Category: Gaming

Barista: The Game — It’s a Latte Fun!

Barista: The Game from Discovery Bay Games is a Whole Latte fun!
Barista: The Game from Discovery Bay Games is a Whole Latte fun!

I’ve been in the gourmet coffee business most of my adult life. As a longtime barista, the idea of the game Barista from Discovery Bay Games intrigued me. When I picked it up and examined it for the first time, I smiled at the faux burlap print that covers the box. (The newest edition comes in a black and blue pinstripe box.) As a coffee fanatic, I have a small collection of the burlap bags that green coffee is shipped and stored in. Then I opened the box and began examining the game pieces, and was pleased to see an accurate selection of drinks depicted on the cards and dice.

Starbucks may have been the first big company to make wide use of the drink marking boxes, but it is by no means the only company using them. While the customer may not understand the importance of drink calling in order, it helps assist the barista improve the accuracy of the drinks, especially during peak periods. That the creators of the game took the time to include proper drink calling in the gameplay thrilled me to no end. Baristas around the world should rejoice and purchase this game to play with their friends, and offer it along with their other in-store games for customers to play.

The gameplay is simple and easy to catch on to. The object of the game is to be the first barista to accurately “build” the customer’s drink. Along the way, you can slow down and trip up your fellow baristas, quite literally if you draw a “spill drink” card to lay on them. Some of the cards are similar to Uno, with wild cards that can be anything, steal cards that allow you to take an ingredient card from another player’s hand, or a re-roll that lets you change one of the drink dice. Each time you win a hand, you receive 2 golden “tip” tokens. The first player to get 5 tip tokens wins the game. With a 2-player game, we modified the tip rule for game win, increasing 5 coins to 10 to lengthen gameplay.

Another fun twist on the gameplay is betting with your tips in what is called a “Barista Challenge”. If you already have at least 1 token, you can bet it against any other player that you will have more correct ingredients than them at the end of the hand, even if you don’t win the hand. If you win the challenge, you get a tip coin. If you lose the challenge, you lose a tip coin.

One point of confusion in the gameplay is setting down matching ingredients. The instructions say that you can set your matched ingredients face down on the playing surface so you are only holding the unmatched ingredients in your hand. The cards that are set down are still considered to be part of your hand, though, so when another player gets a steal card, these cards would be the obvious targets to take. The instructions don’t specify if they can be taken or if they are safe. We chose before a few games not to lay down cards, so as to randomize success when the steal card is played.

The box has a molded insert that neatly and securely holds all of the game pieces, and is small enough to store on an average bookshelf. The large dice are easy to read and the cards are thick, coated, and seem to be highly durable for many years of fun gameplay. While the demitasse cup is the right size for a dopio espresso macchiato, it’s actually for shaking up the dice. Perfect for any coffee lover, Barista is fun, fast-paced, and educational for anyone who drinks coffee and never knows how to order their drink.

The game includes:
52 Playing Cards
4 Drink Order Dice
1 Tip Token Bag
20 Tip Tokens
1 Espresso Cup Shaker

The deck is made up of different coffee cards:
Drink — Cappuccino, Mocha or Latte
Size — Short, Tall or Grande
Milk — Nonfat, Breve or Soy
Shots — Single, Double or Triple
Wild — A wild card can represent any element of a specific drink order.
Roll — Player must re-roll one Drink Order Die.
Change — Player must change one Drink Order Die.
Take — Player must take one card from another barista.
Spill — Player can choose to spill one opponent’s drink.

Barista is distributed by Discovery Bay Games, and is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or one of Discovery Bay Games’ many other Retailers.

Jeff Lewis: Getting to Know the Man Behind the Guildmaster

The wise and witty Jeff Lewis of The Guild
The wise and witty Jeff Lewis of The Guild

Over the past two years, ten million people have come to recognize Jeff Lewis as Vork, the quirky leader of The Knights of Good on Felicia Day‘s hit web series The Guild. After spending years doing stand-up and improv comedy with such troupes as The Groundlings and The Second City, he’s also turned his talents towards writing. His first film screenplay, For Christ’s Sake, is in post-production, and his other writing credits include episodes of Nickelodeon‘s Catscratch and Dreamworks Animation‘s Toonsylvania. While he’s made numerous web and television production appearances, very little information is available online to provide insight into the man behind the Guildmaster (though he did just receive a bit of “exposure” by appearing in nothing but a blue Speedo in a CareerBuilder.com commercial), so Jeff graciously took time recently to answer some questions for us.

ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) I love your CareerBuilder commercial! What kind of feedback are you getting from it so far, and how do you feel about your picture being sent as a gift all over Facebook?

Jeff Lewis (JL) The feedback from the commercial has been great. I love being sent as a gift. I think they stopped it and that makes me sad.

(ÜSFG) Did you have an active imagination when you were a kid?

(JL) Yes, I did. I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction books and after I would read a passage, I would close my eyes and play it out in my head. And I spent a lot of time with toy soldiers, having battles where I killed several Nazis. I love killing Nazis. To this day, I will buy any WW2 video game that involves killing Nazis. I will continue killing Nazis even when the game tells me I am done with a certain area or level. And when the opportunity arises to actually play a Nazi, I will kill myself immediately and laugh about it. I hate Nazis. I cannot overstate it.

(ÜSFG) Lots of artistic people struggle with other things considered normal, like sports, academics, and social interaction, but then thrive when they discover the arts. Did you have a similar experience?

(JL) For the most part. I loved sports though. Basketball and football. But I always struggled with academics. Knowledge is just not my… thing. And as far as social interaction, it wasn’t great. Especially with women. Especially with women. I am repeating that sentence for dramatic effect. I came from a place of assuming immediately that any woman I met was not interested. There was a time when a woman could be naked in my bed and I still would question whether she was into me. I definitely fared better in the arts. It’s a real boost to your confidence when people laugh at you. And then, of course, social interaction improves. Although I’m still not sure that my fiancée is really into me.

(ÜSFG) How old were you when you decided you wanted to be an actor?

(JL) It took a long time. I was in a state of denial for many years. I just kind of did shows but didn’t admit that I was an actor. It just wasn’t something my parents wanted me to do or raised me to be. I think I probably knew the first time I stepped on stage. I’m going to give you a number just because I think people generally crave specificity. 28.

(ÜSFG) You just finished wrapping season 2 of The Guild. What was it like being back together with the cast and crew? How different was it to actually have a budget this time around?

(JL) It was great being with the cast and crew. Quite seriously, I like everybody and we have a great time. Sometimes too good. Especially with Felicia and Sandeep, just because I’ve known them so long and so many of my scenes are with them. I look forward to working more with Vince and Amy and Robin because I really like them too. And I love the crew. Everybody’ s just really nice and we’ve gotten into a good rhythm. If there was a way we could legally, morally and biologically have an orgy without the sex and various fluids, I would like to do that.

It was a little different having a budget. Not as much on the set because the writing and acting has always been there, regardless of budget, but more seeing the finished product. It just looks great. I take that back now about on the set. There’s more people. It takes longer for me to walk back from craft service to the set. More people to get by.

(ÜSFG) I know that Felicia Day wrote the part of Vork for you because she thinks you are one of the funniest men she’s ever known. Does that mean she borrowed heavily from your real life personality? How much are you and Vork alike?

(JL) I don’t know how much she borrowed. Vork is very exact in his words and actions. Everything’s a little calculated. I think I’m more stop and start, not exactly sure where I’m going. And dumb. I think emotionally, we might be similar. Prone to instant anger, albeit disarming. And frustration. We both have that and I hope it comes out in a funny way. Basically (and sadly), I think she just thought I looked the part of an older gamer.

(ÜSFG) What’s going on with For Christ’s Sake? There’s a great website up at forchristssakemovie.com (love the choice of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” theme). Can you tell us a little bit about the film and how you came to write it?

(JL) For Christ’s Sake is a feature about a priest who unwittingly becomes an investor in his brother’s porn movie. It’s got a great cast. Jed Reese, Will Sasso, Alex Borstein, Sarah Rue, Michael Hitchcock and John Schneider (of The Dukes of Hazzard). I wrote it several years ago in a writing workshop class and gave it to my friend Jackson Douglas, a director, and he got the funding and directed it. We’re just waiting to hear about distribution now.

