Board Game News 32: Puzzles Parties and Pandemonium

The theme of this week’s news may well be Disaster as we feature new kickstarters for Firefighting and Alien Invasion! Along with that we have some new titles for tablet gamers, a new party game for meeting new people and of course all the new releases from our friendly neighbourhood games broker Paul Lister…

Cannection

Camden would like you to know about their latest kickstarter, Cannection.

Cannection is a fast moving game that quickly sorts great dates from disaster dates. Individuals are asked to guess what they would think another player’s choices would be and then quickly sort and rank to score points.

It's really simple to play:

Get a group of people.
Deal 7 date cards to each player.
Pick one player to be "it" or the "candidate".
All others guess what dates they'd like or dislike.
The "it" or "candidate" will sort to their preference.
Score and enjoy.

What comes in the can?

4 Header Cards
300 Dating Cards
1 Mini magazine with directions, fun additional content, and scoring sheets.

Cannection is all about you. People love to be the center and have things revealed about themselves. It is forever interesting to learn about other people's impressions of yourself and your impressions of others, especially when you are totally wrong.

It's been interesting, enlightening, and occasionally creepy to see how even complete strangers can strike up conversation and reveal personal preferences – often feeling comfortable with one another within minutes. In this internet era, being around people in the flesh can be awkward, uninteresting, and sometimes a smelly affair. We're here to remedy that.

Puzumi

The guys at Puzomi announce puzzle lineup that challenges, entertains and decorates

Brain teasing puzzles change the way people solve and use puzzles with multiple solutions and challenging games

August 26 2013 - Puzumi officially announces the unveiling of their beautifully crafted acrylic puzzle line up. These mathematically crafted puzzles are available on their website Puzumi.com. Don’t expect the puzzles they make to be anything like ordinary puzzles dumped from a box with a single image and a single solution - they are a mind teasing task full of creativity, multiple solutions, and are fun for people of all ages.

With each unique Puzumi puzzle you have the chance to really flex your most important muscle, your creative mind, as you meet the challenge of arranging a geometric work of art into a pleasing image. Depending on the Puzumi puzzle you purchase the number of solutions can range from just a challenging few, to literally thousand of combinations. Not only do all of these solutions allow for stimulating mental exercise, but they also allow for you to use your Puzumi as a changeable piece of art that you can display in your office or home.

What’s even better is that you can do more than arrange pieces into a set shape like a normal puzzle, you can also play games with these puzzles! The games which you can play with your specific Puzumi puzzle are detailed in an instruction booklet that comes with your purchase.

The basic design idea behind each puzzle is that of a unique mathematical theorem. This is what makes each one so challenging and unique, and what allows for the great flexibility in their solutions, challenges and games. They are made from a durable acrylic-glass, which means that you can take the time to find all the different solutions for each puzzle without worry that they will warp like cheap cardboard can.

There are many benefits associated with the Puzumi puzzles, here are a few:

Multi use brain trainer

They stimulate your sense of touch and train your brain in a way a video game can’t.
Your eyes will take a well deserved break from the computer screen and interact with real world objects, a sorely missed aspect of modern brain training.

Everyone from adults to children can experience a multitude of different challenges and creative objectives with just one puzzle.
The creative and artistic parts of your brain have the chance to express themselves in art that you can easily display in your home or office.
Invite your friends over and play quick strategy games that are incredibly fun and mind-stimulating.

Long lasting construction and incredible design

An adjustable stand is included with most puzzles, allowing you the chance to display it as a piece of art that you can change when you want.
The durable acrylic glass construction, crafted right here in the USA, can last a lifetime, certainly much longer than cardboard!
Every puzzle design is based on a mathematical or geometrical concept, with a mathematician or master puzzle designer crafting each puzzle.

The purpose behind every Puzumi puzzle is to provide people with a pleasurable pastime that is mind stimulating, beautiful to look at, appropriate for a wide age range, and fun for beginners and experts alike. A Puzumi puzzle is well worth your time and money as it incorporates a timeless design with the universally loved concept of creating brain exercising art with you own two hands.

