I wanted Master of Orion 3 to be the greatest turn-based strategy game of all time. I wanted it to be a worthy heir to its predecessors. I wanted to spend endless hours lost in its strategic depths, gladly loosing a few hours of sleep to secure victory over a strategic star system. I wanted … Read more
It had been weeks since I’d had a fix. Oh, I’d gone to my dealer, and picked up the goods, sampling them as soon as I got to the car. But the holiday’s wrecked havoc with my free time, and I was forced to lock them away in their little plastic cases for most of … Read more
DC HeroClix: Hypertime builds on WizKids Games’ success with Marvel HeroClix: Infinity Challenge, adding some of the biggest names in the DC universe to the game’s superhero fray. As with Marvel HeroClix (read my review of the initial release in Science Fiction Weekly (Internet Archive), DC HeroClix is a miniatures based game played on one of … Read more
Wizards of the Coast’s original Star Wars role-playing game was launched along side The Phantom Menace in 1999 and was caught up in the hype storm surrounding the first wholly-new serial in nearly 20 years. Like the movie, the game wasn’t everything that fans had hoped for or wanted. The game — based on the same … Read more
Civilization III sucks. There … I’ve said it. It took me months, but I finally said it. I feel much better now. I’m a big fan of the Civilization series, starting with the original computer game back in college (around about 1993). Its sequel, Civilization II. represents a pinnacle in empire-building games, in which players … Read more
The Manual of the Planes is a cosmological toolbox detailing the heavens, hells and strange places in between for Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition role-playing game. Written by Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, and David Noonan , the book is heir to two planar traditions: the minimalist 1st edition Manual of … Read more
It’s not often that I pick up a role-playing game rule book that’s so compelling a read that I have a hard time putting it down. Fading Suns d20 is one of those games. I bought the 2nd edition hardcover rulebook for the original game at GenCon 2000, and read through the book in less … Read more
How good is Gran Turismo 3? Well, consider this: I don’t like racing games – they’ve always seemed repetitive and boring. I don’t drool of cars, and aside from my Jeep Wrangler, I’ve never had much interest in them. I’m your typical geek, more interested in computers and RPGs than horsepower and RPMs. And I … Read more
The Sims is a strangely compelling simulation game that lets players micromanage someone else’s life. It’s made by Maxis, the same folks that created the legendary SimCity games, as well as the less legendary SimEarth, SimAnt and pretty much anything else that begins with “Sim”. Those games were largely macroscopic in scope, giving players control … Read more
Every once in a while, our regular Friday night RPG session falls apart. It might be because of sick kids, weddings, extended business trips or just bad luck, but only a handful of our players can make it. If it’s a night when the party really needed the resources of the missing players, we ditch … Read more