Category: Demos

Game Haven Isn’t Safe From the Dark Titan!

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It was a cold, snowy Saturday evening when we arrived at Game Haven in West Jordan. We wondered if the dark weather would be an omen for what was to come during our demo games that night. As soon as we were set up for our event, we jumped into a game of both The Wizard’s Tower and The Dark Titan with 2 excited fans.

We put up a good fight, dropping several big threats early on, but then a combination of Mega Boss Monsters, a wave of Imps, and an early showing of Agranok had us on the ropes.

I’m sure this will all work out just fine.

This is one of the more impressive uses of the Wall of Force Wizard card we’ve seen in a while. It definitely bought some time, but even that wasn’t enough to save the Castle. In a few turns, it was all over.

Hooray for Wall of Force!

Luckily, that meant we had lots of time left for new games! We reset The Wizard’s Tower–Dark Titan combo for a new group and started a game of Castle Panic with one of Anne-Marie’s friends from college and her family. They had never played before, and it wasn’t long before they were engrossed in trying to keep their Towers standing.

 

Sadly, the Monsters proved too much for our friends, but that just made them excited for their next chance to try again. We reset the game to include The Dark Titan for a new group that was made up of both experienced fans and first-time players.

Never a dull moment when you’re about to be crushed by rampaging monsters!

Some expert coaching and a few lucky rolls kept them in the fight as the new players got familiar with the game and before long they were a monster-fighting machine!

Meanwhile, the group that had been battling with The Wizard’s Tower–Dark Titan combo weathered wave after wave and despite losing the Wizard’s Tower, they eventually slayed the last Monster with 1 Tower still standing. Luckily, that’s all it takes and that gave Game Haven its first victory of the night!

Our last game of the night would see the team fresh off their win in Castle Panic with The Dark Titan jumping in to the dual-expansion combo. They were confident as the first Monsters came out of the forest, but once the Chimera and a Flaming Boulder showed up, things began to look bad.

That is entirely too much fire.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, after the fires were extinguished, Agranok showed up at Level 5 and proceeded to cause even more chaos as he drove other Monsters forward. The Cavalier was bravely sacrificed to finish off Agranok, and Wizard’s Quake had to be used to give our heroes some room to breathe. In the end, the Wizard’s Tower would even be destroyed and rebuilt in order to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but their efforts paid off in a nail-biting win!

This could be bad . . .

We stayed around for a while after the event, talking about game design, playtesting, and all sorts of fun things before we packed up and said goodnight. It was another great time, and we’re already looking forward to our next one on Monday, March 2nd, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Game Haven in Bountiful. As always, don’t forget that you can check out our calendar to see where we’re headed next!

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.

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.!

“The Dark Titan Cometh” Tour Dates

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We’re taking this show on the road!

Fireside Games will be traveling to the mountains January–March 2015, bringing “The Dark Titan Cometh” Tour to Denver and Salt Lake City and surrounding areas.

Here are the dates and venues we currently have booked. Check back often as we may be adding more!

January 25    12–5pm    Shep’s Games    Aurora, CO
February 7    6–9pm    The Haunted Games Cafe   Fort Collins, CO
February 10  5–9pm    Adventurer’s Quarter    Arvada, CO
February 25    5–9pm    Blakfyre Games    Pleasant Grove, UT

February 28    6–10pm        Game Haven    West Jordan, UT
March 2    6–10pm        Game Haven    Bountiful, UT

March 4    6–10pm        Game Night Games    Salt Lake City, UT
March 7    12–4pm        Dragon’s Keep    Provo, UT
March 9    7–10pm    Dragon’s Keep    Lehi, UT
March 12    5–8pm        Game Haven    Tooele, UT
March 28    12–7pm       Game Depot    Tempe, AZ

 

The Dark Titan is the next expansion to Castle Panic, our cooperative tower defense board game. It is scheduled for a Spring 2015 release. You can learn more about The Dark Titan and it’s related base game, Castle Panic, and additional expansion, The Wizard’s Tower on our website.

Monsters, Monsters Everywhere!–New Monsters in The Wizard’s Tower

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Retailer location map

We’ve covered magic (Wizard cards) and fire. What’s left? MONSTERS!

There are many new threats in The Wizard’s Tower box, and they will test your mettle to its limits.

In this video, Justin talks about the new, standard Monsters that join the fight from Centaurs to Ogres, and Imps to Gargoyles.

