Greetings and Salutations , some of you may remember my previous post on Kickstarter Curiosities and other various Dungeon Master tools such as speciality dice and dice towers, today I'm going to focusing on project that has been done many times before ranging from the simple to the grandiose the dungeon tile.

The Saga World Builder: Modular tiles definitely settle on the simpler side of the equation but their sturdiness, versatility, low space requirements and ease of used definitely makes them worth a look.

Now on a personal note I think the tiles look great with definite classical dungeon map appearance, with significant enough variety and variation that a traditional dungeon crawl style adventures or even a hack and slash board game like Hero Quest could be played repeatedly without much design overlap.


The focus on durability and been able to use board markers on the tiles is a testament to their quality and expands their use even further as I am no fan of the adhesive film items, having used such things in the past I found they had a tendency to be fiddly to use and keep clean.  


The pricing is fair for a niche product though I do regret missing the early bird pack even the basic pledge offers 100 map tiles (6”x6" and 3"x3” erasable interlocking tiles), 160 objects (1”x1” till 3"x3” size printed on adhesion film) and 2 inventory boards (with 60 1”x1” slots).  

Having already met their €5,000 goal with a staggering €99,247 pledged there is no worry that it won't succeed and the fact ALL pledges from the basic set upwards will receive stretch goal bonuses is even better. I for one am very much hoping we can can get the larger village tiles.


So if this seems like a worthy addition to your gaming table I'd hurry as there are only 15 days left (at time of this posting) and the Kickstarter page can be reached by clicking the link below:

Saga World Builder: Modular tiles

 

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First of all a slight apology for how late in the month this post is, in all honesty I've been darting about unable to settle in front of a screen as most of my free time when not job searching has been focused on trying to create a Choose Your Own Adventure combined with a Visual novel in the excellent simple to use Tyranobuilder.

Whilst I have no delusions about been able to complete the project in time for the 2017 Spring Game Jam (at least at any decent standard of quality) I really want to have the drive to focus on this and 'put my money where my mouth so to speak.'
However as frankly I am a terrible digital artist when it doesn't come to copy pasting and image manipulation and lack any audio editing software I have been reliant on scouring the Creative Commons for CC0 licensed material, so a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to https://opengameart.org

As a result I must admit I haven't been focusing as much attention to the blog or Youtube channel this month as usual, so again sorry about that.

So moving on let us focus on the main topic of the day, some of you may remember my review of a Kickstarter regarding Simbrix from way back in 2015. Having met the developer and designer I found myself charmed by the concept and having had my set for two years now I can say it was money well spent.

• 17 Custom colours and shades.
• Improved colour proportion in each kit (because really no one needs that much hot pink).
• Two new colour pack collections to chose from.  
• More inspiration sheets (some of which were designed by my lovely friend over at Buzy Bobbins) 
• 50 Extra bricks in each pack raising it to 900 and double the number of black bricks included in the Dueto Pack.

There are quite a few more options detailed over at the Kickstarter itself and even though it is 127% funded with 5 days left to go there are plenty of good cheap backing options for those looking to snap up a good deal.

In my past review I highlight the primary weakness was the lack of colour options and really think that this is a great step in improving a create craft toy even further and below you can view the new colour options and a handy pie chart:


Finally is just a short video that I found rather humanising about Simbrix as a company as whole, in my experience many small companies after reaching their goals on Kickstarter and developing often become a bit soulless forgetting or looking down on their origins.
So far Simbrix has avoid this trend but we will see in another two years shall we?

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Greetings and Salutations all, some of you may remember my previous post on Kickstarter Curiosities and the various interesting tabletop games and Dungeon Master aids. Well today we'll be looking at some of the best dice, carry cases and dice towers currently looking for backing but before we start I want to say thank you to my friend over at Buzy Bobbins for her help with this post.

The first Kickstarter we are going to look at is Hrothgar's Hoard: The Paladin's Keep a heavy duty transport dice tower and tray:

Hrothgars Hoard have already met their $5,000 goal for this project with just over 50 backers but with 16 days to go there still room to back this project. I will confess that this is one of the more expensive project I've seen with a person needing to back $95 to receive the full tray and tower system or backing either $25 for a Dice Box, $45 for a tray with no lid and $75 for a tray with a lid.

