Monthly Archives: June 2017
Origins – Breaking News with Academy Games
We’re bringing you a fresh scoop from #Origins2017 ~
Michelle Owczarski, 16 June 2017
Breaking News – Uwe Eickhart reveals Academy Games’ Agents of Mayhem Tie-In Board Game
During an interview with GeogHeads, Uwe Eickert explained that Academy had been working for three years with video game publisher Volition on a board game based on their Saints’ Row IP. The game is meant to expand on story and characters from the videogame.
The Agents of Mayhem videogame will be an open-world game in third-person perspective available on Playstation4, Xbox One and PC, and was announced at E3 to release in August 2017, but this is the first time Academy Games has spoken about it publicly. The board game, Agents of Mayhem – Pride of Babylon, from Academy Games is slated to launch at the same time.
Eickert said that working with the Saints’ Row IP was easier than historical games because there was less research to do. “Their writers were involved,” and were enthusiastic about the additional content the board game will include.
See www.academygames.com/aom for more information on the Academy Games Agents of Mayhem board game. Additional content from the Eickert interview to come.
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Origins Convention Report – Red Raven Games
What’s up with Ryan Laukat and #RedRavenGames at #Origins2017 ~
Michelle Owczarski, 16 June 2017
Ryan Laukat, designer with Red Raven Games took a few minutes from his busy booth to talk about Near and Far, their newest release.
Near and Far is related to, but not a direct sequel to Above and Below, released in 2015. Characters may be shared across games, but where Above and Below predominantly a village-building game, Near and Far is more about exploration and storytelling.
Gameplay centers on books: there is an atlas, which is essentially the game board, and the adventure book which is consulted according to map instructions, much like a Choose Your Own Adventure series book. Characters, cards, and resource management round out the mechanics.
Of particular interest, the design is based on a ten game campaign. In the vein of “legacy” style games, though non-destructive and replayable, you follow your character’s development across multiple exploration sessions.
This is Red Raven Games’ first booth at Origins, though they have shown at GenCon and other conventions previously, and have been Origins attendees in years past. Ryan noted that the show has grown considerably since his last visit in 2012.
Near and Far is a convention exclusive until the end of the month, when it launches at retail.
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Origins – Day Two Gaming
A big-ol’ gallery of photos from #Origins2017 ~
GrogHeads Staff, 15 June 2017
The first full day of Origins saw a non-stop melange of all things gaming, from full-scale escape-room style fantasy LARPs to hex-and-counter wargaming, and everything in between. There were world maps as carpets for WWII, hand-crafted fantasy minis, racetrack jalopies, space aviation shootouts.
Watch for our company interviews coming soon.
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Origins – First Day!
What’s happening on the first day of #Origins2017 ~
GrogHeads Staff, 14 June 2017
The first day is usually a quiet time of preparation as vendors set up, gamers play pick up some free play opportunities, and registration lines extend into the Short North (OK, OK, the third one was just last year).
However, with more and more organized games – and vendors! – in the main gaming hall, which opens at noon on Wednesday, the first day is now a blur of action.
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Origins – Vendor Support!
Wargamers are awesome ~
GrogHeads Staff, 12 June 2017
As we ramp up for Origins, we’re in pretty regular contact with our vendor partners about the games we’re going to use in our events and how we’re going to support them at the convention. We’ve always made it a priority to showcase their newest and coolest, and then work in others that support our special events, like the Team COIN games, or (this year) the tournaments.
For our participants, those vendor partners have always come through with some excellent prizes – we give away at least one wargaming prize at every single one of our ticketed events, often full copies of games. 
This year, we also reached out to some other companies who were not able to attend Origins, and ask if they were able to offer a couple of games in support of the Central Command for us to use as prizes for gamers, and for our end-of-convention raffle.
HOLY. COW.
