Tag Archives: steve jackson games

Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game steps out of the shadows . . . and onto shelves

Posted on by

batman-the-animated-series-dice-gameAlarm bells sound, but you don’t care: You keep piling wads of cash from the bank vault into your moneybag. Just a little more . . . The World’s Greatest Detective surely won’t arrive any time soon.

In Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game, players attempt massive bank heists as classic Batman Super-Villains like The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. How much loot can you grab before the alarm bells summon the Caped Crusader?

You can find it at your nearest local game store or select Hot Topic locations now!

This release comes from SJ Games and Cryptozoic Entertainment, in partnership with DC Comics, and it’s based on Batman: The Animated Series.

Roll and then re-roll the dice in this push-your-luck game – you want to roll moneybags, but you don’t want to roll Batman symbols. You are a criminal, after all! The evildoer with the most loot gets away; the Bat gets to the rest of ’em.

Each villain has a unique and diabolical ability. Customize your first roll as The Riddler, gain extra points as The Joker, grab more loot as Catwoman, or cleverly dodge Batman as Poison Ivy.

So if you plan to pick up this game, rest assured: Your evil plan is foolproof.

You can order Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game now!

 

 

 

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.

The X-Men Come to Munchkin

Posted on by

Steve Jackson Games and USAopoly have teamed-up for a brand new edition of Munchkin featuring the X-Men!

From the announcement:

It’s the game every mutant has been waiting for! Join the X-Men on a thrilling adventure to defend mankind from renegade mutants. MUNCHKIN: X-Men Edition combines Marvel’s beloved collection of X-Men comics with the role-playing fun of Munchkin. Players take on the role of students attending Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and team up with Professor X, Wolverine, and more super-charged mutants to take down the likes of Sabretooth, Juggernaut, and the almighty Magneto. The game will include 128 Door and Treasure cards, four player Role cards, four level trackers, game rules, and a custom die.

The game will be out March 2017. The company also publishes Munchkin: Marvel Edition and its two expansions, Munchkin Marvel 2: Mystic Mayhem and Munchkin Marvel 3: Cosmic Chaos and also has Munchkin Zombies: The Walking Dead. There are also Munchkin comics published by BOOM! Studios.

munchkin-x-men-edition

Munchkin Comes to Comics with a BOOM!

Posted on by

Pull on your Boots of Butt-Kicking and rev up that Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment because award-winning publisher BOOM! Studios and Steve Jackson Games are delighted to announce an ongoing Munchkin comic book series coming this Fall. The Munchkin series will be based on the worldwide best-selling card game where players travel through the dungeon and kill everything in sight in order to gain the best (and weirdest) weapons and highest levels. It’s a hilarious, fantasy role-playing game-inspired spoof that brings friends together…until you backstab them for their treasure. The partnership between BOOM! Studios and Steve Jackson Games was initiated and brokered by Surge Licensing.

With millions of Munchkin games and accessories sold and tens of millions of monsters slain, Munchkin captures the essence of the dungeon experience…with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items. And what magic items! Don the Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm…or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering the Potted Plant and the Drooling Slime, and work your way up to the Plutonium Dragon…

Fast and silly, Munchkin can reduce any roleplaying group to hysteria. And, while they’re laughing, you can steal their stuff. The Munchkin card game debuted in 2001 and has since become a worldwide phenomenon. There are now 15 different stand-alone Munchkin card games (all of which can be combined) along with over 20 expansions, plus miniatures, shirts, and much more.

Munchkin #1 will arrive in comic shops this Fall and we now have a comic that goes to the top of our anticipation list.

MUNCHKIN Box Art

Game Review: Chupacabra: Survive the Night

Posted on by

20131229-230100.jpgIn June 2013, in an effort to put revenue from the popular Munchkin series back into the game hobby, Steve Jackson Games acquired Haywire Group‘s dice game Chupacabra: Survive the Night. After Jackson posted a direct invitation to established publishers, it appears Chupacabra won the ‘easiest to repackage and redistribute’ award. Soon thereafter SJG applied their extremely successful Zombie Dice model to Chupacabra (why recreate the wheel?). New graphics, portable container, smaller instructions and BAM….another excellent dice game on the shelf.

The 24 dice provides 2-4 players with 10 to 20 minutes of gameplay. Everyone starts with six dice and rolls at the same time (one of the better game mechanics). Each die is the same, it contains a single chicken, double chickens, two single goats, a cow, and a Chupacabra. Like dice must be grouped into herds or flocks (safety in numbers!), and any Chupacabras rolled are used to attack–steal–other player’s animals. One Chupacabra can take up to two chickens or one goat, but it takes two Chupacabras to eat a cow. You must have enough Chupacabras to take an entire herd or flock (i.e. if you roll two Chupacabras, you could take up to four chickens, but no more). The winner is the player who takes all of the dice!

