Eye of the Vortex - January 2009 by CV Newton Publishing Limited

L I G g t w w t w

et’s Hit it running... ~ Introduction to RPG’s

ntroduction to CCGs ~ what’s hot and what’s still cool aming Concepts ~ Top 10 innovative games of ‘08

amer’s perspective ~ Design Tactics

he cat’s away—let’s play! ~ Mouseguardtm review, part a inter Reads ~ How many roads must a man... atch your shadow ~ RalΩGradtm, Volume 1 Review

he mana Flux ~ Confluxtm teaser Review hat’s a tog? ~ think he’ll eat this?

4 7 8 11 13 15 16 17 19

elcome to the the introductory issue in a long line of magazines designed to make you smile, tick you off, show you something new, and maybe even teach you something you didn’t already know. The primary purpose of this magazine is to provide you with reading material that you would not find elsewhere regarding concepts that we feel a gamer would be intereted in. Furthermore, we want to expand your mind and your horizons.

Our goal with this magazine, as well as our website—Eye of the Vortex Online (Eyeofthevortexonline.com), is to help you find your way out of the small groove you have found yourself stuck in, and show you the rest of the gaming world. Through insightful articles, game reviews, and even gaming product advertisements, we want to reveal to you that there is much more to entertainment than just the games that you already know and love. I am diligently working to establish a network of sponsors and affiliates who want to partner with me in my efforts to bring this goal to life for you. If you are interested in joining our network, by all means contact me and let’s discuss your place in the network. If you are interested becoming a part of our team of writers, also contact me as I have positions available for talented writers with both a passion for writing and a determination to improve your skill in the trade. If you would like to have your game product reviewed, you too should contact me so we can set up the arrangements and schedule of events. Finally, if you have any requests for future articles, reviews, or just want to comment on the magazine or website, again, contact me. I would love to hear your feedback. In all cases, you can contact me through our webpage, in the forums, or through email at inocote@yahoo.com. This is a temporary email address, so look for updates in the near future. Welcome to the Vortex. May your stay with us be long and prosperous.

~ Chris Newton President, Editor-in-Chief—Eye of the Vortex

Ramblings of a Role Player... by mark manning

Let’s Hit it Running... Introduction to Role Playing Games

kay, let’s assume for just one second you aren’t a roleplayer and you’re looking for some way to break into the scene or maybe you need a present for someone who wants to get started but isn’t too sure what system would be best for them – what do you do? You could risk it on a system and it might work out well, but I personally got into role-playing on advice from an existing player and they helped guide me to my first role-play system of AD&D (otherwise known as Advanced Dungeon’s and Dragon’s) 2nd Edition and I’ve always thought it would be the best way for anyone to start their own role-play adventures. So in following with this line of thought; since I’m a reasonably experienced Role-player (or RP’er for short), I’m going to give you what I’d call my base five systems—they aren’t what I’d call my favourite top five, but rather the five different engines that I feel are best suited to start different tastes of players off on their adventures. How this is going to work is rather simple; there are going to be five different sections with a quote or statement that I feel will appeal to the five types of RP’ers out there. When you find the statement you can most agree on, simply read the adjoined paragraph to see an overview of the system and why I believe it would be best suited to your gaming needs; simple no? “All I need is a sword, some buddies and lots of monsters to smash.” Simple, classical, and fundamental are some words to describe what you want to do my friend; and I mean this all in a good way. You want high adventures and mythical enemies to kill; but you don’t want to be tied down by a large number of fancy rules and you aren’t too worried about the social aspects that some role-play games offer. What you need my friend, is a copy of AD&D 4th edition—the latest installment in the series of popular role-play systems. [see pg 13]

The newest engine is more streamlined then the previous editions; it throws less options and rules at the players, meaning that it is far easy to pick up and play. This is further aided by Wizards of the Coast (or WotC as they are otherwise known,) releasing a beginner’s bundle that includes a pre-generated adventure, some characters and all the rules needed for that initial adventure so new players can “Taste-test” the system

before they buy into the system itself. What’s good about this system is that the rules are pretty straight forward and follow similar patterns, so once you have a few of them down you’ll be able to guess accurately most of the others, but there is enough variety in races, classes, and skills for players to keep mixing it up and more than enough traps, monsters and treasures for the Games Master, or GM for short, to make the game exciting for a long time. Further more, WotC has set a pattern of regular updates and new releases to the brand so should you want to expand your collection of rules and adventures then you’ll more then likely be able to pick up something at any good gaming store or even book stores. Finally, AD&D is what you could call “The Standard”, in that so many people around the world play the system on a regular basis that you are sure to find forums and websites denoted to user submitted rules changes, scenario ideas, characters and much more. If, however, you do decide to get into the system proper, then there is a reasonably high “Buy-In” value to the system, with the three main books you need to run the system going for around $105 USD. Each player will also require a set of dice that usually goes for around $8 USD but come in a variety of colors and styles. Also; in relation to actually playing the system, it does usually take a long time to run through a small scenario, potentially taking around five to six hours for some parties to run through the beginner’s play (excluding time to read the manuals). The flip-side of this is that it fills up a large amount of time and can be a great way to spend an evening. “I like fighting, but I want more options without getting too technical.” You aren’t happy enough to settle for your “average fighter”; you want to add some kind of spark, style, finesse to your character, and you want more variety in what you can do and in some respects, what your opponent can do. What this tells me is that you need to step back an edition and pick up AD&D 3.5. Unlike the latest edition, 3.5 is a huge beast with well over thirty books under its belt, but the beauty of it is that not all of them are needed; they are simply there to add options and variety to your game. In addition, the engine has considerably more girth to it, putting more options and “fiddly-bits” in the hands of the players whilst still keeping the overall feel of a smash and grab engine. Much like the newer engine, this system’s rules follow a fairly straight-forward style and so it is simple to pick up the basics once you get started; only this time there are simply more of them and your options are far greater. The true strength of the engine though lies in its variety and its vintage. With so many source books, campaign settings, existing forums and websites, generations of countless loyal fans of the system and a wealth

of second-hand books on the market, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to buy into the system and the sheer volumes of content out there could keep you busy for a lifetime. With most books going for between $10-25 USD, the buy-in value for the three core rulebooks is considerably less then the newer system but tracking down certain, rarer books could get pricy or difficult as the numbers of these books dwindles due to collectors and general damage but this shouldn’t ruin your overall experience. Another small issue with the system is that because the number of rules and books has expanded, the amount of time needed both to prepare and play the game has also increased but this will probably not be an issue to a player of this style. “Combat’s a great dramatic device, but what about chase scenes, wrestling matches, gun-fights and such?” So maybe fantasy is not entirely your cup of tea but you like elements of it. You like the idea of fighting mystical beings and evil creatures but you’d much rather you were packing a Revolver then a Broadsword. But combats not enough for you; you want the thrill of the chase, the taste of danger in your mouth and the excitement that can only come from convincing an enemy to becoming an ally. What I would suggest to players such as you is World of Darkness (Otherwise known as WoD) from White Wolf Publishing.

vampires and werewolves.

