The Haunted Game Cafe | board game

Hasbro Updates the Classic Game of Clue

The murder mystery game of Clue has been on shelves for over 60 years, but recently game publisher Hasbro decided to give the game a new look as well as brush up the mechanics for modern audiences.

The setting has changed from a dinner party at a manor house to a party at a modern mansion. The new rooms include a theater, a spa and a guest house. The lead pipe is gone, replaced by a baseball bat. There’s also a trophy, a barbel and an axe bringing the number of weapons up to nine. The characters have been updated as well. For example, Colonel Mustard has become a former football star. Victor Plum, formerly a professor, became a dot-com billionaire.

In order to speed up the game, the designers have included a deck of Intrigue Cards. These cards may allow players to solve the mystery faster, but they may also lead to a second victim.

The game is recommended for ages 9 and up and retails for around $16.00 The game is out now.

Fantasy Flight Announces Battlestar Galactica Board Game

Fantasy Flight Games has announced that their board game adaptaion of Battlestar Galactica will be shipping in October. Playtesters of this game have been giving it excellent reviews.

Here’s a quote from Fantasy Flight:

“Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is an exciting game of mistrust, intrigue, and the struggle for survival. Based on the epic and widely-acclaimed new Sci Fi Channel series, Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game puts players in the role of one of ten of their favorite characters from the show. Each playable character has their own abilities and weaknesses, and must all work together in order for humanity to have any hope of survival. However, one or more players in every game secretly side with the Cylons. Players must attempt to expose the traitor while fuel shortages, food contaminations, and political unrest threatens to tear the fleet apart.

The game includes 10 character cards, 32 highly-detailed plastic ships, high-quality card board tokens, hundreds of cards and a game board with resource counters.”

The game will be $39.95 at retail.

GAMA Trade Show 2008 – Flying Frog Productions

This is the first in a series I’ll be posting from the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas. GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association) is made up of publishers, distributers and retailers to support and promote the hobby game industry. Each year they hold a convention to allow publishers to show off their latest games and to get feedback from the retailers.

One of the highlights of the show for me was getting to talk to the people behind last year’s hit game, Last Night on Earth. Flying Frog Productions distinguished themselves by making a fun zombie game with a unique art style. Rather than use artist’s illustrations, Flying Frog uses full color photographs of actors in costume with appropriate props and lighting effects.

This year, they’re showing off their latest game, A Touch of Evil. Still under development, this game takes place during the American Revolution with a very interesting horror / investigation theme. The designer of the game, Jason Hill was kind enough to give me a brief explanation of the game, so check out the video.