Month: February 2015

The Dark Titan at Blakfyre

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Blakfyre Games in Pleasant Grove was our first stop in Utah during The Dark Titan Cometh Tour, and it was a great one! The store owner, Gary Taylor, let us take over the prime tables right up front, and after chatting with Gary and some customers, we set up the games and dived right in.

Our first group was a mix of first-timers and veterans, and with some quick instruction from Justin, they eagerly began a game of Castle Panic with The Dark Titan expansion. With some excellent use of the Cavalier and some very lucky rolls, they fought off wave after wave of attacking Monsters. When Agranok was finally revealed to be only a mere Level 1, the team banded together to quickly dispatch the Dark Titan and fight their way through the remainder of his army.

In the end, they not only survived the assault without losing a single tower but were able to rebuild almost every wall for one of the best victories against Agranok we’ve seen on the tour! “If we could have had one more turn, we would have rebuilt every wall!” said veteran player Mike.

Just 1 Wall missing!

During this time we had the chance to meet some local fans who had come out to the event to see the new expansion and meet the designer, not to mention grab a promo card while they were here!

As the night continued, we introduced some fans to a combined game featuring both The Wizard’s Tower and The Dark Titan. At the same time, Mike’s group decided to try the base game and expansion again, this time choosing to face off against Agranok at Level 5!

The strongest version of the Dark Titan proved to be a bigger challenge, and the castle took more of a beating this time. When Agranok appeared, the team threw everything they had at him and even though it took rebuilding the Wall in arc 2 more than 4 times and sacrificing the Cavalier every time he was in play, they managed to survive with 2 Towers still standing! It was a great end to an epic battle.

In the game with The Wizard’s Tower, things were going smoothly until a rush of imps and a simultaneous attack by 2 Mega Boss Monsters forced the players to use Wizard’s Quake and destroy one of their own Towers to ensure the safety of the Castle. When a Level 2 Agranok attacked, things got a bit tense. This time, the Dark Titan wasn’t defeated without losing a few more Towers. In the end, some well-played Wizard cards and quick Wall-building kept the Monsters at bay long enough to survive with 2 Towers left, including the all-important Wizard’s Tower!

It was another great night and a really fun chance to show off the expansion and meet fans of our games. We want to thank Gary for inviting us out to Blakfyre Games and all the folks that came out to make it such a fun event.

Our next appearance in Salt Lake City will be at Game Haven in West Jordan from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. this Saturday, February 28. See you there!

Want to see the intensity in action? Check out this video we took during gameplay.

The Dark Titan Cometh to Voodoo Doughnuts

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The Dark Titan has a sweet tooth, so we indulged him with a visit to Voodoo Doughnuts Mile High in Denver.

We’re wrapping up the Denver portion of The Dark Titan Cometh Tour with a little delicious fun. We’ll be heading to Salt Lake City for our first stop there on Tuesday, February 24, at Game Haven in West Jordan, UT.

But first… we took Agranok and his pals out on a little excursion to Voodoo Doughnuts Mile High. It’s no secret Justin and Anne-Marie like food adventures and our Portland Voodoo Doughnuts video is quite popular on our YouTube Channel, so we decided to check out the Denver expansion and see if they stack up. Spoiler: the donuts are delicious!

We were rigorous in our choices of what to try and give each donut a mini-review. We then give you our favorites, and let some of the characters from The Dark Titan have their say as well! Check it out and we’ll catch back up with you all in Utah.

For all The Dark Titan Cometh Tour fun, you can view the tour playlist, or subscribe and always get the latest videos! Want to know if we’ll be in your neighborhood? Check out our Calendar for a schedule of our upcoming events.

Fireside Games in New York AND at GenghisCon XXXVI

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Last weekend we were all over the place! Anne-Marie traveled to New York City for NY Toy Fair and MunchkinWorldNYC, while Justin held down the fort in Denver and introduced new gamers to Castle Panic at GenghisCon XXXVI.

New York City was COLD! Being a Texan, Anne-Marie was shocked by the windy winter weather, but she managed to find the best company and warm up at various events, including her autograph session at the Munchkin pop-up store put on by our friends at Steve Jackson Games.

Anne-Marie signed copies of Munchkin Panic at Munchkinworld NYC. She hung out with Steve Jackson and John Kovalic while there.
Munchkin Panic was on display on-site at NY Toy Fair!

 

She met with several other business contacts there for Toy Fair and discussed some super top-secret projects! Yep, we are going to tease you with that and not share any details until the ink is dry. *wink wink*

We have a new game coming out this fall and Anne-Marie took this opportunity to get feedback from some of our distribution partners, who are all getting very excited about it. We’ll be sharing more details on this game next month at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas. (Hint: This game will catch you under its spell.)

There was no mistake on where to go to set up!

In the meantime, while Anne-Marie was taking the city by storm, Justin kept The Dark Titan Cometh Tour on track with a demo appearance at GenghisCon XXXVI. This convention is put on by the Denver Gamer’s Association and was rocking the boardgames and other tabletop gaming. Justin’s table was busy all day!

He was able to share The Dark Titan expansion with some really excited fans, as well as introduce new players to the joys of Castle Panic.

We would like to extend special thanks to The Wizard’s Chest in Denver, CO for helping us secure a demo space at the convention and for promoting our games to their customers during the show.

Several games going at once!
Agranok and the Cavalier are about to face off!

 

UP NEXT

We will be continuing The Dark Titan Cometh Tour this weekend with a booth at the Colorado Baby & Kidz Expo, and then heading out to Salt Lake City early next week. See the full schedule of our appearances on our Events Calendar.

The Dark Titan Attacks Adventurer’s Quarter!

