After Settlers, After Ticket to Ride, After Carcassonne…

The holiday shopping season is upon us and one of the common questions we're running into this season is what board game we would recommend to someone who already has Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride. We've been asked this so many times, in fact, we decided to put our recommendations on our …

Introduction to German-style Board Games

If your household is like mine, chances are you have closet space or cupboard space set aside for a collection of board games. At my house, our cupboard has the classics Scrabble, Monopoly, Trouble, Pictionary, Yahtzee, and Battleship. We also have no less than a half-dozen decks of playing cards, and a selection of German-style board games. German-style board games are a class of tabletop games that, generally speaking, have simple rules, short to medium playing times, emphasize strategy, downplay luck and conflict, and usually keep all the players in the game until the very end. Germany produces more board games per capita than any other country, but the style of the German board game has been adopted by other countries, thus board games designed with the same principles in mind are often refered to as German-style board games or European-style board games. The degree of strategy involved in playing these games can vary, but, in general, German-style board games are designed for everyone-- meaning the beginner and the expert board gamer (and everything in between). With this primer in German-style board games in mind, I give you a list of five such board games that would be a welcome addition to any board game closet or cupboard. The games are listed in no particular order.

The Marvel Ladies

We'll start with one of my favourites, She-Hulk. Here, I've done her REV set (left to right). The Rookie consists of Power Girl's torso, Polaris' head, Circe's face, The Lizard's jacket, Hyena's arms, Beast’s legs, and Ultimate Doctor Octopus' base. This one is very labour intensive, hollowing out the Lizard body to fit in Power Girl's and then heating a needle to make the ripped look of the white outfit for She-Hulk. The Polaris head was the best to show her uncontrolled look, while the open-mouthed scream of Circe made it appear as if the transformation was happening for the first time.

Doomsday, Red Hulk and more

Good day, fellow HeroClixers. We all shed a tear when we heard the HeroClix franchise was ending, but now we can collectively cheer as it returns stronger than ever with the Hammer of Thor set. I am very excited. It has renewed my interest in the Custom Clix column so after a long absence let's get to it.

Top 10: Batman Stories

The seed for this article was planted during a conversation I was having during which I made an off-hand comment about the best Batman stories. It began life as the "Top Ten Batman Stories of All Time", but after Dark Knight Returns and "Year One" I had trouble ranking my other picks in any kind of order. It stuck in my head until I had to write it. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized my best of isn't going to be someone else's best (and some of my choices are a bit wonky and even wonkier is what DIDN'T make the list). So, I settled for the Batman stories (single issues or multi-issue storylines) that I personally find the most memorable.