Month: October 2016

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 2 Recap [Polygon]

Morgan and Carol meet the armored, horse-riding people of the Kingdom, and their King.

Read the full recap at Polygon

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the second episode of The Walking Dead‘s seventh season.

Last week we survived the horrible trauma of Negan’s arrival. This week we sharply pivot to a whole different setting, as Morgan and Carol meet the armored, horse-riding people of the Kingdom.

And their King.

When we left off last season, Morgan had just tracked down Carol and the two met some scouts from a place called “The Kingdom.” Now, Carol’s hurt and they agree to go there to seek refuge.

Carol appears to be suffering from some very serious injuries that are affecting her mental status. Shot and weakened, she begins to see zombies as regular people being murdered. She wanders off disoriented before being rescued by more Kingdom folks — with some rather impressive face-lift kills.

READ THE FULL RECAP AT POLYGON

D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 37 Recap

Our heroes resume the main quest, only to find themselves in the bowels of some windy caves deep underground.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

Last week we took a break in our lengthy campaign. This week we dive back in as our heroes resume the main quest, only to find themselves in the bowels of some windy caves deep underground. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 37 Recap”

Planet Coaster Alpha Preview [Pixelkin]

The developers of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 are looking to continue their successful formula with their latest park management simulation, Planet Coaster.

Read the full preview at Pixelkin

One of the most beloved series to emerge from the popular Tycoon/Sim genre was RollerCoaster Tycoon. Pitting you in charge of your own budding amusement park, the series enjoyed several expansion packs and a passionate fan base. Later the games transitioned into 3D with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, and even later onto consoles with the spiritual successor Thrillville.

Now the same developer is looking to continue their successful formula with their latest park management simulation, Planet Coaster.

“Planet Coaster is a game we’ve wanted to make for a long time,” says Jonny Watts, Chief Creative Officer for Frontier Developments. “But it’s only now as a self-publishing studio we’re able to make the game we had envisioned.”

For fans of RollerCoaster Tycoon, you’re in luck. After trying the Alpha version, Planet Coaster plays much like a natural evolution of those great theme park classics. You’re given a large, empty plot of land. From there you can construct pathways, shops, buildings, scenery, rides, and of course elaborate roller coaster designs.

READ THE FULL PREVIEW AT PIXELKIN

D&D 5E “Shadow of the Wild” Recap

One-shot mini-adventure! We explore a forest and discover the truth behind some mysterious disappearances.

Since I relinquished DMing to one of my players for this special one-shot mini-adventure, I’m also letting him write this recap! Enjoy.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

by Chris

With our normal “Princes of the Apocalypse” adventures briefly delayed, our group decided this week to do something different, and switch to a one-week, one-shot adventure with a brand new party of adventurers, and suddenly I find myself not in the player seat, but in the role of the DM.

Our story started quickly, with four traveling adventurers running across a notice calling for help. Answering the call, the party located the village elder and introduce themselves; Havelock the sea pirate human cleric, Gramosk the reckless half-orc barbarian, Aurenia the half-elf Bard, and Ialeth the wood elf ranger [we started at level 2 for the purposes of this adventure -EW].

The elder explains that villagers have begun to missing and the animals in the surrounding forest have begun acting erratic and dangerously. The elders son had also gone into the forest with some friends to stop whatever was happening, but they had also disappeared, not to return. He begged the party to venture forth and stop the curse and save his people and son.

After a few questions, the party ventured out to the forest, first scaling a hill to get a sense of the land, noting the swamp to the east. Both the barbarian and the ranger had experience with the woods, but that didn’t stop the barbarian from immediately walking directly into a thinly veiled pit trap and falling in. The adventure begins! Continue reading “D&D 5E “Shadow of the Wild” Recap”

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 1 Recap [Polygon]

Negan’s victim from the S6 finale finally revealed

Cool news everyone: This Season I’ll be writing all The Walking Dead recap posts for Polygon.com!

Read the full recap at Polygon

It’s been six long months since we were last teased with the disappointing cliffhanger of The Walking Dead‘s sixth season. Thankfully season seven’s premiere episode doesn’t waste time with anything else.

Well, a little time. Like 20 minutes.

Let’s get the big question out of the way: Who did Negan kill?

It’s [SPOILERS].

READ THE FULL RECAP AT POLYGON

Top 10 Crowd-Pleasing Tabletop Party Games [GuideLive]

Read the full list at GuideLive

A good party game has to fulfill certain criteria. It must very easy to teach and play, and support a large number of players. Party games don’t need to be limited to thinly-veiled icebreakers, however. And they should definitely be (mostly) playable while drinking.

The modern board gaming scene is full of a diverse collection of games. Many of them are specifically suited for casual groups and parties, and most you can grab for less than $20.

If you’ve graduated from the days of beer pong into the wonderful world of tabletop gaming, here are some suggestions for your next favorite party game.