The WoD engine is far more streamline then any of the AD&D editions but this works to its advantage because it applies itself to all aspects of role-play including those that fall outside of combat. The engine is built to an alternative modern history timeline so the overall flavour is more gritty and intense then you would experience in a classic “Hack-andSlash” game but still allows players to fight off against “The BigBad” with enemies like demons, sorcerers,

Characters and game-play feels more three-dimensional under this engine as it offers mechanics for social interactions and other, highly intensive situations such as car chases and roofjumping. Whilst these effects could be simulated in other systems, the engine is already built into the game allowing

for faster and more rapid application of “combat-alternative” situations. Another big selling point to the system is that the initial buy-in value is rather small at around $25 USD for the single rulebook required to start playing the system. But this only allows players to run Human characters and doesn’t give a great amount of details to the GM to run anything but Human and Demonically Possessed opponents. Fortunately though, the engine is built to run alongside its three cousin systems; which expand the options for both players and the GM to Wizards, Vampires and Werewolves. Whilst this might seem limited at first, the vast number of build options and the overall flavour of the setting more then makes up for this kind of restriction. Another rather nice selling point for the system is that White Wolf has an introduction rulebook as a free download on the website so people who are interested can take a quick look at how the engine runs before they need to buy the full rulebook. The setting is restrictive though and doesn’t really allow you to mess around with the primary concepts and principles of the world. Also the damage system takes some getting used to, especially for inexperienced RP’ers. As a final warning, the game can get a little repetitive if it goes on for too long so I don’t suggest over-playing the game but rather to set a reasonable rate of pace for your group and gaming needs. “I don’t like the idea that all control belongs to just one guy and the system; can’t I get a piece of the action?” You’re a person who enjoys a bit of “Back and forth” in your games, more give and take then is usually prescribed to heavily-ruled and tailored role-play engines but luckily there is an engine that is great for you guys: Burning Wheel by Luke Crane. Burning Wheel takes a greater look at the story and social aspects of role-playing and to assist in this the system grants players narrative control at certain point during player; allowing the player to tell the GM how the event is going to unfold. Of course, this isn’t a freehand to create madness as there are still guidelines to follow but they are more common sense then restrictive. Combat feels exciting but is far quicker then other systems and doesn’t ruin the narrative flow that is otherwise created by the engine; in fact most arguments work out in a similar manner to fights and vice versa. As for character design; it’s much more organic then the average system and puts greater empathises on who the hero is rather then what they can do. The game isn’t a common place item, so you’ll need to do a bit of shopping around to track down a copy of the two-book bundle that makes up the system in a store; luckily though the system is sold for $25 USD (Not including postage and packaging) over at www.indiepressrevolution.com. Other then that, the only thing you’ll need is a hand full of eight-sided dice

or D8’s as they are otherwise known which can be found in bulk at most good gaming stores or even online. Because of the nature of the material and the general preference of the author, Burning Wheel was originally constructed to a Fantasy background however there are expansions and setting materials which allows you to play in a Sci-Fi setting too. Additional the system has an element of “obviousness” to it that really makes tinkering and tweaking the primary concepts very easy to even the more inexperienced player should s/he desire to do so. “I’m not getting the vibe here – I need something off the wall and crazy; like some kind of weird Chaotic dream.” Tables, charts, maps and all those details are not quite getting your interest the way they would the average person—you need something that screams “Out-There” and plays like nothing you’ve ever touched before in your life; or maybe something that takes an existing model and twists it to great effect. Well my odd-ball friend, I want you to visit www.indiepressrevolution. com and order up a copy of Don’t Rest Your Head (or DRYN) by Fred Hicks.

paper, some poker chips and a head full of crazy thoughts and you can play this game straight out of the box. Whilst the system is seriously constrictive in what style of game you can play, it allows almost free reign on what kind of character you can play within that game. The concept for the game is that you are an Insomniac who has discovered that you have powers; but in discovering these powers you have opened yourself up to the Mad City, a realm that exists within our realm yet is separate. You’re playing dice with Lady Fate and she hasn’t told you the rules; but you need to pick them up quickly because one mistake here could spell a permanent state of rest for you. Character creation is straight forward as answering a few questions—but the ramifications of those answers will come back to haunt you within the storyline so choose your answers carefully. But then, even with the best of answers you could still fall foul of the dice which decide how events transpire. Like Burning Wheel, DRYN puts narrative control within the hands of the players, however, unlike Burning Wheel it also forces the player to describe how they lose out in situations. The system is built for short, fast-paced games packed to the brim with nightmarish scenes of chaos and anarchy—so although you will probably finish a story-arc within a month or two, they will be some of the most intense, energetic role-play sessions you will ever experience. Now hopefully you managed to find something within these five that appeals to your sense of taste and style but of course, choosing a role-play game for someone is like ordering wine for a table of ten people—you’re guaranteed to fail to meet everyone’s taste and preference. If you want to talk about other possible alternatives or maybe you would like me to expand more upon my suggestions here, then my email box is always open and I try to response to all emails within the week barring unforeseen circumstances or time restrictions. Until next time gamers, keep rolling those dice.

ark Manning PG Evangelist

The engine for DRYN is an amazing piece of fate-drivenmastery, ditching many given precepts and models that other engines arbitrarily follow, such as tables, charts, maps and even currency. All you need is some different colored dice, a sheet of All images used in this article are the sole property of Evil Hat, Inc. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use.

Alex Hoffman

A Beginner’s Introduction to Collectible Card Games

ollectible card games (CCGs) are a major force in the gaming world and it’s fairly easy to see why. With aspects of collection, like stamp and coin collecting, as well as game play, like board games, CCGs are recognized throughout the world as gaming mainstays. Many CCGs have a theme and inherent rarity, meaning that some of the cards are rarer, or more collectible than others. Furthermore, CCGs can be based in, or on popular themes like fantasy, super heroes, franchises—like anime such as Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh!—or games like Kingdom Hearts or Street Fighters. These games all work around a set of rules that allow various types of cards to interact. These rules are generally resourcemanagement based, allowing players to make strategic decisions to beat their opponents by best utilizing their cards. During the game, the rules of a CCG usually require a player to move through phases or steps that set the pace of the game. Collectible card games are sold in stores across the world, normally in booster packs, sets of cards that are randomly inserted into packaging, normally with certain amounts of cards at different rarities. Players can buy packs of cards to increase the size of their collection, buy prebuilt decks, or buy cards off the secondary market from a hobby or gaming store, or from a re-seller online.

and longest running CCG. They were initially developed to fill time between role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and the popularity of CCGs quickly outgrew their intended audience. In the mid-to-late 90’s, A glut of CCGs were released, many of which are no longer in print. Some, however, have stayed the test of time and continue to be played around the world. Notable games developed and printed in this time period include Yu-GiOh! and Pokémon TCG. As CCGs continue to expand and be published, many times licensing is the key to success for a brand. Pokémon continues to do well in lower age brackets because of the popularity of the Nintendo games, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bleach, and Naruto CCGs all are based off of popular anime titles that are normally shown as part of Saturday morning cartoons, or part of anime programming on cable networks. There is even a CCG based on World of Warcraft! Currently, younger age brackets dominate sales of CCGs with Yu-Gi-Oh!, Chaotic, and Pokémon all in the top five CCG brands. Various CCGs are targeted at different age brackets, Pokémon being the most notable example. Pokémon targets a younger age bracket than games like Magic: the Gathering, and is considerably less complex than many of the other CCGs on the market. As players age, the lack of complexity in the game or their lack of interest causes many young CCG players either move on to more young adult oriented CCGs like Magic: the Gathering, VS System, and Naruto. These games, while harder than their younger-oriented counterparts, offer the same strategy and type of gameplay, but in a more mature fashion. In short, collectible card games are fun to play, and fun to collect. They offer portability, and the ability to customize your play style in a way that no other type of game can offer. Go give one a try!

