainment Group, Minion Games, Blue Orange Games and Arcane Wonders for supporting us for the first time this year.