Pandante Exhibition Stream Tonight

Tonight at 7pm (PDT) we'll stream an exhibition match of Pandante using the fan-made online version. Watch it and learn about the game and maybe we'll see some hype lying pandas!

Link to the stream: twitch.tv/sirlingames
Link to play the online version: pandante.com

If you'd like to actually participate as a player in the exhibition, show up for our pre-stream tests at 5:30pm and also stop by this chat room to tell us.

There's also only 3 days left on the Pandante kickstarter, so get in while you can.

Pandante Online

Pandante is now playable online for free at www.pandante.com. It runs instantly in your broswer and does not require a download. It supports 2-6 players, so try it out with your friends, or join the friendly players already hanging out there.

Pandante is a Panda-themed gambling game that's all about lying. Unlike most gambling games though, it's designed to be fun to play even without real money. There's no Panda-elimination, much less reason to fold than in poker, and a few simple abilities to spice things up. Best of all, you bet on a particular hand that you're claiming to have, but you're probably lying about it. If you win by lying, you win the greatest honor of all: the Golden Panda Coin.

This online version of Pandante is actually really free, and if you enjoy it then please support the kickstarter which is now in its last few days. The online version does not have any expansion content, but it's updated with all the 2nd Edition base set rules, thanks to the efforts of Xom, a Panda Hero.

Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 10: Flash Duel

We discuss the development of the revised printing of Flash Duel. Flash Duel is a simple and fast card game that in high level play ended up being bogged down by lengthy calculations. We talk about the design changes that address this as well as at least one tricky balance puzzle we faced.

At the time of this post, Flash Duel is on kickstarter right now. Please support it if you can.

Special guest garcia1000 discusses how to prepare for a tournament.

Hosts: David Sirlin, Matt "Aphotix" DeMasi & Sean "MrGPhantome" Washington

Yomi Rook and DeGrey decks now available

The Rook & DeGrey decks are now available, both the physical and print-and-play version. You can get them here.

Rook the stone golem is the organizer of the Fantasy Strike tournament. He's a powerful grappler, which means he has lots of throws including his devastating (but difficult to land) four Ace super throw.

Normally in Yomi, when your opponent blocks your normal attack, you get to draw a card. But Rook's defense mastery prevents that, so you might find yourself low on cards against him and wanting to block. That plays right into his plan of throwing you though. Rook is also special in all the game in that he's the only character with no dodges at all. He also has the most hit points in the game, and he's just so powerful that he doesn't even need dodges!

While Rook runs the Fantasy Strike tournament, it was DeGrey's idea in the first place. He's a long-time friend of Rook and crusader for truth and justice. Gameplay-wise, DeGrey is Rook's opposite in that he has the craziest Dodge around: a super dodge called Ghost Riposte that returns to his hand if he's not thrown. DeGrey also hits hard—really hard—and his Pilebunker is one of the most solid hits in the game. It requires a good read to land though.

You can also play these characters in the web version at www.fantasystrike.com and the iOS version too, which is now on both iPad and iPhone. The physical versions ship worldwide from www.sirlingames.com.

Come to Fantasy Strike expo this June in San Francisco for a Yomi tournament, too!

Fantasy Strike Expo 2015

Announcement!

The third Fantasy Strike Expo will take place June 5th-7th 2015 near the San Francisco airport. It's a tournament series and casual play event showcasing the Fantasy Strike tabletop games. Come compete, watch, and make new friends with other Fantasy Strikers. There's also a chance to try out Codex, still in development. Last year's event was really fun so don't miss out.

Registration link: www.fantasystrike.com/fsx

Location: Marriot Courtyard San Francisco Airport.
1050 Bayhill Drive, San Bruno, California 94066 USA.

Discuss Fantasy Strike Expo on the forums.

Tournaments

All tournaments will take place Saturday and Sunday June 6th and 7th. Tournament finals will take place on Sunday, June 7th.

Tabletop tournaments:

  • Yomi (2nd Edition)
  • Pandante (2nd Edition, kickstarter link here)
  • Flash Duel (revised printing, also at the kickstarter link above)

Codex

The Codex customizable card game will be playable the whole time, but especially on Friday. Codex is an RTS-themed card game that gives you a lot more flexibility of builds during a game than most other card games. Think of it like Warcraft 3 in card form.

Flowchart

Flowchart is a fighting card game that's nothing like Yomi, originally designed by Tim Fowers and adapted by David Sirlin. Try out a beta form at Fantasy Strike Expo.

    Who should come?

    Really anyone who enjoys these games should come, if possible. And it's not just about the games either, but rather the community of enthusiasts who create a great atmosphere.

    Note that this is not just a local event. It's located right next to the San Francisco International Airport to make traveling as easy as possible. There's even a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Last year we had several from Canada as well as Kasumi who came all the way from Japan!

    One reason to come would be if you're actually good at any of these games. You don't want to let some shmoe win do you? That said, all skill levels are welcome. Attending a tournament is usually quite a learning experience regardless of your skill or lack of it. Even if you don't enter any tournaments at all, plenty of casual play is encouraged as well. It's fun to be in an environment with like-minded people and to make new friends, so you might be interested in attending for the social aspects alone.

    3-Day Passes

    Keep in mind that three day passes are only available for early registration this year, which runs until April 30th. After that, only single day passes are available. Sign up now.

    Upgraded Components for Pandante and Flash Duel Kickstarter

    I’m going to make a change to the Pandante stretch goals that benefits all our backers.