Finally there is an additional $20 charge if you wish to have any of the following patterns (or one you own the copyright for) engraved:




The next Kickstarter on our list is Polyhedral Dice Coin, Attention Span Games has teamed up with Tailspin Games to produce the Tailespinner:


Low budget videos aside I personally love the look and the function of the Tailespinner however with only 18 days remaining and $866 pledged of the $6,000 goal it is unlikely this attempt at funding the Dice Coins will succeed. With that said a single coin of either a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 or D20 (no D100 yet) available is $15 with the various early bird options available or $20 standard.

For those of you curious about the stretch goals the current goals are:

6K: Base Goal
14K: Stretch 1: Free Pin for all Backers. Pin Add on available.
21K: Leather Pouch add on available.
37K: Free Coin Tube with Hand engraved KS exclusive Thank You on it.
50K: Free Exclusive KS Backer Tailspinner to all backers that ordered at least one coin. Additional available as add ons.

Specialty Perks:

Both the big and small batch perks allow you to work with our designer to design the center section of a coin in your choice of the probabilities we are producing. If you already have a logo or design you would like to use, we can put that in there. Simple color is allowed. And if you get either of these perks, we will have access to the die for a year before they get discarded. So if at a later point, you want more, we can work to make that happen.

Current Add Ons:
Any of the coins can be added on to any backing for $20. Just let us know which coin you want and we will get notes added in.



Watch case setup for your Tailspinner. Add $18 to your pledge and we will send you your Tailspinner in a pocket watch casing.


If you take anything away from todays post then let it be the Scroll and Codex: Dice Tower and Rolling Tray by Elderwood Academy, this Kickstarter is a piece of art in my opinion and their site hold a few other special pieces worth checking out.


A bespoke, leather-bound scroll case that transforms into a dice tower with a scroll that unrolls into a rolling tray, the Scroll and Codex kickstarter has won over many fans with $85,201 pledged of $5,000 goal and still 19 days to go. This is one of the most successful Kickstarters I've seen in a while and I highly recommend a look, the only real drawback I've seen so far is that the materials and design available depend on your level of pledge so for those of you eager for a complete Scroll and Codex the beginning pledge is £90 for the Cherry wood with Celtic designs.



Last but not least is the Ninja Dice Kickstarter by Zero Origin Design a designer team from Thailand & co partner in Australia. These Aluminium Alloy dice use various different kinds of Shuriken aka throwing starts to represent each number and are rather well designed even with my personal aversion to metal dice (as they have of habit of scratching surfaces).


With 41 days still remaining the Ninja Dice have plenty of time to reach the desired $5,500 goal from their current total of $1,230, however I am quite sceptical at the possibility of success. The early pledges initially offered first $17 then $19 for 2 Ninja dice with the choice of finish (I rather like the black and green myself), that has now risen to $20 for all remaining backers which is rather expensive for just two dice.



I certainly hope that all these Kickstarters caught your eye as much as they did mine, if you decide to back any of them or know of any other Kickstarters that have inspired your interest please feel free to leave a message in the comments.

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For those of you unfamiliar with Silver Games and Ponyfinder, Ponyfinder is a fanmade supplement for Pathfinder created by David Silver, head of the Silver Games LLC indy RPG company and published through the DriveThruRPG website often in PDF Format though it is possible to obtain a copy in paperback.

As the name implies, it uses Pathfinder rules to mix elements of the new My Little Pony series and Pathfinder setting together. The game is set in the Equestria expy of Everglow, a magic-rich world where in addition to the standard array of humans, orcs, elves and dwarves, a vast number of sapient fey animals have developed. The ponies of this world under the reign of Queen Iliana the first Alicorn, have founded the first and mightiest empire of the world, but there are various elements seeking to undermine the peace.


Unlike many 3rd party settings Ponyfinder was not only popular but also met with a lot of positive praise and though its release there was a slight redesign away from the original art and setting which matched the current My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic to avoid possible copyright issues from Hasbro.

Now 3 years later Silver Games after many requests and providing some very basic 4th and 5th Edition conversion rules in the past have now decided to return to Kickstarter to attempt to gain funding to create a full conversion of Ponyfinder to Dungeons and Dragon 5th Edition:

The story of Everglow has been expanding since we first Kickstarted the original book three years ago. The campaign and its non-standard races have brought joy and adventure to gaming tables across the world and we are proud to have created a series of products that are loved by so many.
But now we want to bring even more pony goodness to the table! With the release of 5th edition rules we have had many requests to convert our products to the new rule set. And we love our fans so that’s exactly what we are trying to do!

