Purple Pawn

At the upcoming Chicago Auto Show, professional drivers will introduce the public to Toyota’s latest hybrid vehicles by taking them on a ride through a 30,000 square-foot Monopoly-themed course that includes “S curves, a tight roundabout, a bridge crossing and the rugged train tracks of the Monopoly game’s Reading Railroad.”

Because everything makes more sense when based on Monopoly.

Details forthcoming…

Gyro-Botz are gyro-stabilized “zero-gravity warriors”. Ignore the science and the obvious green-screen effects. They bounce, spin on their heads, and compete in the Battle Arena. And of course, they’re collectible.

Gyro-Botz are available in the UK and France.

Among the new figures from Dark Sword Miniatures are this serious female fighter, cute rabbit ranger, and majestic Westie warrior. The last of these was modeled on a recently passed-away dog that belonged to the Noes of Iron Wind Metals.

I’ve already taken a look at Hive on iOS, but the news fron Gen42 is that a completely new version is on the way.

Apparently a change in their developer account means they can’t update the previous iOS version, so a new app had to be created. Since this is the case, they’ll be releasing the new Hive app on February 9th for free. The game will remain free for 7 days so that previous owners of the game won’t have to pay twice, and new owners get a chance at a freebie.

I, for one, can’t wait. I play Hive on my iPhone all the time. If you haven’t picked up Hive for iOS yet then there’s no reason for you not to now.

In Wizards of the Coast’s Forgotten Realms Character Creation Contest, submit a Dungeons & Dragons character for a chance to see that character appear in an upcoming comic book written by Ed Greenwood.

WOTC is also hosting a celebrity charity Dungeons & Dragons game. On Saturday starting at 1:00 PM PT, you can watch the game online for a donation to Reach Out and Read.

Buy one, get one free Monopoly documentary DVD. Use coupon code “BOGO”.

Pawsitive Living is giving away Got Em from Calliope Games, using one of those Rafflecopter systems. Take It From Me blog is giving away Calliope’s Tsuro but without the Rafflecopter.

Mayfair Games is giving away a copy of Automobile Deluxe. To enter, leave a comment telling the company what games you’re planning to play over the upcoming Valentine’s Day, Easter and April Fool’s holidays. [My suggestion is 52 Pickup. Want me to show you how it works?]

Tell OneBookshelf/DriveThruRPG/RPGNow in 200 words or less about an experience you had trying a new game this year. Their favorite story will earn the author a $50 gift certificate.

Fantasy Flight Games is running a Dust Tactics walker conversion contest. One prize will be awarded for the best concept and another prize will be awarded for the best implementation. Each prize is $200 in product plus the opportunity to display the model at FFG’s booth at Gen Con.

As January comes to an end the month reach more than $223,000 in successful funding. It took nearly 6 months, until June 21th 2010 before $240,000 in funding was reached last year. And 2011 didn’t see 32 projects until the middle of August.

32 projects ended in January, with 22 successfully funding. That is a 68% success rate, significantly higher than the standard 54% for all Kickstarter projects.

The top 5 game projects in January were:

1. Omen:Reign of War – $34,443
2. Realm Coins – $27,098
3. Island Fortress – $19,829
4. The Book of Empress – $15,660
5. GeneGrafter – $14,617

It is looking like my prediction of a $3 million 2012 is going to be way off. Guess we better raise the number to $5 million for 2012.

Bold are new projects this week

Project Description Required % Funded Days Remaining Conspiracy X Paranormal Conspiracy X Paranormal Supplement $5,000 207% Funded Wasteland Post-apocalyptic survival game $5,000 49% Unsuccessful Passing Shot Dice Tennis Game $500 162% Funded World of Waste Land Table Top RPG $5,000 2% Unsuccessful The Book of the Empress Champions RPG Supplement $10,000 156% Funded Bare Your Fangs Vampire vs Werewolf Dice battle game $10,500 27% Unsuccessful Puzzle Me! Family Puzzle Building Game $5,000 127% 1 Shroud of the Ancients Fantasy RPG $5,000 35% 1 Double Spiral War RPG Savage Worlds setting based on Warren C. Norwood $500 151% 1 Fresh Artists’ Memory Game Family game for kids by kids $7,000 174% 5 Proto-Typical Captains of Industry Card Game $8,000 15% 5 Tephra Steampunk RPG $1,000 1514% 5 Conquest Tactics Strategy Card Game $7,000 78% 5 Divine Blood Fate Source Book in the world of Divine Blood $1,000 18% 6 Scorched Earth Educational Interactive Global Climate Board Game $16,000 41% 7 Ellis:Kingdom in Turmoil Pen and paper RPG $400 357% 7 Whot Dynamic Card Game better than Uno $5,500 4% 7 For The Win! Tile Game $15,000 128% 7 Fluke Wealth Building Game of Accidental Inventions $1,000 19% 7 Monster Stand-Ins Cardboard Minis printed on Plastic $10,000 57% 9 Exile Sun Miniatures $1,000 413% 11 Flatpack Optimistic Apocalyptic RPG $1,000 458% 13 Skittykitts Addictive Fun Card Game $3,000 149% 14 nothing New board game $10,000 20% 15 Dark Legacy Strategy RPG, CCG $7,000 37% 16 Board Game God Game Design Workshop $2,500 8% 17 grAtitude! Board and Card game that teaches Gratitude $19,000 1% 17 Pieces of Eight Pirate Card Game $2,500 66% 19 Beer and Board Games Webseries $500 214% 19 Improbable Tales Mini-scenarios for ICON RPG $400 126% 19 Hull Breach Sci-fi stortelling naval and marine tactics card game $20,000 2% 24 Killshot Assassination RPG $800 28% 24 Zoneplex Tile-laying Sci-fi adventure game $12,000 37% 25 5 to Close Retro Style Word Strategy Game $7,000 12% 26 Sordid Dystopia Low Fantasy Apocalyptic RPG $500 204% 26 Sailing the Starlit Sea Fantasy Space Travel Pathfinder Supplement $4,500 17% 28 Medieval Settlements & Cities Settlers of Catan playing pieces $1,500 39% 29 VivaJava A euro style coffee game $15,000 104% 29 Rogue Mage RPG based on Rogue Mage Novel Series $6,000 51% 34 Wizard’s Tournament Deck Building Fantasy Card Game $12,000 30% 41 Monster Stock Art Monster stock art for web and PDF $4,500 18% 43 Agents of SMERSH A Storytelling spy game set in the cold war $20,000 122% 48 Final Twilight Urban-fantasy card game $3,500 40% 48 IndieGoGo Projects Description Funded Days Remaining Eragra Unfolding Card Game  $75  50

From Capitan Miniatures, Master & Commander Close Quarters is a war game of Napoleonic naval boarding actions. The rule set is available as a free download (in multiple languages), as are print-and-play tokens, record sheets, and combat maps for eight different ship types. The company also offers actual miniatures for the game, 18 mm figures sold individually and in complete crew packs—for British, French, American, and Spanish navies, non-uniformed sailors, and Barbary corsairs.

  

No! We’re not late! We are on our new monthly schedule! This month – our 2012 Predictions (hint: Star Wars comes up a lot) for all sorts of categories: Board Games, RPGs, Minis, Mass Market, and more. We’ve also added some new categories: Retail, Manufacturing and Conventions. Yes, its all that and a bag of chips. At an hour and fifteen minutes, its also one of our longer shows – the perfect length for a hellish winter commute. Or two commutes. Whatever it takes. Oh yes… we also do some news, and offer the world’s most succinct Toy Fair 2012 advice.

Next Show: GAMA Trade Show and All About Artwork! Coming in late February.