Kate Jones, one of the master puzzle designers, summarized it best when she said:

“Each puzzle set contains a bit of cosmic truth, nourishing the mind’s need to recognize system and structure. It is in symmetry and order that the mind finds its truest expression, its fullest sense of its own efficacy and of beauty.”

To learn more about Puzumi puzzles, visit their website atPuzumi.com. There, you will be able to learn more about these unique puzzles, see all of their breathtaking designs for yourself, and order the puzzle that will beautify your office or home once it is done stimulating your creative mind.

Wiggles 3D

Peter from Wiggles 3D would like you all to know that Quote Slide has added 5 new puzzle packs they’d like you to check out along with the release of a new game Eye Know.

Why is Quote Slide worth another look?

Since the introduction we have had a 70% retention rate of players. I’m sure you would agree that number is extraordinarily high given the usual turnover in app participation.

Players are engaged! Our analytics indicate that users play an average of 20 minutes a day.

And they love it! We receive regular feedback from players about the fun and value of the game.

“Need more puzzles! Love, love, love this game. Just need more puzzles please!”
“Great word puzzle game! Really cool concept it's kind of a mix of a crossword and Sudoku. UI and design is really clean and well layed (sic) out.”
“Excellent! Brilliant. Halfway between picross and crossword kind of, hard to explain, wonderful to play. Only bad thing is I've completed the puzzle packs they have up, but it looks to be a new game so can't complain! Plays well, neat and pretty, not overcomplicated, spot on.”

What’s the common theme? Give us more puzzles to play! Not a bad suggestion or sure. So we have just added 5 new themed puzzle packs to the roster on top of the daily puzzle and the monthly themed puzzle packs.

Quote Slide is a daily play app that rewards the game players with a great quote that they solve by selecting letters from a grid. It’s challenging enough to be interesting and the payoff of the quote is satisfying for players.

The only thing missing from this app is for more people to know about it. I’d love to have you review and report to your readers and fans about it. While, as a small company, we don’t have the resources to advertise enough to really make an impact we know that, with your help, more people could enjoy Quote Slide just like those who are playing it today.

Please visit itunes or the play store for the free download.

Eye Know from Wiggles 3D - New iOS and Android game

Also or team is proud to announce the release of our new image identification app: Eye Know!

Explore the world through images! Each image is scrambled using one of ten iPhone Screenshot 2 different animation styles such as a vortex, a fish eye lens, and a searchlight.

Which celebrity is caught in the vortex? What country is cut up? Who's ready for their close-up?

Eye Know offers an amazing variety of images, and you'll have to use your skill to determine if the image is King or Kissinger, a ghost or a goat, a balloon or a bubble. You'll have an inventory of letters to work with and two types of help available when it's needed. Need a free letter? Use some coins and get a hint! Too many letters that don't belong? Use a bomb to blow them away!

Eye Know is free for the first 60 levels, and there are two options to buy even more content: Buy 60 more images for 99 cents or unlock all 660 images and get 1500 coins for only $4.99. There are even seasonal holiday packs available, starting with a collection of Halloween themed images!

This app is perfect for casual play or cooperative play with your friends and family!

Available on iOS and Android devices.

Stinky Donkey

Mario would like you to know about his card game Stinky Donkey.

Stinky Donkey is a fun cards game for 2 – 6 players, age 6 and up. Packaged in a convenient pocket size box.

Benefits of playing card games with family and friends

Playing card games with the family benefits in the following ways:

1. Strengthens interaction and bonding between family members
2. Children practice skills such as counting, reading, visual perception, eye-hand coordination and dexterity
3. Promotes healthy competition
4. Children learn to focus
5. Children learn how to win and lose with grace and proper manner
6. Helps getting along with others
7. Detect patterns
8. Plan ahead

Most importantly, playing card games is fun and adults can give kids something to think about, too.

The purpose of this project is to start the production and advertising of a very fun and easy to play game for 2-6 players. Packaged in a convenient pocket size box that you can take to a party, family gathering, camping, or just have fun with your friends and family.

