Days Of Wonder Announces Ticket To Ride: 10th Anniversary Edition

By Firestone It's the perfect gateway game. It's the game my Mom wants me to bring to every holiday get-together. It's often mistakenly called "The train game"--also by my Mom. And it's turning 10 years old...with a shiny new edition.

Days Of Wonder has announced the 10th Anniversary Edition of their blockbuster bestseller.

The game will come with in an oversized box, with new cover design and graphics. And the new and redesigned board will be 50% larger than the original.

The box will also include:

• 5 Tin Boxes, each with 48 finely sculpted trains
• 5 Wooden Scoring Markers
• 1 Multilingual Rules Booklet
• 110 Train Cards with all new illustrations
• 30 Classic Destination Tickets
• 35 Destination Tickets from USA 1910
• 4 Destination Tickets from Mystery Train
• 1 Longest Route/Globetrotter Bonus card

Those trains and tins look really cool! It drops in June, but start saving your pennies now: it'll cost $100...

2013 Holiday Gift Guide—Gateway Games

Greetings! We're here again with our next selection of games for this special time of the year, when we show our love and affection for one another with the giving of gifts. Today's list of games are for those who want to say, "I know you really, really LOVE Monopoly, but you've got to open your eyes to a much bigger and better world of board games." So today we present our list of gateway games. These games will be sure to shake the very foundations of everything you thought you knew about board games, if you've done little more than passing "Go" and collecting $200.

Ticket To Ride—Yeah, this is a standard choice, but I (Firestone) still think this is the best gateway game out there. It's colorful. It has great production values. The rules are easy to explain. And there's just enough luck that the newcomers have a chance to win, too. Oh yeah, and it's fun! And if they like this, there are a number of expansions and maps you can slowly add in.

Cost: $40

(Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up

La Boca—La Boca is hard to describe. People play in teams, but the teams rotate, so you'll be teamed with each other player twice. Each person stands on one side of the board, and a card is placed between you two, with complementary images of colorful wooden blocks. You start the timer and you each are trying to create the image on your side of the card, using those blocks. Once you've both moved the blocks so that the image is exactly as it is on the card, you stop the timer. If you're both right, you get VPs based on how long it took you to build it. The game comes with an "advanced" block that just makes the game even more challenging. My (Firestone) group played this for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and we've played it many times since then. It's the sort of game you could pull out with anyone of any gamer level—from newbie to seasoned vet. It just works.

Cost: $40

(Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up, though this seems high to me. I think a 10-year-old would do just fine with it.

Kerflip!—Tired of Scrabble? Yeah. We are too. Kerflip delves into the realm of word games that hasn’t seen innovation since Words with Friends came along… Which really wasn’t an innovation.

Anyway, in Kerflip players grab letter tiles from a bag, drop them on the board and shout out the first and/or best word they see. Players are awarded points for using letters first, and each subsequent player to use a letter gets half the points. This game also features one of the best board/box designs we’ve seen for a game… ever.

Cost: $25

(Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up

Preview: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-GB

Fluxx: The Board Game—The board game iteration of Looney Labs classic card game Fluxx, Fluxx: The Board Game is the M.C. Esher of board games. Light gameplay with lots of fun for the casual gamer—oh and there’s still a healthy dose of chaos mixed in! Players familiar with Fluxx will see many cards and concepts that made Fluxx what it is today, but there are some great added twists with Fluxx: The Board Game's modular board and game-changing rules!

Cost: $30

(Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-Ve

Boss Monster—Brotherwise Games came out of nowhere on Kickstarter with their debut title Boss Monster: The Dungeon-Building Game. In this pixelated card game, players take on the roles of the antagonist "Boss." Using room and spell cards, your job is to create an enticing dungeon full of both bountiful treasure and unspeakable danger! Each round players add to their dungeon in hopes of killing off hapless adventurers before they prevail! Boss Monster is a fun, unique, and thematic card game for 2-4 players!

Cost:: $25

(Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up.

Review: Coming soon, we promise!!!

Bohnanza—Here's another classic choice. This card game sounds weird: You're bean farmers and you're trying to be a better bean farmer than your opponents. But you have to work with them to get your beans planted. I told you it sounds weird. But it's a fun card game that's cheap and portable.

