World of Warcraft

Well it appears that Blizzard has no shortage of merchandise to peddle onto its playerbase. From t-shirts to character models to the trading card game, they most recently announced the addition of a board game version of Warcraft. That said, I’ve played similar games in the genre (A Lord of the Rings board game was a ton of fun, for example), and they can be a total blast! Here’s a brief description from the site:

World of Warcraft: the Adventure Game is a fast-paced game of danger, conflict, and heroes. 2-4 players engage in a struggle for glory and valor as they travel the East Kingdoms of Azeroth battling monsters, completing quests, and vanquishing each other in their bid for supremacy!

* Fast paced immersive action with four unique heroes
* Battle monsters as well as your fellow players
* Innovative game design with multi-tier encounters and quest

You’ll have to compete with up to 4 opponents for glory and treasure as you stomp across Azeroth. You have the option of playing a dwarf hunter, human warlock, undead mage, or orc warrior. Given the fact that each has their own unique abilities, I wonder if there will be some arguments as to who gets to play the “overpowered” class (oh right, you WOULD pick the warlock!).

Essentially, your turn will go like this. You’ll flip over some cards to see how far you can move, and you’ll have the option of playing cards to mess with your opponents or move a bit farther as you go along. Then you’ll get to fight a monster through an encounter, depending on your level, you can fight mobs of various difficulties. If you win, you get your very own treasure or some other reward. Quests will also be available to you, and completing them will award you “valor points.” The first person to 8 valor points wins the game.

If you happen to have a bunch of buddies who are into this sort of thing, then you might want to take a look. If any of you guys do pick it up, feel free to let me know how the game plays and whether it has a good amount of replayability. I’ll post any interesting feedback I receive on the game!