CCGs also allow players to customize their gaming experience by creating unique decks—series of cards that shape the way they play the game. Players can play cards based on themes or favorable card interactions that increase strategy and tactics during a match. Some players enjoy CCGs because of their ability to create and develop decks and strategies with current cards. Once a player has built a deck, many hobby, game, and comic shops have dedicated tournaments for various games. Organized play programs, like tournaments that show off the latest cards, or even Pro Tours that gather the best of the best players to compete for large sums of money exist for some of the best selling games like Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon. Collectible card games are a fairly recent gaming phenomenon. They trace their origin back to the development of the first CCG, which was designed by Richard Garfield, in 1993. Mana Clash, as it was initially called, was published by Wizards of the Coast as the game Magic: the Gathering, which is the first

7 Top Collectible Card Games of 2008:

1. Pokémon 2. Yu-Gi-Oh! 3. Magic: the Gathering 4. Naruto 5. Chaotic

List of Popular Collectible Card Games: • Pokémon • Yu-Gi-Oh! • Magic: the Gathering • Naruto • Chaotic • World of Warcraft CCG • Legends of the Five Rings • Star Wars Pocket Model • Bleach • Vampire: The Eternal Struggle • VS System

Gaming Concepts by brian ross

Top 10 Innovations of ‘08 Breaking the Mold ‘Video gaming has reached a plateau. Nothing new can be done. Each generation is the same crap, recycled with better graphics.’

’ve heard the same ignorant banter since I first started playing video games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The truth of the matter is that video gaming is constantly at the cusp of being radically altered. Recently we’ve seen games that have pushed the envelope in terms of AI and graphics, but also perfected long eluded concepts such as control and artistry. This year even had 8-Bit and 16-Bit clone games that drastically pushed the envelope of what a video game can be. The following Top 10 list disproves that video gaming has become stale, and that, if anything, video gaming is about to become very exciting.

Top 10 Innovations of 2008. 10. echochrome:

— Perspective altering reality.

“Reality is a question of perspective.”—Salman Rushdie Echochrome’s innovation deals in the simplistic yet amazingly complex puzzle solving process. The five rules that govern echochrome’s play all revolve around the concept of changing perspective to alter reality. As you change the camera angles, not only does your view of the level change, but so does it’s actuality. For example, making a hole disappear from your view lets your man walk over it. The whole game is one big optical illusion where the trick is that the eye sees what actually exists. This change upon perspective is highly applicable to action and adventure games where puzzles are a regular feature and could definitely spice up the staple pushing and pulling of blocks. It has further implications in role playing games with spell casting and alternate-perspective environments. Perspective may be more limited than say time manipulation for game mechanics, but creative game developers should have no problems figuring out cool implementations of it now that the base work has been completed. echochrome • PSP/PS3 • SCE/WWS

09. Patapon:

— Rhythmic game play beyond amusing sounds. While still relatively new, the music and rhythm genre has saturated itself thoroughly by providing strikingly similar takes on the same concept. The two leading games are of course Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I would argue that Guitar Hero hurt its sales by expanding into the four instrument genre, especially with clones like Rock Revolution, Ultimate Band, and Unsigned flooding the market even further. With the influx of such games, it has become a world where music games merely use rhythm and coordination to play your favorite soundtrack. Of course there is Patapon. Patapon is a simple little game for the PSP where you use button presses in rhythm to move your army forward and issue commands. Proper rhythm and timing increases your armies performance and can send them into violent bursts of attack. It’s a music game and it’s a real-time strategy game. More importantly it’s a refreshing new take on the genre. Patapon is definitely one of the best reasons to own a PSP and shows that music games have more potential than making sounds and learning instruments. On a sad note, developers definitely need to use care when developing video games based on auditory music cues. I know a few deaf people that enjoy video gaming. Nothing could be more frustrating for a deaf gamer than to continuously fail to solve a problem based on a rhythm or auditory cue that they can’t hear. Proper design should sync flashing lights or even rumble controls to they rhythm. Patapon • PSP • SCE/WWS

08. Braid:

— Redefining the value of a game.

Braid is the critical darling of 2008—despite being a download only title. It by no means contains the level of programming or graphical prowess of even the worst pressed games out there, but it doesn’t need to. Braid is proof that a game doesn’t need lifelike graphics and a thousand different mini-games to be popular. Braid is a game that relishes in simplicity by providing some of the most innovative and complex puzzles in video gaming history. Even though they weren’t technologically astounding, you could easily argue that the music and graphics were purposefully and immaculately chosen. Braid hopefully isn’t a diamond in the rough, but more of a front runner in a new movement to create truly fun and original video games. An innovation not in something new technically, but in game design attitude. For too long game companies have tried to argue they are artistic without providing the perfection a true artist demands. Braid’s innovation is it’s aspiration, not for profit, but for perfection.

Braid • Xbox360 Arcade • Number None Inc.

07. Mass Effect:

— Revolutionizing the concept of a protagonist. While Mass Effect doesn’t feel really fresh or relevant any more, a mere year ago it was all the rave, garnering massive acclaim both critically and from players. As the hero Shepard, you took to space hunting down a rogue agent hell bent on destroying everything. The thing is, Shepard isn’t your standard silent protagonist, or even a standard talkative one. Shepard was wholly a creation of your own design. It was everything Fable failed to deliver. Shepard could be male or female. Shepard could be really bad, a saint, or somewhere in between. Shepard looked and felt just about however you wanted him/ her to be. Even his/her background story was subject to your limited fancy. The best part is all these things actually affected the game. Mass Effect redefined the concept of character evolution. It may not have been a truly open world, but the game often felt endless in things you could do thanks to Shepard’s ability to mirror your play. This new take on protagonists has already been felt in the hack and slash Rise of the Argonauts and seems to feature heavily in the upcoming Alpha Protocol. Any game that features character choices has a lot to glean from Bioware’s treatment of characters. Mass Effect • Xbox360/PC • BioWare

06. Super Mario Galaxy:

— Manipulating the very essence of control.

Twelve years ago, Nintendo brought Mario into the 3D generation with Super Mario 64. At the time, the graphics and concepts the game unleashed upon the world were brand new. Playing it now, you can still have a good time, but can’t help but to realize how far game and camera control has come since 1996. Super Mario Galaxy is just as important as Super Mario 64, but for very different reasons. Where Super Mario 64 was the first of its kind, Mario Galaxy was the mastery of its kind. Nearly identical in look and concept, the shining star of Galaxy is the level of control you have. Whether you’re flying, sliding around poles, or riding on top of a giant marble, the game constantly and perfectly challenges you to really get to know your Wii controller. Twelve years later, Mario is still setting the bar for new and interesting ways to play games that everyone loves no matter their age. If you haven’t played Super Mario Galaxy, definitely pick it up, as it is one of the greatest games ever made and it’s handling of the Wii remote showcased just how marvelous it’s controls could be. Super Mario Galaxy • Wii • Nintendo

05. Tom Cancy’s Endwar:

— Controlling the game with your voice.

If there is one thing that the MMORPG genre has proven in the recent years, it is that voice commands given over voice servers such as Ventrilo or TeamSpeak are far more powerful and efficient than typed or pre-constructed commands. Concerns have always arisen about computers understanding accents and the voice command AI not being as powerful as a controlled interface, but they have recently been proven very wrong. While Tom Clancy’s EndWar itself is pretty standard fare, the voice command system it uses is not. It proved extremely powerful and highly accurate. Players attempting the game without the voice command have all verified that the game is much harder to play. Between the ease of use and the cool factor of ordering your troops into battle, many have chosen to praise what might have otherwise been considered a standard fare game. It is only a matter of time before we’re playing Call of Duty yelling to our troops “Check your corners!” or calling out plays in Madden instead of selecting them. Tom Clancy’s EndWar • PS3/Xbox360

04. Rock Band Series:

— Bridging games into a true series.

