Gencon – Saturday

Return to Hades

I lost the good parts of me again.  I don’t think they’re coming back this time.

Mesa Mundi and d20pro

I did a little bit of demoing on Saturday of a pair of products that their creators have very intelligently decided to collaborate on – Mesa Mundi touchscreens and the d20pro software package.

Mesa Mundi creates and packages several different sizes of touchscreen devices designed to sit on your table and finally get rid of all of the excess baggage you need to have to play an rpg.  The devices seemed to be excellently touch sensitive, not too thick to be a pain to lug around (though I didn’t lift one), and had a pretty darn good quality of display.  They are also pretty reasonably priced – the 40 inch model goes for about $2300.  That seems like a lot, but you can use this thing for a lot of stuff around your house, and it’s built to last.

The other part of this equation is the d20pro software package.  d20pro is a tool for running a game (obviously designed for more tactical rpgs like DnD and Pathfinder, though it’s system independant) in a digital space.  You can keep track of initiative, health, and all the other nitty gritty you need without needing to continually screw with the physical table space.  You can drag and drop images to turn them easily into gridded maps, divide maps up into regions and turn on and off a fog of war effect, and dozens of other aides.  There is a GM and player component to the software if you’re into the veil of secrecy, as well.  One of the coolest things I saw them do was to split a party and easily track where each member was on the map just by tapping the various character portraits.

This technology is definitely coming, and I’m excited by it, but I’m not convinced that it’s quite there yet.  However, these folks and definitely heading in the right direction, have great ideas, and these products are good.  The tech is still just a tiny bit away from being mass consumer ready.  I hope it gets there soon and these folks are able to ride the wave.

Cutthroat Caverns

I got a chance to play Cutthroat Caverns, which I’d never tried before.  It’s made by the same company that puts out “HexHex” and “Run for your life, Candyman!” and it has a similar vibe and sense of humor.

The game is pretty simple – you are a group of adventurers in a dungeon, and you have a bunch monsters to defeat.  The monsters are strong enough that it’s a group effort to kill them, but only the person that delivers the killing blow gets victory points for each monster.  This requires a long balancing act between cooperation and screwing over your friends that is surprisingly well balanced and fun.  No one was sulking in a corner or crying when we finished playing, unlike when we play Munchkin.

There are a whole pile of expansions out for the game, and it’s not break the bank expensive, so if you’re looking for a fun new way to screw your friends, this is a good choice.