Cost: $20

(Find it online)

Thanks for joining us once again for another installment in our 2013 Christmas Holiday Gift Guide!

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Black Spy—A Teaser from Z-Man Games

Z-Man Games this morning has teased a new game on their Facebook page. Black Spy, from the little information they've given, sounds like a trick-taking game with some intrigue mixed in.

From Z-Man "Black Spy is a film noir take on Hearts. You must enlist the best spies to get what you want, but beware of the black spies; they will turn against you if given the chance. Keeping your hands clean won’t be easy. Can you outsmart your opponents?"

The juiciest bit of info from the announcement is that the game is designed by Ticket to Ride craftsman Alan Moon!

We'll keep our ears to the ground and bring you more info as it becomes available.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for a great week of news, reviews and interviews this week!

2012 Holiday Gift Guide - Stocking Stuffers!

Today we're completing our gift guide with a list of things to get that gamer who has EVERYTHING! These little trinkets are fun, add something to your favorite game, or just add a little geeky Christmas cheer! Catan Ornament - For the serious Catan fan, this cut-brass beauty will help you celebrate the season while settling on the newfound island of Catan. The third in the Catan Resource series, this year's ornament features wool.

Cost: $48.00

Available from: Mayfair Games

Pirates of the Spanish Main card game - Wizkids Games' latest reboot of their former titles, turns their classic consrtuctable strategy game, into a single-deck card game, perfect for the nostalgic Pirates player, with lots of art that has been re-purposed for the game.

Cost: $10.60

Available from: Amazon, or your local game store

Ages: 8 & up

When Zombies Attack - Because Attack Dice (makers of When Zombies Attack), isn't Steve Jackson Games, this fun little dice roller has been somewhat overlooked. Unlike Jackson's "Zombie Dice"—which is basically a re-themed version of Farkle—When Zombies Attack is a competitive dice game that has players trying to eliminate not ALL of the zombies, just ones attacking them! Totally worth picking up and stuffing someone's stocking with this one!

Cost: $14.99 (And they're running a special Christmas deal 2 for $25.00!)

Available: Right here!

Ages: 8 & up

Alvin and Dexter: A Ticket to Ride Monster Expansion - By far one of the coolest mini expansions for a game to come along in a while! This was released last year and is becoming harder to find! They're out there, so grab a set for your gamer and become the hero of the day! It's like a Godzilla effect for Ticket to Ride! 'Nuff said!

Cost: $15.00

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store.

Lord of the Rings card sleeves - Fantasy Flight released a series of card sleeves featuring art from LOTR: the card game, every gamer wants to sleeve their cards, but most of the time they buy the cheap clear sleeves because that leaves more money for more games. So a couple packs a snazzy LOTR sleeves is sure to make the yuletide gay! (Note- there are Star Wars sleeves available now too!)

Cost: $5.00

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store

IronDie - I saw these at Origins this year and HAD to buy one. Simply because they are so cool! There is a game that is played with them if you choose to buy the whole set, but if you play any game that requires a 6-sided die, pick up a couple of these to replace them! There are now also polyhedral designs for that role player on your list!

Cost: $5.00 (6-Sided) $25.00 (Polyhedral, 7 die set)

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store.

Thanks so much for reading and being a part of Theology of Games; we hope this guide has been helpful to you during this wonderful season!

As always stay tuned for more great features from the gaming world!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2012 Holiday Board Game Gift Guide—Gateway Games

So it's New Year's Eve, and you and your spouse are having another couple over for "games." It's easy to pull out the old standbys—the games that everyone knows how to play. But you have a plan to foist some games on these unsuspecting people, but you don't know where to start. We're here to help. These are some games that are good introductions to the vast world of board games...we call them Gateway Games. Ticket To Ride—I (Firestone) think this is the best gateway game out there. It's colorful. It has great production values. The rules are easy to explain. And there's just enough luck that the newcomers have a chance to win, too. Oh yeah, and it's fun! And if they like this, there are a number of expansions and maps you can slowly add in.