One more devilishly fun rule…Chupacabra Loco…when a player rolls all Chupacabras they can be used to kill any one herd or flock, no matter how many animals are in it. So if your livestock has been depleted and you’re down to one die, you have a one-sixth chance of staging an epic comeback.

Chupacabra, like Zombie Dice, is a perfect example of a ‘filler game.’ Groups of friends don’t come together to play a dice game like this, they come together for 3 hours of Arkham Horror or an all-night RPG session. BUT, in the 15 minutes it takes to set up those games, or in the 10 minute snack break, Chupacabra is the perfect filler. Though they sacrificed higher quality dice for a gimmicky glow-in-the-dark feature (the substance used is already chipping on some dice), I’m glad Steve Jackson decided to expand his gaming empire. If you have $15 left on a gift card now that the holiday dust has settled, this is a great buy.

Designers: David Blanchard, Brian Frodema, and John Jacobsen
Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Game Review: Zombie Dice

Posted on by

20131129-221824.jpgIt is hard to believe that 13 dice in a container the size of a soda can would receive the first perfect score I’ve given since I started writing for Graphic Policy, but believe it, Zombie Dice is flawless. Better known for Munchkin and their role-playing game GURPS, designer Steve Jackson and his self-titled team at Steve Jackson Games managed to combine equal parts luck and risk taking in this quick, addictive, and deceptively simple game.

Two rules: eat brains and don’t get shotgunned. For two or more players, this game can be played in 10 to 20 minutes and can be taught in a single round.  The dice are color coded green, yellow, and red and have three symbols on them, a brain, shotgun, and footprints. The green dice have the most brains and least shotguns, yellow dice slightly fewer brains and slightly more shotguns, and red dice the fewest brains and the most shotguns. On a player’s turn, shake the cup, draw three dice without looking, and roll them. Brains to the left, shotguns to the right, and footprints get re-rolled along with however many more dice you need to draw from the cup to roll three again. Once you roll three shotguns your turn is over, but until then you can choose to stop and score how many brains you have or keep rolling. The first to collect 13 brains wins!

All comments and issues have been heard and answered by Steve Jackson Games (a rarity with many game companies these days). Players mentioned the original container peeled and the bottom sometimes popped out while shaking…so they designed a sturdier dice case. Then people cried for an expansion…and they got  Zombie Dice 2 – Double Feature, which added three additional dice (a hunk, a hottie, and Santa Claus) that added even crazier twists to the game mechanics.  They even released a brain score pad, which I failed to see before I typed ‘brains’ in Amazon and found a 36-count bundle of brain pencil top erasers for teachers. The best part? Reviews underneath said, “these are perfect for Zombie Dice!” They cost more than the game, but I bought them anyways and couldn’t be happier.

Though this game’s popularity exploded once it was featured on TableTop, Star Trek childhood star Wil Wheaton‘s web series, I’d like to think it would have thrived regardless of their excellent game review. Perfect for waiting in line or traveling, and at around $12, this game is a cheap stocking stuffer for last minute buyers (I’ve seen it at Target). Zombie Dice now has a smartphone app, shot glasses, and t-shirts (did I mention it was popular?), but merchandise aside, it is still just a cup with 13 dice that makes for–dare I say–brainless fun.

Designer: Steve Jackson
Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Origins Awards Winners

Posted on by

Official Press Release

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Announces 37th Annual Origins Awards Winners

COLUMBUS, OH (June 26, 2011) The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design is proud to announce the winners for the 37th Annual Origins Awards.

The Origins Awards are presented annually by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design to recognize outstanding achievement in design and production of games and game-related products.

The winners were voted on by attendees at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH in June 2011 from the nominees in each category chosen by retailers at the GAMA Trade Show. The winners were announced and the coveted Calliope statues were presented at the Origins Awards Ceremony on the evening of Saturday June 25th.

The Academy would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to the jury members, GAMA staff, and everyone who submitted a product to the 37th annual Origins Awards.

Best Roleplaying Game – The Dresden Files RPG: Your Story by Evil Hat Productions

Best Roleplaying Supplement – Our World (The Dresden Files RPG) by Evil Hat Productions

Best Board Game – Castle Ravenloft by Wizards of the Coast

Best Traditional Card Game – Back to the Future: The Card Game by Looney Labs, Inc.

Best Family, Party or Children’s Game – Zombie Dice by Steve Jackson Games

Best Gaming Accessory – Cthulhu Dice Bag by Steve Jackson Games

Best Miniatures Rules – DC HeroClix Blackest Knight Starter Game by WizKids/NECA

Best Historical Board Game – Catan Histories – Settlers of America: Trails to Rails by Mayfair Games

Best Game-Related Publication – Shadowrun: Spells and Chrome by Catalyst Game Labs

Best Play-By-Mail – Legends – The One Ring by Game Systems International Limited

Congratulations to all of the winners!