Gamefound Fall Feast

Earthborne Games – Hubworld Aidalon

This is going to be a competitive game. It’s still going to be a card game, but very different than Earthborne Rangers. The world setting looks very interesting to me, the artwork is fun and has a sci-fi element to it. They want to create a more thoughtful and complex card game, kind of like how there has been a lot of TCG/CCG’s in that area. So some of that feel but without chasing cards. More like a competitive living card game. Crowdfunding to launch the game and then release more stuff every six months to retail. Some Andoid Netrunner feel to the game from the sounds of it.

Archon Studios – Master of Orion: Ad Astra

It’s an adaptation of a video game. It’s a massive 4X video game so how will it work over to a video game. I think it looks like a standard 4X game, and that’s good because that’ll match the video game. And it looks like it’s going to be a very big game. Interesting to me, mainly because it’s based off of a video game, and it’s making me tempted to try out the game.

It’s not just going to focus on combat, which is kind of expected. And it’s going to be a long game about 120 minutes per player. Some interesting thing because it’s going to be manufactured in Poland at Archon’s own production facility. There is a solo mode as well.

Orange Nebula – Vestige

Orange Nebula always makes some interesting games, so I’m curious on this one. This is going to be a modern Euro set in space. You’re going to be covertly trying to work the underground and find a way to get off the moon. It’s going to be a resource management game. I am interested in this one because it’s Orange Nebula, but from the sound of it, I want to know a lot more about the game before I consider backing it. I like the idea of trying to get off a moon after technology and society has collapsed and everything is this underworld sort of theme. It’s not supposed to be too complex and approachable for Orange Nebula games.

Synergic Games – Rise of Myths: Cthulhu

Another Cthulhu themed game, this is going to be a cooperative rogue-lite deckbuilding game. I love the sound of all of that. And it’s interesting it’s only a max three player game, so it’s fairly specific. And you unlock content that you go, so more stuff that I like. This really sounds like a game for me. The style of play, I love deckbuilding. It is going to have a solo mode but also can be heavily cooperative with how card play interacts. All of this is awesome to me. There is some comic lore for each character which is cool for a follower gift.

CMON – Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn

I love Super Fantasy Brawl. Do I need more of it, I question that, I need to play all my stuff again. This is a fun battler with some great challenge of attack your opponents and more. But this is going to be a brand new game, and it is going to have a challenge system. But there is going to be an upgrade pack to make all the existing champions for the new game. I am a bit bummed about this, but I need to see what this changes.

As to why changes to the game? They want to keep some of the playstyle. And it is going to tweak new challenges for the game. They really didn’t say much more on it. But I think the main elements of the game. Plus TMNT Champion Packs plus more to come.

Skykingdom Games – The Waste of Parts

Skykingdom Games made Isofarian Guard a game that I really enjoy. This however is a one to five player cooperative game. You control a giant mech, I like that, it sounds awesome. You need to make it across the waste and scavenge pieces to keep your mechs going. That sounds very cool to me. I think that it’s pretty awesome in terms of a theme. And each player is in the mech together which is also a cool twist on it as well. This is much smaller game than Isofarian Guard in terms of how much space it’ll take and just the size of the game itself.

Rock Manor Games – Seas of Havoc Reprint and Expansion

I need to play my copy. I’ll leave it at that. Not really, but it’s something that you’ll be able to see reviews and thoughts on. Generally I’ve heard good things about the game. There is going to be an expansion as well. It’s been hard to find thus far and it’s been marked up a ton on the secondary market. So the hope is that it’ll be more available. I plan on getting this one played prior to the campaign to let you know if you find that your thoughts and tastes align with me. The expansion seems to add more variability versus adding in new elements to the game.

Nerdlab Games – Final Titan

This is going to be a drafting game with some auto battling. I want to know how this is going to go because it’s not a theme that immediately jumps out to me. Nerdlab games also put out Mind Bug. This is going to be a free for all battling game. And seems like a lot of die rolling and it could be pretty fun. It reminds me of a Dice Throne, but also they said 3-5 is probably the sweet spot which is interesting. You send in a champion each round, or you skip, and they want that decision making process, so it sounds like a one on one battle but when you go into battle is interesting.

Adam’s Apple Games – Tatsumi

This is going to be a thematic abstract game. I was hoping they’d be talking about Defenders of the Dictionary which I thought was a ton of fun at Gen Con. I’m kind of meh on games that are mainly abstract even with a theme. It’s a 1-4 player game with a solo experience which is interesting for an abstract game. I wonder how much of a puzzle it will be because I do enjoy a good solo puzzle. The artwork is cool on the game for sure.

Dark Horizon Games – Earth Under Siege Flashpoint Reprint and Nemesis Expansion

A stealth dungeon crawler game, so yes, it’s the type of game that I am interested in. The game has a very good score on BGG, which is exciting as well. It makes it one that I don’t need more of that style of game, but it’s also one that I’d probably like to play. It’s going to add in some side missions into a more involved adventure. So that’s an interesting way to add in an expansion as it’s going to take some standalone stuff and adds in a campaign for those. And it’s possible now to just be a boss battler game as well with the expansion.

Boom Studios – The Complete Jim Henson’s LABYRINTH Graphic Novel Collection

This might just actually be a graphic novel. Likely stuff that is tied to a Labyrinth board game, but also, kind of odd for Gamefound. So not something, even with liking Labyrinth that I’m all that interested in.