You will be removing some of the base game Monsters and replacing them with these new Monsters. (See page 3 of The Wizard’s Tower rulebook for the new Monster “recipe.”) Some of these Monsters have special immunities and special vulnerabilities. Some will only spawn alongside other Monsters. Some are just really hard to kill with higher health points than you may be used to!

Flying Monsters

In the expansion there are even Monsters who fly! You have to use Archer cards to hit these Monsters. Knights and Swordsmen are useless against them. They are also immune to the perils of the Giant Boulder! Justin explains how you fight them in this video.

Mega Boss Monsters

Last, but certainly not least, are the Mega Boss Monsters. These Monsters are so big, they aren’t just Bosses, they are MEGA! Four- and five-points make these guys tough to kill, plus they come with extra abilities that stay in effect as long as they are alive. They can also move in unpredictable ways, so you’ll need to stay alert to properly strategize their demise. Mega Boss Monsters are covered on pages 13 & 14 of the rulebook. The game also comes with handy reference cards players can easily refer to when a new Monster is drawn.

You can learn more about all the Monsters in the videos shared above, as well as in the rulebook (pages 11-14). Be sure to also check out our FAQ page for specific Monster effect questions and those occasional scenarios that give you pause.

Happy Hunting! May your Wizard’s Tower remain standing & the cards be on your side!

For the complete playlist of The Wizard’s Tower videos, check out our YouTube Channel, or past blog posts.

Bringing the Heat–How Fire Works in The Wizard’s Tower

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If you’ve been following this week’s blog series on The Wizard’s Tower expansion for Castle Panic, you know how to set up the game by removing certain Monsters and replacing them with new ones, swapping a Tower, and shuffling in the new Castle cards. You’ve also discovered the Wizard deck and all the wondrous magic it holds.

Today we are going to teach you about FIRE!

With this expansion you will encounter Monsters who breathe fire and can catch your Castle structures on fire! But don’t worry, there are ways to put the fire out and even use it to your advantage. You are now able to catch Monsters on fire as well! After all, Dragons are only flame retardant on the INSIDE.

Watch the video for a full explanation of the different ways fire will play a key role in your game play.

How to Set Monsters on Fire

Some of the Wizard cards allow you to set Monsters on fire. When on fire, Monsters will take 1 point of damage for each flame token on it during the Move Monsters Phase of a player’s turn. You can use this new mechanic as part of your strategy by catching Monsters on fire while they are in the Archer ring and letting them burn themselves out before reaching your Castle.

What Happens When the Castle Is on Fire

Among the new Monsters included in The Wizard’s Tower expansion are a few Monsters who can breathe fire and will catch your Castle on fire! Castle structures on fire are weakened and can be destroyed with no damage to the Monsters (they will not take damage when hitting a flaming structure) on that turn. However, a Monster knocking down a flaming Wall will take on that flame token and on his NEXT movement he will take fire damage.

Your Castle structures can handle up to 2 fire tokens and remain standing. However, the third fire attack by a Monster will destroy the Wall or Tower automatically. No Monsters are injured.

How to Put out Burning Castle Structures

Players are able to extinguish flaming structures by playing 1 Brick or 1 Mortar card on their turn for each flame token on the structure. If there are multiple flame tokens on a Wall, you will need multiple Bricks or Mortars to put out all the flames. You may also use the Fortify Wall card to extinguish all flame on a Wall, but you do not get to also fortify that wall.

For more details on how you will be interacting with Fire see pages 7 & 8 in the The Wizard’s Tower Rulebook.

You can also check our FAQs page for The Wizard’s Tower if you have questions about other mechanics and situations.

Wizard Cards in Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower

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Games Magazine 2011 Traditional Games 100 Award

One of the biggest changes to Castle Panic when you add The Wizard’s Tower expansion is the addition of the Wizard deck of cards that infuse the game with magic and new abilities for the players.

How Do You Get Wizard Cards?

Players can obtain Wizard cards during Phase 2 of their turn: Discard and Draw 1 Card. You can only get one Wizard card per turn this way. You cannot draw up to your full hand in Phase 1 from the Wizard deck. You may also obtain a Wizard card during your Trade cards phase if another player is willing to trade you one from their hand.

The Wizard deck is only available to players while the Wizard’s Tower is still standing on the board. If the Wizard’s Tower is knocked down by the Monsters, you lose access to that deck of cards and all the magic within.

What is in the Wizard Deck?

