Robot Viking

There are solitaire games that you play by yourself, and then there are solitaire games you play with others. Sure, the box says, “For 3-6 players,” but really everyone at the table is playing her own game, developing resources and working toward some goal without directly influencing the other players in any significant way. You [...]

If you make your living designing games (or just dream that you do), the Kobold Guide to Board Game Design is money in the bank. It is packed cover to cover with incredibly useful information on every aspect of game design, written by the most creative, insightful and experienced minds in the gaming industry.

I’m always looking for new, fun formats that take advantage of our Magic collections and give us more excuses to play. The Horde format, explained by Peter Knudson at QuietSpeculation.com, is an awesome way to use your Commander decks for something other than Commander, works as a solitaire game as well as a cooperative game, [...]

A brilliant idea for a Magic set doesn’t always become a great set once all the cards are on the table. Innistrad is built around a gothic horror theme that a lot of players (myself included) are huge fans of. Did Wizards match idea with execution, or do we have another Kamigawa on our hands? [...]

The classic horror of Magic’s Innistrad set is creeping up on us like a full moon crawling up the sky, leering through the clouds and filling us with lunacy and rage. Robot Viking’s Innistrad card does not use Insanity Wolf as the card art, but Insanity Wolf would still be a fan of Full Moon’s [...]

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) was held recently in Seattle. Fortunately Robot Viking’s roving reporter was there to bring you all the hot scoops. I explored the gigantic expo halls for the greatest loot, fighting off rabid fans and the occasional scary cosplayer all to get the greatest intel on the coming games.

If you’ve been without Internet this week or something, you may have somehow missed the explosion of nerd rage when a female Gizmodo writer posted an article about discovering that her Internet date was actually Magic world champion Jon Finkel, and her horror at having been mislead. I guess he wasn’t wearing his “Gaming Nerd” [...]

While at GenCon, I managed to sneak in a few minutes with WoTC’s Adam Colby to talk about where Magic is right now. While Wizard’s big push this year is Neverwinter, Magic was there in force for the Nationals, as well as a large Duels of the Planeswalkers booth. I asked Colby about the upcoming [...]

It’s already been revealed that tribal mechanics will play a part in Magic’s fall set, the horror themed Innistrad. We also know that the almost completely forsaken werewolf tribe will be getting a lot more attention. Inspired by one of Bennie Smith’s columns at Starcitygames, in which he speculated how the werewolves will function mechanically, [...]

Speculation has been swirling for months about who bought the Star Wars gaming license from Lucasfilm. Most of the speculation, including the speculation on Robot Viking, centered on Fantasy Flight Games. Turns out the speculation was correct, as FFG made the official announcement today. Want to talk about skillful marketing? They’re creating a whole lot [...]

It’s been a few weeks now since M12, magic’s latest core set, hit game store shelves. Instead of doing a full set review, here’s a look at some of the most interesting cards in the set and how they might affect a variety of formats.

This fall’s Magic set, Innistrad, is far too many months away. Magic’s R&D team is sharing choice bits of information on the set at SDCC this weekend to get us hyped up. It’s working!  Here are some updates, including the name of the second set in the block and what tribes will be featured.

Ever have those conversations that begin with, “Who would win in a fight…?” Me too. There are entire shows devoted to it on cable. They take famous historical figures, and pit them against each other in combat simulated by sketchy math and poor science. I say it’s much more fun to play Anachronism, and decide [...]

This summer’s multiplayer Magic format is Commander, formerly known as EDH. While it’s the most widely played casual format and very likely to be around for many years, it’s actually pretty difficult for new players to get into. Five new pre-constructed Commander decks have removed a major hurdle for casual players looking to explore the [...]