I’ll confess that I’m a Rock Band addict. I find the game play more to my suiting than Guitar Hero, and appreciate the music selection far more. The main reason I like Rock band though, is because Harmonix really seems to like me (and the rest of their fans). It goes much further than picking the right music for their fans, it goes to respecting them and their wallets. It also goes to giving them seemingly exactly what they want and need. What made the Rock Band series ultra cool is how Harmonix handled the Rock Band (RB1) to Rock Band 2 (RB2) changeover. Every other console music game out there forces you to buy new tracks and songs for each new version. Harmonix nailed it when they worked a deal with Microsoft to allow their downloaded tracks to be usable in both RB1 and RB2. They gave even more loving when they enabled almost the entire soundtrack from RB1 to be imported into RB2. The implications of having content expand from one game to another really redefines the sequel experience and could definitely create some cross-game pollination. A perfect early example was Sim City 4 and the Sims in which your sims could be imported into your city. However, I predict a revolution in one particular genre from this concept model - Sports games. Imagine if instead of buying Madden NFL 2008, you simply bought Madden NFL. You then could go on to download whatever season rosters you wanted to, or even select the current season. Imagine if Eli Manning gets hurt in a game and the game automatically updates when you turn it on and you go to pick the Giants you find him on the disabled

list! When the next generation of Madden is ready you simply purchase the game and all your seasons are still there. No need for a new Madden every single year. The game could even increase profitability by lowering the amount of programmers needed to work constantly on the game and produce far, far more downloadable content. Heck, with that kind of technology they could even easily incorporate fantasy leagues through their game. All it would take is steps like Harmonix has taken with Rock Band to create not a game series, but an ever growing, ever expanding, ever evolving game. Rock Band 1 & 2 • Xbox360 • Harmonix Music Systems

Splicers. I’m also sure no one was more blown away than when they stepped foot into Ryan’s office. While Braid definitely was the independent single man’s take on artistic art form, Bioshock proved exactly what you could do with a budget and a full studio. I’ve written college term papers on films with less underlying currents going on than the ones 2k Boston presented. Bisohock is the epitome of a game that presents not only a concept, but a highly fun and engaging world to play in. I can only imagine what will happen if ever video game company strove to provide this level of thought and care into making their games.

03. Spore:

Bioshock • PC/PS3/Xbox360 • 2K Boston

— Full incorporation of user-created content. User content was a major theme this year of some titles such as N+, Little Big Planet and Guitar Hero World Tour. The reason Spore is here over those and any other, is that it’s user created content was fully integrated into the game and not just a mere expansion. Users designed little lovable monsters or perverse disturbing creatures that might end up populating your world if you let them. All created not by random generators and programmers, but twisted game players just like yourself. The cool part was Spore was so hyped they released the creation tool before the game ever hit, setting the internet ablaze with custom creatures for a game not even released. The implications of increased user generated content not only skyrockets the amount of game content players could experience, but the time a player may spend with the game. I’ve known people who played Elder Scrolls halfway through, but spent years creating and sculpting their own unique twists on the world. The desire of many people to create far exceeds their need to play, by putting the tools in those players hands the designers can do more for than their game than they ever could. Outside of the sports genre, I can’t imagine any gaming series that wouldn’t massively benefit by giving their users custom building tools. Spore • PC • Maxis

02. Bioshock:

— Legitimizing gaming as an art form.

One might argue that Braid was the most powerful artistic game of the year, or to some extents the sleeper PSP game flOw [Writer’s note: capitalization on flOw is correct]. However, Bioshock still in it’s youth at the start of last year was by and large the front runner for artistic merit in a game. The game took all the aspects of a first person shooter and survival horror, then complimented them with a compelling story, vast underlying concepts, amazing graphics, and a heavily unified and stylized world. Even as a teenager playing Resident Evil I never stopped in pure dread as I did while playing Bioshock after hearing the heavy thuds of an approaching Big Daddy. Nor was I ever so tense after my first encounters with Houdini

01. Wii Fit:

— Gaming truly impacting real life.

You could argue that numerous games this year have impacted real life. Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour have both been given merit for their ability to train a person to drum. Guitar instructors also regularly use the games to teach their students strum patterns if they have difficulty grasping the concepts. Other games teach typing, cooking, or foreign languages, but few have made the lasting impact that Wii Fit does. The whole concept of Wii Fit is that it is more than a game. It is a healthier lifestyle, albeit not a truly astounding excersie program. It’s impact has been far reaching, hitting nearly every generation and being used by numerous professions to help with physical therapy, balance, and weight loss. Wii Fit is proof that a video game can transcend the TV screen, be positive to your real life, and still be entirely fun to play. Wii Fit • Wii • Nintendo Overall, there are numerous trends going on in video games. For the first time ever, video gaming has really evolved beyond competing systems into totally seperate entities. Nintendo offers lower graphic, high control games via the Wii and DS while the PS3, PSP, and Xbox360 continue to push the technological aspects of gaming and honor retro gaming with releases and remakes. All of it is powered by systems such as the Playstation Network and Xbox Live that has bring gamers closer and closer together. The coming decade of gaming appears to be bright and chock full of new possibilities.

BR rian

oss

All images used in this article are the sole property of their respective owners. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use.

Gamer’s Perspective

themes—like medieval fantasy—that are used over and over, so I started trying to make games that used underdeveloped themes and were fun at the same time.

by chris newton

The aspect I liked most about MTG was deckbuilding. It allowed you to customize your game experience and you get to tinker with things so game design was just the next logical step.

Design Tactics Getting Started

ave you ever wondered how a game is made? What was the designer thinking when he came up with the game concept? Maybe it goes deeper than that. For me, I would like to know how to make a game from scratch. But to get to that point, I decided to just ask those questions to a game designer. Today, I am joined by Gerardo Albornoz Ibañez, a freelance game designer. I thought having a conversation with an unpublished designer would be interesting as talking with someone who is being paid to create games will result in an answer from a source who is a professional at it, and most likely you will get professional answers. Picking the mind of an amateur designer would result in a different set of answers, as he is designing games for the sheer pleasure of making the game. Or at least that is what I believe to be the case. [Chris Newton] Thanks for making time for us today Gerardo. Let me lead the interview off this a straightforward question. How did you get started with designing games? [Gerardo Albornoz Ibañez] Well, it was pretty random. Way back when I was 12, I got a lot of games as presents and since I found them to be too bland, think average kid’s stuff and silly racing games, I’d just mess around with the rules. Then I grew older and forgot about the games and went on to the usual diversions for teenagers—video games, comics, and girls. At age 15, I discovered (Magic: the Gathering) MTG and never looked back. [CN] What was it about Magic that drew you into designing? [GI] It wasn’t MTG ironically. I resumed game design for good when I was away from MTG. I had less and less time to play and my wallet was strained between college expenses, medical expenses, and girlfriends; so I turned to board gaming for my gaming fix. Then the tinkerer inside me re-awoke and after playing several games I decided to try my hand at making my own (games) from scratch. I realized that there’s a lot of themes for gaming that are not very explored. With themes I don’t mean mechanics, but the backdrop of the game. There are many clichéd

[CN] You talked about underdeveloped themes, can you explain a little more about what that means, and how you want to tap into this? [GI] Have you seen a game about emergency rescues? How about disaster relief? [CN] I can’t say that I have. [GI] That’s what I mean. You don’t always have to tap into the “sword and cape fantasy/sci-fi” well to make exciting games. There are a lot of games coming from Europe with seemingly drape themes, but they are so well designed that they’re truly exciting. For example, Agricola (see ad to right). That game is about farming for Pete’s sake. Farming is the last thing you think about when you think “cool game” and yet that game delivers great. [CN] I would have to agree with you on that point. How would you start a game then? Do you begin with an existing game, or do you have another method of game creation? [GI] Well I usually start with a concept, such as: “Game about spatula carving.” Then I do some research on the subject and find mechanics that can model the concept. The more realistic you want it to be, the more rules baggage it needs, so I don’t aim for hyper-realistic simulations. Just enough rules to convey the feel. There’s plenty of mechanics that are of common use in game design—like dice rolling, use of cards, action point systems, variable player powers, etc. I tend to tap on these known mechanics for laying the groundwork and then create novel ones to reinforce the design and give it a more unique feeling. I’m not a genius, merely an innovator. [CN] I can appreciate that. Have you ever taken a popular game that our readers may have played and tried to alter it to be something better? [GI] Well, I’ve made a lot of house rules for Doom: The Boardgame and even made a travel-friendly version of it. (That game is MASSIVE!) But usually if a game is well-playtested it shouldn’t need any house rules unless there’s a blatant mistake.

