Engines of War 2e Available Now

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The box for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background
The box for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background

Engines of War 2e is available now in your favorite stores! We’re so excited to announce that today is the day you can pick up the second edition of Engines of War, the expansion to Castle Panic that adds a simple economic system to the game experience. With a brand-new look for this expansion, players are introduced to the Engineer to build new weapons and defenses. Monsters are always lurking nearby, and this Monster army attacks with new ranks and powerful Siege Engines! Good thing players can order up a barricade or a catapult.

The new Resource deck and Engineer build options provide new interesting choices. Should you set a Spring Trap for that Troll coming into the Red Swordsman area? Or shoot the Ballista at the Breathtaker in the Blue Archer space?

Brick, Mortar, Rope, and Wood resource cards for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background

The new Monster abilities and threats also require broader strategy decisions. Should you take out the Shaman, who heals all Monsters in the same color for 1 point of health every turn? Or focus on whittling down the Battering Ram, which takes no damage from Castle structures, before it gets to the Castle ring? Every new Monster affects the conditions of battle differently.

Monster tokens for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background, some are triangular and 2 are 4-sided

The new Keep, Catapult, and Ballista tokens enhance the 3D look of the game. It’s fun to actually place the defensive weapons on the board as the Monsters approach.

The Keep, Catapult, Ballista, Pit, Barricade, and Spring Trap tokens for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background

The Second Edition includes not only all new art but also heavier card stock and a few rules updates.

Of course, Engines of War is also available in the Castle Panic Big Box, which is the all-in-one collection! This huge box includes Castle Panic base game and four expansionsEngines of War, The Wizard’s Tower, Crowns and Quests, and The Dark Titanplus 13 promo items in the new art style of second edition.

Engines of War Second Edition is a great way for fans to deepen and extend their Castle Panic experience. Pick a copy up in stores today!

Photograph of the box and components for Engines of War Second Edition on a white background

KidStuff PR Signed

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the KidStuff PR logo

We’re thrilled to announce that we have retained KidStuff PR effective February 1, 2023. This respected firm will handle our media, influencer, and awards relations, with a focus on promoting My First Castle Panic and Castle Panic.

One of a very small number of public relations agencies focusing only on children’s products and toys, KidStuff PR offers a unique and targeted approach to publicity, promotions, and creating a buzz. The 29-year-old agency’s specialization has led to close relationships not only with key media influencers, but also in the toy industry community.

KidStuff PR has fostered relationships with a vetted group of over 200 influencers for over a decade. Recently, the agency has mentored and sought out partnerships with influencers who are families of color to diversify the life experiences of influencers who review clients’ products.

KidStuff has a strong track record of supporting smaller publishers in crafting and communicating company and product stories. After hearing from families who have bonded over our games for so long, we’re eager to have even more families find time around the table together through the reach of KidStuff.

About KidStuff PR 

KidStuff PR takes a light-hearted approach to writing and content creation, but founder Lisa Orman takes seriously the job of providing reporters with stories about the best products and services for children and families. Every month, she receives dozens of calls from prospective clients but only takes clients for whom she has a true passion, since it helps her do a better job, try harder, and makes work more enjoyable. She has been awarded many recognitions in her field and in the industry, notably one of the only people to receive two Women In Toys awards: for best Consultant and Online Social Networker. Find out what the buzz is all about at www.KidStuffPR.com. 

Fireside Games stands with Black Lives Matter

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Black Lives Matter in white text over a solid black background

Fireside Games unequivocally stands with Black Lives Matter. The breadth and depth of the social injustice faced by Black people is devastating and is rightly challenged. We’re encouraged to see cities and institutions beginning to make overdue changes and to see the world rise up together to demand an end to systemic racism.

We join the change by making a donation to Movement for Black Lives (which includes Black Lives Matter Network) and by overhauling our business practices to consciously reach out to Black creators, developers, and providers to ensure participation and representation in the board game community. If you fit any of those categories and would like to be contacted the next time a project is available, please email us at info@firesidegames.com. We want to be a part of ensuring your equal opportunity for expression.

Kaiju Crush

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We are so excited to announce that Kaiju Crush is coming to a store near you this November! Tim Armstrong came to us last summer with an intriguing limited grid movement system with public objectives, and our own Justin De Witt thought it would be a blast to see giant monsters using those movements to stomp around a city. And of course, if you have giant monsters stomping around a city, you’ve got to have them fighting. After months of playtesting and iterative design work, we are proud and relieved that the files are off to the printer!