Cost:~$40

Available From: Amazon, many department stores, and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 8 and up

Carcassonne—This tile-laying game is an excellent choice for newbies and nongamers. Draw a tile, place a tile, and decide whether to place a person down; that's  it! It's also the very first review we did here at Theology of Games!

Cost: ~$30

Available From: Amazon, some department stores, and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 8 and up.

Bohnanza—This card game sounds weird: You're bean farmers and you're trying to be a better bean farmer than your opponents. But you have to work with them to get your beans planted. I told you it sounds weird. But it's a fun card game that's cheap and portable.

Cost:~$20

Available From: Amazon and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 10 and up

Lost Cities: The Board Game—Based on the two-player game Lost Cities, this is a terrific board game that has plenty of interesting choices to make but is simple enough for nongamer friends.

Cost:~$30

Available From: Amazon and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 8 and up

Snow Tails—We talked about this game in our Family Games edition of the Holiday Gift Guide. And it's just as true here: Race games are a fun and easy genre.

Cost: ~$35

Available From: Amazon , and your friendly local game store

Ages: 8 and up

Kingdom Builder—This may be a step up for newcomers. Maybe you've played Ticket To Ride a bunch of times, and the other couple is ready for the next step. Kingdom Builder is that game. It's still simple enough, so don't be afraid. Here's our review right here!

Cost:~$45

Available From: Amazon, some department stores, and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 8 and up

Mystery of the Abbey—Do your friends like Clue? Well Mystery is kind of like Clue but with fantastic production values, and much more interesting things to do. It's better than Clue in every way...

Cost:~$50

Available From: Amazon , and your friendly local game store.

Ages: 10 and up

Star Trek Catan—For lots of people, Settlers of Catan was their "gateway game"—the game that got them into the hobby. They now have a Star Trek-themed version, and it looks much more thematically fun than the original version.

Cost: ~$40

Available From: This is exclusively available at Target.

Ages: 10 and up

What You Missed

It's been a pretty eventful week here at TOG! As always, we thank you for reading, and hope that you continue to enjoy the content we work to bring you! Here is your one-stop shop for all things TOG for this week!

Monday's news: The wait is over, Mice & Mystics is here!

Tuesday's review: Jeremiah attempted to solve the Impossible Machine. And we also brought you news about another Ticket to Ride map.

Wednesday's interview: We had a nice chat with Levi Mote and Sarah Sharp, the co-designers of Ruse, the steampunk who-dun-it card game.

And Thursday's Kickstarter Weekly: Featured Levi and Sarah's Ruse!

Be sure to check back in next week as we bring you more exciting news, reviews, and interviews from the gaming world!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Days Of Wonder Announces a New Map Pack—Africa!

The immensely popular Ticket To Ride is getting a new map pack—The Heart of Africa. This one will only have one side (which seems like a wasted opportunity to me), and you'll have to have a copy of either Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride: Europe to play it. From the publisher:

This expansion introduces 45 new terrain cards, divided into three different terrain types. Each type is associated with different route colors: Desert/Savanna cards for yellow, orange and red routes; Jungle/Forest cards for green, blue and purple routes; and Mountain/Cliff cards for black, white and grey Routes. Players can draw terrain cards just like train cards and they may use these to double the value of the routes they claim, under certain conditions.

Days Of Wonder expects this to be available in early December—so in plenty of time for Christmas presents. The game retails for $25, and you can preorder directly from Days Of Wonder here. Thanks for reading!

When We Last Left Our Heroes...

Well it certainly has been a busy week for us here at TOG! We've had lots of exciting news, an interview, and we've got a TON of stuff in the works behind the scenes! We started the week off with a few deep thoughts about the LARP community.

Stay on Target... Or at least go to Target to grab some new titles or a few clearance gems!

We also learned a little more about the wine making community in an interview with Viticulture designer Jamie Stegmiaer.

Thursday we kicked off a new weekly feature: Kickstarter Weekly with news about the Purge: Sins of Science Kickstarter campaign.

And we brought you a heads up of the Halloween Freighters add-on for Ticket to Ride.

We are always so glad to have your support, and thank you as always for joining us for another week here at TOG! The next few weeks will be chock full of game reviews, a TON of interviews, Kickstarter info, and of course up-to-the-minute news from around the gaming community!