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Off the Grid: The Witcher Adventure Game and Star Wars Imperial Assault
Like most sci-fi shows on Fox, Off the Grid is getting canceled (we're all saying goodbye, actually). In this series finale of the board and card game series I had hoped to evolve over time, we're keeping our spirits high with a look at two recent, fantastic releases from publisher Fantasy Flight Games: The Witcher Adventure Game and Star Wars: Imperial Assault.
Off the Grid: XCOM - The Board Game
You may not be aware, but a new XCOM is on the way to stores later this month! No, don't bother firing up those spiffy new consoles, this XCOM experience is for your tabletop. Board and card game publisher Fantasy Flight Games has teamed up with 2K to bring you XCOM: The Board Game, and Joystiq has survived the alien invasion. While you may expect a board game based on the XCOM strategy video game franchise would resemble more of a dungeon crawler, where you hunt and kill aliens, XCOM: The Board Game attempts something unique. Utilizing an app, XCOM: The Board Game randomizes alien movement, in-game events and keeps up to four players on their toes with strictly timed and very tense situations. In this episode of Off the Grid, Xav is joined by Jeff Cannata and Christian Spicer from the DLC Podcast, to play XCOM: The Board Game and discuss the pre-release copy of the game, the app functionality and what it's like to be in charge of the budget to save the human race. XCOM: The Board Game is expected to launch later this month from Fantasy Flight Games and designer Eric M. Lang (Marvel Dice Masters, Arcadia Quest). [Image: 2K, Fantasy Flight]
Off the Grid: Golem Arcana
Following its successful Shadowrun revival Kickstarter, developer Harebrained Schemes set its sights on a new crowdfunded project: a miniature tabletop game and mobile app hybrid. That game is Golem Arcana, which launched earlier this year. Utilizing an infrared stylus and specialty app, players move physical objects around a modular board and engage in combat with detailed pre-painted minis, leaving the micromanagement of the game to their mobile devices. In a new series exploring board and card games that we're calling "Off the Grid," Xav and Richard look at Golem Arcana and discuss how it works, what makes it special and whether or not it's something you should explore in any effort you may have to game offline.
