Author: Brant Guillory

01/29/18

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 16

Our flyweight flyboy flings feelings of flights of fancy ~

Lloyd Sabin, 29 January 2018

Wings! was a favorite game of mine when I was a teenager on the Amiga, around 1990. I played it to completion more than once, using my Epyx joystick, and thanked the gaming gods that Cinemaware existed to create a game that really scratched my First World War itch. Even then I was fascinated by that war and it’s aviation.

it was more of a fun beer and pretzels game about World War I flyers

Wings! is quite simplistic compared to Wings Over Flanders Fields or Rise of Flight. But it was never meant to compete with sims…it was more of a fun beer and pretzels game about World War I flyers, with three different kinds of missions: patrol/air combat, ground attack/strafing runs, and bombing. I enjoy all three types, and still get a kick out of Wings!

The Kickstarter campaign for this game turned out to be troubled in the end, with many bonus items still not delivered and the usual internet rage spewing forth from angry gamers. I even had to buy my copy twice because I was never given info on how to transfer my copy from one rig to another after contacting the developer.

These things aside, the modern version of Wings! captures the magic and good storytelling of the original and still sets my imagination in motion. The storytelling is very good as is the updated music and the graphics are serviceable if not eyeball shattering. Plus the game can be had for just a few dollars on Steam.

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01/26/18

GrogHeads Reviews 7 Wonders Mobile Edition

The tabletop favorite packs up on the go for your phone ~

Brant Guillory, 26 January 2018

My love for 7 Wonders is pretty well-documented.  My biggest gripe with it has always been that it’s pain to pull multiple people together for a game session, because the game plays pretty poorly with only two people (and hence the creation of 7 Wonders: Duel).  But if you wanted to play the original as a digital game, without having to drag up three friends, clear a table, and shuffle a bunch of cards, you were stuck.  There was a really crappy, borderline-illegal Game of Thrones/7 Wonders mashup that you could get through the Amazon app store, but that was it.

Until now.

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01/24/18

2018 Convention Calendar

Your local convention…  and plenty of national ones! ~

GrogHeads Staff, 23 January 2018

Obviously, we pimp Origins pretty hard because that’s the one where we have our “official” presence.  But there’s plenty of gaming all over the country (and Europe!) that you can check out if Origins isn’t in your schedule or budget.

If we missed your local one let us know (links / feedback at the bottom) and we’ll try to remember for next year.

Game On!
8-11 Feb, Seattle, WA
An ASL tournament, along with the Hank Award and all sorts of hex-and-counter goodness.

Williamsburg Muster
16-18 Feb, Williamsburg, VA
A new date this year, but the same wargaming fun.  There’s also an additional boardgame area run by TAGS that includes all sorts of non-wargames.  This annual wargaming convention is hosted by the Hampton Roads Wargamers.

Playthrough
17-18 Feb, Raleigh, NC
A newer convention, but growing like crazy.  A mixture of digital and tabletop games, with previous exhibitors including folks like Epic Games.  A big free-to-play area of classic consoles complements another large area of open tabletop gaming. Continue reading →