I love this because, not only do I recognize a bunch of these games, they’re also ones I really loved: The Movie Monster Game (damn, I miss Epyx), Axe of Rage, Death Wish 3 and more.

Sunday Magazine | March 4, 2011

However I love geekiness and had to share these signs some friends sent in!

Thanks Anna and Denise!

Just looking at this Wordle, would you be able to identify these words as ones Lovecraft used in his stories? Maybe, if you saw the combination of strange, dark dreams, but where’s the classic Lovecraft lexicon? According to an on-going word count she’s been running, Lovecraft was less likely to drop the eldritch-bomb than you may have thought — only 23 times. Other ripe for parody verbiage is even less-used: antediluvian (10), stygian (6) and squamous (1) — only 1 use of squamous and I could have sworn you couldn’t swing a Shoggoth without hitting that word!

But this is beyond just being an intellectual exercise, these are happy offshoots of her Lovecraft ebook compilation, collecting all of Lovecraft’s original works from public domain sources like Project Gutenberg and DagonBytes.com. The end result is a chronological collection of Lovecraft work spanning from 1917 to 1935. This has never been done before and is completely free. Suck it, Derleth!

Read about the process and get setup assistance here or jump straight to the Nook (EPUB) version or the Kindle (MOBI) version.

Check it out: The Necronomnomnom

Some of the more interesting posts:

• Geeky Beers
• “You Must Be Mad” Scientist’s Lasagna
• Bacon on a Stick
• Beefy Heart Attack GET! Dip
• LAN Party Chili

It’s worth watching now just to see Reubens play tug of war with a dog.

Arkham Horror
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

That’s how I roll.

We played Arkham Horror, a board game set in H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham where investigators combat creatures from the Cthulhu mythos. Each character draws a character card — basically a character sheet showing your abilities, starting loot and any strengths or weakness. Great art is supplemented with color text, so you really have a good idea of who your character is.

Before I was sucked into the void and had a draw a new character, I was “Ashcan” Pete. Living in the River Docks with my dog Duke, I set forth on my adventure with more stamina than sanity and only $1 to my name. My character sheet also showed my skills: six skills divided into three groups. Skill points are set by the player (limited by the character’s skill caps) and are balanced. For example, you can move fast, but become less stealthy.

Each turn investigators move around the board collecting clues, having sanity and health draining experiences and combating the ever-growing threat of having an Old One awaken. Our game took place in the shadow of Yog-Sothoth who was described in “The Horror in the Museum” as, “a congeries of iridescent globes, yet stupendous in its malign suggestiveness.” Boo!

Arkham Horror is allegedly won by closing the gates which keep popping up around town (and spewing monsters) or defeating the Old One if it awakens (unless it’s Azathoth who destroys the world outright). I say allegedly won, because my group spent our time bouncing in and out of Arkham Asylum and St. Mary’s Hospital. This was our fault though because even though Arkham Horror does have a learning curve, adjusting our state of mind to the cooperative nature of the game took longer.

To succeed in Arkham Horror you need to coordinate with your fellow investigators to stamp the eldritch menace. In this way, the game functions effectively as an RPG. The other key to success is having a large table.

The actual board part of the game shows Arkham’s hotspots and otherworld environs, but surrounding the board are a variety of encounter, mythos, and item cards. Then you also need room for your character card and any cards you’ve collected resulting in the game taking up the better part of a hectare. There are actually add-ons for the game, but you’ll need to pull a permit before playing them.

And you’ll need time. Lots of time.

Even with our epic failure, Arkham Horror was lots of fun and I strongly recommend it.

Setting the mood: I like when my alcohol matches an evening’s theme, so I picked up a bottle of Kraken Rum. This is a darker, richer spiced rum which pairs well with Coke Zero. Too add to the ambiance, I also set Last.fm to the Cthulhu tag. The first pick was Tom Wait’s Downtown Train, but future selections became more appropriate bouncing between cacophonous instrumentals and metal mixed with chanting. Highlights included Tom Smith’s I Had a Shoggoth, Cradle of Filth’s Mother of Abominations and Adam Zivojnovich’s Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn!

Angry Birds – Letters From the Front Lines from Chris Riebschlager on Vimeo.

As someone who also feels that I should have already unlocked all the content when I purchased the game, I really appreciated this.

But, hey, I like Maps.