(ÜSFG) You visited Kiko on the set of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine show this season. What was it like working with Kim Evey and her crew over there?

(JL) It was great to work with Kim. She’s awesome! I had never worked with any of the actors and we just hit it off. Very fun. And Kim is great to work with on The Guild. I think of her as the script Nazi on The Guild. Maybe not Nazi but more of a “the mom that would keep you in line” and I mean that in the best way. She’s the one that would say, “No, Vork would never keep a small boy in the basement” or “Vork would never be in a hotel room with two hookers and an eight ball”. You need somebody like that. To keep you true to the characters and to maintain that ensemble feel. And by the way, Vork WOULD keep a small boy in his basement.

(ÜSFG) You’ve had a lot of success lately as a writer. Are you changing your focus from in front of to behind the scenes?

(JL) I’m not sure that I’ve had that much success, but if you say so. I will say that for about two years, I kind of gave up on acting and focused almost solely on writing and that was a mistake and will never happen again.

(ÜSFG) What other projects have you been working on?

(JL) I’ve been doing stand up for about 6 months and that’s been fun and horrifying. I’m also writing a screenplay with a new partner and trying to write my own webisode, hopefully with the help of The Guild people.

(ÜSFG) Do you get recognized in public now?

(JL) Once in a while, I do get recognized. It’s always a little awkward. I’ve gotten so used to living in obscurity. It was always a goal of mine.

(ÜSFG) Are you a Whedonite?

(JL) I’m not sure. I love everything he’s done. He’s pretty amazing. I was very jealous when I saw Dr. Horrible. I wish I could write like that. Especially the songs.

For Christ’s Sake will be released later this year. In the meantime, catch up on Season 2 of The Guild, which can be watched on MSN Video, Xbox Live and Zune.

Steampunk Name Generator

Steampunk Name Generator

I present a generator of names and titles for those who may have temporarily misplaced their own.

Please enter your name, and select your gender, and the means by which you aquired your title. Then you will receive your own, personal Steampunk alias to do with as you see fit. Whether it comes to be famous or infamous is up to you!

Roleplayers and authors in need of authentic-sounding character names will appreciate this service provided by Brass Goggles, a blog and forum devoted to the lighter side of all things Steampunk.

GetBack: Wakin’ Up the Memories

Sign up at GetBack.com, sister company and collaborator of Shout! Factory, for nostalgic doses of pop culture every weekday.

Top 10 Reasons to Join GetBack Today

  • Wake up your favorite memories.
  • Create Pop Quizzes of you favorite trivia.
  • Meet other pop culture geeks like you.
  • Receive the daily GetBack Greeting.
  • Create collections of your favorite artists, music videos, movie trailers and arcade games.
  • Leave comments throughout the site.
  • Add friends.
  • Impress your friends with your mastery of useless knowledge and good taste in collections.
  • Argue about which Van Halen lead singer is best.
  • Prove to your kids that you were cool once upon a time.

GetBack.com is the only online community and pop-culture destination built around the music, movies, games, and events you love. We’re a bunch of pop culture freaks dedicated to wakin’ up memories of the past while connecting to the best of the present.

We started our company in 2007, after we (most of us are veterans of iFilm, Spike, Rhino, and Shout! Factory) realized there weren’t any Web sites that acted our age or featured our favorite stuff from the past while keeping current on the best in music, movies, and entertainment. Basically, we wanted to meet more people like us.

So GetBack was born. In our short journey, we’ve covered a lot of ground. You can find our editorial and video content on Yahoo!, MSN, Hulu, and on offline screens near you. We’ve also been featured on Spike TV and Extra and in The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, and blogs aplenty. Some of our cooler content includes:

  • Our flagship show, Retro Minute, hosted by our own Shawn Amos. It’s a daily blast to the past.
  • Feature stories by GetBack editors spotlighting the best — and worst — of pop culture past and present.
  • Thousands of classic movie trailers and music videos.
  • 23 channels of streaming radio.
  • An arcade full of your favorite classic video games.
  • GetBack Pop Quizes to test your knowledge and impress your friends.

