At this point we have returned to Ravnica, we have crashed some gates, and now we are finally get to see what is at the end of some mad dragon’s maze. And what is at the maze’s end? Why, a beautifully designed set of Magic the Gathering of course!

I’ll be the first to admit that Dragon’s Maze did not excite me when spoilers started coming out. It may have to do with the first card spoiled was Maze’s End, which in my opinion is a very underwhelming card, but after seeing the set and playing in the pre-release I now have a much better appreciation for the set. And while there are still only one or two cards that excite me personally, Skylasher I’m looking at you, I love the set’s overall design and how it so naturally and effortlessly synergizes withe Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash.

I am, at heart, a design nerd. I read everything I can get a hold of on game design. So of course I am an avid follower of all things Maro. Maro, or Mark Rosewater, for those of you who might not know is the lead designer of Magic. I have found all his articles on Dragon’s Maze fascinating. I highly recommend reading them: A Maze-ing Grace, Part 1 and A Maze-ing Grace, Part 2. In them you’ll learn all about the complex challenges the designers faced for Dragon’s Maze. And after seeing the set I think they rose to each and every one of them.

My first play experience with the set was over this past weekend. It was our Great Pre-Release Weekend down in B-town. We had three pre-release events in two days. All told we have over 120 attendees between all of the events. I changed things up from my usually “get-smashed-in-the-large-sealed-event” plan and played in our Two Headed Giant event with a fellow employee. We faced up against 22 other teams all vying for supremacy.

We each choose our guilds wisely, I with my favorite Orzhov and my partner with Simic. By the end of an intense deck building session we wound up with a White/Black/Green, or Junk as it is known, control deck and a White/Blue/Red, or America, agro deck. As a side note I will say that deck-building in this format was challenge. You just have so many playables in so many different colors it can become overwhelming quickly. To make things even more difficult I found that many of the best cards were all 3 mana filling up that 3-drop slot very very quickly.

This 3-drop problem was actually fairly difficult to crack. Rumor was that the Dragon’s Maze format was going to be quite slow. Over the course of the event we discovered this not to be correct. Two Headed Giant games are naturally fairly slow due to four players and extremely complex battlefields, or “board states.” Even in this more sluggish format we found that games would go by surprisingly quick. Boros was still a force to be reckoned with and with more and more people playing the painfully slow Guildgates those cheap agro creatures get even better. If you can establish a solid board presence on curve (meaning 1-drop turn one, 2-drop turn two etc.) you’re set, especially when your opponent goes: Guildgate turn one, Guildgate turn two, Guildgate turn three.

This goes back to that statement about 3-drops. Since it feels like 3-drops might very well dominate the limited (draft and sealed) format, getting to three mana quickly seems to be the name of the game. And guildgates are anything but quick. Then again the upshot of running about 1 quadrillion guildgates is that you can run 5 color decks that has all the best cards regardless of color. There were several folks in the Sunday 2HG that took that rout and did fairly well. But, then again these were people that would rather have a hand of uncastable good cards than even think of casting a bad one, so to each their own. Now, image that you’re facing one of these 5 color players and that every turn they play a gate you play a creature right on curve. Do you see why I think that gates are a very double edged sword?

One more point before I close out for this week. I’ve praised the design of the set and I’ve commented on how good 3-drops are but there is one area where these two things clash: The Cluestone. I played with them and I hate them. With a burning passion. I have never truly hated a card in Magic before now. Sure there are cards I like and cards I ironically like but there are no cards I’ve wished to die a thousand deaths before. But now there are the  cluestones, and I’d like to round every single one of them up and burn them in a heap while dancing joyously around it. Why is that? Because I never, ever, never ever wanted to play one when it was in my hand. Everything costs 3 mana. Why do I want to waste that mana on an iffy mana rock (a mana producing artifact)? There was always another card in my hand to play. And guess what? If you find yourself in the position that the best thing in your hand to play with 3 mana is a cluestone, something likely went wrong in your deck building. The cluestones when drew turned into a 5 mana draw spell and that was an awful feeling. If you find a way to make the cluestones not suck please let me know. I’m honestly curious. But until such time that I am proven wrong, I feel like the cluestones missed the mark. At least the keyrunes give you board presence. Man…I really hate those cluestones… /endrant

Overall I found Dragon’s Maze to be extremely fun to play. Even though there are few cards that excite me the set is tight and very well designed. I can’t wait to see it in action. I think this set’s Game Day should hold a lot of promise. I’ll let you know even more after this weekend where I’ll play the set the way it is meant to be played, with 2 Return to Ravnica packs, 2 Gatecrash packs, and 2 Dragon’s Maze packs. Wish me luck and happy spell slinging.

