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Tabletop Game Review #9 – Mining Maniac

Many thanks to Andrea for sending me this to review. Her design is a unique game that is just revving up on Kickstarter, so check out my thoughts to see if this is something you want to pick up! As always, leave your comments below to let me know of any questions or concerns you may have. Enjoy!

Overview:

Game: Mining Maniac

Designer: Andrea Tsang

Artists: Chung Fong and Vincent Tang

Publisher and Date: X-Axis Production, 2014

Players: 2 to 4, but up to 6 with a future expansion

You’ll like this if you like: Harbour and other market manipulation games.

In Mining Maniac, players act as executive officers of their own mining companies. The object is to amass the most cash by the end of the year, sabotaging your competitors and dodging their attacks along the way. Choose from among your best workers to go out and mine for precious gems, coal, copper, and gold. You can sell the minerals at their current market price, or hold out until next month when they’ll be worth more money. But watch out for unexpected events like collapsed mines, taxes, labor strikes, market crashes, and landslides; these obstacles will hinder your progress and affect the profits of your company!

Update #6 – Graduate School Stress, New hairdo, Upcoming Reviews, and a Poll

You may have noticed a lag in content, but it’s for a very good reason. I’m busy with school at the moment, …

Let’s Play! Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I’ve finally gotten around to recording my very first Let’s Play! Watch me navigate the extra creepy game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, …

Tabletop Game Review #8 – Pleasant Dreams

Have you ever woken up from a horrible nightmare, covered in sweat, your heart beating out of your chest? Do you remember the frightening images that flashed before you, waking you from an otherwise peaceful slumber? Designer Aerjeen Tamminga created a game centered around this theme, and was kind enough to send me a copy for review. It’s one of the most unique games I’ve played, both in theme and mechanics. The fact that all the cards are tarot-sized certainly drew me in. But don’t let me spoil the review – read on to find out what I thought!

Overview:

Game: Pleasant Dreams

Designer/Artist: Aerjen Tamminga / Wayne Dorrington

Publisher & Date: Aerjen Games, 2014

Players: 1 to 2

You’ll like this if you like: Press-your-luck games with a twisted, dark theme

The Geeky Gimp Presents #5 – A Podcast with Steve Way

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:46 — 31.3MB)

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Steve Way is a comedian and actor with Muscular Dystrophy. We discuss his awesome web series Uplifting Dystrophy, disability representation in media, the inaccessibility of NYC, and more. You can visit Steve’s website at thesteveway.com!

As always, thanks to my friend E, the transcript is available below and the video is closed captioned.

The Geeky Gimp Presents #4 – A New Year’s Eve Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:59 — 31.6MB)

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In this very special podcast recorded on New Year’s Eve, I chat with my friend Christie about our top ten games of 2014 while sipping (and choking on) champagne. Here’s to a fantastic 2015! Transcript and links are below the video.

The Geeky Gimp Presents #3 – A podcast with Andhegames!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:14 — 29.2MB)

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Transcript below!

Andrew is a blogger and gamer I met at our weekly #BoardGameHour chats. He was willing to come on the show, so here is our podcast! We talk about his interview series at Andhegames.com, our love for Matt Leacock’s games, and the pros of Kickstarter. You can find him at the aforementioned web address, or on Twitter at @andhegames.

Also, we are on iTunes! Just search for The Geeky Gimp under podcasts (or click here), and subscribe!

Update #5 – Secret Santa, Pleasant Dreams, and Roland

There’s been a lot of great things going on here at The Geeky Gimp! And since I love making lists, let me just go right ahead and list what I’ve been working on:

Upcoming Reviews / Podcasts:

A review of The X-Files episode “Roland,” featuring a mentally disabled character and creepy frozen heads! I should get it done by the end of this upcoming week.
I have a podcast scheduled on Friday with Steve Way, a comedian and co-creator of the web series, Uplifting Dystrophy. If all goes as planned, that podcast will be uploaded here the next day!
There’s another podcast in the works with the creators of 64 oz. Games. They recently opened up a shop with braille accessibility kits for many popular tabletop games! You can check that out here: 64 oz. Games Store.
The lovely designer of Pleasant Dreams is sending me a review copy! It’s a tabletop card game with some unique mechanics and creepy artwork, so I can’t wait to give it a try.

The Geeky Gimp Presents #2 – A Podcast with Zack!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:54 — 26.0MB)

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Zack is an awesome guy I met through twitter, and we have a common interest in disability and gaming. In this second recording of The Geeky Gimp Presents, I interview Zack on what it’s like to be a blind gamer in an otherwise able-centric industry. He talks about his favorite console and tabletop games, a sense (or lack of) community, and what he thinks needs to be done to make gaming more accessible.

The games he mentioned in the podcast:

King of Dragon Pass by A-Sharp, www.a-sharp.com. @kingdragonpass on Twitter.

Hadean Lands is developed by Andrew Plotkin, www.hadeanlands.com. Andrew is @zarfeblong on Twitter.

64 oz. Games is a company run by Emily and Richard Gibbs, www.64ozgames.com. They are @64ozgames on Twitter.

This is my first actual podcast, so please bear that in mind as you listen to my awkwardness! I promise to get better as I go on. 🙂

The video is above, and is closed captioned. Visually, there is an opening title screen that names the episode, followed by a black screen with The Geeky Gimp’s contact info. There are a few annotations, and they just tell the listener/viewer to look below at the show notes for the games mentioned in the podcast.

You can also download the mp3 (above the YouTube video) for listening on the go!

The transcript is below.

Tabletop Game Review #7 – Ghost Stories

Last night, I started thinking about what I was trying to do with my reviews. The obvious is that I want to promote accessibility in gaming and center the marginalized voice of disability, but what else do I want to accomplish? As passionate as I am about challenging and changing assumptions about disability, that isn’t the sole reason why I write this blog. I also write to express myself, in hopes that you’ll express yourself too. I love geeking out with other people, and blogging helps me connect to other people through the stuff that we love. The Geeky Gimp has fostered new friendships, and is a constant source of positivity in my life – especially when I need it the most.

A huge part of that positivity has come from the board game community, and that is why I am writing this review now. I’ve been dealing with some heartbreak, and so many of you have inadvertently helped me by either making podcasts/videos/reviews to keep me distracted, or offering me a virtual shoulder to cry on. Because of your awesomeness, I am inspired to share with you one of my favorite games, aptly brought to me by last year’s BGG Secret Santa. I hope you see why I adore this game, and maybe you’ll pick a copy up for yourself. So I guess this is less of a critical review and more an unabashed squee fest. Either way, enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments section.