I don’t consider myself a great designer - I’ve been on it for only a year and a half and I have to play a lot more games to get more knowledge. So I’m not really a boardgame connoisseur, just an enthusiastic ‘newb’ who jumped on the design wagon right away because of his inquisitive nature. I haven’t gotten anything published yet either.

Citadels Nominated for the German Game of the Year in 2000, Citadels has finally arrived in an English language edition. Game enthusiasts of all genres will be enchanted by this wonderful game of bluffing, deduction, and city-building. Wrapped in a medival theme and gorgeously illustrated, players seek to be the first to complete a grand city of their own. Each game round players secretly take the roles of either the King, Magician, Architect, Assasin, Thief, Bishop, General, or Merchant and seek to use the powers of such offices in their efforts to win the game.

[CN] What games do you look to when you are looking for inspiration, whether it is mechanics, theme, or style? [GI] Well I don’t have a predefined set of games that I use for inspiration, whenever I encounter a new game that interests me; I distill down the elements that I like for using them in other games. But I do have my tastes. [CN] Can you give us an example? [GI] I tend to favor games that have variable player abilities— having everyone do the same thing is boring. Also, I have a knack for asymmetrical games—games of unequal forces where one side has the upper hand but that can be overcome by the other players. [CN] What games do you prefer to play today? [GI] Wargames. Not necessarily the historical ones—think highly-detailed simulations of historical conflicts with wallof-text after wall-of-text, what a snorefest. [CN] What makes a good wargame to you? [GI] If it’s an historical simulation: good compromise between realism and rules complexity. No, I don’t want to spend seven hours in a single game session; I’d play a tabletop RPG if I wanted that. If it’s a non-historical: Simple turn structure, intuitive, and fast-paced combat system

Memoir ‘44 From the cliffs of Pointe-du-Hoc to the hedgerow battles in the Corentin Peninsula and beyond—Memoir ‘44 airdrops you into the key battles that turned the tide in Western Europe during the summer of 1944. Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge, Operation Cobra… Step in and command your troops on the battlefields that defined History in the 20th century!

[CN] Do you have any games you want to recommend to our readers who may not be familiar with the wide variety of table top games? [GI] Hmm… Well usually for starters Settlers of Catan is a decent choice—It’s a relatively simple game about trading and expanding your settlement. As an introduction to wargames, Memoir ‘44 is a solid choice, and one of my favorite noncollectible card games is Citadels—A game about building a city in a Renaissance setting. You get a lot of bang for your buck (up to 8 players with just a tiny box of cards!) and the game has many bluffing and negotiation aspects. This concludes my interview with Gerardo. The interview has left me even more curious. I will continue to search for people on the other side of the game to interview. Anyone can ask a fellow gamer their view on a game of common interest, but it is not every day when you get to talk to designers or innovators about their products. All images used in this article are the sole property of CCG Armory and their respective owners. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use.

The Settlers of Catan We also made several exciting additions to the actual game components to improve upon set-up time, organization, and even board stability during play. First, we added a two sided interlocking sea frame, which cuts in half the time needed to set up the game board. It also insures that the board will stay firmly in place during the entire length of the game. Second, we added a plastic tray to hold the all game components in place and keep them organized for your next game. Last but not least, we included some durable and high quality plastic dice.

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Ramblings of a Role Player... by mark manning

The Cat’s Away...Let’s Play! Mouse Guard Review: Part A

hat a way to start a series – as a fan boy of Luke Crane’s work. (Can’t say enough good things about Burning Wheel) I’m truly honoured to be given the task of reviewing Crane’s latest addition to the Indie scene—Mouse Guard: The Roleplay Game powered by the BW engine. Now, having got the “Oh-gosh”s out of the way, let’s actually settle down into the review; or at least the first half. What is to follow is a “Pre-Game” evaluation—something that many people do without realizing but which I feel is something vital to both the success and overall experience of any Role-Playing Game (RPG) system. Like any good artist will tell you; first impressions count. I want to start off by saying that I’m “Socially-aware” of the Mouse Guard setting, in that I have never actually sat down and read one of the comics before, but I have seen references and material relating to the franchise before. So like many of you, I’m coming at this from an unassuming angle; I have no pre-built images and opinions on the setting and as such this is as much a learning experience for me as it is you. On that note I feel I should explain or at least try to give you some idea of the overall feel to the setting. The “Territories” in which the Mice live in is home not only to a healthy and prevalent Mouse society, but also a number of predator’s, prey, and co-inhabiting species which all put some level of stress and strain on the Mouse Kingdom. But Wolves and Badger’s are not your only obstacle; weather, famine, illness, social standards and civil uproar can occur within the Territories and ever possible is another Invasion by the Weasel Kingdom. You play the part of a Mouse Guard; an individual who has volunteered and been inducted into a Militant Ranger society who’s soul purpose is to ensure the survival and growth of the Mouse society. This covers a surprisingly wide variety of tasks but most revolve around travelling between the numerous cities beating, creating, or clearing paths of hazards and enemies alike. These tasks are undertaken by a group—or Patrols as the setting calls them—of three to six members of the Mouse Guard, formed into a rough and ready scouting party. Of course being only an inch high, Mother Nature herself becomes as much a foe as a friend; with the passing seasons

bringing different weather and a wide scope of new predators. Snow can cover old paths and can create new ones, rain can disrupt trade routes, and winds can carry away unwary Mice. The territories are not a safe haven, but rather a constant battleground in which “Mousedom” must prove itself time and time again in a battle for survival.

That last line really sets the overall aim of the setting; you are constantly trying to prove your right to survival against the elements, predators, and societies failings. I must confess that it has me captivated; enthralled in images of brave Mice struggling against adversity in a world far beyond their scope and vision, but one that they continue to survive in. True to Crane’s form, the book is laid out in a straight-forward and simplistic matter that doesn’t hassle the reader with too many details at once, but rather invites you to sit down and slowly absorb it like you would a piece of classical music— slowly and leisurely, realizing and enjoying something new each time. I am especially fond of the image key and bold-text caption method employed in this book; very reminiscent of the “An Idiot’s Guide to…” book series. Whist it does feel a little condescending at first, you soon discover that the feature has not been overused in any way but rather as a means to enhance the information that you really need to take away from this page or simply as a means to say: “You’ll understand this when you get to this part.” Now I’m working off of a PDF version of the text which is normally not my preferred medium for a first read but I can almost say with some certainty that extra effort was put into the layout and formatting to reduce the distracting quality electronic versions of rulebooks have. Maybe it’s a personal thing but I can’t really get to grips to a piece of material unless it’s in a physical form but in this case the read was a lot easier and almost allowed me to forget that I was reading off a PC monitor.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast) “All I need is a sword, some buddies and lots of monsters to smash.”