We’re doing more of a traditional thing for our April second-Sunday 40k event.  That is, we’re doing a straightforward ‘tournament style’ event.  That is, there’s no quirks, but it’s still the casual, low pressure environment.  This event will be 1500 points.  Everything from the rulebook is allowed if you pay for it, and the other rules are included in the images below.

It is once again that time when I delve into that wild and wacky world of Standard Magic. The Gamecrash Game Day has come and gone and I was numbered among its participants. Down in B-Town we had about 20 folks try their hands at the new Standard. Many were armed with powerful decks packed full with the newest and hottest cards. But not me, oh no. I was armed only with the Rally and Rout Boros Event Deck.

I must say though that Rally and Rout is, with out a doubt, one of the best Event Decks WotC has ever put together. It’s tight, concise, and focused. It comes with just the right rares, and if you’re worried about after market value it does not disappoint. Rally and Rout is a powerful little agro deck that can put the hurt on quick at early. You can easily start seeing your battalion triggers on turn three. It also comes with a healthy amount of removal and great evasive creatures. Between Firefist Striker, Doomed Travelers, and Skyknight Legionaries I found myself swinging with wanton abandon.

I went 1-3 for the day, but pushed most matches to three games. The deck could of course use more work. I swear the deck only has Boros Guildgates to make you want to go out and buy Sacred Foundries. One of the things that impressed me most was the deck’s side board. It was solid, focused, and had answers to most of the threats I faced. The Skullcracks were invaluable, I got to laugh madly when I Bonds of Faithed someone’s Thragtusk, and Electrickery was even quite useful.

Overall this Event Deck is one of the best released to date. If you need a great backbone for a deck skeleton pick one up before they’re all gone!

Now, without further rambling on my part, may I present to you the top four deck lists from our Game Day event!

3rd – Nameless

Main Deck

• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x 3
• Champion of the Parish x 4
• Frontline Medic x 3
• Huntmaster of the Fells x 4
• Mayor of Avabruck x 4
• Restoration Angle x 3
• Silverblade Paladin x 3
• Avacyn’s Pilgrim x 4
• Garruk Relentless x 2
• Searing Spear x 3
• Boros Charm x 3
• Plains x 1
• Kessig Wolf Run x 2
• Forest x 3
• Temple Garden x 4
• Sacred Foundry x 2
• Stomping Ground x 2
• Clifftop Retreat x 3
• Rootbound Crag x 3
• Cavern of Souls x 4

Side Board

• Sigarda, Host of Herons x 1
• Zealous Conscripts x 1
• Centaur Healer x 2
• Bonfire of the Damned x 2
• Oblivion Ring x 2
• Ray of Revelation x 1
• Rest in Peace x 2
• Elixir of Immortality x 1
• Clan Defiance x 1
• Silverblade Paladin x 1
• Boros Charm x 1

3rd – Big Naya

Main Deck

• Aurelia, the War Leader x 1
• Burning Tree Emissary x 4
• Loxodon Smiter x 4
• Flinthoof Boar x 4
• Gyre Sage x 4
• Boros Reckoner x 4
• Thundermaw Hellkite x 3
• Restoration Angle x 2
• Hellrider x 2
• Domri Rade x 4
• Mizzium Mortars x 4
• Stomping Ground x 4
• Temple Garden x 4
• Sunpetal Grove x 4
• Rootbound Crag x 4
• Clifftop Retreat x 2
• Sacred Foundry x 4
• Mountain x 2

Side Board

• Aurelia, the Warleader x 1
• Boros Charm x 3
• Garruk Relentless x 3
• Thragtusk x 4
• Kessig Wolf Run x 1
• Oblivion Ring x 2
• Clan Defiance x 1

