War on Terror Blog
Tuesday 15th January 2008
War on Terror on Current TV
Last year we were invited to LA for the world's first War on Terror tournament. As we reported at the time, Al Gore's Current TV followed the event and the ensuing carnage, I mean, fun.
Well it took a while, but they've finally put the segment together and there are now two Current TV shorts featuring War on Terror.
The first states: "Politically themed toys are the new craze, with Axis Of Evil figurines and War On Terror, the boardgame leading the way" (It'd be nice if this were true, but sadly two things don't make a craze... yet): http://current.com/items/88808930_playthings_go_political
The second video is all about the tournament itself: http://current.com/items/88808929_war_on_terror_the_game
Overall, they've done a very nice job. I love the cut from Bill saying "it [the game] lets you learn about yourself and what you're willing to do" and then the guy with the impressive moustache-beard-combo playing the game says "All I wanna do is nuke somebody". Lovely editing.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 15 January 2008 - 0 comments
Thursday 10th January 2008
Celebrating 3 years of bloggage
Three years, It's true. Although our website statistics show that you ungrateful swines rarely care enough to explore it, there are now over three years' worth of blog posts in the archive. Click on the gallery to see some choice cuts from the past 36 months. What's even scarier is to think that we'd been testing War on Terror for six months prior to our very first post. It really was a beast to work on.
Still, we learn from experience, as we note over Christmas, due to the number of "how should we implement the 'WMDs take 45 minutes to launch' rule?" emails. Yes, we've learnt that you should never put a joke in the rule book.
we've learnt that you should never put a joke in the rule book We've also learnt that trying to replicate global Realpolitik in an open-ended game where rules can be made up is a recipe for prolonged testing disaster. In fact, if we knew then what we know now, War on Terror would be a very different game - probably a better game on some levels, but a worse game on many others. It's a nice reminder that occasionally ignorance is the best creative lubricant.
We're starting 2008 with big plans for TerrorBull Games. We have no fewer than 4 games at prototype-or-near stage. Simply referred to as Project N, Project FF, Project PP and Project CS, we're subjecting these games to some serious testing in the hope that one will rise above the others as a worthy contender for a follow-up to War on Terror, possibly even for release this year, but who knows?
To close this blog, here's a random gem from the interweb's highways: "Bush Was Right" by The Right Brothers. Please note: although laughter may be your natural response, this is not a parody. They mean every word - and what words. Just check out a sample of the lyrics:
Democracy is on the way, hitting like a tidal wave
All over the middle east, dictators walk with shaky knees
Don’t know what they’re gonna do, their worst nightmare is coming true
They fear the domino effect, they’re all wondering who’s next
As one of the comments on YouTube succinctly points out - if the Right Brothers are so convinced that Bush is right, why aren't they fighting in Iraq? What with the shortage of recruits, I'm sure that Bush would appreciate the extra canon fodder more than he would a supportive pop ditty.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 10 January 2008 - 0 comments
Monday 24th December 2007
Have Your Say
Thanks to the wonders of interweb magic, you can now comment on blog posts and contribute to the ongoing mayhem that is the WoT Blog. It's a bit of an experiment - we're planning not to censor comments unless someone posts something utterly pointless, eg. spam, irrelevance, codez, bigotry of all kinds and, well, anything that fails to contribute on any level. That means if you're going to insult us, make it constructive.
So Christmas is just around the corner and we're hoping War on Terror will be the traditional board game of choice in many family homes. If you open up War on Terror tomorrow, please take lots of festive photos of cracker hats and balaclavas and send them our way. We're hoping to put together a special Christmas gallery. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, use your imagination and send us an amusing photo anyway.
As an early Christmas present, we have to share with you this fantastic video we were sent. Graham has been travelling in the States and noticed a life-size cut-out of George W. Bush in a shop window. He happened to have an EVIL balaclava on him (we recommend you carry yours with you at all times too) and just couldn't resist ... watch what happened on You Tube.
And just before you go, take a look at the latest EVIL Gallery entries and someone's broken a new EVIL Challenge.