Archon Studios – Dungeons and Lasers Porthaven

This sounds like a mini which again isn’t really my thing. But a way to set-up a pirate campaign. They also have a supplement for that as well. So interesting, but definitely an easy pass for me. It’s like the Boom Studios one where it just isn’t for me.

Final Thoughts on the Fall Feast from Gamefound

Nothing from Awaken Realms, though they seem to do it once a year. I’m still very interested in the next game that they have coming. What is your favorite from the Gamefound Feast?

For me, I think that Rise of Myths: Cthulhu is really exciting. I’d love to play that one because there are so many things that I like about. The Waste of Parts is probably my second most exciting one from the list. That is just a theme that sounds different and unique. Plus there are a lot of very other interesting things on Gamefound right now as well. I need to play more games, figure out which to keep and maybe back a few more.

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I think that for a lot of people, they watch something like Iron Man or The Dark Knight, and they get curious about comics. However, even now with superheroes being part of the zeitgeist of our times, comics for a lot of people are a daunting step further into the superhero genre that people are less willing to take. Some of that is because the amount of content for comics is daunting. That’s what I’m hear for, to give you a jumping off point into comics, not just superheroes but any type.

I would say that there are two types of comics. The first being the shared universe comics, by that, I’m talking about your Marvel, DC, or Valiant Comics to name a few. The shared universe is going to have characters crossing over from one book to another and shared world events at times. Think about how there’s an Iron Man comic, and he’s part of the Avengers, plus, he might show up in another characters book as well. Or there will be events like Age of Ultron in Marvel or Flashpoint for DC to name a couple.

The other type is going to be your comics that are stand alone. Something like Saga, Umbrella Academy, Powers, or Locke & Key. They aren’t part of something larger and while their publisher might do a crossover event at some point in time, they are really meant for stand alone stories. Because of that, you don’t end up with sometimes as generic stories because they don’t have to play nice with what’s going on in the other comics. Or, I should say, it allows them to be more consistent, because you can have a mapped out story from the start and not need to worry about how you might affect another story if you have a world altering event or even world destroying event.

So that’s a little bit about how comic book companies work, but when getting into comics, that’s generally not the issue. And even stand alone style comics can be hard to get into if they’ve been going for a long time, like The Walking Dead. There’s just so many issues or trade paperbacks (TPB) or compendiums to pick up and for those you need to pick them all up, so how do you decide where to start?

For the stand alone, you almost need to start at the beginning, some of them, American Vampire, for example, do have arcs so you’re able to jump into them in the middle because the cast of characters will primarily be different and they’ll explain what you need to know for that arc of the story. But for some of them, Saga being a prime example of this, you need to start at the beginning because otherwise you won’t understand what is going on as issues and TPB’s build upon each other.

For the shared universe, you generally have more jumping off points. Firstly because they do resets on the universes every 5-10 years. Because you’re in a single massive universe, things grow and get crazier and crazier and eventually you’re dealing with Dark Phoenix almost destroying the universe, of Flash running through time. These massive events allow the comic book companies to create a launching off point for new characters getting comics, and now stories in the universe and undoing some of the old stories in the universe. The reason that they do this because both Marvel and DC have been doing this for over 80 years. That’s way to long to sustain characters having a single story arc throughout the whole thing. So instead, they restart with Peter Parker being a highschooler again, and while Uncle Ben won’t die yet again to do an origin story, they’ll tell stories in the comics that make more sense for a younger Peter Parker. And finding those things, the New 52 or Rebirth for DC as two examples, it gives you a spot to start from the stories in a fresh easy to jump in place.

Now, with some idea of where you want to start, you can head into a comic book store and pick up the stories that you’re interested in. However, right now, that’s not a possibility in a lot of places, or maybe you don’t have one around. There are some options for you still.

Firstly, if there is one around that you can get to, I recommend using a comic book store. It’s a small local operation, and supporting them is great, plus you get face to face interaction and they can set-up what’s known as a pull list for you. That’s going to be books that when they order, they get extras and set them aside for you so that you know you’ll get a copy of the stories that you’ve been following. Plus, they are also able to give you recommendations for other series that you won’t as easily be able to get form other sources.

You can also subscribe to services or sites that will pull and send comics directly to your place. Places like Things From Another World (TFAW) will allow you to pre-order comics that are coming out in the upcoming weeks. I’m not sure that they do the pull list, didn’t spot it easily on their site, but there are places out there that will allow you to set-up what comics you need. This is great if you want the physical copies, don’t mind getting them a couple of days later than their release, and don’t live near a comic book store.

The final option I want to talk about is digital comics. Again, you can set-up a pull list and get what you want or order a-la-carte from somewhere like Comixology. That’s going to allow you to get digital versions of new comics as they come out. Or, if you don’t mind not having the newest comic in your hand right away from Marvel, you can get them on Marvel Unlimited. That’s what I’m using now, mainly because I’m fine reading through older stories, like Age of Apocalypse from the 90’s and because it gives you all the books at a flat fee versus having to purchase each issue individually.

There’s a lot to digest in here, as I go from the different comic book story types down to where you can pick them up and where you might want to jump in. I wish that I’d had some of this information when I started as I accidentally doubled up on things between TPB and comic book issues themselves.

What was your introduction to comic books? Are you more of a superhero fan or more interested in some of the stand alone stories?

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