Unplugged: 2006 Holiday Shopping Guide

Unplugged: 2006 Holiday Shopping Guide
A short list of nifty games for all types that DON’T require any wires or batteries.

Some old, some new. A couple I'd love to borrow, and I'm sure one or two have blue...

Unplugged #58: Caylus, Almost the Penultimate

Unplugged #58: Caylus, Almost the Penultimate

Build a castle for the king, and try to earn his favor in this deep and satisfying game of planning and building.

Unplugged 55-57

OK, so this way of updating people is not so effective. Only a few people get my Unplugged Updates via this RSS feed. If you're still interested in keeping this blog going so you can reference my biweekly GamerDad Unplugged articles via RSS through this blog rather than through the GamerDad site, drop me a note here or via email and I'll keep it up. Otherwise, posting links to my GamerDad articles on this blog may continue to be very sporatic.

And now, the recent Articles:

Unplugged #57: Mattel gets an upgrade
by Dr. Matt Carlson
November 13, 2006
Known primarily for its basic toy and game line, Mattel has jumping into the modern boardgame arena with two new games from the same author, Brian Yu.

Unplugged #56: Two New Wondrous Games
by Dr. Matt Carlson
October 30, 2006
The latest from Days of Wonder, the Blizzard Entertainment of boardgames.

Unplugged #55: Darkness Falls on Sevinpold
by Dr. Matt Carlson
October 02, 2006
Thankfully, the game is much easier to play than to spell…

Updates from GenCon

All week long I'm posting my blog compiled from GenCon... here are the first three:


Unplugged: GenCon Indianapolis 2006 - Day 2, Friday (part I)
GenCon at its finest: sheep, dice, and applying for a job?

Unplugged: GenCon Indianapolis 2006 - Day 1, Thursday (part II)
You’ve got videogames in my boardgame convention! – D&D Online, Ryzom Ring and more

Unplugged: GenCon Indianapolis 2006 - Day 1, Thursday (part I)
A homicidal maniac, and WotC – the big fish in the pond

Unplugged 53 & 54

Unplugged #54: Continental Drift and Immortal Eyes
A game for any bird-brain, and one for the (geologic) ages.

Unplugged #53: Dragons or Darters, both are a smart choice
It’s Rube Goldberg meets Dragon-herding in this 2-player game.

World of Warcraft, Arkham Horror, and No Thanks!

A little behind in the posting, I'll try to update more regularly in the future, but here are the past three Columns...


Unplugged #52: Play a card game? - No Thanks!
June 25, 2006 Politeness has never been so vicious!
A review of the excellent filler card game: "No Thanks!", where players auction off NOT to take a card.

Unplugged #51: Insanity is best shared with a friend
June 11, 2006 Things that go “bump” in the night? Monsters terrorizing townsfolk? The awakening of ancient evils? At least you have your friends!
This rather elaborate game, Arkham Horror, by Fantasy Flight Games has lots of little bits and is pretty fun, but can get long if you play with too many players.


Unplugged #50: WoW, a boardgame!
May 28, 2006 No voice chat programs are needed to play World of Warcraft on your kitchen table.
The board game version of World of Warcraft is pretty fun, but also has the "Many, many little bits" problem. It can last awhile, but is a good game for fans of the computer version.

bonus article

For those interested, Avalon Hill is publishing a series of strategy articles I've written on Nexus Ops.

Here's the link:
Nexus Ops Unit Purchasing 101
Humans ... Fungoids ... Crystallines ... Rock Striders ... Lava Leapers ... Rubium Dragons. Which to buy? There's more to the units in Nexus Ops than meets the eye. (more...)

Enjoy!

Collectible Miniatures?

Yes, some fans of my column aren't into miniatures, but don't they just look so darn cute?

Well, here's a run-down on the bigger names in the line (mostly Wizards and Wizkids). (Oh, and the bigger names are also making bigger miniatures... :)

Unplugged #48: It’s a game of miniatures, not a miniature game!
The world of miniature games just got a whole lot larger....

All things Heroscape - the mega-expansion-review

In a series of two posts, all the Heroscape expansions released so far are reviewed....

First, an overview and the "big" expansions:

Unplugged #46: Heroscape Expands
March 27, 2006
They’re not dolls, they’re action figures! Expansions for the Heroscape boardgame.

Finally, a look at all the smaller expansion packs (4 waves of 4 packs):

Unplugged #47: Heroscape, catch the wave!
April 02, 2006
Your guide to the waves of Heroscape expansions.

Unplugged #45: It’s in the cards

This past week's article continued the focus on card games...

Unplugged #45: It’s in the cards
When a simple deck of 52 isn’t enough, a few card games for a deeper challenge.
(The second of two columns on card games...)

Reviews of:

Gloom (Atlus Games)
Ark (Rio Grande)
Fairy Tale (Z-Man Games)


Are all provided...

Unplugged #44: It’s in the cards

Part 1 of 2 columns about card games...

Unplugged #44: It’s in the cards
February 27, 2006
From shooting ducks, to eating leftovers these card games are playable by anyone.

These are on the lighter side and great for younger families or fillers for fans of more complex games...

Poison, Sitting Ducks Gallery, and Leftovers

Unplugged #43: 'Tis a silly game...

A short review of Quelf, Eiertanz, and Are you Phrazy?

Unplugged #43: 'Tis a silly game...
January 30, 2006
There are games that call for somber reflection and thoughtful decisions, these do not.

Unplugged #42: Five and Dime

Whoops, I forgot to update the blog a few times, so here's a few posts all in a row!

Unplugged #42: Five and Dime
January 15, 2006
Time for the Doctor to put his money where his mouth is, what has he played lately?

I go over my paultry five and dime list for the year of 2005 with a few comments.

Unplugged #41 - On the Road

This week, just a blog about games I brought and games I got while on vacation at my in-laws and my parents.

Unplugged #41: On the Road
And I, I played the game more easily traveled by.

I comment on "Dancing Eggs", Tsuro, and a few others...