2nd – American Midrange

Main Deck

• Auger of Bolas x 2
• Snapcaster Mage x 4
• Boros Reckoner x 4
• Geist of Saint Traft x 4
• Restoration Angle x 3
• Boros Charm x 4
• Azorius Charm x 3
• Izzet Charm x 1
• Searing Spear x 3
• Harvest Pyre x 1
• Pillar of Flame x 2
• Unsummon x 1
• Counterflux x 1
• Sphinx’s Revelation x 2
• Supreme Verdict x 1
• Steam Vents x 3
• Hallowed Fountain x 2
• Clifftop Retreat x 4
• Sulfur Falls x 4
• Glacial Fortress x 4
• Slayers Stronghold x 1
• Moorland Haunt x 1
• Plains x 2
• Mountain x 2
• Island x 1

Side Board

• Pillar of Flame x 1
• Saving Grasp x 1
• Sundering Growth x 1
• Rest in Peace x 2
• Negate x 2
• Dissipate x 1
• Rolling Temblor x 1
• Psychic Spiral x 1
• Mizzium Mortars x 2
• Supreme Verdict x 1
• Detention Sphere x 1
• Redirect x 1

1st – Naya Ramp

Main Deck

• Huntmaster of the Fells x 4
• Boros Reckoner x 4
• Avacyn’s Pilgrim x 4
• Restoration Angel x 4
• Thragtusk x 4
• Aurelia, the Warleader x 2
• Thundermaw Hellkite x 2
• Oblivion Ring x 2
• Bonfire of the Damned 4
• Farseek x 4
• Garruk Relentless x 2
• Kessig Wolf Run x 1
• Sacred Foundry x 3
• Stomping Ground x 4
• Rootbound Crag x 4
• Temple Garden x 4
• Cavern of Souls x 2
• Sunpetal Grove x 3
• Clifftop Retreat x 3

Side Board

• Cavern of Souls x 1
• Mizzium Mortars x 3
• Oblivion Ring x 2
• Zealous Conscripts x 2
• Rest in Peace x 2
• Grafdigger’s Cage x 2
• Thundermaw Hellkite x 1
• Staff of Nin x 2

When: March 9th Noon

Where: Game Preserve Greenwood

Why: It’s fun

How much: FREE

What’s the deal: We will play 2 3-way free-for-all games of Capture The Flag at 1250 points.  The rules are all listed on the mission sheet below.  All players are encouraged to come and have a good time.  This is a non-competitive event, but playing to win is encouraged.

              This last Saturday (Feb. 16th) we had a demo for DC DECK-BUILDING GAME here at the Greenwood location.  The game has been a hit at our location and we had 11 great people come out for the event and play for a couple hours each. The game even attracted the Heroclix players that were waiting to play and they all loved it.  Cryptozoic supplied the Martian Manhunter Promotional Card for the event.

Below I will briefly touch on some of the mechanics and cards in the game. The game is, as the title would suggest, a deck-builder.  The set up is simple enough.  You have, off to the side, a Kick, Weakness and Super-villain pile.  These are off to the side and usually on the opposite of the Center Deck. You then flip over 5 cards from the top of the deck and create a center row.  You randomly are assigned a Super Hero from the DC Universe and who has a special triggered ability.  This allows players an early option to build around.  You have a starting deck with Starter (Punch/Vulnerability) resource cards.  Throughout the game you will purchase/defeat other cards in the center row using the Power.  This is the only currency/resource in the game, so it make it a lot more streamlined for players who have never played a deck-builder, and faster paced for the players that have. Cards that you will be using are:

Card types:
Super Hero: You Hero assigned at the start of the game.
Super-Villain: All players will be able to attack and also be affected by this stack of cards.  The have the strongest Attack in the game.
Hero: Character cards the help you with all sorts of abilities.
Villain: Defeat the character and put them into your deck to help your cause. Some will have an Attack trigger when they come in and often disrupts your foes (other players).
Super Power: These are just what they sound like, awesome powers that anyone can use.
Equipment: These are legendary weapons of heroes that you can use to further your progress in the game.  Most will amplify the Heroes power that would have used it.
Location: These (besides the Super Hero) are the only cards that will stay in play and also create a whole new main/sub strategy to the game already in progress.