This project is all about converting the core books to fit another game system and adding fun new content for ponies to enjoy. In this case, the 5th edition of one of the oldest and most popular roleplaying games around, Dungeons & Dragons! You'll get the same setting and stories you love now, converted to 5th edition, polished, and rebuilt from the ground up with class focuses, spells, and other exciting options made for Everglow.

We love working with our fans to make them a part of our creation process so we are giving backers the chance to leave an imprint on our world! You can be the pony (or griffon, or steelheart, or...) that invented a new spell, piece of magical equipment, feat, or other similar gear for stalwart adventures to arm themselves with.

One non-mechanical item that will change from the core book to this book is the characters. While such ponies would certainly still exist, several have classes and kits that just don't appear in 5th edition, so a clean break for this edition of the book, featuring heroes built with this system in mind, seems the most prudent course to take. We are excited to rebuild our world and give it all the attention it deserves. We hope you will join us on our latest adventure in bringing ponies to Dungeons & Dragons.

The good news is that the Kickstarter has already met its goal of $1000 with the current total at this time of writing a mighty $11,697. The bad news is that many of the early backer rewards have been snapped up but if you are interested and have $20 then now is a good time to get your hands on a copy of the PDF on release. 

Kickstarter: Ponyfinder - Dawn of the Fifth Age  

Interested in obtaining a copy of Ponyfinder for Pathfinder?
You can read the reviews and purchase it at:
DriveThruRPG: Link
Amazon (Paperback): Original 2013, 2014 Edition, Bestiary, Forgotten Past, Tribes of Everglow

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While 64 Ounce Games kickstarter for braille dice and tabletop pieces has finished to a decent success and I've supported it and other braille dice kickstarters there is something that I'd still like to share on the topic.

64 Ounce Games sent out a survey asking for feedback from blind or similarly disadvantaged players regarding their experience I believe that they make quite and education read while they can be read on the kickstarter page I'm posting the results in a collection below for ease of reading.

The first one is about Carl. These are not the opinions of 64 Oz. Games but are taken directly from a blind roleplayers. 

How long have you role played? 

I was born with a significant visual impairment but became totally blind after a car accident as a very young child. I have role played since the age of seven and am now in my early thirties. Off the top of my head, the role playing games I have played are: Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons (at least four editions), Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, The One Ring, Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Traveller, Shadowrun, World Of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, Geist and the core game across at least two editions), Traveller, Unknown Armies, The Strange, Pendragon, Apocalypse World, D20 Star Wars, Star Wars Saga Edition, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Iron Kingdoms, Call of Cthulhu, Fireborn and 316: Carnage Amongst the Stars.

I am also an avid tabletop gamer. The tabletop systems I have played are: Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40,000, Mordheim, Necromunda, Epic Armageddon, Warmaster, Lord of the Rings, Chain Reaction, Dinomight, Warmachine, Hordes, Starship Troopers and Uncharted Seas. As for board games, the more complicated ones I have played are: Arkham Horror, Hero Quest, Warhammer Quest, Dragon Strike, Talisman, Escape from Colditz, Settlers of Catan, Mice and Mystics, Zombies and Pandemic.

What are your favourite systems? Do you have some preferred classes or archetypes?

My favorite systems are Pathfinder where I am happy to experiment with most classes and archetypes. I really enjoy Shadowrun and usually play a rigger in that system. I do lament how complicated it is though. I play a lot of World of Darkness (both “old” and “new” versions, but not the new God Machine iteration). I love the flexibility and variety of modern horror themes that you can invoke. I prefer playing Toreador or Gangrel vampires or just a plain old human trying to survive against all the odds. I think the background that has possibly captivated me the most is the Cthulhu Mythos so I take any opportunity I can to play Call of Cthulhu. I tend to play kind of pulp heroes based on Lord John Roxton (from Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World), Alan Quatermaine (from the series of H. Ryder Haggard books), or a kind of Indiana Jones.

What frustrates you the most about being a blind role player? 