The premise of Kaiju Crush is that giant monsters have descended on the same city to fight for supremacy. On your turn, you’ll choose to use either your own Movement Card or a Shared Movement Card that’s accessible to everyone. Those are the only movement choices you’ll have on your turn. However, the Shared Movement Card will be changing throughout the game. When a player uses their own Movement Card, they swap their card with the shared one.

Using a Movement Card will land your Monster on a new City Tile (crushing it). You’ll pick up that City Tile and put one of your Territory Markers in its place. Both the City Tile and the Territory Marker help you gain points based on the Objective Cards. Some objectives give you points for the number of Territory Markers connected or unconnected, some give points based on how many or few City Tile Groups you claim, some give points for shapes you create on the city grid, and still others give in-game bonuses for the leader in City Tile Groups. So, although your movement is limited, your options are guided by the objectives you’re focusing on.

Then, there’s the fighting. I know, I made you wait 3 paragraphs before talking about the fighting! There are 2 ways to fight: 1) when you crush a building adjacent to another Monster and 2) when you land on a Territory Marker with another Monster. To fight, you’ll draw 5 Territory Markers and look at the underside. There, you will find 5 symbols that represent the way that you are fighting: firebreath, claw, tail, kick, and spikes. These symbols are part of an intransitive combat system, like so.

Each Monster has their own unique combat ability (as well as Special Abilities that change each game). The winner of the best of 5 rounds gets to choose a Combat Victory Token at random, whose value ranges from 1 to 3. If the challenger who landed on a Territory Marker with a Monster wins the battle, that challenger gets to replace the loser’s Territory Marker with their own. Very useful for meeting those objectives and/or preventing an opponent from meeting theirs!

When no Monster can move, the game is over, and the Monster with the most victory points is supreme! We’ve had a blast playtesting this game, and we can’t wait to be able to get out there and play it with you. In the meantime, we’ll be getting up our webpage for the game, posting rules, showing a how-to-play video, and all that good stuff!

Catch Cat Fever with Here Kitty Kitty – Coming Spring 2016

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Here, Kitty, Kitty! logo

Here_Kitty_Kitty_Logo

It is National Cat Day, and Fireside Games is pleased to take this opportunity to announce Here, Kitty, Kitty!, a new game that will be releasing in Spring 2016.

In this crazy cat-collecting game your neighborhood has a cat problem. The problem is they don’t all belong to YOU! Everyone in the neighborhood wants to claim those adorable kitties for themselves.

Outwit your fellow feline fiends as you lure cats onto your property, move cats into your house, and steal cats from your neighbors. All is fair in love and cat-collecting!

Here, Kitty, Kitty! will include 40 covetable cat miniatures. You will have a hard time picking a favorite! The game retails for $24.95, accommodates 3-6 players, and plays in approximately 30 minutes.

Designed by Kris McCardel Ware, a self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady,” this game is full of thematic jokes and cat puns. There are no blenders or explosions in this game, but if you use your “Catlike Reflexes” and avoid “Stray Dogs” and “Hairballs,” you might just “Land on Your Feet!”

Get ready for some feline fever this coming Spring with Here, Kitty, Kitty!

Here_Kitty_Kitty_Teaser_Announcement

Fireside Games is Hiring!

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Fireside Games is growing! Thanks to fans of our games and the amazing support we have found in the board game industry, we find ourselves with more work than ever and looking toward many new opportunities and products. To get there we need help.

We are looking for new members to join the Fireside team in several departments.

Please visit our Careers page to see the openings we are seeking to fill and submit your resume.

We are accepting applications through October and will begin contacting candidates after we wind down our Something Wicked Tour.

careers-page-firesidegames

 

 

Knight Moves Cafe, Pandemonium Books, & Compleat Strategist Boston

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The Village Crone in play at Knight Moves games

Over the weekend Anne-Marie and Justin made the first two store visits for the Something Wicked Tour.

Knight-moves-cafe-logoWe have started this tour in Boston and the surrounding boroughs and our first stop was at Knight Moves Cafe in Brookline, MA. Knight Moves is a game cafe that focuses on providing a friendly hangout for gamers (both new and veteran) to have a snack, a drink, and a good time playing games together.

We arrived early and the shop was relatively quiet. That would change as the night went on when it was standing room only and we got in several games of The Village Crone and earned some new fans for the game
The owner, Devon, was very helpful and kept directing gamers to our tables as well as serving delicious drinks and snacks all night long.

Their demo library is made of multiple bookcases that are literally overflowing with games. If you want to try out a game in the Brookline area, this is the place to do it!