Some cards in the game have keywords involved.  Power is the most common, others include:
Attack: A trigger that happens when they first come into play that turn.
Defense: This can only be used in response to an Attack from a card from a foe, or the Super-Villain stack.

The game ends when there are no more cards in the center row or all the Super-Villains are defeated.  The game is scored as simple as adding the Victory Points at the bottom left corner of the card.  Note: Weakness will have a -1 count.

The set up this last Saturday at the Greenwood store.

The game as a whole might be one of the best deck-builders I have ever played.  It is easy to learn and holds well for re-playability due in part to the random Super Hero assignment.  I look forward to continued support from Cryptozoic and the community in whole.

As promised, I’m back again with my limited musings. Down in Bloomington we’ve finished up our release events, and they were great! We had over forty players each for our Midnight Draft and our Release Party Sealed events! Truly,  it is a great time to love Magic.

For the release I tried out a few different deck builds, not only to get a better feel for the set, but also because my card pool wasn’t the greatest… I tried out Simic as well as an Orzhov based Esper (Black/White/Blue) removal deck. Neither worked very well, but Simic was over all a little stronger. My Simic deck lacked consistency, and my Esper deck lacked large threats. I ended up 1 and 4 for the tourney, and that was with a bye. I won 2 games with my Simic deck, and none with my Esper. However, I was able to play several other archetypes and got a better overall feel for Gatecrash. What follows is a guild by guild break down of Gatecrash. Feel free to voice your own opinions about the guilds in the comments below!

Boros:

They are just better than you. That’s right. Right now I’m fairly confident that in Limited (drafts and sealed) that they are the guild to beat. It’s not their bombs that beat you however, it’s their commons. Boros’s commons are just better than yours. 3/2 Firststrikers for 2 mana, 2/2 Flyers with Haste for 3, and their 4/4 Vigilance for 5 are just all super solid commons.  Then their uncommons are fantastic as well. Their guild charm is considered one of the best charms over all and is already going for almost $3 on the aftermarket. Their Shockland is highly sought after and Aurelia as well as her Fury are the two of the…ahem… hottest cards in the set at the moment. The guild gets even better with some Extort or Bloodrush support. The guild is just bonkers good. The only negative I’ve heard is that some folks are huge fans of battalion, and while I can see the that from a constructed point of view, when it gives all your 3/2′s firststrike I don’t quite see the risk in attacking with all of them.

Gruul:

Gruul is a finicky guild. I’ve not seen many dedicated Gruul decks. Neither at the release nor pre-release. I feel like this is more of a utility and supplemental guild you splash for. I love it as a splash guild for either Boros or Simic. Its Bloodrushers can really help when you’re attacking all out with Boros. Attack with 3, one gets through, Bloodrush the snot out of it, win. On the flip side, in Simic Gruul’s efficient  creatures trigger Evolve all day. Honestly, I’m most impressed with its hybrid cards. I love all of them. Burning-Tree Emissary is a great efficient, and free, bear (a 2/2 for 2), Pit Fight is great Green removal, and Rubblebelt Raiders could be Standard worthy. It also has one of the best fireballs ever printed in Clan Defiance. I love any card with the phrase “choose one or more.” Then again, the guild does have Gruul Charm, and all of its awkwardness. It’s a fine card for EDH/Commander and maybe some sideboards. Overall I’d say splash Gruul, but don’t dedicate yourself.

Simic:

Simic needs help. I love the idea of Simic. It has great stand alone cards, but Evolve can be risky. All your creatures start off fairly small. Granted they grow up to be nasties, and this can happen faster than you might think, but it’s still a risky gambit. Simic splash Gruul can be extremely potent, but Simic doesn’t stand super well on it’s own some times. Most of the guild’s best cards are just good by their own merits or have interesting twists with Evolve. Things like Experiment One, Fathom Mage, and Master Biomancer. There’s not a whole lot else to say. It’s cool guild that makes for some great moments and some great tricks, but over all it’s just a slightly awkward midrange guild. It comes down to the fact it relies so much on good support. Unless you have a great curve of power and toughness your Evolve guys will top out at 2 power and get stuck. If you want to go Simic, splash Gruul.