It used to be accessing the rules but PDF rulebooks from game developers themselves or sites like Drivethru RPG have probably been the most exciting thing to happen for me in the last decade. Besides, I’ve always been very good at remembering rules.
Over all, it’s the dice. You can easily get D6s that are accessible, and there are dice rolling computer programs out there now, but it’s just not the same. Rolling a dice feels better. Rolling a dice sounds better. The reaction from a table full of excited gamers when a particularly good or bad dice roll appears in front of them is something you can’t describe.
Just the braille D20 that I had from 64 Ounce Games as last year has been one of my most treasured possessions. The opportunity to get a whole set of polyhedral dice is just astounding. I honestly can say that it’s the one thing I’ve known I wanted to find since I was a child. The excitement is well worth the quarter of a century wait.

What has worked well for you? 

As a child I had somebody read my character sheets to me so I could braille them. This meant that they were hard to change, however, and I had to either remember my changing hitpoints (or whatever) or have someone else write them down. It also meant that somebody else had to remind me of precisely what all my abilities did. The laptop has been the greatest innovation for me so far. I can have an editable version of my character sheet at my disposal and can make as many notes as I need in a word processing document. The advent of PDF rulebooks and accessible dice rolling programs (GMA Dice is by far the best that I’ve found), has made my laptop even more indispensable.

Are certain digital files better than others? 

I buy all of my rulebooks, source material and supplements as PDFs. This is a great system that can be easily transferred across platforms and isn’t too bad to work with using screen readers. I do tend to save text versions of rulebooks for use while playing games, however, since I find these easier to navigate quickly with my screen reader in Windows. In general though, as long as the file is saved so that the content is text and not pictures, it has tended to work pretty well for me. I was lucky enough to get a braille copy of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook but it is absolutely huge and not practical to take with you when gaming at other people’s houses. I also got copies of a few army codexes brailled for my Warhammer 40,000 factions but Games Workshop update these every few years so they quickly become obsolete.

What companies have made an extra effort for accessibility? Which companies have been horror stories so far and we need to help be more inclusive? 

Paizo have been a really good company as, not only is all the Pathfinder source material available in accessible electronic form, but there is also a free-to-use on-line wiki of all the rules. Also, Fantasy Flight Games have been particularly excellent. They even publish PDFs of some of their board games so I was able to access and learn the Arkham Horror rules for myself (particularly useful when I won’t shut up about Cthulhu and it’s such a complicated game). Privateer Press were unintentionally helpful when they published preview PDF versions of the faction stat cards for Warmachine and Hordes. These previews were straightforward text copies. Unfortunately, the republished versions are pictures and so not as accessible. Similarly, their free app with the army cards isn’t accessible either. The stand-out company which has been the worst for me is Games Workshop. I’ve asked in-store and by telephoning their main office several times over the last 15 years or so if there’s anything they can do for accessibility. The answer has been universally that the risk of illegal copying is too great. In all fairness to staff in local stores, they’ve been very helpful to me by letting me touch the larger models I’ve wanted to purchase. I also highly praise the range of audio books and dramas they’re producing now in conjunction with Heavy Entertainment. They really are resistant to accessibility though and that’s not done anything to encourage me to maintain my passion for their games.

If you had one thing that you wish that people understood about being a blind role player what is it?

The one thing I wish people would understand about being a blind role player is that there is no difference. In a role playing group, you all sit around the same table with the same page of numbers in front of you. Nowadays, lots of role players have tablets and laptops with them so even the fact that you’re using technology to assist you isn’t any different. All the action in a role playing game takes place in your imagination and I think I have one of the best imaginations of pretty much any of the role players I know well. It’s a way to hang out with friends and enjoy a hobby you all love without needing special help, equipment or asking if someone’s insurance will let you do it. You don’t need to ask “what’s happening now?” as you might if watching a film with friends where there’s no audio description. You all describe your actions as a matter of course. The story is narrated without you having to wait years for the audio book to become available. It’s arguably one of the most accessible participation activities there is. I hope this is helpful. If you have any further questions about any of the points I’ve made, please get in touch.

Regards,
Carl Portman

The second reply is from a chap called Zach:

How long have you role played?

I’ve been roleplaying off and on for at least ten years, though not always regularly. What are your favorite systems? Do you have some preferred classes or archetypes?
Preferred systems depend a lot on genre: Traveller for sci-fi, GURPS for admiring from afar. :) I’m always a fan of some Call of Cthulhu or Fate. Mood will dictate which I play. Archetype-wise, I don’t care for classes, but I’ve been playing lots of scholarly types lately for some reason.

What frustrates you the most about being a blind role player?