The Wizard cards include new ways to attack Monsters, including cards that you can play against Monsters that are still in the Wizard Card examplesForest. Remember, in the base game, you cannot attack Monsters until they enter the Archer ring. The cards with Forest play options have a tree symbol on them to help remind you. There are also some new cards with the Castle symbol you will recognize from the base game as indicating you can use them against Monsters that have entered the Castle ring.

Some Wizard cards require you to play them with another card such as a Hit card or to “pay” to use the card with an additional card. An example of this is Mystical Manufacturing, which requires you to play a brick or mortar card with the Wizard card to be able to rebuild a Tower.

Oh, yes, you can rebuild a Tower! You need the Mystical Manufacturing card to be able to do so, but this gives you an additional chance at survival by allowing you to recover from a lost Tower.

Watch this video for a quick overview of the Wizard deck and what you get when you add The Wizard’s Tower expansion!

Of course, the expansion doesn’t just make the game easier, we’ve added lots of new Monsters with new abilities and movement effects. Stay tuned for further videos that explain the mayhem that comes with the expansion. You can see a full list of the Wizard cards, as well as the Monsters and new Castle cards, in The Wizard’s Tower Rulebook.

Need replacement pieces? We’ve got you covered if a Troll has gone missing or your cards are showing wear. Check out our webshop where you can get new pieces and the special Castle Panic Promo Pack of past promotional game pieces with in-game effects, as well as some extra fun swag!

The Wizard’s Tower–How to Set Up the First Expansion to Castle Panic

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You are pretty sure you have mastered Monster slaying and are looking for a challenge.

You’ve check our guide for How To Tell if You’re Ready for The Wizard’s Tower and decided to take the plunge.

Here’s a helpful video on getting the expansion to Castle Panic set up with the base game.

You will be removing some of the old Monsters and adding new, including Mega Boss Monsters! You get new Castle cards and a whole new deck of Wizard cards. You also get to upgrade one of your standard Castle Towers.

A helpful tip: All The Wizard’s Tower pieces (and cards) have a little wizard hat icon on them so you can easily switch back to the base game if you need a win to boost your morale.

Have a question about the rules? Check out our FAQ page for The Wizard’s Tower. Remember, a lot of the rules for the base game carry over, so if you don’t see it in The Wizard’s Tower rulebook double check the Castle Panic rules.

If you have any advice for new expansion players, share it in the comments. We’re all in this together, after all!

How to Defend Your Castle

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How To Play Castle Panic

Been wondering what this Castle Panic game is all about? Now you can satisfy your curiosity with our Official Overview video where Justin gives you a succinct explanation of the objective, the mechanics, and what you need to do to win.

This is also a great video to share with your friends to if you are already a fan of the game and want to get them into it. It does some of the preliminary teaching for you, so you can get straight into playing the game with them on your next game night!

Is your interest piqued? Then may we suggest further viewing satisfaction with our Official How To Play video. In this video, Justin takes you through game setup, the order of play on a player’s turn, and some special Monster tokens that affect how the Monsters behave and even some tokens that interact with the Castle differently than Monsters.

After watching these videos you should be fully prepared to band together with your friends and defend the Castle!

Once you’ve mastered the base game of Castle Panic, you’ll want to consider adding The Wizard’s Tower expansion! It adds magic, fire and more Monsters!

 

The Cardboard Vault Reveals Secrets About The Dark Titan

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At BGG.Con 2014, Anne-Marie & Justin sat down with Phoebe Wild from The Cardboard Vault to discuss Munchkin Panic and the just-announced Castle Panic expansion The Dark Titan.

Phoebe catches Justin in a sharing mood and gets him to reveal some secrets about The Dark Titan.

In the video interview Justin gives more detail on how the new Support Tokens work and what some of the new Monsters bring to the game. He also shares some info on how Agranok’s adjustable levels of difficulty work, giving you control over how hard you have to play.

Attention then turned to Munchkin Panic. Anne-Marie explains how Munchkin Panic upends the expectations of Castle Panic players, adding Treasure and Backstabbing to the familiar cooperative style of play.

She goes over how a turn plays out and some of the variations in how you slay Monsters by using Treasure cards and how you use Curses to boost your advantage over the other players. You’ll want to watch this video if you still aren’t quite clear on how the games differ as it gets to the heart of why Munchkin Panic is such fun and how it offers you a new play experience.

Check out The Cardboard Vault’s YouTube Channel for loads of interesting videos from BGG.Con 2014 about all your favorite games.