Episode 15 - Designers: The Hobby Rockstars and Mage Wars

In this episode of the Start Space Podcast we pick the winners of our Love Letter contest! Then, we talk about the importance of designers in the gaming industry and review Mage Wars!

Mage Wars is a two-player card game. Think of a cross between Summoner Wars and Magic: The Gathering.

Each player chooses one of the four mages provided in the base box.

Each mage is comes with a portrait card that represents the player on the board, and a card that shows their starting stats, abilities, and attacks.

Each mage also comes with a spellbook. This is essentially your deck of cards. It contains the spells, creatures, and equipment that you will be casting throughout the game. Each player can choose cards at will from their spell book, thus eliminating the randomness of the draw.

Each player will have one of these boards to track their Channeling, Mana, and Health.

Here is the board at setup. Notice the activation markers on the two mages.

And here's what the board might look like a few turns in. Activation markers are placed on creatures as they come into play. Some cards, like the mana crystals in the top left corner, do not activate and do not need a marker.

 Attack dice. These are some really satisfying dice to roll. 

 Health and Mana markers. Health markers are used to track damage on creatures and structures. Mana tokens are used to track the mana stored by creatures and spawnpoints that can cast spells.

And finally, an example of some of the status tokens found in the game. 

Episode 14 - House Rules and Power Grid

In this episode, we reveal that we are now officially a member of the Dice Tower Network! After that craziness, we talk about house rules and review the classic economic-style game, Power Grid.

Following my admittedly brief rules overview, how about some pictures?

The Germany side of the board. Players will use only use one region per player, so the map becomes smaller with fewer people at the table.

 The artwork on the board is really interesting and spices up what could have been a dull map.

The houses which you will be placing to build out your network.

The resources you need to fuel your plants. From left to right: coal, oil, garbage, and uranium.

You'll be purchasing your resources from this track. The farther a resource is towards the left, the cheaper it is.

An example of some power plants with their resources, ready to give you the juice!

The game board a number of turns in. You really get a feel for your network growing in this game.

Ah paper money, nobody likes you...

We replaced the paper money with these superior poker chips. Huzzah!

Episode 13 - A Contest, Abstract Games Spotlight, and Mage Knight

In this episode, we kick off our very first contest! We are giving away two copies of the awesome micro-game from AEG, Love Letter. Listen to the episode and head over here for full details: Love Letter Giveaway
Besides that, we look at the genre of Abstract games and review the super-heavy (at least for us) Mage Knight.

First off, since we did say it was a visual game, I wanted to show you some pictures of Yinsh which we discussed in the Abstract Games part of the episode.

Players start by placing their rings on the board.

Play then focuses on placing these stones in rows of the same color.

Here's what the game might look like after a number of turns. Looks neat right?

Mage Knight: The Board Game is a deep and rewarding experience.

Players will take on the role of one of these Mage Knights and conquer the countryside.

A player's starting setup. As the game progresses, This player's area will be filled with skill tiles, units and played cards.

This is the hub of the game. It includes the Advanced Action, Spell, and Unit offers along with the Day/Night board and Fame/Reputation tracks.

A close-up of the day/night board. The dice show the available mana while the number show how much movement is needed to enter the pictured terrain during this round.

 The starting map. The starting tile is always the same, but the two connected tiles are drawn randomly. You can see that we've already uncovered a wizards tower, a fortress, and a rampaging orc.

An example of some of the monsters you might see in this game. You will be referencing the rulebook often at first to decipher the iconography on these tokens.

Mana crystals. Do not leave these on the floor if you walk around barefoot.

The cities that are the objective in most scenarios. These models use the Wiz-Kids patented clix bases to show the level of the city.

There are quite a few tokens and pieces in this game. 

Episode 12 - Aesthetics of Gaming and Android: Netrunner

In this episode we talk about how games look. We talk about how important the visual aspect of gaming is to us and how it can bring in or drive off new gamers. In our review section, we look at the super-hot Fantasy Flight game, Android: Netrunner.

Netrunner is an LCG. When you buy boxes and expansions, you can see exactly what cards are in the package. No luck needed.

Two of the factions in the game. On the left is NBN, the News Corporation. On the right is a runner from the Anarch faction.

An example of some cards in a corp deck. Artwork and graphic design is awesome in this game. 

And an example of runner cards. Again, the artwork is really evocative of the theme. 

This is how the game might look a few turns in. Ignore the glare please. Also, don't look too closely at the cards for tactical advice. I probably put out some dumb combination of cards. 

 We use these player aides to remind us what different things are called and where they go. You can get them here: http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/90450/android-netrunner-quick-and-easy-play-mats-refere

Tokens used in the game

And how I store them.

Episode 11 - A New Year and Agricola

Oh boy... We're starting the year off with a bang. In this episode, we look back on the old year and look forward to the new one. Then, we have what could be described as a contentious discussion in our eagerly anticipated review of Agricola. Are you an Eddie or a Tony?

That sheep is daring you to play this game. You gonna back down from a sheep?\

The set-up of the main board for a 2-player game. You can see that there is a lot going on in this game, but trust me, it all makes sense. 

These are some of the places that you can send your family to. They can plow fields, take on occupations, and gather resources.

You'll need to send your family into town to improve your rather pitiful farm. Your family begins the game living in a ramshackle lean-to, but will hopefully expand and become self-sustaining farmers.

One of the provided player boards can be used as a resource board to hold the sheep, boar, cattle and all of the other resources. You want all of these.

Food. You really want these.

You don't want this.