Here There Be Games - HTBG Blog

The Giants Hobby "That one looks quite good, I love how you've taken such care with the bridge of the nose." piped up Spurt, adjusting her seat upon the giant's shoulder as she watched. The child was barely more than ten years old but she had been watching the giant ever since she was old enough to walk and talk. Heedless of the warnings her mother and their village had given her she had stricken up something of a friendship with him, amazed not only at his size but at the work he constantly produced. "Thank you little one." Was the reply as he held up the giant slab of stone that was meticulously being carved into the semblance of a head, one that he had carved a thousand times before in various expressions and poses. Over the boulder he cast careful eyes, turning it this way and that in the light for them both to examine. "What should the expression be little one? I was thinking mild shock." The boulder was still for the most part featurle...

"The Monster High Above" On high the beast, through tumulous sky, did spread its azure wings and fly above the palace walls which guarded shaking forms and fearful minds. Its song of dread bellowed above eliciting from the far below collective moans of echoed fright of death to come it could bestow. Though unbeknownst to most inside those walls of stone and mortar high their lay a greater threat above the beast that circled in the sky. It's wretched form, with body wide and horrid with its writhing hide, would boggle minds and stop the hearts of those that in the castle hide. So darting 'round up in the sky, the beast from which we all would fly, was acting not as death above but savior from a darker blight. White hot fire cleft darkness twain from azure maw the light did spring and briefly shown from dark embrace a monster with the devils face. Its form was vast and warped with filth that that fell from it like ichor rain, unbl...

Magic lore, it is as vast as it is interesting and there is no end to the questions I receive about it. Today's topic pertains to one of the most asked questions I get. So without further ado, enjoy! "Why are current planeswalkers so much more different than older planeswalkers?" Wow, what a question, now how to tackle that. Well, gather around kids this is going to be a good one. Different yes, but no less fabulous! So let's begin at the beginning, when talking about planeswalkers: you can sort of split them into two groups; pre-mending and post-mending.There is a lot of ground to cover and nearly limited tangients to go on so I will be limiting myself to mostly important events and the basic differences. Now let's break down the meaning behind those names. For the last time the names do not mean 'Bear Blaster' and 'Bear Blaster XTreme' now get out of my office! First up is pre-mending. Planeswalkers used to be very very strong,...

Ob Nixilis is pissed off with his spark returned and Kozilek just showed up to do a slow waltz of decimation with Ulamog across Zendikar. Things could be better, but the planeswalkers are regrouping. Several other things are going down in the story, but that's not important. If you're a lore-nut, like me, you can go check out the storyline and what's going down on Wizard's website. As for the purpose of this article, we are going to take a look at this new set, not from a flavor standpoint, but from a mechanical one. Let's go! Your expression. Probably. So let's talk mechanics and keywords. First up is Cohort. Now I initially thought of Cohort as a trash mechanic, since you need two allies (one with the ability, the other to, uh, you know, help out) but now having played with and seen it played in pre-release events, I can revise my opinion somewhat. Cohort is a cool and occasionally-tricky trash ability.  Just the thing for Cohort! W...

Today I would like to talk about one of my new loves, Living Card Games!  Ah Living Card Games, where should I start! First off let's go over exactly what a Living Card Game is! Card Games can be separated into three different types of games. The first, and resoundingly more popular, being Collectible or Trading Card Games (CCG or TCG). In these games, cards are purchased at 'random' and there is usually a strong secondary market of individual cards, each of which having their own value. This causes the hobby to be split in two, half being playing the game and the other half in collecting and maintaining a collection of the cards! The second less-popular, but still super fun option, is called a Deck Building Game.  There are plenty of examples of these out there in any flavor an aspiring gamer might enjoy: Ascension, Legendary, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, The DC Deck Building Game. Now in these games, it is a box set with expansions available, ...

 Hello everyone! I have been busy this week getting the Facebook and Twitter set up for the studio. Oh, I am so excited about all my projects going on I figured I would put up today some of my past projects for you to check out. Maybe get those creative juices flowing! So following is some of my favorite work for a few different games. I will tell you their names and games under each picture. Lord Chompy Bits, Malifaux.  Jack Daw, Malifaux Miss Molly Squidpidge, Malifaux Gencon Special Teddy Malifaux. I modified him a little bit. One of Several Marionetts for Collodi, Malifaux A quick aside, expect my next game I show off to be Malifaux, it is one of my all time favorite.  The flavor of the game really hits the spot for me. If you can't wait that long go check 'em out at their website (found at the bottom of the page). Practice for Magic the Gathering Magic the Gathering Magic the Gathering Magic the Gathering, Actua...

Well here it is, the inaugural post in my new blog all about gaming. Here you the reader can expect to find a lot of information on new games and some of my personal favorite games. Including brief how to play guides, and rants about each. Please feel free to email me suggestions for games to feature here in the blog or leave suggestions in the comments section. Well now that that is covered I should introduce myself. My name is Michael Matteson and I have been playing games and working with them my entire adult life. Hopefully you will find games here which you enjoy and start playing. Now when I say games I do not (for the most part) mean video games, they have their place but there are few that hold my attention for very long. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to one of my all time favorite games. One heck of a game!  Dark Age is a gritty, D20 driven, post-apocalyptic skirmish miniatures game. The game is illustrated by a number of top artists inclu...