Access to old or out of print material is annoying. I’ve been interested in the origins of the hobby for a while, and found getting digital copies difficult. Similarly, sometimes modern rulebooks are laid out in confusing fashion, and there’s little I can do except email the publisher or even the author.

What has worked well for you?

Dice roller programs. :) More seriously, DriveThruRPG is generally very good, and I find I need a computer, or at least a Braille notetaker, to keep character sheets. I usually have to produce my own, as the official sheets are usually weirdly formatted.

Are certain digital files better than others?

Almost anything is better than PDF. :) Tagged PDF is generally okay. I’d love Word or ePub or HTML versions of games, but those are uncommon. For a long time I had the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in RTF format, and that was awesome. I wish Wizards of the Coast still offered it.

What companies have made an extra effort for accessibility? Which companies have been horror stories so far and we need to help be more inclusive?

Mongoose Publishing has generally been great lately, especially with the latest version of Traveller. Any company which tags their PDF for accessibility wins in my book. Onyx Path and Mongoose have both done this, though I don’t know how much was automated. The only real horror story is Wizards of the Coast, who still haven’t released 5th edition D&D in a format i can read, as far as I‘m aware. No, the basics PDF doesn’t count.

If you had one thing that you wish that people understood about being a blind role player what is it?

I wish more people understood we were out there and were educated on how to make books accessible. It’s honestly not that hard, especially lately. I wish Braille dice were available in gaming stores. Otherwise, honestly, RPGs are one of my favourite hobbies, and I can think of little that needs actual improvement per se.


Part 2 will be posted on the 10th of this month and a quick link added here.

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While I've already hit the quota for this months posts I spotted a few rather interesting kickstarters I'd like to share.

The first is Council of Blackthorn which feels like if someone made the Crusader Kings council into a board game.

Council of Blackthorn is a board game for 2-6 players that plays in 45-90 minutes.  Players assume the role of a member of the king's council. Each player must build influence with the kingdom's four political factions by utilizing ally and building cards.  However, grabs for power may seem like treasonous acts to a suspicious king. Players will gain hidden treason points as they gain power. The most treasonous council member is beheaded! The remaining player that is the most influential member of the council wins the game.

Seems simple enough but what really drew me to the game is two factors:

1. Players do not know who has scored the most influence points until the end of the game, this stops any one player been targeted or people wanting to give up mid game when it is obvious who is most likely to win.

2. One player gets beheaded for Treason at the end of the game and no one knows for sure who will get beheaded meaning the person who seemed most likely to win may just be a head short.

The gameboy geek has posted a short demo video of the game in action and the kickstarter is here.

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Many of you might be familiar with the infamous adult card game Cards Against Humanity and its many, many, many add ons to the point they even have regional versions and numerous online clones (one even with a My Little Pony Theme).

The creators of Cyanide & Happiness known for their web comics often controversial nature and dark humour have decided to put a twist upon the general premise and create Joking Hazard a comic strip creating adult card game.

Its early days in the Kickstarter but its already blasted past its goal but if you want your chance to grab some of the backer bonus I suggest giving it a look.

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Back in June 2014 I did a small post on a Kickstarter for Braille Dice, it seems Miss Jessica Goldsmith's finally has finalised the design for her dice and created a Shapeways store to sell dice to the public.

Now while I support the development of braille dice I can't help at frown at the high prices for the dice which vary between £4.50 to nearly £8 PER dice when considering that a set of regular role playing dice can be purchased from most stores for that amount. I must consider though that each dice can be customised and that this is a speciality item which always causes a hike in prices.

So I find myself now noticing that another kickstarter for Braille dice has been created not by a single individual like Miss Jessica Goldsmithbut by a small husband and wife company named 64 Ounce Games that focus on creating accessibility kits for games.

Richard Gibbs is the founder and lead designer at 64 Oz. and his wife Emily Gibbs is a teacher of Blind students and handles the web side of the business, quoting their own words
'Both Richard and Emily are dedicated to making great games everyone, including the blind and visually impaired, can play.'

Initially sceptical of the Kickstarter worried that it might be a simple cash grab by a company I found myself presently surprised at the range and scope of their ideas and planning beyond just the dice and after a little digging I discovered that they had created a kickstarter in 2014 to purchase their first 3D printer and open their store.


Unfortunately the 3D printer they purchased while fine for most projects was prone to breaking down and not suitable for the finer print details for items such a dice so this Kickstarter hopes to raise money to purchase a new one.

