Robot Viking

The Legend of Drizzt is the third entry in Wizards of the Coast’s series of D&D based board games. It uses the same basic mechanics as the first two, but adapts the game to the Forgotten Realms, using all the major characters from R.A. Salvatore’s novels instead of generic heroes and villains.

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 [...]

Settlers of Catan has plenty of expansions that change the dynamics of the game, forcing the players to work together, putting a focus on exploration, or drawing emphasis to a certain section of the map. A new variation from publisher Mayfair Games will add a new wrinkle to the basic game, allowing some players to [...]

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.

Another rousing round of Conquest of Nerath last night exposed a few more areas where house rules might improve game balance.

Spectral Rails by Z-Man Games is a railroad game in which the players send their ghost trains around the old west in search of souls. Instead of building the tracks ahead of you to travel on, your trains leave a spectral wake that other players can ride, but blocks your own train. It’s an interesting [...]

After a full, four-person playtest of Conquest of Nerath, we can confirm one thing about the initial review: it’s awesome and ridiculously fun. We did spot one potential balance issue that you might want to consider homeruling, however.

With Conquest of Nerath, Wizards of the Coast conjures another successful board game, this one with an entirely different game engine than their prior dungeon adventure efforts. If you enjoyed conquering the world with plastic armies in endless games of Risk as a kid, imagine that game infused with fantasy flavor, strategic depth, exciting random [...]

Last year, Wizards of the Coast dove into the high-end board game market with the massive Ravenloft box. The second in the series, Wrath of Ashardalon, continues and expands the fun with tight rules and a metric ton of odds and ends that will keep you replaying it for years.

The is the first part of a new semi-regular series here on Robot Viking focused on games you can play when there’s no one else around. Some games work well solitaire with special rules or modifications, but lots of games are designed for solo play. Star Wars: Battle for Endor is one of those.

I’m a big fan of indie games, but it’s rare to come across an indie board game. Especially one that looks awesome and is full of dark humor and absurdist hijinx. Therefore, go directly to io9.com and check out my review of Inevitable, which contains all those things, plus politically organized zombies.

A few years ago, we started a Halloween tradition with our gaming group. Every Halloween, we get together and play an appropriately themed game for a few hours, often with some kind of house rule that lets the players earn the right to eat candy. If we can manage it, we play on Halloween night, [...]

Fantasy Flight Games is known for their lavish, detailed and (though I risk abusing the word) epic board games. Twilight Imperium, Descent, World of Warcraft — epic is really the only word that fits. So it’s not a big surprise that they’re the company behind Runewars, a truly epic fantasy board game coming out sometime [...]

As I sat back this Memorial Day weekend sipping iced tea and enjoying my favorite sporting event (the Indy 500), I reflected on happy childhoods and the sacrifices made by military veterans that make such things possible. That line of thought (plus watching cars hurtle around Indianapolis Speedway at 220 mph) lead me to recall [...]