Dimir:

Dimir is in an odd place. It can be super powerful in limited, but not really because of its guild keyword. Cipher is a sweet mechanic that was kept in check by Magic’s Dev team, but many of them cost too much mana to be great for Standard play. Dimir is a huge threat in Limited but Cipher has little to do with that. The real threat comes of Dimir just milling out your 40 cards. Its Mill-Until-You-Hit-a-Land, or Grind as it’s sometimes known, is vicious. Grind and Cipher hit a sweet spot in one common card, Paranoid Delusions. If you want Dimir, you want this card. Mill 3 every time I hit with Deathcult Rogue? Yes please! Back this up with Consuming Aberration triggering off your Ciphered spells and you’re winning in no time flat. So while Cipher can be strong with cards like Stolen Identity, I don’t think it’s finding much of a home outside of EDH. But with Mind Grind, Dimir’s mill strategy should be making you win Limited games, at least until Dragon’s Maze comes out.

Orzhov:

First I should state that I am biased. I love Orzhov. I mean, I know I can’t say they’re the best guild, but they have a heckovalot of  potential. I’ve heard many people say that they think Extort is the most standard viable mechanic. I mean people are in love with life gain right now, and people are dying for some great control decks. And when you see a card like Blind Obedience how can you not just love it? Orzhov is, at its heart, a control strategy that turns your little spells into life linking fireballs. What’s not to like? Need limited bombs? They’ve got those too in Gift of Orzhova and One Thousand Lashes, both of which are only uncommons. I’ve also already seen Cartel Aristocrat in a modern deck or two. Just try this at your next draft, take everything with Extort on it and make a deck. You might not win every game, but I think you’ll have a blast playing the deck. Support it with some of the great Boros White cards or support Boros with some White Extort cards and cackle. Orzhov is definitely going places. Like I said, potential.

Either way, those are all my thoughts. I could be wrong, I could be right. Who knows? There’s only one way to find out. Go and pick up some Gatecrash and test out these fun new guilds yourself. Until next time.

It was a cold cloudy kind of day last Saturday; the perfect kind of day for staying in and playing Magic for nine hours. Well…that’s what around 150 people thought at least.

That’s right last Saturday was Bloomington’s Gatecrash Pre-release, and it was a big one! We had 150 folks split between two amazing tournaments. Everyone there was ready to cheer on their new favorite Guild. You see, just like the previous  pre-release for Return to Ravnica, all those in attendance were able to choose and play for one of Ravnica’s Guilds. Last September people could choose from among the Blue/White Azorius, Blue/Red Izzet, Red/Black Rackdos, Black/Green Golgari, or the Green/White Selesnya. Last weekend was the advent of five more of Ravnica’s Ten Guilds. The choice was between the Blue/Black Dimir, Blue/Green Simic, Green/Red Gruul, Red/White Boros, or the White/Black Orzhov.

I was eager to play with the Extorting Orzhov Syndicate. I played in our Sealed Tourney rather than our Two-Headed Giant Event, so I was on my own and had to make do with whatever cards fate handed me. I opened my Guild-pack, read my Guild letter, and started sorting my cards. I wasn’t graced with any major offerings so I had to make do with solid but not super-powered cards. This forced my deck into an uneasy alliance with House Dimir so I could add a little more umph.

• Syndic of Tithes x 1
• Basilica Guards x 1
• Knight of Obligation x 1
• Basilica Screecher x 2
• Gateway Shade x 1
• Slate Street Ruffian x 1
• Balustrade Spy x 1
• Crypt Ghast x 1
• Cartel Aristocrat x 1
• Alms Beast x 1
• Treasury Thrull x 1
• Deathcult Rogue x 2
• Duskmantle Guildmage x 1
• Mortus Strider x 1
• Shielded Passage x 2
• Smite x 1
• Knight Watch x 1
• Angelic Edict x 1
• Devour Flash x 1
• Hands of Binding x 1
• Beckon Apparition x 1
• Godless Shrine x 1
• Orzhov Guildgate x 1
• Plains x 5
• Swamp x 5
• Island x 4