Happy Christmas, play safe, have fun and don't do anything we wouldn't.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 24 December 2007 - 5 comments
Tuesday 11th December 2007
Let Us Ruin Christmas - Together!
Ahh, it's Christmas... So here's our Christmas message: The planet's fucked, the economy's fucked, Capitalism's fucked. So, like the band that played on as the Titanic sank, why not relax and enjoy yourselves...
Roast a terrorist, gorge yourself on a defenceless empire, plump up a coup, nestle up with a politician or spring a delightfully well wrapped IED - your choice. Play by our rules, or play by your rules, and hope they're the same as your neighbours' rules.
Christmas is that special time for falling out with family. But with the help of War on Terror the Boardgame it doesn't have to be that way. We suggest trying for 'World Peace' this Christmas instead. We put this special ending in the rules ages ago but in three years of testing, peace only broke out twice...so do your bit this year and make it a peaceful one. Although for all you warring nutters out there don't worry, being the peace envoy doesn't mean you can't have your murderous fun too: you can still be an aggressive war criminal at the same time. Just ask dear, Christian Tony Blair. Good will to all.
In other news, we were as shocked as everyone else that not only did Richard Perle come clean about the illegality of the Iraq war, but that it has barely been given coverage in the mainstream media. Can you imagine 80's Soviet Russia owning up to the fact that its invasion of Afghanistan was illegal and this admission passing without comment in the Western media? So to redress the balance, here's the story again.
The planet's fucked, the economy's fucked, Capitalism's fucked... We're almost done. We've just got to draw your attention to our page of Stockists and all the lovely new shops that have come on board. If you know of any that are missing from our list, please let us know.
Amazon.com are also now stocking the game (Amazon.co.uk for our fellow countryfolk). Be a love and write us an impossibly brilliant review, will you? We're giving away a FREE, SIGNED GAME to the most blatantly made up superlative praise. eg. "this is game is so good, I now speak 6 different languages fluently and then I invented fire".
And for all our Antipodean comrades, a reminder that you can now get the game through New Internationalist and we also have a special EVIL challenge for our friends at the newspaper that called for a ban on the game - you know the one where the guy offered to take us into a room and kick the shit out of us. We'd like to send them a special present of you wearing a balaclava in their reception area.
AMAZON COMPETITION UPDATE - 16 Dec: We've had some shockingly good entries to our 'most outlandish claim in an Amazon review' competition, including one that has taken the definition of 'superlative' to new, giddy heights. We also particularly like the headline of another review: "Terror-ific!" But the race is far from over. If you want the chance of winning a free, signed game, get writing those reviews: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 11 December 2007 - 0 comments
Monday 10th December 2007
Opening Soon: The Balaclava Museum
As we've bemoaned before, "business" can be pretty dull at times - regardless of what you're dealing with. However, there's always one component guaranteed to raise a smile and that's the EVIL balaclava.
Whether it's measuring eye holes for a new design spec or stipulating the exact wording of text on the label, the absurdity of including a balaclava in a board game never fails to make us chuckle. The new balaclava is a silky smooth poly-cotton mix, not unlike a wrestler's mask Just the thought that with each new game, there's also a new EVIL balaclava owner ... it almost gives us delusions of grandeur, like we have our own private balaclava army waiting in the wings.
Since the second print-run of War on Terror (summer '07), there's been a new, improved, refined, light-weight balaclava. Reports from sweaty convention halls and the Iraqi desert alike convinced us that the 'knitted look' wasn't without it's practical drawbacks. The new balaclava, therefore, is a silky smooth poly-cotton mix, not unlike a wrestler's mask, but it's still absolutely terrifying. Maybe more so than the original.
It was during a recent moment of take-a-step-back-and-realise-how-weird-things-have-become that we noticed we had enough balaclava samples to open a small, esoteric and slightly disturbing museum: The Museum of the Evil Balacava. But we're not going to open a museum, that would just be mental. However, what we are going to do is share this item's bizarre history with you in picture format and present a gallery of balaclava samples we've acquired over the years. Let us link arms and skip down memory lane whilst wearing frightening headgear...
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 10 December 2007 - 1 comments
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