Beyond the kickstarter 64 Ounce Games have their own website which is quite interesting it itself hosting a podcast and provides some free accessibility kits for certain games, personally I think the piece that is most worth your time is the colour blind accessibility advice for game designers which will have you considering all sorts of issues and solutions you may have never realised existed.
Another reason I rather like this article is that it is pre-emptively seeking to address the issue of accessibility and may even help a designer fix an potential issue before a game is released.     


64 Ounce Games also have an online store which covers a staggering amount of games and ranges from replacement game pieces to braille card sleeves, predictably it is mostly print to demand and the costs do vary from reasonable to quite expensive between products but again these are speciality items and many of these games require a lot of items all of which are included in the packs.

If you'd like to learn more about 64 Ounce Games Geek and Sundry did a excellent post about them or alternatively they have several videos on their Youtube Channel.

Finally to end on a amusing note while some people are trying to make dice easier to read others are doing the opposite, Andrew NGAI over in Canada has created a successful Kickstarter to make dice printed in Minimalist design Binary Code of all things.

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Having the fortune to head down to the Gamecity events in Nottingham with the lovely lady of Buzy Bobbins we found ourselves surprised by just how packed the lobby for the National Video Games Gallery was that day, one of the main culprits was this little stall run by Assim Ishaque the founder and inventor of Simbrix.

Now I must confess that at first glance through the crowd of children I mistook them for Hama beads but over hearing some parents talking to who I now know to be Mr Ishaque caught my attention, these were not bored parents waiting at the stall they were joining in and having just as much fun often enquiring about the stall.
My interest peaked I squeeze through the crowd to examine the table to suddenly find myself offered a fist full of the Simbrix to keep by Mr Ishaque, respectfully declining (my pockets already rather full at the time) I did manage to have a rather improvised interview with Mr Ishaque while examining the Simbrix.


It seems that Mr Ishaque got the initial idea for Simbrix when his daughter became very fond of Hama beads, the Hama beads often got lost or patterns scattered at a slight knock and often his children got bored of old projects which had been ironed and needed to purchase more beads for new ones. 
Wishing that the beads were reusable and easier to use in general Mr Ishaque began designing his own which after 400 prototype designs that experimented with different materials and shapes that could interlock over the last 2 years.

Earlier this year Mr Ishaque actually managed to get some local support for the project and appeared in Toy news, the Nottingham Post and BBC Radio Nottingham as well as attempting to fund the project on Kickstarter, unfortunately this drive failed but undeterred his team continued to improve the Simbrix and tried again.
 This new Kickstarter has not only succeeded but at the time of writing has hit 216% of its goal and still the Simbrix are been improved, the Kickstarter continues until the 11th of November 2015 so I recommend getting in and grabbing the Simbrix at a discount price early. I recommend reading the Kickstarter anyway as it contains a lot of history and background into this 2 year project and is quite interesting.

Now I've given you the background lets get into the juicy details of the bricks themselves.

The Simbrix are slightly larger that Hama beads, are considerably thicker and lock together in a similar way to a jigsaw but also they can be iron like Hama beads for a permanent connection.
These differences do mean that many completed projects will be larger in size than if they were made in Hama but they are far less brittle if ironed, this increase in size also means its easer for older people and those with large fingers to use them.


The locking design is a great measure of improvement over Hama Beads in the fact that tweezers and pegboards are not require, the structures are robust enough that ironing is optional so kids can be left to play with them unattended (though their small size means they are not suitable for very young children who may swallow them).  

The locking design has been improved since I last tried them, the Simbrixs I used seemed rather sturdy but they came apart easily if pressure was applied correctly, apparently some colours of that run has issues (I noticed the pink tended to slip and didn't hold well) but they have been solved and here is a glimpse of the improvements.


 Apparently this new batch is the first time the entire colour pallet has held together so well and  has been put through a series of tests including the connection and disconnection of parts, a drop test, been thrown, been used as a frisbee and bending. In addition there are now glow in the dark Simbrix as well.

The astute amongst you may notice that that there are only 18 colours in the picture above and that is where Simbrix is currently lagging, Hama Beads are available in over 50 different colours meaning that you can get greater degrees of accuracy and shading however as Simbrix Develop I imagine their available pallet will expand in time.

Also bead for brix Simbrix are a more expensive initial purchase at the beginning however their re-usability and the lack of tools/supervision needed to use them means that in the long run (if you are not ironing them) they actually are cheaper. The Simbrix are also neutral in design giving more creative freedom whilst Hama Beads are often bought in box sets around a theme.  