While they don’t sell games at Knight Moves Cafe, they do work with Eureka Puzzles & Games, a game store down the street, to promote gaming in the Brookline area.

 

pandemonium-books-logoOn Sunday evening they ventured to the Harvard University area to visit Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge.

We played with all the local board game night attendees, squeezing in 4 games over the night.

The first game of the night had a tremendous finish with one player scoring all three of his Witches Schemes on his last turn in an amazing combination of spellcasting!

Thanks to all who came out!

StratLogo2

On Tuesday night we visited the Compleat Strategist in Boston.

Unfortunately we lost the video for this event, so we only have a few photos we grabbed while we were there. Must have been some of those ghosts we met earlier on the Trolley Tour!

Something_Wicked_Complete_Strat_Boston_Sign

We met some local gamers and showed them what it takes to become The Village Crone. They were pretty good at being witches as it turns out since Justin got trounced soundly!

Up next is our visit to Sarge’s Comics in New London, CT on Friday (6–10pm) and then we will be visiting the legendary New York store of the Compleat Strategist this Saturday from 1pm to 5pm!

Getting Familiar with The Village Crone

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Beasts that Crawl, Fly, Slither, & Stalk

village-crone-familiars-all

What witch could succeed without the assistance of her Familiar breed? In The Village Crone, you command your Familiars to assist you in the completion of your Witch’s Schemes.

Each witch has their own set of Familiar tokens that represent their animal minions. The choices you have are cats, bats, rats, snakes, spiders, and crows. If you have a personal affinity towards a particular animal it may bring you luck!

village-crone-witch-and-familiar-token

You will get 5 tokens displaying your Familiar’s likeness, you will place 3 of them on the board at the beginning of the game. In order to put the other two in play, you must use the Conjuring Spell.

The Familiars are placed on the board in various locations around the Village for several strategic purposes.

A vital function of your Familiars is harvesting of Ingredients you need to cast Spells. During the Harvest Ingredients phase of a round, you will receive two Ingredient cards for each Familiar you have in a given location. For instance, if you have one Familiar at the Lord’s Manor, you will receive two Silver. If you have two Familiars at the Farm, you will receive four Soil (two for each Familiar).

village-crone-familiars-harvest

You may also want to move your Familiars around using your Movement Phase if you need to change the Ingredients you have been gathering to cast different Spells. This strategy will depend upon the Spells required to complete your Witch’s Schemes.

There are spells that require a Familiar to be present in a location to affect that space, such as Summoning or Switching.

An overcrowding of Familiars can occur, triggering a Scatter effect and kicking Familiars out of a specific location. For more details on Scattering, check your rule book page 3.

Whether you prefer cat-like reflexes, a bird’s eye view, or the creepy-crawly vibe of an eight-legged friend, your Familiars will be a most valued resource as you vie to be The Village Crone!

 

 

Which Witch is Which? Look Inside the Book of Spells

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What is inside the Book of Spells?

village-crone-spell-book-covers

Each player in The Village Crone will choose a Book of Spells at the beginning of the game. You will use this as a privacy screen to keep your Schemes away from the prying eyes of the other witches and it acts as a handy reference guide for the Spells you will be casting and some of the rules for gameplay.

The book you choose determines which Familiar becomes yours to command. The image of your Familiar is displayed on the outside facing portion of your Book of Spells so the other witches know whose Familiars are whose.

village-crone-spell-chart-spell-book

Inside the Book of Spells you will find a handy chart of the Spells you will be casting. The chart includes a description of what the Spell does, the Ingredients required to cast it, and the Incantation you must say to give power to your spell. You may also choose to make up your own incantations, which can lead to some really funny moments in the game!

There is also a reference guide for Order of Play when you are first learning to play the game or have new players joining you, and a helpful reminder list for some of the rules you will want to keep in mind without having to look them up in the rule book once you get going.

village-crone-book-of-spells-contents

Don’t forget to make sure you have the latest version of the rules with the correction to the Unbinding spell. You can also print out a patch for your Books of Spells Charts.

 

The Village Crone Unboxing and Rules Sneak Peek!

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We’ve been anxiously awaiting the chance to get our hands on a final copy of The Village Crone, so we know you’ve been waiting too! We got our final production sample delivered the other day and immediately made this unboxing video to share:

While it doesn’t officially release until September 16, we will be previewing The Village Crone in demos at GenCon AND have a limited number of advance copies for sale. If you will be in Indy for GenCon 2015, make sure you plan to come by booth 1949 to get an up close look at this beautiful game and its special promo debuting there.

