Episode 5.5: Origins Stories
Broken token: Gloomhaven organizer
This company has been around for a while, but this is my first purchase from them.
https://www.thebrokentoken.com/shop
This company specializes in customized gaming tables, but they do have one standardized order called the Jasper. The Jasper is one of the more affordable options I have seen in a gaming table, but of course comes with limited ordering options.
https://www.boardgametables.com/
https://www.boardgametables.com/products/jasper-board-game-table
We got some sweet dice from Black Oak Workshop. (show dice) The have some great gaming accessories and dice boxes.
https://www.blackoakworkshop.com/
Speaking of gorgeous dice boxes, Elderwood Academy has beautiful gaming accessories. I especially love their spellbook dice boxes.The pieces are made with leather and wood and will really help set the scene for your dungeon crawls.
https://www.elderwoodacademy.com/
Has some of the swankiest dice I have ever seen! We didn’t get any purchased, but if you are in the market for exceptional stone dice, you should check them out!
https://usa.levelupdice.net/collections
Fantastic dice and accessories. We even picked up this cool dice tray that we will be using for streaming when we play board games on Nerdmeat’s channel. It does this cool thing where when heat is applied it turns colors. I also see on their website that they have glow in the dark dice and that is sweet.
https://www.dieharddice.com/
Gaming accessories, but also computer accessories. This company has extremely functional yet gorgeous designs for their dice trays.
They make super fancy neoprene games mats of all shapes and sizes and can do custom art as long as it isn’t copyrighted. We bought two!
These were one of the biggest sponsors of the convention and they had a great display set up where you could test out their gaming table toppers. These toppers just sit on top of your existing table and offer a great gaming experience. They are launching a Kickstarter on June 25th. The kickstarter is going to be offering a wood inlay option for the rails, some fantastic new full table neoprene mats, and more. These toppers are super sturdy and for families who don’t have space for a designated gaming space this is a great solution.
https://www.gametoppersllc.com/
We discovered this publisher for the first time at Origins because their artwork surrounding their booth was gorgeous! They have created a tabletop RPG called “Of Dreams and Magic” and players take on two different identities. A normal person that is awake during the day and has one set of stats, and a different persona that they take on while they are sleeping that has a different set of stats. Along with the RPG they have created some tabletop board games, most are set in the same setting as the RPG including The Shared Dream, which has a variety of expansions. Their newest game appears to be Age of Kingdoms which looks fantastic as it meshes area control, worker placement, and miniature battle. It doesn’t appear to be out yet, but we will be watching for this one.
https://www.odampublishing.com/
Atlas Games is releasing a new RPG with a goal of being fun for the entire family. The theme of this game is that players are taking on the role of adorable kitties who are saving their humans, maybe even their town from supernatural troubles. This game is geared towards very young players, but should be fun for adults as well. Atlas is hoping to launch their crowdfunding in July sometime, so keep an eye on the website or sign up for a newsletter so you will know for sure when it goes live.
https://atlas-games.com/magicalkitties
We checked out the UnPub room at Origins and found some promising games in the works. One that really stuck out to us was Steam Kitty Games, a company ran by Matt Williams. This guy has many games in production. We played Oh,Ryleh? Which should go to crowdfunding soon. It was a lot of fun, a quick game that was almost a reverse Uno experience. The idea is that you are an elder god trying to collect cultists. The cards in your hand are the cultists. You are trying to make the other players run out of cards, while keeping your own. The person at the end with the most cards is the winner! Another game he has in development that we weren’t able to get a chance to play is Machines, Monsters, & Madness, which looks like great fun. The idea is that you are building really whacky monsters. The game I saw that I am the most excited about is the Otter Park. It is going to be an asymmetric worker placement that will involve building otter slides. The cuteness level on this game is off the charts and I am very excited to see it moving through development.
http://steamkittygames.com/games/
We went all the way to Columbus, Ohio to meet a local developer. Bossy Games is very close to launching their kickstarter for Captains & Curses. This is a pirate themed, sandbox style, strategy game with some role playing elements. The art on this one is looking great and the mechanics appear to be flowing well. Excited to see this one hit Kickstarter as well.
Argent Saga is a new trading card game produced by Alter Reality Games. It is a two player game where players build their own decks. There are 5 different elements or colored themes for the decks. Instead of mana this game uses shards to generate casting power, but the shards aren’t assigned to a specific color. It looks like the game will play a lot like Commander in Magic: the gathering. This game has an insane amount of support and is ready to launch organized play, tournaments with prize support, and intro decks right out of the gate. Their kickstarter is live now through July 12th and there are some pre-release events happening late July through August.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/argentsagatcg/argent-saga-trading-card-game
Shadows of Esteren is a medieval gothic themed RPG. Unlike most RPGs where you are adventurers out to save the world, in this RPG you are just a talented person trying to survive in this harsh world. It is considered low fantasy because there is a lack of elves and dwarves. Humans are kind of tribal in nature in this game. One of the really cool things about this game is how well it champions female characters. Even in the lore women are leaders of these different tribes and skilled warriors. The game books are also written in a story book manner, which makes them fantastic reading material. (Show quick start book.)
http://shadowsofesteren.blogspot.com/2012/06/faq-esteren-in-20-questions.html
The gaming company that brought you Dinosaur Tea party and Fireball Island has some new releases coming your way. The new social deduction style game Conspiracy is out now and a new game called Unmatched will release at Gen Con this year. Gen Con will also be bringing a Fireball Island Expansion with it.
https://restorationgames.com/
Overlight by Renegade Games. It was very okay. (Jackie will talk about this a bit)
https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/overlight
WE bought Sorcerer!!! Finally! (Show game from shelf) We also got Star Realms and more Epic Cards! (Jackie will talk about the arena game a little bit after we finish talking about the new games we bought.)
https://www.whitewizardgames.com/
Check us out at O Con Expo, Meeple Skills is doing a live recording.
Jackie is launching a new show on the Project-Nerd Twitch Channel. Basement Dwellers will be a show about friendship and smashing those friends faces in with couch and occasionally board games. The first episode will be July 13th at 10:30 CDT with guest, Nerdmeat!
Meeple Skills is Project-Nerd’s only tabletop gaming podcast which makes it the best by default. You can follow the Podcast on Twitter and Instagram. You can follow Ethan on Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch. You can follow Jackie on Twitter. You can follow Alyssa on Instagram.