As you might be able to tell I lacked the big beaters needed to go all smashy smash, so I had to rely on the Orzhov Guild mechanic to get things done. Thankfully, Extort does in fact pay the bills. It’s a fantastic mechanic for limited play. It lets you spend all that extra mana you tend to have when playing limited. I’ll tell you what else did the work for this deck (too bad I figured it out later in the tourney): Shielded Passage. This little 1 cmc spell not only gave me more effective trading but also turned into a sweet lifelinking Fireball. Nothing like getting a fantastic trade with Alms Beast and blasting your opponent for 3 damage and gaining 3 life. Good times.

While my decked worked well enough, it lacked some key cards. These were cards that showed up in my opponents Orzhov decks that I was unfortunate enough to not have. And no these weren’t bomby rares. Rather, these cards were just more great efficient commons; cards like Dutiful Thrull, the hyper efficient Kingpin’s Pet, and the solid removal of Executioner’s Swing. I won’t even mention how powerful Gift of Orzhova would have been with my Alms Beast. But alas, things just weren’t meant to be.

I mean I shouldn’t complain. The deck still ran exceptionally well. Giving me an overall record of 4-3, but you can one not lament what might have been with just a few more solid commons and uncommons.

And I think that’s what I like the most about this set. You hear a lot of complaints from the more competitive Constructed players  that this set doesn’t have any good rares, and I could go on all day refuting that claim, but I think it’s easy to miss just how good the commons and uncommons in this set are. They just all so…solid. Nothing game breaking here, just super efficient well costed cards. Things like the new Keyrunes, and Guild Charms especially Boros’s, I think Pit Fight is great, Burning-Tree Emissary is burning for a home, Bioshift can do some bonkers tricks for 1 mana, Skyknight Legionnaire is aggressively costed, don’t get me started on Ghor-clan Rampager. I could go on. Now I know that I’m not the best at constructed Magic, but these simple commons and uncommons just look amazingly good. Sure you may not be opening 60 dollar rares out of this set, at least not at the moment, but you’re opening great solid backbone cards. At least I think so, but only time will tell.

Oh well, that likely enough of a rant for today. Regardless of how you feel about the set you cant deny that everyone at our pre-release had an absolute blast! And I can’t wait for the full release this Friday. You’ll be hearing from me again next week after our Release Sealed Event this Saturday. In that post I’ll be talking more about each of the Guilds and my thoughts about them. Until then.

This event will be held at Game Preserve – Greenwood on Feb. 2nd at 12:00 PM.

PDF:

Kill Team Mission sheet

Kill-Team rules sheet

To play in Kill Team, you’ll need to select your Kill Team carefully, for, as any commander knows, you must send the right men for the mission if you want to guarantee success! You may spend up to 400 points using the following Force Organization Chart:

1 – 1 Named Character (special character)

0 – 1 Elite

0 – 2 Troops

0 – 1 Fast Attack

Note that you must include a special character from your codex.  This character must still follow all the other rules for determining what is and is not allowed.

Your Leader

Every Kill Team needs a leader, be it a hoary old veteran Sergeant, a fiery Commissar, a wiley Succubus or a brutal Nob. Part of the fun of smaller games of Warhammer 40,000 is the chance to make each model a character with a story, and the leader of your Kill Team is a great opportunity. For this event, your leader is the mandatory Named Character you pick to use.

At the end of each game, roll 2D6 and add on to the result the number of models your Leader killed in that game.

•           When you gain an upgrade, note it on your Leader Record Card and have your opponent initial it in the appropriate place.

•           Upgrades marked with an * may be gained a maximum of twice. All others can only be gained once.

•           If you already have one of the * upgrades twice, have rolled an upgrade that can only be taken once or a statistic has reached 10, simply re–roll your upgrade.

Your Leader gains the corresponding upgrade. Note it down on your Leader record sheet.

Kill team is played using the basic rules of Warhammer 40,000 with the following modifications: Each player should build a list of no more than 400 points.

Any codex may be used with the following rules:

· You may use any codex.

· Allies are NOT allowed.

· You may not have any non-HQ models with more than 2 wounds.