The video wasn’t enough to satisfy your appetite? Check out the PDF of the Rules, now available on The Village Crone information page on our website!

 

We hope you’re as excited about this game as we are! Stay tuned for information on a special promotional tour we’ll be taking this Fall to celebrate its release.

 

Bewitching GenCon 2015 – Booth 1949

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GenCon Indy 2015 is fast-approaching and we’re busy getting ready to offer some really fun stuff in our booth (#1949) this year!

First & foremost, we will have The Village Crone out on tables for demos all weekend, as well as Castle Panic with The Dark Titan, Dead Panic, and Bears! with Bears! Trail Mix’d.

We will also have a limited number of advance copies of The Village Crone available each day for purchase. You can get a copy SIX WEEKS in advance of it’s release in mid-September! Come to our booth (#1949) in the morning, as we will only release 100 copies each day.

As if that’s not enough reason to come by the booth, we will have promos for The Dark Titan, Bears! Trail Mix’d, and The Village Crone, so stop by and ask our booth staff. You are definitely going to want to see what we have lined up for The Village Crone!

To read more about our GenCon plans and see what show pricing and demos we will be hosting, visit our GenCon Page on our website.

We’re really excited to see you all in Indianapolis in just a few weeks! Please come by to say hi, play a game, pick up a promo, and meet some of our great volunteers in the new Torch Program!

 

Bears! Trail Mix’d Available Now!

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Bears! Trail Mix'd game contents

The latest threat to your woodland fun isn’t marching toward the Castle, it’s invading your campsite, and game stores everywhere, today. The brand new expansion to Bears! is now available!

Bears! Trail Mix’d is a single die expansion to our fast-paced, dice-pairing game Bears! and changes up the game play by introducing 6 new rules to shake up your strategy and keep you on your toes.

This expansion easily fits into the base game box and is fully transportable to your next summer picnic or bonfire. Be sure to pick up your copy before the July 4th family reunion and get the whole family involved in the frantic, fun, and addictive experience of gaming.

Bears! Trail Mix’d is rated for ages 7 and up, retails for $4.95, and requires Bears! to play. Ask about it at your Friendly Local Game Store.

Want to have a little extra fun? Write your own product announcement with our silly fill-in-the-blank word game, or download and print your own score sheets for the game!

Write the Product Announcement – Word Game

Download & print your own score sheets!

The Malted Meeple (Hudson, OH) Features Fireside Games in April Publisher Spotlight

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We are honored to be the featured publisher for The Malted Meeple’s Publisher Spotlight in the month of April.

The Malted Meeple is a new game café that recently opened up in Hudson, OH, not too far from where our Marketing Manager, Maureen, is based. The Malted Meeple is owned by the fine folks who also own and operate Ravenwood Castle in New Plymouth, OH.

The Malted Meeple offers snacks, hand-crafted milkshakes, and craft beers alongside their selection of board games you can play on-site with your party. This is a family-friendly environment and they encourage gaming for all ages. We are really enjoying this growing trend of game cafes and encourage you to seek one out in your neighborhood for a fun dining/gaming combo experience.

In honor of our spotlight, The Malted Meeple is showcasing some of our games this month and Kris and Maureen will be heading out to their location on International TableTop Day on Saturday, April 11 to play games with patrons and hand out some fun promos.

If you are in the area we invite you to join us on April 11 for a fun day full of games, milkshakes, and good friends!

We met the Malted Meeple/ Ravenwood Castle team last year in person after email correspondence and fun social media banter. They have grown to be fast friends of ours. We are happy to be able to participate in their new endeavor and to welcome another great place to get together and play games to our growing list of game stores around the country.

Ravenwood Castle (New Plymouth, OH) is run by the same family. A great place for a getaway and some gaming in a real castle!

Where Will Fireside Games Be on International TableTop Day? All Over!

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International TableTop Day Logo

This year for International TableTop Day we are spreading the love of gaming around by participating in several TableTop Day events.

Justin and Anne-Marie got called up to the big leagues, folks! They will be in Burbank at Geek & Sundry’s flagship party to teach Castle Panic fans all about The Dark Titan. It will be our first time at the TableTop studios and we’re excited for this opportunity.

We will also have official representatives at two other locations around the country to celebrate this gaming holiday in style.

Edgar, our new Volunteer Program Coordinator, and several of our awesome volunteers will be at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy in Austin, TX sharing our games and getting to know the local Austin area gamer community. If you are in or around Austin, be sure to stop by and say hi and welcome him to the Fireside family!

