While I was in Brooklyn, I went over to the NY Gaming demo at Microsoft, checked out the games my NYC neighbors are building, and wrote it up for Geek Magazine:
New York Gaming tends towards electronic games, so I was surprised to see an offline game presented. Nika is a boardgame from Joshua Raab and Chris Hernandez. The game is a turn-based strategy game inspired by warfare between Greek city-states. Players build phalanxes, and attempt to conquer their neighbors. The game can be played by 4 players, forming 2 cooperative teams, or by 2 players, each controlling 2 city-states. Nika is greatly influenced by historical battles, but seems well-balanced, giving players of all city-states a good chance at winning, regardless of historical military advantages. (I’m looking at you, Axis & Allies.)
Nikhil Sinha’s Facebook game Spell or Die blends the familiar mechanics of asynchronous online Scrabble with aggressive attacks, like explosions. If you can’t out-spell your friends, just blow them up!
Via New York Gaming, February Games Demo on Geek Magazine. (Also on Geek: Five Indie games you shouldn’t miss.)
