Mail Call: Nightshift Board Game

 A while back, there were three games called Night Shift. There was ours, NIGHT SHIFT Veterans of the Supernatural Wars. Another RPG, which became Nightbound when they discovered our trademarked name. And another, a board game about exotic dancers.  I already had Nightbound, and last week Nightshift came in the mail.

The box and contents are great. High-quality material with a really sturdy game board. Rules are fun and easy to learn. Exotic Cancer also lets you have the rules for free.  There is even a "How to Play" video.

The game pieces are your characters in the game. Each has their own personality, advantages, and goals.  You can meet them all here: Ruby, Topaz, Emerald, Sapphire, and Amethyst.

The minis are a bit taller than your average D&D mini. Reminds me of that couch meme. Just don't spill my coffee, ladies.

I can't help but think this would be a perfect representation of my own Mayfair's Gentlemen's Club from our NIGHT SHIFT.

It would work more or less exactly the same way. Only my version the dancers are all demons, vampires, and fae creatures. Amethyst is certainly a vampire. Topaz is fae. Sapphire is some sort of daimon or spirit of gnosis. Emerald is a demon. And Ruby? Ruby is human. The fact she can hold her own may make her the most mysterious of all!

But the game is great and the creator, Exotic Cancer, knows her stuff. This is another example of Kickstarter working out fantastically. 

Yes. There will be a Plays Well With Others post for all the Night Shifts! Maybe I can grab Exotic Cancer's Tarot set for it. 

You can find this game and the designer here:

• Night Shift Game
• Exotic Cancer site
• Instagram
• Patreon
• Twitter/X

Kickstart Your Weekend: Working the (Other) Night Shifts

 Creating an RPG is hard work. You need to figure out what it is about. Choose the right mechanics. Write thousands of words, edit, re-write. Get art. Pay for all of that AND then figure out the publishing details.

But the hardest part? Finding a good name that hasn't already been used!

Take these two, for example; both began with the name "Night Shift." 

Nightbound

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativejamttrpgs/nightbound?ref=theotherside

This game began as "Nightshift" but it was so close to ours that everyone involved believed that a name change was the best course of action.

Nightbound does a lot of the same things that NIGHT SHIFT does, but it uses the "Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA)" engine, so it will attract a different group of players than our NIGHT SHIFT. OR it is just as likely that there will be fans that play both games. 

There is certainly room on my table and shelves for both games.

Nightshift

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/exoticcancer/nightshift-0?ref=theotherside

This one is so different (and spelled differently) that we felt there was no chance of brand confusion. Plus, it looks like a lot of fun.

The designer is a former dancer and now an online personality, so she brings authenticity to the game and a solid artistic vision. 

--

I am backing both games. 

So yes. Please expect a future "Plays Well With Others" to feature these two with our own NIGHT SHIFT.

Mail Call: Black Magic Ritual Kit (1974)

 Well, I finally picked up another "Holy Grail" item. It makes me glad I didn't spend a lot at Gary Con.

This is the "companion" game (I am not sure that is what this really is) to the Witchcraft Ritual Kit (1974) I talked about back in 2020. Both are from Avalon Hill.

Let me just start off with this. Man, the '70s were weird. 

This "game" has a board that looks like an altar set up from an occult bookstore's own manual of rituals. There are a lot of pieces here with various names of demons and angels on it. There is a "Rule book" and a "Manual of Interpretation," just like the Witchcraft Ritual Kit. It is also written by the same "Dr. Brooke Hayward Jennings," whom I still have found nothing of.

What I said about the Witchcraft Kit holds true here, too. It's 1974. The biggest movie in the world right now is "The Exorcist." Time Magazine is talking about the Occult Revival and the Return of Satan. An maybe, just maybe, Avalon Hill knows about a game featuring fantasy magic and wizards coming up. Well, they do know about it; they rejected it just a bit back.  Hippies have not yet become the Yuppies and they are searching for "alternative experiences."  What is a game company known for its war games and battle simulations to do?

Knock together some vaguely occult-looking games, put them into their standard "bookcase games" box, and slap some softcore porny covers on them. Next step...profit! 

Maybe. I don't think these games ever sold very well. There are so few of them on the aftermarket and the ones I do find are really expensive. I got this one from eBay from someone who I don't think knew what they had (based on their other sales), but I was bidding against someone who did know. Thankfully, the amount I set aside for this was much less than my final bid.

I got it just over the weekend.

What treasures are to be found here?

I love it for the cover alone!

AND, as a special bonus (and one of the main reasons I like buying these used games), someone included their own spell!

It has the same production values as the Witchcraft Ritual Kit and the same head-scratching "What do I even do with this?"

"Hey babe, come back to my pad, and I'll show you some magic."

You've got to love the covers, though. It makes me wonder what Avalon Hill product 712 was. (ETA doesn't look like there was one.)

According to BoardGameGeek, quoting the company history, "Top management decided to leave the realm of games and produce a couple of do-it-yourself kits entitled BLACK MAGIC & WITCHCRAFT." These were both advertised for a short while as a "Leisure Time Game." Neither come with, or need, dice (an Avalon Hill staple) and candles and incense are not included.

Both of these "games" are very strange, and I am not sure what events led to their publication, except for the ones I have outlined in speculation above. Neither game appears in the catalog included in the box.

Long-time readers know of a condition called "Traveller Envy," where I am constantly looking for board games to supplement my D&D experience, particularly my campaign "War of the Witch Queens." This is certainly why I bought it, but I am still stumped on how to add it. 

I mean, the demons all seem to be taken from The Lesser Key of Solomon, so I have that working in my favor since so many other games do the same thing. 

Honestly, just reading through it all is fun. It also gives me some ideas for my 1976 and 1979 campaigns. Though in different ways.

In any case, it is a wonderful curiosity from the 1970s Occult Revival and is sure to confuse anyone who tries to clean out my collection after I am gone!

Not a Mail Call: New Board Games

Not really a "Mail Call" but it feels like one. I was down visiting my brothers and sisters this past weekend and look what my brother had for me!

YES! I have finally got my hands on a copy of Imperium! But the box is full of surprises.

In addition to the Imperium game there is a complete mini-game, Sticks and Stones, the Monster that ate Sheboygan, tourney rules for Imperium, and either another game or pieces of two other games. And a little zine "The Halfling Magazine."

I am going to need to go through it all and see what I really have but it looks like it was all bought at Origins in 1980.

In addition, there is a game I am completely unfamiliar with.  The naval battle game Trireme.

Not only does it look intact, it looks like it has been completely unplayed!

These will provide me a lot of fun over Christmas break to be sure.

The Village Crone (2015)

 Some more witch board games today and the last one for this season.

The Village Crone (2015)

You play one of six witches (1 to 6 players) and work to take control of a village (Wickersby) without a crone. You send out your familiars (up to 5) to gather ingredients for spells. The first to 13 points wins and becomes the new Village Crone of Wickersby.

The game is fun enough and the rules are easy enough. The replayability is high so that is good and there are enough random elements to keep it interesting enough. 

I rather like the idea from an RPG standpoint. Witches going out into the world to find a little hamlet to call their own. Certainly, something they would all like to brag about at the Tredecim. 

You can get The Villiage Crone here: https://firesidegames.com/games/village-crone/