Brew Up Some Fun With Potions — A Wizard’s Apprentice Game

Discovery Bay Games brews up more fun with Potions -- A Wizard’s Apprentice Game
Discovery Bay Games brews up more fun with Potions -- A Wizard’s Apprentice Game

Discovery Bay Games brewed up another magical batch of fun with their game Potions — A Wizard’s Apprentice Game. In Potions, the players are apprentices competing to become a wizard. The first apprentice to complete the potion assignment gets two Class Credit tokens. The first apprentice to collect five Class Credit tokens wins the game.

Potions uses a combination of dice and cards to build these potions. The cards are shuffled and each player is dealt four cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the players to create a draw pile. Then the dice are rolled to determine what kind of potion you have to brew up. There are three kinds of potions, six ingredients, and three types of applications of the potion. The first dice tells you what kind of potion you are making: Love, Wisdom, or Transforming. The second die is the first ingredient: Eye of Newt, Tooth of Dog, or Toe of Frog. The third die is the second ingredient: Lizard’s Leg, Wool of Bat, or Fenny Snake. The fourth die represents the application of the potion: Drink, Powder, or Ointment.

At the beginning of each hand, the player draws a fifth card from the deck in an attempt to match four cards with the dice. The player must then discard one of their cards so that their hand is back at four cards by the end of their turn. The card is placed face up in a discard pile beside the draw pile. If it is an action card, the action is done on the player of your choice. If the player does not have all four ingredients, their turn ends and the next player draws a card.

The action cards are fun ways to thwart your opponents’ success. Merlin’s Roll allows you to re-roll one Potion Elements die. Change allows to you change any element die to whatever you like. Take allows you to steal a card from another apprentice, forcing them to draw a replacement card from the draw pile and Spilled Cauldron forces a player to lose all of their cards and draw an entire new hand from the draw pile. After each successful hand, the winner collects 2 Class Credit tokens and the dice are rolled again for the next round.

Another twist on the game is the Apprentice Challenge. If you have at least one Potions Class Credit token, you can challenge any other player that you will have more matching ingredients than them in the next hand. If you don’t have more than them at the end of the hand, you lose a Class Credit token. If you do have more than them, you receive a Class Credit token even if you don’t win the round.

One point of confusion in the gameplay is setting down matching ingredients. The instructions say that you can set your matched ingredients face down on the playing surface so you are only holding the unmatched ingredients in your hand. The cards that are set down are still considered to be part of your hand, though, so when another player gets a steal card, these cards would be the obvious targets to take. The instructions don’t specify if they can be taken or if they are safe. We chose before a few games not to lay down cards, so as to randomize success when the steal card is played.

The box has a molded insert that neatly and securely holds all of the game pieces, and is small enough to store on an average bookshelf. The large dice are easy to read and the cards are thick, coated, and seem to be highly durable for many years of fun game play. Perfect for the fantasy lover, Potions is fun and fast-paced. While it doesn’t have a strong educational value, it might help younger players to understand the concept of mixing ingredients to make something new.

The game includes:
52 Playing Cards
4 Potion Elements Dice
20 Potion Class Credit Tokens
1 Potion Class Credit Token Bag
1 Cauldron Shaker Cup

Potions is distributed by Discovery Bay Games, and is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or one of Discovery Bay Games’ many other Retailers.

Split Reason: Gear for Geeks and Gamers

Visiting the website of Canadian company Split Reason is like opening the doors to a geeky dream closet. It’s hard to pick just one thing to wear, as there are so many winning selections.

Linked
Linked

“Inspired by that dude with the pointy ears, and we don’t mean Mr. Spock,” Split Reason’s line of Zelda-based apparel will enchant Nintendo fans on a quest to tap into the power of the Triforce, and tide over followers of web series The Legend of Neil who are currently waiting on poll results for official show t-shirts to be made. The Linked design, available as a men’s hoody and t-shirts in men’s and women’s baby tee sizes, incorporates all the iconic images associated with The Legend of Zelda video game and is printed on a thick, Link-green fabric that’s double-stitched for extra durability. The t-shirts are soft, pre-shrunk, 100% cotton, while the sweatshirt is a warm cotton-polyester blend with a double-lined hood that helps hide pointed ears on travels outside of Hyrule. Split Reason also offers a Hearts Mug to sip your favourite re-energizing potions out of while playing Zelda or watching The Legend of Neil. Final score for Linked: three out of three healing hearts.

