Category: Games

Book Of Heroes

Book Of Heroes is a nifty free iOS game I’ve been enjoying for a couple of weeks now. It’s a cross between World Of Warcraft and an old-school RPG.

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That’s the town, where you pick up quests, train, and visit the store. Theres no real movement or exloration, you just click on locations. It’s simple, but fun.

Here’s my character Momo:

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If you’ve played WoW you’ll recognize the inspiration. The game is heavily based around killing enemies, like these:

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Using the skills unique to your character:

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Momo is a Mage, by the way. The game system is quite complex and (so far) seems well balanced. Here’s player stats:

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The bottom line is this game is fun, and free. If you play it (and you should), send me your hero code so I can register you as a friend πŸ™‚

(Not So) Basic

Magic The Gathering has been around for over 15 years now, and the basic design of the cards has barely changed in that time. However they were modernized in 2003 by updating the card frames. Here’s an example of the old frame:

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And here’s the new (and still current) frame:

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But did you know that WoTC spent about 3 years deciding on the updated frame, and during that period even did some test prints of alternate frame designs? I’ve seen scans of a few of these now, and unquestionably the ones I find most attractive are these two:

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Incredible aren’t they? Only two of the first were printed (and in foil no less) and only three of the latter. They are now in the hands of private collectors and valued at many thousands ($7k+ apparently). Many other cards exist using these never-used frames, but the lands (2 islands and allegedly a mountain) are by far the most expensive because they are tournament legal.

As if the owners would ever play with them πŸ™‚

As I have mentioned before I have a collection of basic lands, which is now upwards of 650 unique basic land cards. It makes me feel strangely happy to know that as complete as my collection almost is, there exists ‘holy grail’ lands like these that I will never, ever, ever own πŸ™‚

8 Bit Fortress

While I sit here waiting for others to get their damn work done in time so I can do my own (grumble, grumble)… why don’t I show off my new home?

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There it is. Click on it for a mega-sized version. I haven’t named it but I will right now: Cloudgate!

This is, of course, my creation in the fantastic iOS ‘game’ Junk Jack. I built the whole thing out of blocks and parts collected and fashioned myself. It started off as the (now) dungeon, before becoming the castle/house thing aboveground. Note the finer touches, like grass on the roof and glass walls on both sides of the second floor.

My plans are grand! In time I will remove all earth below the house, and have it floating like one of those castles in Dragonlance (or rocks in Avatar…). I will then build a bridge between the castle and the remaining land out of pure gemstone. I shall call it Bifrost, and it shall shimmer like a rainbow. The cavern below the house will be flooded, and nearby I will have a pen of livestock that I will harvest for food to fuel my spelunking into other worlds to obtain more raw materials.

On the very top of the castle I shall build a tower up to the heavens. It will be crested with pyramids and guarded by gigantic, ancient statues. On the very top I will place a gigantic unblinking lens forged from a single massive diamond. It will forever look out amongst the clouds.

Most of the above is currently possible in Junk Jack. Some will come with updates. It’s a clever, clever ‘game’, highly recommended if you like exploring and building.