Coming Soon – 3 Games That Are Hot, Hot, Hot!

You know how they say you should never go to the grocery store on an empty stomach? Well the same logic applies to today’s round up of games. So before we dive into three games all about food, I highly recommend grabbing a snack because Kick.Agency will not be held responsible for any impulse buying of appetite-inducing tabletop fare.

Since some of you probably didn’t take my advice, we’ll start off with a game that actually might take away your appetite, Chew. This RPG created by Peter Petrusha (Dreamchase: A Game of Destiny) is based on the Eisner and Harvey award winning comic of same name from Image Comics. For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of reading it, the series is set in a world where chicken is outlawed, the FDA is the most powerful agency in the USA, and a fighting rooster is America’s deadliest weapon against crime. And these crimes? They’re perpetrated by cibopaths: super-powered humans who derive their power from food.

I’ll give you a second to process all of that.

The story revolves around FDA agent and cibopath Tony Chu, whose power lets him see the recent history of anything he has just eaten. Suffice to say, a LOT of gnarly things get eaten in the name of justice. And he uses his power to take on black-market chicken smugglers and deadly cibopaths, including the cannibalistic Vampire!

To tackle this world of deranged delectables, the game uses the Forged in the Dark rules system. This system eschews d20’s in favor of the humbler d6. And the game is broken up into a cycle of four phases. In the first phase, Free Play, the players determine how they will tackle a given problem. Once a plan is hatched, players head into the Operation phase where they determine whether or not their plan creates favorable conditions for whatever job they’re attempting. Then comes the Score phase where the players actually roll against opponents to determine the outcome. Lastly and, in my opinion most interesting, comes the Downtime phase. In this phase, players must deal with fallout from their actions, including heat from the law or stress to the character.

• 

But in the world of Chew, the Stress mechanic has been reimagined as Appetite. Players can spend Appetite to resist effects, roll extra die, and assist other players. But the most exciting new rules tweak that Chew brings are it’s food-based powers. With character options like the power to build animal familiars out of gelatin or turn tortilla chips into whirling blades of death, this Kickstarter project promises to spice up your RPG session.

LINK

I. Comic

a. Designer – Pete Petrusha

b. Image comic by John Layman

c. Protagonist is a cibopath named Tony Chu who works for the FDA after chicken is banned following an intense avian flu outbreak

II. Gameplay

a. Uses the Forged in the Dark rules

i. D6’s instead of D20’s

ii. Game has 4 phases

1. Freeplay

2. Operation (Choose the target, establish the situation going into the encounter)

3. Score (Roll and determine how successful the encounter was)

4. Downtime (Deal with the fallout from the job including heat, stress, etc.)

III. Game launches Oct. 5

Chow Pow – Ends Oct. 31

This next game is a lot lighter on rules but still beefy where it counts: action. Chow Pow is a light card game for 3 – 6 players from Digital Gravy Studios. And I feel like I must warn you, the creators have stated that this is one of those games that ends friendships, especially if your name is Alex. Sorry, Alexs of the world.

The game is essentially a mash-up of Memory and War with some fun, foodie tweaks. The game starts with a 4×4 grid of face-down cards. Players flip 2 cards over in hopes that they will reveal food warriors from matching factions. If they do, they choose a card adjacent to one of their face-up cards and it, and any cards that might be under it, to their hands. The face up cards then get covered with face down cards, and the active player can then either pass or choose a seemingly vulnerable player to battle.

The game is essentially a mash-up of Memory and War with some fun, foodie tweaks. The game starts with a 4×4 grid of face-down cards. Players flip 2 cards over in hopes that they will reveal food warriors from matching factions. If they do, they choose a card adjacent to one of their face-up cards and it, and any cards that might be under it, to their hands. The face up cards then get covered with face down cards, and the active player can then either pass or choose a seemingly vulnerable player to battle.

In battle, each player reveals a card from their hand and the highest number wins. Simple enough, except that players can add cards more cards to the battle from their hands so long as they all share the same faction. The winner takes their opponents cards and adds them to their point pile.

With such familiar mechanics baked into it, this game is a solid entry into the “gateway game” category. It also helps that the game itself has just a $20 price tag on its Kickstarter page with the option to purchase all sorts of fun add-ons.

LINK

I. Specs

a. Light card game for 3-6 players

b. 20+ min

c. Fans of Food Fight/Taco vs Burrito rejoice!

II. Gameplay

a. Cards are laid out in a grid like Memory.

b. Flip over cards and, if the factions match, take them and put them in your hand. Then either pass your turn or battle.

c. When you battle, each player lays down a card. The higher number wins a la War. However, if you have cards of the same faction, you can stack them to increase their number. The winner takes the cards and adds them to their stack of points.

III. Base tier is just $20 with increasing levels of swag: a miniature, stickers, holographic cards, t-shirt

Steam Up – Launches Oct. 19

Our last game is bringing with it a lot of buzz, having already won the 2021 Ion Award in the “Light Games” category before even being published. And I gotta tell ya, it already has my mouth watering, and not just because it’s themed around the delicious Chinese tradition of dim sum.

Steam Up is the first game from Hot Banana Games and designers Pauline Kong, Haymen Lee, and Marie Wong. But holy bean buns, y’all, when you see this game you would never guess that these three ladies weren’t industry veterans.

So what’s so great about it? For starters, it’s authentic. All three of the designers have cultural experience with dim sum and they go out of their way to educate dim sum newbies about this culinary tradition. The game itself also tries, and succeeds, at creating an authentic dim sum experience, from the anthropomorphic characters pulled right out of the Chinese zodiac, to the dishes themselves, to the lazy Susan, or rondel turntable for those of you not from the Southern US, in the middle of the board.

In this set making game for 2 – 5 players, you must outwit your opponents to see who can get the steamer baskets with the tastiest treats and earn the most Hearty Points, or HP. To do this, players have to try to make sets of food tokens that match the food in tiny steamer baskets on the board. But watch out because the turntable is constantly spinning, and you can only take the food that is on your area of the spinner. In addition to this obstacle, opponents can play Fortune cards and their animal diner’s special abilities to snatch your steamer baskets away.

The Kickstarter campaign hasn’t yet launched, but I will definitely be watching for this one. If you’re like me and couldn’t wait, head over to Hot Banana’s website for a link to a Tabletop Simulator edition. Fun Fact: It looks equally incredible.

That’s it for today’s gaming news. B

I. Specs

a. Designed by Pauline Kong, Haymen Lee, and Marie Wong

i. First timers

ii. Won the 2021 Ion Award for Light Game

II. Gameplay

a. 2-5 players

b. Adorable animals try to collect food

c. Beginning of each turn, there is a Fate card

d. 2 actions per turn: take a food token, play a fortune card, discard 2 Fortune cards for a food token, or buy a steamer

e. Can only buy a steamer in your part of the lazy susan.

f. Game ends when X number of steamers are bought or there are no more fate cards, highest Hearty Points wins.

Upcoming Board Games (Gamefound)

Upcoming Games Kickstaretr