Having said that, I was a little put off by the margin and spacing in some places and although it’s only a minor gripe, it did lead me to re-read entire pages simply because I felt I had either missed something or had already covered this section, only to find that I had missed something at a later point. I would have liked a little more dissemination in the layout so that I could follow and maintain my position within the body of text easier. Asides from one ambiguous line around half-way through the book I cannot fault the wording in this book; it’s clear, concise, and doesn’t assume anything of the reader. It even goes so far as to reshow the reader things already covered, which again at first seems condescending, but it’s once you realize there’s three-hundred and twenty pages to the material, you start to appreciate these little memory joggers. Again, as a side effect of reading the material off of a PC monitor I cannot truly appreciate the artwork used in this

Dungeons & Dragons 3.t5th Edition, Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast) “I like fighting, but I want more options without getting too technical.”

book to it’s full and intended effect but I can say that what is in there is used to great effect both as a theatrical device and as instructional tools. Each new section begins with a nice, page-wide window piece that boasts such character and expressionism of the setting that it sets you up for the material you’re about to read and re-energizes you after the previous section; goading you into reading on. Some credit must also be given to the choice of backgrounds used throughout the material as these serve as a means, not only to differentiate the individual sections in the book, but also to tie the book to the present subject matter on the page and tie the entire book together as a beautiful piece of sculpting that really helps to bring the reader into the world they are reading about. Now having gone through so many paragraphs, listening to me praise this book, you could be forgiven for believing that I’m going to give this piece a five out of five and tell you all to add this piece to your collection, but in truth I’m going to say “Stop and Consider” before you buy this piece. Luke Crane and David Petersen have done an amazing job of bringing this piece of canon to life in a Roleplay setting, but it does lend itself to a particular breed of players: High Epic fans—The guys who always wanted to play in the Dragonlance setting, but thought Forgotten Realms got too “In-depth” for any real story to evolve from it or the guy’s who enjoyed the quick and brutal fight between the Rohirrim and Warg Riders more then the gritty fighting against the Uruk-hai. In short, it lends itself to people who want to run fast-paced, intense games that whilst thinking does go a long way, there isn’t really any time to go away and study up on the present situation like you are given in most Cthulhu settings or indeed World of Darkness. That’s not to say that this is a bad thing, I myself have been known to throw caution to the winds and run head-first into a conflict just to get some real action going, but I’m also aware that there are those who use Roleplay as a means to escape the standard and speed that their life follows in the real world—some people want to kick down doors and slay dragons, some people want to play Sherlock Homes inspired adventures, and some others want something in-between. And it is to those “in-betweener’s” that I could suggest this material to; the one’s who want some clear goals in mind, but are given some wiggling room on how to achieve it. I’d also suggest this system to the guy who’s tired of planning every little, minute detail of something and who really just wants to do something by gut alone for a change. Until next time gamers, keep rolling those dice.

ark Manning PG Evangelist

All images used in this article are the sole property of Mr. Luke Crane & Burning Wheel. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use

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Brian Ross

Winter Reads... How many roads must a man...

t may be cold outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a road trip in your head. The following four books will take your mind to sunny places. Far from the dregs of winter. Don’t worry though, everything isn’t smiles and laughs, each of these books have their own dark winter twist. Each story will pit their main characters against their demons—whether they be inner or quite literal.

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

A Cross America Road Trip in Pursuit of Prescription Pills Grab a pistol and hop in the backseat with Chuck Palahniuk (the demented mind that gave us Fight Club) in Invisible Monsters. Originally dismissed by publishers as too disturbing, this tale centers on a former model, whose face was blown off by a gunblast, and her friend, a pre-op transexual, as they embark on a voyage of reinvention and self-discovery. Fueling their trip is an endless supply of prescription pills garnered from open house tours accompanied with an unhealthy dosage of self destruction. Palahniuk holds nothing back, pushing the very basic aspects of what defines a person into obscurity. Things such as physical appearance and gender take a backseat as each character’s beauty manifests itself in non-metaphorical manners. Invisible Monsters is an extremely dark comedy and delightful read even if you’ve seen one too many coming of age films in your life. Palahniuk has never steered his audience wrong and it is well worth the time to read. Best Known Work: Fight Club Must Reads: Survivor, Choke Similar Authors: Amy Hempel, Denis Johnson

Barry’s. Florida Roadkill kicks off the first of a long series of novels based around the adventures of sociopath and mentally deranged killer Serge A. Storms. Serge isn’t all that bad; more of a disturbed anti-hero whose victims usually have it coming. A Century Long Road Trip in Pursuit of Freedom Often his antics have all the complexity and deadliness of a Travis has been bound to a demon jigsaw trap, with all the fun of a Von Numen Machine. Keeping named Catch for ninety some up with Serge as he gets lost in his numerous mental illnesses years and the duo has been itching is always a thrilling ride. to get rid of each other ever since they met. As the pair arrives to Best Known Work: Florida Roadkill Pine Cove, California, each has Must Reads: Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Triggerfish Twist been secretly plotting to finally Similar Authors: Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen rid themselves of their partner and Duma Key free themselves. Unfortunately, by Stephen King the residents of Pine Cove stand in the way and will suffer heavy losses in the process. Practical A Dark Road Trip to the Florida Keys Demonkeeping is the debut novel Finally, an author I don’t think I by absurdist writer Christopher have to introduce at all. Stephen Moore. Moore has all the King spent several thousand pages irreverent wit of Steinbeck and in The Stand exploring characters Vonnegut with an utterly bizarre and constantly tries to evoke horror writing style akin to Douglas Adams. If wacky characters, through powerful character stories. improbable situations, and brilliant wordplay don’t interest Whether it be a father driven insane you, maybe I can sell you with what sold me originally; a hot by a hotel, a ghost possessed car, or pink cover featuring a demon in a Cadilliac. This is the novel an enigmatic shopkeeper, King has that got me to enjoy reading again after high school killed any always painted vivid characters. Yet, desire to pick up a book, it is my ultimate recommendation. by no means have I ever truly felt for his characters as I did while reading Best Known Work: Pratical Demonkeeping Duma Key. Even as the characters Must Reads: A Dirty Job, Bloodsucking Fiends triumph, I couldn’t help but be Similar Authors: John Steinbeck, Douglas Adams, Kurt wracked in dread as they headed Vonnegut towards their inevitable fates.

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey

A Zany Road Trip in Pursuit of Money, Drugs, and Florida History Most people have witnessed numerous exposures to Florida Noir without even knowing about it. Movies such as Wild Things, Striptease, and Big Trouble brought it into the forefront of public knowledge without people even knowing it. Florida Noir is a wonky version of crime novels that takes the unique atmosphere of the balmy Florida coastlines and swamps in lieu of cold, distant urban streets. Dorsey’s Florida is a combination of the absurdist crime-ridden Hiaasen Florida and with the ridiculous version of

All images used in this article are the sole property of their respective owners. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use.

In Duma Key, Edgar Freemantle heads to a remote Florida Key after a horrific accident robs him of a limb, his speech, and the love of his wife. Using painting as a therapy, Freemantle soon discovers he has the power to use a “phantom arm” to create haunting and often prophetic paintings. As Freemantle recovers and learns to control his power he befriends some locals and begins to reclaim his life piece by piece. Through powerful character attachment and an excruciatingly slow boil plot, King keeps you strung along only to quickly cut the strings, leaving you to pick up the threads. A definite must read for those who think he lost his touch. Best Known Work: The Shining Must Reads: The Stand, Cell, Needful Things Similar Authors: Richard Bachman, Richard Matheson, Peter Straub

BR rian

oss

Alex Hoffman

and a Blue Dragon collectible card game is being published by Konami) and for readers new to the setting. As a reader who had never heard of Blue Dragon, the manga was informative but it didn’t bog me down, which was appreciated.