The game is called Stinky Donkey.

You can also use the cards to play memory.

My goal is to produce 400 card game sets as the first run.

With A pledge of $12.75 dollars or more, I will send you the First Run Limited Edition Stinky Donkey Card Game Set. Please checkout the content and video below to learn more about the Stinky Donkey card game and support my project.

Thank you.

Mattie Games

The guys over at Mattie Games would like you to know about Fire Call

The Firefighting Themed Board Game Created by Firefighters.

During the earlier days of firefighting, volunteer fire brigades used deception to compete with one another in order to be the first responders on scene, and subsequently receive payment from the property owner's insurance.

Fire Call positions you at the front lines of modern-day firefighting with a heated twist reminiscent of the combative early years. As you battle opposing fire departments, pull out all the stops to gain control of the most districts by collecting equipment, sabotaging opponents, and successfully completing fire calls to win the game.

With so much ruthless conniving occurring between players, fighting fires will be the least of your problems. Fire Call is a highly interactive, fast-paced, roll-and-move style board game featuring cooperative gameplay for minimal downtime and no player elimination with soft endgame triggers to insure that it's anyone's game until the very end.

The objective is to become the Fire Department (player) with the most occupied districts by utilizing the necessary equipment to successfully complete Fire Calls. Once all of the districts are covered, the fire department with the most occupied districts wins the game.

Host: A Card Game For The Rest Of Humanity

Matthew would like you to know about his new Kickstarter Host.

The world has reached the first great apocalypse, You're either a brain munching zombie, an interstellar alien, or one of the few keeping them at bay... for now. Collect and trade matching cards to complete your mission for either an alien invasion, wide spread infection, or be humanity's last hope, and cure them all. But every card you draw has a negative and positive value. Will you inadvertently let the enemy win by passing the wrong card. Deception is just as important as luck.

The game is based in a world where Aliens & Zombies are a clear and present threat. The only hope for Humanity are the Federal Detectives and the CDC Doctors. The game rounds are approximately 15 mins and in that time, you'll start a conspiracy, engage in misdirection, and secretly complete your objective to win. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, at any time the players a subject to Global Events i.e. earthquakes, typhoons, and the illuminati.

Dominion Storage Chest

Nathanael Kurcab has a very beautiful chest he’d like to show you!

The Dominion Storage Chest makes setup and gameplay simple. All of the cards are easy to access and find, and every rulebook is on hand for the inevitable disagreements! With this chest you can take Dominion more places and enjoy a greater gameplay variety with just one box!

Like you, I love Dominion - but I hated hauling nine boxes around, and didn’t have $250 for a storage solution. So I built my own: enter the Dominion Storage Chest – designed with my fellow fanatics. The Dominion Storage Chest allows you to easily carry the entire Dominion collection in one convenient box. AND – it is affordably priced to allow everyone a chance to get one.

This chest has been thoroughly road-tested – it has travelled on trips to the beach, mountains, and many parties, and works like a champ!

The Dominion Storage Chest includes the following features:

Our first two production runs are gone! Reserve your Dominion Storage Chest from the upcoming third production run now!

This Week’s Releases

With Essen happening Paul is currently out finding out what the new hotness is, but when he comes back you can expect an Essen Preorder Special, until then, checkout what goodies came into Board Game Guru this week. Take it away Paul…

I am going to be in Essen from Wednesday morning until Sunday – any orders placed from Tuesday 22^nd October until Sunday 27^th October onwards will be posted out on Monday 28^th.

In stock now

‘Pandemic : In the Lab’

‘Descent 2ed Trollfens Expansion’

4 from victory point games ‘Golan Heights’ , 'Journey Stones’, ‘King’s Ransom’ and ‘Candle Quest’

New releases arriving on Tuesday

‘Dungeon Roll’

‘Mage Knight: Krang Character expansion’

‘Even More buildings’ – expansion for ‘All creatures Big and small’

‘Thunderstone: Numenera’

‘Ticket to Ride Map collection 4 : Nederland'

‘Blood Bound’

‘Dwarven Miner’