Kris and Maureen will be at The Malted Meeple in Hudson, OH. The Malted Meeple is a newly opened gaming café that serves fancy milkshakes and craft beer alongside gaming fun. They are featuring Fireside Games in their Publisher Spotlight for the month of April, so if you like our games and are partial to ice cream or beer, you should swing by and see what they have to offer. (Kids are very welcome, it is a family-friendly atmosphere.)

We will be showing off The Dark Titan, the brand-new expansion to Castle Panic. We’ll have other games in the Panic Line available as room and interest allow.  Castle Panic was featured on TableTop in 2013. You can watch the episode if you haven’t seen it yet to get up to speed on the base game in preparation for this year’s events.

Our special Castle Panic towers are exclusive to International TableTop Day and are included in the retailer kits distributed before the event. Ask your FLGS about them and the other awesome swag included in those kits. We will also have our special Level 6 Agranok promo cards for The Dark Titan at the events we’ll be attending, so be sure to ask for one if you see one of our representatives.

We want to see what you’re playing and who you’re playing with! You can use the official International TableTop Day hashtags #GatherYourParty and #tabletopday to tag your photos, or tag us using @firesidegames, #CastlePanic, #TheDarkTitan, #DeadPanic, or #MunchkinPanic.

Let’s fill the world with fun on Saturday, April 11, 2005 and show everyone how awesome boardgames are!

2014: A Year In Review

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2014 was an amazing year for Fireside Games. We appreciate all the opportunities that came our way this year and would like to especially thank everyone who plays our games and shares them with new players. We love making games as much as you love playing them.

We put our heads together and came up with our Top 5 Highlights from 2014.

  1. Now that’s a cake!

    Celebrating 5 Years of Castle Panic – It was such fun getting to share behind the scenes details and talk directly with our fans at the Google Hangout and the official Birthday Party, sharing the Oracle as a bonus game piece, reminiscing about the early days and hearing from all of you as you shared your Castle Panic memories, and the cake, oh yes, the cake!

  2. Company Growth & New Staff – A major step forward for Fireside was expanding and growing the company with the addition of Kris and Maureen to our full-time staff. Kris has elevated our Customer Service to enviable levels and Maureen has helped keep our planning on track so we get to see more of you out and about in the world. We look forward to more expansion in the coming year and being able to serve you even better.
  3. Upgraded Website & EcommerceOur website got a great-looking facelift with added features and lots of helpful information for our long-term fans and new customers alike. The addition of e-commerce has allowed us to bring you the fun branded merchandise you used to only be able to get a conventions, like T-shirts, patches, and replacement pieces.
  4. New Avenues for Sharing Our Games – Our games were shared with new fans through foreign licensing (Munchkin Panic is already available in Russian and German, with more languages underway for it and other titles!), a fantastic show at GenCon, and being featured in articles, blogs and on top game lists (from Boing, Boing to Boardgamegeek.com) across all our titles. We were fortunate to enjoy new partnerships with Steve Jackson Games and Texas Frightmare Weekend, and be published in Rue Morgue and SciFi Now Magazine!
  5. Expanding the Panic Line – With the release of Munchkin Panic we have expanded our line of Panic games, which already includes Castle Panic and Dead Panic, by giving you another unique play experience built on familiar mechanics with new features and objectives. We were also very excited to get How To Play videos up for all our games to make learning more accessible to everyone who gets a copy of one of our games. We even have small, break-out videos for many of the new twists in the different Panic games so you get the best experience and training you can.

We are taking some much needed rest time in the next week, but are already working on big plans for 2015. We invite you along for the ride. It’s going to be amazing!

Castle Panic Snowflake Pattern – FREE Download!

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Add a little Castle Panic cheer to your holiday with this FREE snowflake pattern.

It’s easy to make and you can use them for fun, gamer decor this holiday season. Hang them on your tree, on a window, make a garland of them, or just attach one to that special package under the tree… you know, the one that holds The Wizard’s Tower expansion for the Castle Panic player in your life!

How To Make Your Very Own Castle Panic Snowflake

  1. Download and print the PDF pattern.
  2. Cut out the circle template
  3. Fold the circle in half, then in half again to make a quarter circle.
  4. Fold the quarter circle in thirds, using the grey lines as guides and keeping the pattern wedge visible.
  5. Cut away the grey areas of the pattern. Be careful around the skinny parts!
  6. Unfold the snowflake and revel in your creativity!

Happy Holidays from Fireside Games!

Want to get this kind of thing delivered to your inbox? Join our monthly newsletter mailing list! We shared this pattern with our subscribers a few weeks ago.