· No models having an armor value (vehicles) may be included.

· Fortifications are NOT allowed.

· CHALLENGES are NOT allowed in Close Combat in Kill Team.

· All Models move and act independently as if they were independent characters, even though they may be part of a unit

· Game Mechanics proceed as normal: Move, shoot, and assault. Over watch happens as is normal.

· Models may not benefit form “Look out sir!”

· Whatever benefits a model provides to a unit as a whole will only benefit that particular model.

· All models used must be taken from the codex as they come in a unit. For example: you cannot take a single Space Marine or just an infantry Sergeant, they come in a squad of 5 at a minimum. Likewise, it must be a legal squad in terms of minimum/maximum models, weapons, and equipment.

Kill-Team

• Due to the snowstorm, The Game Preserve Fashion Mall Commons store is closed today.
• Due to the snowstorm, The Game Preserve Bloomington store is closed today
• Due to the snowstorm, The Game Preserve Greenwood store is closed today.
• Due to the snowstorm, The Game Preserve Lafayette store is closed today.

All Stores are now open!

Please have a safe day.

Every year, The Game Preserve endeavors to produce a list of games we think would be great, not only for the holiday season, but for any time of the year. Sometimes, we get it right like Apples to Apples, Blokus, and Spot it. Other times, well we just won’t mention them here.  Sometimes you might even see us repeat ourselves. But, that’s only because the game is really good!

Dabble

Sound familiar? It should. Last year we recommended this word game with great success. So, we’re doing it again.

Dabble is a simple scrabble-like game where you take lettered tiles and must make a two, three, four, five and six letter word. You get points for each accomplishment. Scrabble fans and wordsmiths will love this game.

Price: $24.95

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Flip Out

Basic Strategy game of trying to get 4,5, or 6 cards of like-patterns in a row. Line up six cards in curved plastic card holder that sits in front of you. Swap out a card. Trade with another player.  Swap two cards. Keep going until you have yours cards in a row. But be careful! These cards are two-sided. If your opponent sees a match on the side of cards you can’t see, she can claim them!

Price: $19.95

Players: 2 – 6

Ages: 8+

Time: 15 minutes

Ghost Blitz

There’s always that game that EVERYONE will love to play. Ghost Blitz is that game. Turn over a card. Then, as fast as you can, using the image on the card, grab what’s an exact match or take what’s not at all represented on the card. This is an instant staff favorite.

Price: $17.95

Players: 2- 8

Ages: 8+

Time: Forever…you’ll keep playing it over and over!

Magician’s Kitchen

Hey parents, tired of candy land or chutes-N-ladders? This is the kids game for you. As a magician’s apprentice, it is your job to move colored ingredients to corresponding colored caldrons. Be careful, you could accidentally trip over a lose stone on the floor and spill your precious ingredient! Magician’s Kitchen, 2011 Kinder Spiel Des Jahres (German’s Kid’s Player of the Year) will keep you wanting to play repeatedly.

Price: $29.95

Players: 2- 4

Ages: 5 +

Time: 20 minutes

Sounds like a Plan

Who has the best plan to Create an ice sculpture or Invade a small country? But all you have to pick from a list of suggestions are: Use your head, Get Naked, Run!,  Pick up some Garbage, or Learn to play. Oh, and with a roll of die, you now have to frame your advice as if it came from a grandma. Party game with lots of laughs to be had.

Price: $19.95

Players: 4- 8

Ages: 10+

Time: 30 minutes

SpeedeeBee

Draw a card, roll the dice, say a word that matches what the card asks for before anyone can. It’s that simple. Another game from Blue Orange Games. The producer that brought us Spot-it, Trigger and Fastrack. If it’s from Blue Orange, you can’t go wrong.

Price: $13.95

Players: 2- 6

Ages: 8+

Time: 15 minutes

Stomple

This a great abstract stragedy game where you need to stomp out the competition! Using your color-specific stomper, stomp out all the marbles so there are none for your opponent to get to. But save the marbles that match your colored stomper, those you’ll need to get yourself out of trouble.

We have a brief review from our Greenwood store Manager Nick on this great game.

Price: $29.95

Players: 2- 6

Ages: 8+

Time: 30 minutes