If Mario is the franchise that makes you jump for joy, Split Reason has a bunch of related garb featuring the Super and 1-up Mushrooms. Get set to power-up and earn extra lives when you wear these stylish and brightly-coloured threads!

Grow Up
Grow Up
Get a Life
Get a Life

The Grow Up and Get a Life t-shirts, like the Linked design, come in men’s and women’s baby tee sizes made of pre-shrunk, double-stitched cotton. A snuggly Grow Up hoody is listed only in men’s sizes but will fit women who order a size smaller than they normally would.

Tree of Lives
Tree of Lives

Greedy gamers who think one mushroom just isn’t enough have the option of laying claim to the entire Tree of Lives. “It does exist!” Split Reason insists, “and if you can only ascertain its location, you can ditch the fountain of youth and simply feast on its fruit and 1UP your way to immortality!” Whether this fabled tree of the Mushroom Kingdom really exists or not, it makes a peachy image that proclaims to the world that you are the master at cheating digital death.

“Every day you wake up and have to get dressed, why not get dressed with a little geek and gamer pride!” Split Reason enthuses. “Now go forth young Jedi and spread the word about the geek and gaming haven that is Split Reason.com!” Split Reason’s playful attitude, coupled with first-class customer service, is why it pwns its competition. That, and an interactive website, more playground than place of business, where geeks congregate to compete in weekly contests, earn rewards by submitting pictures of themselves in their new gear, trades ideas and feedback for Gold Pieces that can be redeemed on future purchases, and submit ideas and designs that their peers are then able to vote into actual production. The company even has a 30-day money-back guarantee on the loot you drop your hard-earned coin on, so what are you waiting for? Go do some retail damage!

Order directly through the Split Reason website. For all the latest news and special offers, follow Split Reason on Twitter, join their Facebook group, friend them on MySpace, add them on Flickr, subscribe to their newsletter and RSS feeds, read their blog, and listen to their Paused podcast.

J!NX: Clothing for Gamers and Geeks

J!NX: Felicia Day
J!NX: Felicia Day

Fans of web series The Guild will be familiar with J!NX by way of the official Guild Jinx Store. Series creator Felicia Day (pictured above) set up shop at J!NX in November, posting on the show’s blog that “the quality of the shirt will be much better than the print-on-demand we’ve been providing before.” J!NX fulfilled Day’s promise by delivering a higher-quality version of  the classic Cast Logo t-shirt initially offered through CafePress, followed by a Knights of Good design that coincided with the second season premiere of The Guild.

Knights of Good
Knights of Good

“Become a member of the guild inside The Guild with this shirt,” Day enthuses, winkingly adding that “Vork would approve”. What better recommendation is there than one from The Guild‘s all-business guildmaster? The colourful crest, a humorous, medieval stained glass image illustrated by Guild fan Jeff Carlisle, is beautifully reproduced on Light Steel (grey) for men and Asphalt (darker grey) for women.

J!NX also has an extensive line of clothing and accessories — hats, keychains, patches, buttons, pins, stickers, wrapping paper… even a Talking Murloc plush — based on World of Warcraft, the game that inspired The Guild.

World of Warcraft /Dance
World of Warcraft /Dance

A stand-out in the WoW collection is the sexy World of Warcraft /Dance tee, essential garb for ladies playing a Night Elf character, but J!NX makes sure that the entire family can show its gamer pride with an epic selection of Blizzard-themed items for adults, youth, and babies. For non-WoWers, there are many other licensed properties to choose from at J!NX, including StarCraft, Dungeons & Dragons, AdventureQuest, Apache,  Collusion, commandN, CrankyGeeks, DEF CON, DL.TV, Dr. Horrible, Duels, GameBanshee, GameSpot.com, Hak5, isoHunt, MajorGeeks, MiniNova, MMORPG.com, MusicScene Network, Packet Storm, Phrack, Project Lore, Safer Networking, The Totally Rad Show, and TorrentFreak.

