GAMA Trade Show 2011 Exhibitor Coverage–Part 10
Today’s GAMA Trade Show 2011 exhibitors include Dream Pod 9, Atlas Games, Zoki Games, Giant Tree House, GlowFly Games and Closet Nerd Games.
“Heavy Gear” met Battlefoam this year with the release of a “Heavy Gear” branded bag and foam trays. The bag is available now on the Battlefoam site. I also saw the “Heavy Gear Arena” two -player starter kits, going for $65.00. The starter kit uses unpainted, pewter miniatures and two small-format rulebooks. This is not a legal squad, it is strictly for new players to pick up the game quickly. Future releases will include 10 figures for a legal squad and two small-format rulebooks as well. The “Heavy Gear Blitz Field Manual” also released as a companion to the base rules. This manual is going to be the new standard of play for the Heavy Gear Blitz game.
“Crime Scene Instigation” is a new supplement for the “Let’s Kill” card game that adds even more carnage! Cthulhu takes a humorous term with “Clifford, The Big Red God” based on “The Dunwich Horror” from Ken Hite. Gloom, the card game also gets a boost with the “Charles Dexter Ward” supplement. It is a play on words, “Ward” means a hospital ward. I chuckled.
“Arithmo” is a Sudoku-like game that uses basic mathematical operations (add, subtract, etc) to reach specific numbers and clear a grid. There is an online and Android/Iphone app version as well. I am not a Sudoku fan, but the game looked like casual fun. The web site has an online version if you would like to try it out. Registration required.
Giant Tree House specializes in large-scale games for indoor/outdoor play. Some of their products include “Hello Kitty Bowling,” “Penguin Bowling” and “Fishin’ Frenzy.”
GlowFly Games
A family game maker. Offerings include “Alphabet Soup,” a sudoku-like tile game, “Hecho” and the “The Impossible Machine,” that allows players to create Rube-Goldberg machines.
Closet Nerd had three new games on display for release this year, “Cambria,” “Hibernia” and “Balance of Power.” Cambria and Hibernia are small strategy games designed for portability and easy-to-learn rules, but with deep strategy. Cambria uses a “surround and conquer” mechanic and Hibernia requires the conquest of specific regions by color. At $19.95, they have a low price and seemed interesting as well in terms of game mechanics. Both have a June release date.
“Balance of Power” is a strategy game involving placing three kinds of tokens and squaring off using a rock-paper-scissors mechanic. No dice or luck involved, just strategy. “Balance of Power” has a Gen Con 2011 release date.
And the march continues tomorrow…
Trask, The Last Tyromancer