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Our last store visit in Colorado was to Adventurer’s Quarter in Arvada, a fun town with a variety of shops and “small town” feel to it. After stopping at the Grandview Tavern and Grill for some pre-game fuel, we headed down the street to Adventurer’s Quarter to get setup for the big demo.

Within minutes we had our first game up and running. Veterans of the base game were eager to dive in and see what all the fuss was about!

Surviving the initial wave of Monsters is always key and though they lost a few walls, they held fast and hunkered down for the next wave. Agranok made an early appearance and quickly made his way to the Castle, smashing Towers to dust as he advanced.

Things were getting tense, when a well-played “Drive Him Back” saved the last few towers and gave the players a chance to finish the Dark Titan off with a slew of Archers, Knights, and Swordsmen. Battered, but not beaten, our heroes fought on finally bringing down the last Monster with 2 Towers still standing, for a rousing victory!

The next group was waiting in the wings and gathered at the table for what would be the most nail-biting game of the night. This time, in addition to new players, we even had a few familiar faces from our demo at the Haunted Game Cafe join in to help! Despite a strong start, things soon went bad as Agranok arrived with a rush of Monsters and pushed to crush the Castle.

Danger draws near!

Agranok was wounded and then hit with a Nice Shot card, and finally finished off by a suicidal charge from the brave Cavalier, but not before he had smashed our player’s defenses to splinters. A lone Monster worked his way into the broken Castle and was 1 space away from the final tower.

The last player drew up to his full hand, desperate for a card that would work in the Castle ring . . . no luck, he discarded a useless card and drew . . . the Barbarian! The entire store rang with the cheers from our table as we lived to fight another day! There were several more close calls before the game was over, but in the end the final Monster fell and the lone surviving Tower stood as a symbol of victory!

You only need 1 Tower left to win!!!

 

We had one more game that night with a fan who arrived late and that ended in a close, well fought victory as well. In the end, the gamers of Adventurer’s Quarter were all victorious and sent the Dark Titan crawling back to where he came!

Our thanks to the crew at AQ for helping us put on a great event! The next appearance is an unscheduled stop at Genghis Con XXXVI! Thanks to our friends at The Wizard’s Chest, Justin will be at a table outside the vendor hall this Saturday from 10 to 6! Come by the Radisson in Aurora to check out all the great events, vendors, and maybe try your hand at taking on the Dark Titan yourself!

The Dark Titan Terrorizes the Haunted Game Cafe!

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It may have looked like a bright, sunny day in Fort Collins, Colorado, but inside the Haunted Game Cafe shadows fell as huge monsters wreaked havoc on brave defenders!

We arrived at the second stop on The Dark Titan Cometh Tour, The Haunted Game Cafe, late in the afternoon. This awesome coffee shop and game store combo is dripping with ghostly ambiance, from the ghosts and spiders hanging on the walls to the appropriately named drinks like the Zombie Elvis and Vampire’s Kiss. We met with the owner, Gary Sproul, and started setting up on a few of the many gaming tables available.

Before we unleashed Agranok upon the masses, Justin took a few minutes to talk with Mark and Randy of The Boardgame Corner. We talked about The Dark Titan Cometh Tour and some of the awesome new elements in the expansion. Look for that interview to be posted on The Boardgame Corner’s website soon.

Once we unpacked our gear, it was time to slay some Monsters! We had quite a crowd that was eager to make their stand, and we quickly had 3 games up and running. The first game was Castle Panic with The Dark Titan expansion, and our team started strong, with the defenders keeping the Monsters at bay early.

The first game of the night is setup and ready to begin!

That changed when a series of Elite Monsters all arrived in the same arc and a rush of Heralds brought a level 4 Agranok onto the field. There are 5 levels of Agranok in the game, with level 1 being the least powerful and level 5 being the most dangerous, so once the level 4 was revealed, the team knew what they were in for. They made short work of the Elites, but Agranok stomped his way into the Castle, and before our heroes could drive him back, he was able to destroy their final tower.

“Don’t worry guys, it’s just an 8pt Monster and his friend charging toward our broken Castle. What could go wrong?”

Another table saw both expansions combined for a Wizard’s Tower–Dark Titan extravaganza. This was an experienced team that used their Wizard cards wisely to keep the monsters under control. There were several moments of panic when walls were falling faster than they could rebuild them, but some clever cardplay and tough choices meant that when a level 3 Agranok finally arrived, they were ready. Agranok charged the Castle but was defeated by a flurry of magic spells and steel weapons. Huzzah!

Mixing both The Wizard’s Tower and The Dark Titan makes for some great battles.

Over on another table, the gang from The Boardgame Corner was getting their chance to try out the expansion added to the base game. A rush of Elite Monsters proved to be no problem for this crew as they knocked down wave after wave of attackers. Some bad rolls and even worse draws saw the Castle damaged, but not defeated. When the Heralds finally summoned Agranok, our heroes whittled him down to his last few points. They were poised to finish him off with a brave charge from the Cavalier, but a Monsters Move token took the Dark Titan out of their reach and their last Tower crumbled under his claws. “We were SO close!” Mark laughed, with a huge grin.

Mark and Randy from the Boardgame Corner try out The Dark Titan

We played more games and then had an informal Q&A session, where Justin talked about his design process and even teased some ideas for future Castle Panic expansions. The Boardgame Corner filmed a short segment that gives a closer look at some of the components in The Dark Titan, so be sure to check that out once it airs.

We wrapped up a great evening with a short interview with Gary, and filmed a look at his amazing hangout. Watch our video, and we’ll see you at the next stop on The Dark Titan Cometh Tour, at Adventurer’s Quarter in Arvada, CO, on Tuesday, February 10th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.!