    Pandante is such a great game that I want to put out the best version I possibly can components-wise, no matter what funding level we reach. Even if we only raise a portion of what’s needed to fully fund this print run, I’m willing to pay for the component upgrades that I think Pandante and Flash Duel should have. I’m hoping that eventually positive word of mouth about the games will make that a worthwhile choice.

    Golden Panda Coin. This coin is so hype! When you feel it in your hands, it has a coolness factor that makes you want to win it in the game. I didn’t know what the quality of the coin would be when we first started out, but now that I have physical samples and I can see how great it is, we just have to have it even if it costs me a lot.

    Also, it's huge. One player thought it should be called a gold medal, rather than a coin!

    • Pandante deluxe will have the 2” metal coin, no stretch goal for it, you just get it.
    • The $25 Pandante expansion will also have the same metal coin.

    There’s also Flash Duel. I’m pretty happy about the adjustments to the core system we’ve done. Removing the last-hits mechanic makes it simpler to explain and more focused on the back and forth part of the game that you’d hope was the emphasis anyway. Balance is in a better state now too. I want to follow that up with another component upgrade:

    Flash Duel will contain 21 character standups, rather than pawns. No stretch goal, you just get it.

    And there’s more. I want to thank all our kickstarter backers, I’m so grateful for their support. So I want to include the 3 extra Pandante casino cards for all kickstarter backers (not part of the retail products) at all levels. That means if you get the deluxe version, standard version, or the expansion, you’ll get these 3 extra casino cards. The extra cards are a bit crazier than the rest of the casinos, so I bet you’ll enjoy that.

    Your Help

    Would you like to help spread the joy of Pandante? I know a lot of you have the print-and-play version—hundreds of people downloaded it for free last weekend—so if you happen to play it, post your thoughts somewhere before the campaign ends. It could be on Boardgamegeek, or anywhere else. Let us know if you do!

    Here’s some great examples so far:

    Also, can you tweet some funny images (or clever text) about Pandas to #LyingPandas or #Pandante? I actually don’t know if that would help at all, but it would be fun and I was looking forward to laughing at some of them. ;)

    Summary

    Here’s the bottom line summary:

    • Pandante deluxe will have the 2” metal Panda Coin
    • Pandante expansion will have it too
    • Flash Duel will have 21 character standups rather than pawns
    • All pledge levels (of $25 or more) get the 3 extra Pandante casino cards, for backers only (not part of the retail product later)
    • You post your thoughts on the game somewhere, or tweet to #LyingPandas or #Pandante

    Thanks for your support everyone! (Pandante and Flash Duel kickstarter link.)

    Pandante Casino Cards, Part 2

    Pandante has a fun new feature called "casino cards" which I covered before, here. Casino cards let you visit a new casino in the Pandalands each gambit, each changing the rules in some way.

     

    Here's three of them:

    Bunny Hop Hotel. At this casino, you hop right to the action. There's only one betting phase, rather than three. You see all the community cards, bet, do abilities, then showdown. It's a nice change of pace in that it's so fast!

    Hard Times Mill. It really feels like hard times at the Hard Times Mill. At other casinos, it's common to see bets on hands as high as rainbow straight or four of a kind. Yet here, it's exciting if someone bets even three of a kind. Pandas come over and watch if they even hear about a hand like that. A full house is some kind of epic, crazy thing here. Gameplay-wise, this lets you explore the lower ranked hands a lot more. Flavor-wise, being so starved to make a decent hand makes you appreciate how good you have it at other casinos.

    Quince's Palace. Quince is the Chief Magistrate of Flagstone, known for his magnanimous straight talking. (Note: he actually relies on lies and deception to the point that you can't even tell what is real and what is not. In Yomi, he can play two combat cards, one of which is an illusion.) At Quince's Palace, there are TWO rows of community cards (are they both real?). There are so many possibilities for hands here that it's kind of mind-bending at times. Sometimes you can't even tell what your opponents are going for, which captures essence of Quince really well.

     

    These casino cards and more are are included in the new Pandante 2nd Edition standard and deluxe sets. They are also in the expansion, for those who already have chips and a Pandante deck. Check it out on kickstarter now.

    Codex-themed Pandante Deck

    Codex is an upcoming customizable (not collectable) card game that does things very differently from the rest of the genre. It's themed after RTS video games such as Starcraft and Warcraft 3. You command heroes who each have their own spells and you build tech buildings that produce units. You carry a lot of versatility into each game because the cards in your codex are analogous to all the things a given race could build in an RTS. You choose which subset you want in your current game by building your deck as the game progresses. Players don't know exactly what other players are building toward, so there's a natural form of fog of war involved.

    Here's the game's logo:

    Although Codex has been in development on and off for over 10 years, it's not quite finished yet. You can get a sneak peak at some of the art though because there's a limited edition alternate art version of Pandante's deck on kickstarter right now. It lets you play Pandante with a Codex-themed deck!

    Here's what normal Pandante cards look like:

    And here's the Codex-themed version:

    Also, here's the Joker from each deck:

    This special deck is for two of the higher pledge tiers on the Pandante kickstarter (you get Pandante deluxe with or without professional-grade play poker chips, the new revised printing of Flash Duel, and this special Codex-themed Pandante deck). By pledging for this collector's item, you're also supporting the development of Codex and helping us reach stretch goals for Pandante and Flash Duel, too. Here's where you can pledge.

    Stay tuned for another preview of this deck showing the Panda Champions / Codex Heroes.