Maze
Maze

Be sure to check out J!NX’s original creations, like the Pac-Man inspired Maze, as well. The current “Design of the Week”, a timely Buffy Staked Edward t-shirt that will appeal to Whedonites exasperated by all the Twilight hype, perfectly demonstrates why J!NX has such a dedicated community. This is a company that knows pop culture and how to cater to its fanatics. w00t!

Order directly through the J!NX website. Bonus: each package comes with a sticker sheet plus any available catalogues or other promotional materials.

Coraline Movie Tie-In Books

Coraline: The Movie Collector's Edition

The Coraline movie premieres on February 6, and what better way to count down the days than to read, or reread, the award-winning children’s book by Neil Gaiman?

When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own… except that it’s different. It’s a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there’s also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever.

Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.

Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition is a new hardcover edition of the 2002 novel. It retains the original book’s interior illustrations by Dave McKean, but now has a movie art cover and an eight-page insert of full-colour images from the film. A section at the back of the book, entitled “Extra Delights for the Coraline Reader”, features a note from Neil Gaiman about director/screenwriter Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), a note from Henry Selick about author Neil Gaiman, and an excerpt from Henry Selick’s screenplay for Coraline. Even if you have the first edition of Coraline, the Movie Collector’s Edition is well worth getting for these bonus materials.

Coraline: A Visual Companion

Serving as a bridge between the novel and film is Coraline: A Visual Companion by Stephen Jones. This weighty coffee table book, with a foreword by Neil Gaiman, is a comprehensive guide to the making of the Coraline movie, divided in four parts:

  • The Book
  • The Movie
  • The Characters, and
  • The Other Coralines, a catch-all category covering Coraline‘s related projects:
    • the 2004 short student film of Coraline that combined live-action and cut-out animation.
    • the 2006 Neil Gaiman tribute CD, Where’s Neil When You Need Him?, with three songs inspired by Coraline.
    • the 2006 touring stage production of Coraline by Irish theatrical puppet troupe Púca Puppets.
    • the 2007 touring stage production of Coraline by Swedish children’s and youth theater group Mittiprickteatern.
    • the 2008 Coraline graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell.
    • the 2009 Coraline: The Game, D3Publisher of America’s game adaptation of the film for PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and Wii.
    • the 2009 Coraline musical, a theatrical adaptation with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt and book by David Greenspan, produced by MCC Theater and True Love Productions off-Broadway at The Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York, set to have its world premiere on May 6.
    • movie tie-in marketing campaigns, such as in-store promotions with American fast-food restaurant chains Macy’s and Carl’s Jr., cards and gift-wrap at Hallmark, and toys created by NECA.

Glossy pages trace Coraline‘s path from novel to stop-motion film in lush detail, accompanied by a wealth of behind-the-scenes production photos, preliminary sketches, illustrations, character designs, conceptual art, and completed images from the movie. Interviews with cast members Dakota Fanning (“Coraline”), Teri Hatcher (“Mother/Other Mother”), Ian McShane (“Mr. Bobinski”), Jennifer Saunders (“Miss Forcible”), and Dawn French (“Miss Spink”) — John Hodgman (“Father/Other Father”) curiously absent — and the film’s crew, including Neil Gaiman, add further insight into the film’s creative process. Coraline: A Visual Companion is a peek behind the animated curtain “that will appeal to Gaiman fans, cinema buffs, visual art enthusiasts, and all those who fall in love with the inquisitive young heroine of Henry Selick’s extraordinary film.”

Once you’ve read Coraline, and spent time in its Other World, you’ll never look at buttons the same way again. (Trivia Note: The fear of buttons is known as “koumpounophobia”.)

Order now at Amazon.com:
Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition (Canada)
Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition (US)
Coraline: A Visual Companion (Canada)
Coraline: A Visual Companion (US)

Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition and Coraline: A Visual Companion are distributed by HarperEntertainment and William Morrow, imprints of HarperCollinsCanada and HarperCollins Publishers. For more information on Coraline, visit the Neil Gaiman website and its related website for young readers, Mouse Circus. Neil Gaiman may also be followed on Twitter.