Watch your Shadow... RalΩGrad, Volume 1 Review

n a world where humankind has been under siege for 15 years by a mysterious alternate plane called the Shadow World, humans have been driven into strong standing castles and can never sleep with the lights off. The lack of light for even one second can have devastating consequences -- as humans have their shadows possessed by inhabitants of this Shadow World. Called Shadows, these creatures can then take a true physical form in the human world. Ral, the main character of the story, is one of those people. As an infant, his shadow was possessed by a powerful Shadow, the Dragon Grad. Locked away for his entire lifetime, Ral has grown up in darkness so that his shadow cannot take shape. Finally though, in a furious battle between Shadows and humans, Ral is let free to fight for humanity. This manga details his adventures as he challenges the Shadow Queen Opsquria and her minions to restore the balance between the Shadow World and his own. RalΩGrad is an interesting manga set in the Blue Dragon universe, a popular game franchise in Japan. It is a mix between perverted comedy and action, in which both are on full tilt as this first volume starts and moves into action later on. Ral’s misunderstandings and fondness for bosoms give this manga quite a few funny moments, but perhaps for some readers, this content is more offensive than humorous. When Ral isn’t trying to fondle someone’s breasts, he’s fighting Shadows working for the Shadow Queen, and Takeshi Obata (the illustrator famous for drawing Death Note) imagines these fights in great detail. The art is breath-taking, with brilliant shading and background illustration. The Shadows themselves are wonderful and grotesque at the same time; looking much like mutated creatures from our own world, re-formed and re-imagined in a twisted bizarre fantasy. The humans are just as amazing, with Ral - an athletic fighter - as well as the busty Ms. Mio and the young and cute Aia taking center stage throughout the book. The story progresses fairly linearly, as Ral and his teacher Ms. Mio and friend Aia move closer to the stronghold of the Shadow Queen. There’s never a true lull in the action and Ms. Mio, who acts as Ral’s tutor and bosom-pillow, helps to explain some of the more complex details of the Shadow World in the form of lessons to Ral. This style of writing is good for both Blue Dragon fans (the first video game is already out in the US,

Published in Viz Media’s Shonen Jump Advanced book line, RalΩGrad as a book isn’t spectacular. Viz is one of those companies that kind of irks me when it comes to book quality; I’m fairly certain that some of these pages were meant to be full color, but the entire book (like most manga) is in black in white. The paper quality leaves something to be desired, being only a few steps away from newspaper quality. The price is set to please at $7.99 USD, so it’s not a pain on your wallet, but I don’t know that the books will last for as long as other publisher offerings might. Still, the book is well bound, and there aren’t any translation mistakes that are noticeable. Furthermore, none of the storyline is stuck in the binding of the book (a common defect in books called “guttering”). After putting this series on the backburner for nearly a year, Viz has already published volume 2, and volume 3 is coming to stores February 3rd. If you aren’t a fan of perverted comedy, I suggest staying away from this one. It’s about as crude as it gets. At one point, Ral even titles himself, “Ral, Squeezer of Tits.” While some may not like the fan service (naked women abound in this series) and perverted misunderstandings, this is certainly a fun read. The raw humor was enough to make me laugh multiple times over, and I enjoyed it immensely. RalΩGrad may not be for everyone, but it is a titillatingly good read, with just enough fantasy battle sequences to lure you in, humor to keep you laughing, and a plot line that will keep you reading.

AH lex

offman

All images used in this article are the sole property of Shonen Jump. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to their Terms of Use

RalΩGrad, Volume 1: Written by Tsuneo Takano & Illustrated by Takeshi Obata Viz Media’s Shonen Jump Advanced

Chris Newton by chris newton

The Mana Flux... ConfluxTM Teaser Review

n the Magic: the Gathering community, there is nothing more exciting than spoiler season. Spoiler season is like Christmas, it is a time where fans eagerly await the arrival of a new set of cards, which happens every three months. While you would think that having Christmas four times a year would lessen the meaning and impact of the coming set, you would be mistaken. There have been 47 expansion sets created for Magic. I spent a little time counting the existing expansions for this article and was astonished. I had to count for a third time because the first two times I counted them and came to the number 47, and I simply could not believe it. Following the third count, I came to a startling conclusion: Dear God, am I getting old! When I first began playing this game, I was a young, vibrant buck—back in 1994. Magic was getting ready to release its newest expansion set then called Fallen Empires. For those who do not know, that was only the fifth expansion set. Fifth! Forty some expansions later… Wizards of the Coast, parent company of Magic: the Gathering, was kind enough to allow us to preview four cards from their newest expansion, Conflux – which is the Sedraxis Alchemist oOO 2oB first expansion of their stand alone set called Shards of Alara.

Creature — Zombie Wizard When Sedraxis Alchemist comes into play, if you control a blue permanent, return target nonland permanent to its owner’s hand. The problem with a liquid that can dissolve anything is finding something to carry it in. Karl Kopinski ™ & © 1993–2009 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 54/145

2/2

First up is an interesting twist of the color wheel. Typically, Black tends to not like creatures very much, spending much of its time killing them and perhaps even reanimate them later for further abuse. However, with Sedraxis Alchemist this is not the case at all. If you have a Blue permanent in play, this guy generates a Blue ‘comes into play’ ability

that does not kill a creature, instead bounces a non-land permanent to its owners hand. This could lend to either a nasty offensive attack, or maybe even a bit of tricky shenanigans. Back in the old Mirage Block days, Man-o-War was a street thug. Well, maybe that is a bit far fetched, but if your deck could generate a single point of Blue mana, you would be playing four Man-o-Wars in your deck. Whether it was getting a defending creature out of the way for your attack phase, making a creature go through another round of summoning sickness, or just knocking some annoying aura to the graveyard, his ability was just too good not to play. Fast forward many years into the future, remove the creature only limit and add a color buddy stipulation, and you have a reformated Man-o-War ready to remind today’s player why he was nasty in the old’en days and most likely will be again. Fiery Fall

o5oR OO

Instant Fiery Fall deals 5 damage to target creature. Basic landcycling o1oR (o1oR, Discard this card: Search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.) Jund feasts on the unprepared. Daarken ™ & © 1993–2009 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 63/145

All images used in this article are the sole property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. For more information on the use of these images, please refer to Wizards Terms of Use

Above images are the sole property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. available at www.magicdeckvortex.com/

Next up is a card that offers an interesting twist on an old mechanic; Cycling. Fiery Fall allows a player to basically trade a high casting cost card in hand, that would normally be used until late game, for a basic land card that is in your library. I would venture to guess that this is a sample of a cycle of cards, where each color will receive a basic landcycling card. Being a fan of cycling myself, I find myself torn with this card. True, it does allow for me to get a basic land early and fix my mana base or kill a creature in the late game, but I really have a hard time with the cards costing. Since Lava Axe cost a point less, and limited me to only players, what would it have hurt to allow the creature or player choice on this card. Either way, I can’t imagine this card seeing much constructed tournament play, but will be used a lot in more limited formats like Sealed and Draft. Exploding Borders

o2oRoG OOO

Sorcery Domain — Search your library for a basic land card, put that card into play tapped, then shuffle your library. Exploding Borders deals X damage to target player, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control. Reuniting a world is not a gentle process. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai ™ & © 1993–2009 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 106/145

This brings us to my favorite card of this batch, Exploding Borders. The card displays the fact that Wizards has decided to keyword another common card action in Domain. Domain basically allows a person’s spells to become more powerful if you control multiple land types. Thus getting many different land types into play in order to fuel Domain is important, keeping in mind that there are only five, so it caps out at that point.

Since the beginning of time, Green has been able to search your library for a basic land and put it directly into play. Also since the beginning of time, Red has been able to punch an opponent in the face. I guess the next logical step is to combine the two concepts into a single entity. Exploding Borders is a very nice card in both limited and constructed formats as you can always use an extra land; just as much as you can always use to punch an opponent. The card starts to get a little wide when you factor in the old school Dual Lands or even the Ravnica Duals, you can do a lot of damage really fast, with these lands. Although you cannot search for them with the spell, they can definitely fuel the damage it causes. Exploding Borders has another overlooked ability built in. It encourages you to get multiple basic land types, which gets you multiple colors of mana, which gets you closer to having Domain mana available… which means being able to cast a spell that requires all the colors of Magic…

…and here we have it. Look at this beauty. Fusion Elemental answers many questions that many people have never asked themselves or their friends. Questions like, “How come every WUBRG spell has to be rare?”, “Why is every WUBRG creature Legendary?”, or “How the hell am I supposed to cast this guy?” Fusion Elemental

oWoUoBoRoG OOOOO

“Ancient Ziggurat” by John

Avon

Creature — Elemental

As the shards merged into the Maelstrom, their mana energies fused into new monstrosities.