READ THE FULL LIST AT GUIDELIVE

D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 36 Recap

Back into the sprawling elemental dungeons we go, this time going deeper beneath the Air temple.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

There’s a lot I really enjoy about “Princes of the Apocalypse.” But if it has one glaring weakness, it’s that it quickly becomes a nightmare to run as a DM due to the interconnected mega-dungeons.

A clear theme in the adventure are the elemental cults and how they work with and against each other. This is reflected in their physical proximity to each other, with dungeons often leading into another cult’s territory, or deeper and deeper into a sprawling mega-complex.

My players have expressed concerns that it makes layouts confusing going from one dungeon to the next. For my part as DM it often becomes a stressful chore trying to figure out where my players will go and what all I need to prepare.

In this week’s session, the party decided to head back beneath the Sumber Hills to explore the one spot they left untouched in the Air Temple – the giant underground pyramid. They hoped to find Miri’s mother. It wasn’t going to be that easy. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 36 Recap”

Yo-Kai Watch 2 Review [Pixelkin]

While Yo-Kai Watch’s older brother Pokémon drops you into completely new worlds in each new game, Yo-Kai Watch 2 brings you back to the familiar city of Springdale.

Read the full review at Pixelkin

While Yo-Kai Watch’s older brother Pokémon drops you into completely new worlds in each new game, Yo-Kai Watch 2 brings you back to the familiar city of Springdale.

More yo-kai, new features, and improved abilities build upon the successful ideas in the first game. But even time-travel doesn’t save it from the feeling that you’ve already done all of this before.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 begins with one of the cringiest clichés of the JRPG – the amnesiac protagonist. Your chosen hero (either Nate or Katie) has their titular watch stolen and memories erased, creating a terribly painful prologue sequence for anyone that’s previously played the first game.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 wrestles with trying to appeal to newcomers as well as veterans of a game that was just released last year outside of Japan. The new yo-kai you meet are often well-designed additions, but you’ll also stumble upon a lot of repeats from the first game’s roster.

READ THE FULL REVIEW AT PIXELKIN

D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 35 Recap

We battle the Ironsmith and his creations, then return to find Red Larch ablaze by fire cultists and a devastation orb ready to explode.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

“Princes of the Apocalypse” is a very lengthy campaign. We get together online to play for 2-3 hours once a week. A single large dungeon could easily last 10 hours – and the main story is essentially a series of dungeon crawls.

There are some nifty built-in side quests, but I ended up eliminating about half of them. With the main story already being beefy enough, I need side treks to really be worth our time.

I inserted a few dungeons and scenarios from other sources. I could tailor these experiences into our story and world – but more importantly, into the player characters and their own backstories.

This week we finished up at the ancient temple of Tyr, battling a renegade Tyr worshiper with a golem fetish – right up Kalinaar’s alley! Then we returned to Red Larch to find the fire cult ready to detonate a devastation orb, and Kethra’s former mentor Fengell ready to throw down once and for all. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 35 Recap”

Marvel Comics Final Thoughts – Avengers: The Children’s Crusade

The Young Avengers go on a hunt to find the Scarlet Witch, who hadn’t been seen since the devastating events of Avengers: Disassembled and House of M.

With Marvel’s popular and successful foray into films with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’ve finally decided to get back into comics. I grew up a big fan of X-Men and other superheroes but haven’t really kept up since the 90s. Thus begins my grand catching-up of the last ten years of Marvel comics, events and stories.

Thanks in large part to trade paperbacks and the digital convenience of Marvel Unlimited I can make relatively quick progress, and I’ll write down my Final Thoughts for each collection here on my blog. Like my gaming Final Thoughts, this will be full of spoilers. You’ve been warned!

marvelWriter: Allan Heinberg 

Artist: Jim Cheung

Issues: Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1-9

 

Avengers: Disassembled in 2004, followed by House of M in ’05, kicked off the modern Marvel era of story-telling. Big events, major character deaths (which were never permanent but hey), and years-long fallout and regime changes became the norm.

I dig it quite a bit, despite lots of missteps. But Avengers: The Children’s Crusade represents a lot of what annoys me with Marvel comics – time-travel, retcons, and do-overs that let them “fix” any formerly awesome scenes and situations that had years-long revelations. In this case, the sobering saga of the Scarlet Witch.

I’ll give credit to Marvel for at least not doing this story like a year or two after House of M. Instead we were treated to a whirlwind of cascading events, and the Scarlet Witch was mostly forgotten about, though her “No More Mutants” legacy forever altered the X-Men.

In this special nine-issue limited series that ran from 2010 to 2012, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung brought Scarlet Witch back to the forefront using the Young Avengers. Continue reading “Marvel Comics Final Thoughts – Avengers: The Children’s Crusade”