In Crypt, players take on the role of evil wizards who control competing monster forces, which move about in a dungeon that constantly grows. Each turn, a player may take one of three actions: lay a tile which expands the dungeon, move a monster in his force, or cast a magic spell. The objective is to move your monsters into enemy Crypts.
Monsters begin the game in their home Crypt. Each has a strength and movement rating. Strong monsters are slow, weak ones fast. Which will you play early and which will you save for later? Which will you use to defend, and which will seek entry into enemy Crypts?
Dungeon tiles are used to build the dungeon. Lay them carefully to block monsters from entering your Crypt, and make entryways into enemy Crypts.
Spell tiles keep things interesting. Poisons lower abilities; Potions raise them. A Reaper could mean instant death, while a Seraph returns you safely to your Crypt. Traps stop movement, while a Ghost lets you walk through walls. Or use Transporters to pop up in unexpected places. Suffering under an enemy spell? Remove it with a Zapper.
Crypt is an easily-learned, quick-playing tile-laying game suitable for 2-4 players Ages 8 and up. It is available as a self-published print-and-play game
Jasper and Zot is a free print and play board game. From the BGG description:
Jasper and Zot is a one player game about two old, feuding wizards. The White Mage Jasper is quite the famous gardener and his pumpkins always win the blue ribbon at the local faire. His long-time adversary and neighbor, Zot the Necromancer, who is not good at growing living things, has summoned an army of the undead to smash all of Jasper’s prize-winning pumpkins. Help Jasper defend his pumpkins from Zot’s shambling minions by turning them into delicate white flowers and then burning them to ash.
Game play borrows heavily from classic arcade games such as Space Invaders and Puyo Pop. The player moves Jasper horizontally along the garden path while casting spells to either transform the approaching zombies into flowers or ignite those flowers and any nearby zombies with magical fire. The more you destroy with a single spell, the more points you earn. If the player can survive both waves of Zot’s undead army, he wins the game and tallies his score.
STAR VIKING is a game of interstellar raiding and plunder for two players. Using a unique system of 12 mapboard tiles to represent the various star systems in the Outrim sector, it captures the tense uncertainty and the sudden, flashing battles of an interstellar war. Units represented include Viking cruisers, sloops, and fighters. Federate and local frigates, battle-cruisers, and patrol boats, as well as raiding detachments, security forces, grav-armor units, specialized warfare pods, and conventional low-tech armed forces ranging from atmospheric aircraft to stone-age hordes.
Demon Lord is a vintage micro game from Dwarf Star. It’s now available for free as a download.
DEMONLORD is a game of strategy for two players. It vividly recreates the grand sweep of empires in conflict in an age of sorcery and enchantment. Infantry and cavalry sweep across the land to meet in battle or besiege fortresses, as winged troops wheel overhead. Priests invoke friendly spirits, as magicians prepare potent battlefield magic, or summon great beasts to their aid. And controlling it all, the dread Demonlord, and the Captains of the Hosar alliance with their retinue of personalities and special powers.
Star Smuggler is an old Dwarfstar game now available for downloading.
STAR SMUGGLER is a solitaire game of tense adventure in the far future. No opponent is necessary, as the Event Booklet takes you through a pre-programmed sequence of encounters which is different each time you play the game. For each event, you, as star smuggler Duke Springer must make the decisions which will make you huge profits—or may cost you your life.
Charge At The Alamo is a free print-and-play board wargame of the Mexican assault on the famous defenders. The author writes that it’s:
A downloadable game portraying the Mexican assault on the Alamo. The Alamo Compound and six immediate approaches are depicted on a map that can be adequately printed on a single 8/5 x 11-inch sheet.
Units are activated on the basis of Command Rolls. Twenty-nine Mexican units (roughly companies) face ten Texan personnel units and eight artillery markers.
The Alamo complex is represented by walls and buildings of varying strength which can be reduced as a result of attacks. Defenders may be outside or inside certain structures. Mexican formations have stacking limits and may spread from their original appearance area by oblique movement.
The rules amount to approximately seven pages. Optional rules, examples of play and designer’s notes are also included.
Micropul is an abstract strategy tile-laying game. It is usually played as a 2-player game in which players take turn placing tiles and stones, stocking new tiles and claiming groups. Micropul can also be played as a solitaire puzzle where the goal is to play optimally and beat your previous score.
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