Michael Komarck

8/8

True, actually getting him into play is feasibly a tough challenge, but with the recent push that Wizards has made towards tricolored decks, adding two more colors should not be that tough of a task. Don’t forget Fiery Fall above. It can be cycled to get you that color you are missing in order to finish your puzzle of getting one mana of every color into play in order to put this brute on the table.

“Exotic Orchard” by

Stephen Belledin

The drawback that the Fusion Elemental has is that he has no clue what evasion is, meaning he can’t fly, trample, have fear, or somehow get his damage past a blocker. The good news is that he is an Elemental and there are numerous different ways from the Lorwyn Block to assist you getting him into play. Also remember that he is Black, which naturally makes him resistant to a lot of creature removal. Don’t forget that he is also uncommon, which means that you can get a copy or two of him in Limited and beat your opponent to a pulp; a task that I always enjoy doing. In closing this article, I believe those of us who are intrigued by the tri-colored theme that Shards of Alara presented are in for a treat, as this set appears to boost that concept to the next level with assistance in getting to that point more readily and then executing once there. I eagerly await the Pre-Release Tournaments for Conflux so I can get my hands on a few of these cards, especially Exploding Borders.

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“Rupture Spire” by Jaime Jones

Brian Ross

What’s a Tog? Think He’ll Eat this?

ometimes I have moments I regret. One such moment is when I asked myself what a ‘tog is. Being that it is still the first decade of the new millennia, I went to the most reputable and easy to access source for such information: the Wikipedia. According to the scholars there, a tog could be any number of things from a unit of thermal resistance, to a photographer, or even (my favorite) the magical squirrel from the BBC Children’s TV show Pogles Wood. Of all the things though, the best choice was definitely the unit of thermal resistance used in textiles; or so I thought.... What came next rates as one of the dumbest moves in my life; I called my brother, a textile engineer who designs fire fighter suits, to ask him about togs. He should be the perfect source, being that he describes his job as “setting things he makes on fire.” However, I forgot that even mentioning textiles to him is like dropping some catnip into an alley or spanish fly into a room of hipsters; each result is remarkably similar to the next. For the next twenty minutes I learned about togs, tog tests, and all kinds of tog-related stuff. What it came down to is exactly what I suspected; a tog is a measure of how well something cannot be set on fire. Of course now I should know about all kinds of ways to test togs and what they really mean, but I zoned out after one minute and didn’t pay attention. I knew there was a reason he makes twice what I do a year.

Anyway, back on track. To me a ‘tog is always what it has been; (well at least since 1995), a toothy little purple thing that eats artifacts and goes “num, num, num.” The Atog is of course one of the cult creatures of Magic: the Gathering, and gained mainstream recognition from his ever-popular and powerful cousins Psychatog and Chronatog. Atog originally came along in the Antiquities expansion set and gained a certain notoriety with inclusion into the Revised main edition.

Atogs are cool little creatures hailing from the Dominara plane. Some are found on other planes such as Rath and Mirrodin, but appear to have been an imported species. Mainly a scavenger species, Atogs flourished during the Brother’s War, feasting on the Artifacter’s war machines that littered the plane. Other Atogs would be discovered that feasted on all sorts of things be it trees, the dead, magical auras, time itself, and sometimes even other Atogs. As the universe expanded, more and more Atog species would be discovered. To me however, it always came back to the purple artifact eater and his big toothy grin. Our focus will be on two similar Atogs and neither are Psychatog or Chronatog; that would be just way too easy. Since artifact Atog decks have been overdone since Mirrordin, today’s snack will be enchantments. Thus, it should be obvious to anyone familiar with Atogs, that our two aura snackers will be Auratog and Phantatog. In order to make best use of them, it’s going to take an enchantment heavy environment which can be very difficult considering the low playability of the type. Atog Trivia: You decide: Is Atog an anagram for “Goat” (notorious for eating anything, even metal) or an acronymn based on its ability “Artifact to graveyard?”

There are several great auras that return to your hand when they go to the yard which makes them excellent candidates for Atog chow. These include cards both recent and old ,such as Spirit Loop, Brilliant Halo, and Aspect of the Mongoose. Other cards must be picked and chosen from to play towards the strengths of sacrificial fodder. So let’s play!

“Dinner for Two” Lands (22) 4 Flooded Strand 4 Island 4 Plains 4 Swamp 2 Godless Shrine 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Watery Graven

Food! (23)

4 Hatching Plans 4 Oblivion Ring 4 Reality Acid 3 Sarcomancy 3 Standstill 2 Chime of Night 2 Spirit Loop 1 Shielding Plax

Creatures (13) 3 Auratog Not Food! (5) 3 Phantatog 2 Liliana Vess 3 Shadowmage Infilitrator 2 Hanna, Ship’s Navigator 2 Zur the Enchanter

The deck works on a simple control concept, using a few creatures to pin down opponents with nasty enchantments. Some neat tricks of the deck include sacrificing Reality Acid to make it an instant effect or sacrificing Oblivion Ring as it comes into play to make the out of play effect permanent (a

“Why do you build me buttercup?” Lands (24) 8 Forest 8 Plains 4 Temple Garden 4 Windswept Heath Creatures (14) 4 Auratog 4 Yavimaya Enchantress 3 Femeref Enchantress 3 Mesa Enchantress

Food! (22) 4 Enchantress Presence 4 Oblivion Ring 4 Utopia Sprawl 3 Armadillo Cloak 3 Mirari’s Wake 3 Sterling Grove 2 Spirit Loop 1 Dueling Grounds 1 Enchanted Evening

All and all, it’s a fun, yet slightly casual deck that will get any Auratog’s mouth aslobberin’. By keeping their creatures down while feeding the Atogs up, success should be found relatively often. Phantatog is slightly less potent, with his milder eating habits, but in a bind he can snack on cards in the hand as well. The most customizable feature is the twenty-two card land base. Normally, I try to go twenty-four, but with a high mana cost of five and plenty of card draw, I didn’t see the need. Substitute whatever is necessary to make it work. It is a tri-color deck, so dual lands help stabilize it’s mana base. For a truly unique experience, try throwing in some Enchanted Evenings and watch how fast Auratog eats itself into solitude. In fact, lets take a look at something even more “enchanting” for the Auratog. An environment so rich that an Auratog could literally engorge itself rotten. This will be a pure enchantment paradise for the Auratog to frolic amongst the elves.

nifty timing trick a kin to the Faceless Butcher shenanigans of years gone by). The best part is that with every beneficial enchantment eaten, the Auratog grows —doing more damage. There are other things far more simplistic in nature; from the cheap efficiency of 2/2 Zombie tokens for one mana with Sarcomancy to the really delicious card drawing from Hatching Plans.

There’s nothing too special here; it’s a simple build around deck, based on the concept of Enchantments. Enchantresses create massive card draw and secondary targets, while Auratogs and Yavi’s go to work on the opponent. While the deck is a tad slow to roll out, it takes a dynamite blast to stop it once it gets up to full speed. You can mix and match enchantments and throw in some of your favorites to make it work better; but the concept is simple enough that it’d take a brain dead baby to mess it up, and it would be welcome at any kitchen-top game. It might even do well in more serious match-ups.

BR rian

oss

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More Atog Trivia: Atog is a prime example of a niche card with a common power level that needed an uncommon rarity. During Revised many players were irked about the sheer number of Atogs and reviled it as one of the worst cards in the game due to their sheer number and limited usage. Future reprints of Atog boosted it up to an uncommon.

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