In short I rather like them, they seem like a natural evolution of Hama Beads, while if I wanted to do fine artwork I'd go for Hama beads I would definitely consider Simbrix as a more fun and cheaper option.  

Want to know more?
Buzy Bobbins gives a crafter's perspective on Simbrix in their article.

Go to Simbrix directly through:

• Kickstarter.
• Twitter.
• Facebook.
• Or their homepage.  

Never heard of the Nottingham National Video Games Gallery check it out here. 

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Some of the older gamers amongst you may remember the original The Bards Tale also known as Tales of the Unknown Volume I: The Bard's Tale from way back in 1985.

"In mist-shrouded Skara Brae, in the darkest hours of a winter's night, sometimes can be heard a voice on the wind. The Song of the Maiden the locals call it, a song sung since before the standing stones grew moss, a song of ill fortune, that lures those who hear it to their doom, and drives the melancholy to madness, a song, they say, that must never end, for if it does, the world ends with it."

What did the wizard Mangar seek when he cast his spell of Eternal Winter, locking Skara Brae in ice? Why did the invading archmage Lagoth Zanta shatter the Destiny Wand and end seven hundred years of peace? Why did the mad god Tarjan cross the outer planes to burn Skara Brae to the ground and slaughter its people? What secret could drive beings of such great power to again and again lay waste to these ancient isles?

The adventurers who put a stop to these fiends never learned the answer to these questions, but now, a hundred and fifty years after its destruction, and the building of a new town on top of the old, another power, greater than all those before, has turned an eye once again to Skara Brae and the time-lost catacombs beneath it, seeking the secret its predecessors failed to find - and once more, a small group of hapless adventurers are all that stands in its way.

Want to know more well then keep track of the project at either: 
Kickstarter for Bards Tale IV or inXile entertainments homepage

Interested in the original trilogy? Then learn more at:
The Bards Tale Compendium: A fan community for the Series
The Adventurers Guild: A fan community with several emulators and versions of all three games available for download.

Have trouble with emulators www.old-games.com easy installers may be the solution but remember you can only have 2 free downloads per day.
The Bard's Tale, (Amiga Version)
The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight, (Amiga Version)
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate (Dos Version)

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In regards to my last post where I mentioned Miss Jessica Goldsmit's  Kickstarter to create speciality dice for the visually impaired I've an update already.
 No later than a day I made an inquiry if she had managed to create any prototypes of her designs did one arrive which she had printed by shapeways.com

As you can see its slightly larger than a regular D20 and apparently rolls great though the Brailles legibility still needs to be tested. She has also just added the designs for a Dreidel with Hebrew Standard Braille, and a Dead/ Bleeding token.

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First of all apologies for not been able to log on sooner, my health issues lasted somewhat longer than I thought and I have actually been focusing upon making a rather large post for next month as well as job searching.

While I'm mentioning it next month I'm hoping to post a Dungeons and Dragons First Level adventure for 1 to 4 players with a basic scenario and encounters, I'll also provide a downloadable word document though in the future I hope to make it into a full PDF with proper adventure background and Pathfinder conversions for the characters. While I've had the basic layout adventure written for a few days the Steam Sale (curse its reasonable deals) has made it difficult to find players to playtest it so tonight will be my first run as a solo adventure.

I was going to save this post for next months update but due to the time limit I think this really should be mentioned now.

A young lady named Jessica Goldsmith has begun a Kickstarter to create speciality dice for the visually impaired, initially a way of helping her visually impaired friend gain further independence during play Jessica has design a series of braille 3D printable dice and backers will receive a STL file and/or actual dice .

In addition as the Kickstarter nears its £5000 Stretch Goal Assassin Games has pledged their additional support in this project by offering a discounted download of their upcoming adventure, "The Curse of Hallas Reach".

Upon reaching this Stretch Goal, all backers may add an additional $1 to their pledge and once the adventure goes live, they will receive a coupon for a digital download of the adventure.

"The Curse of Hallas Reach" is a low level (3rd to 6th) d20 fantasy adventure, set in a small outpost in the wilderness. The adventure can be dropped into almost any fantasy setting, but has ties with future supplements to be released by Assassin Games.

There we have it, I would go on but I best be off or I will be late for my playtest.  

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