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Originally published: June 24, 2006

[Edit: I'm posting this because I plan to review the figures which I got last year and cover HorrorClix a little more in depth in the coming weeks. This article's just to give you an idea of the game in case you're unfamiliar with it.]

I’m a pretty consistent fan of gaming. Be it video games, board games or those life-sucking MMORPG’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). I’ll even admit that I’ve spent a few hours indulging in the intensely geeky realm of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Generally I prefer immersive gaming, like say Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I love the whole concept of freeform play with the ability to still have a storyline. As much as I enjoy watching characters move around the screen, though, one of my dreams has been a game I could play with physical characters. It’d be sort of like going back to my teenage, err.. pre-teen years when I played with G.I. Joe and Star Wars figures. I’d finally have a chance to re-enact grand stories with gaming mechanics adding that twist of chance to really spark my imagination. Maybe other kids would play with me, too!

For years that dream was out of reach. However, it’s begun to move closer to becoming reality. Well, ok, it actually is a reality. Wizkids has already brought us games of this nature with Mage Knight (which I bought in massive quantities a few years ago) and HeroClix. These are CMG’s (Collectible Miniatures Games) and they use small figures on special bases which contain stats and dials to keep track of damage during combat and whatnot. This is all well and fine but superheroes and medieval fantasy just aren’t my thing. Horror is. Guess what Wizkids is coming out with in August?

Yep! It’s HorrorClix! This isn’t just combat-based war-gaming with monsters, either. There are going to be actual STORY elements!

HorrorClix is going to be a whole new breed of game, from what I’ve been reading. The emphasis of gameplay is going to be on the participants playing out a horror-style story. Sort of like horror fiction or film, except you get to determine how things go. To spice up the blood-chilling action, there’ll be game fiction, scenario cards, plot twist cards and even character cards. Can we have a halleleujah for the perfect marriage of table top AND roleplay gaming?

As for what sorts of characters you’ll be able to obtain, they’ll all be sold in packs (or bricks if you’re truly hardcore), so you never know what you’re going to get. Please hold the Forrest Gump jokes, folks, they’re tired - very tired. Anyways, from what I’ve snooped it appears we’ll be able to get a whole range of monsters. Big ole 16" Great Cthulhu should be a true show piece and highly collectible. Aliens Vs. Predator are scheduled to be available, too. There’ll also be werewolves, vampires, serial killers, derranged clowns, loony cultists, zombies, headless horsemen and the devil only knows what else. Oh and did I mention that VICTIMS will also be available? How cool is THAT?

I’d like to pause for a moment, just to allow us all to take a calm breath and slow our hammering hearts. Imagine the games you could play with these figures. You could have serial killers slaughtering hapless victims only to be preyed upon by vampires far more powerful than Mr. Killer had ever imagined. You could have zombie armies battling it out with werewolves over some sacred grounds or another. You could invent a story about a cult that manages to exercise mind control over vast legions of supernatural baddies and then sic ‘em on a group of determined victims who must wage war to save the planet - or your living room floor. I mean, the potential here is amazing.

Alas, I have not yet played the game itself. The figures won’t be shipping until August 2006. I do indeed plan to get some so that I can review them right here on Happy Horror. From my sleuthing, I’ve discovered that Starter Packs will go for around $13.00 and Booster Packs for around $8.00 or so. You can pre-order these from many sites online already.

If you want the official scoop on HorrorClix, click on this

I confess. I cannot wait to review this game. Be sure to add us to your favorites and check back frequently to see my earliest reviews. Until the next time I drool over my moldy keyboard in awe over yet another fabulous plastic creation, this is GlowStormLion, pre-ordering vast ships full of HorrorClix product to hoarde and release slowly on E-bay at outrageous prices. Goodnight, horror fans!

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Originally published: June 11 @ 6:52am PST

"Shut up… and listen up!"

- The Gatekeeper from Atmosfear: The Harbingers VHS Board Game

This game was my first encounter with the Gatekeeper (our previous Monster of the Week) and I really enjoyed it. I first played it with my friend Steve and some others at his birthday party, then later with some other friends. The group atmosphere (no pun intended) definitely lends itself to the proceedings.

First of all, you need a minimum of three people to play, with the maximum being six. You start out as a Numbskull, with the goal of "becoming" a Harbinger. At the start of the game, each player writes down his or her greatest fear which is then placed in the Well of Fears in the center of the board. Once you "become" a Harbinger by reaching that Harbinger’s Headstone, you race to get a Keystone of each color, then head to the center ring road and finally back to your starting space to face your fear. If you pull your fear from the Well, you have to go back to your Headstone…

If you pull someone else’s fear, you win the game. Complicating things, as always, is the Gatekeeper. He appears along the way, dealing out his punishments and rewards. You could be sent back to your Headstone, or starting space, banished to the Black Hole, told to set a gate on the board, miss several turns or gain several free turns. It all depends on the mood of the Gatekeeper.

Pictured: Soul Ranger from Atmosfear: The Harbingers VHS Board Game

The board is divided up into six Provinces, each ruled by a different Harbinger. The red section belongs to Elizabeth Bathory, the Vampire; green is the home of Baron Samedi, the Zombie; purple is the domain of Hellin, the Poltergeist; blue is the running grounds of Gevaudin, the Werewolf; orange is the territory of Anne de Chantraine, the Witch; and yellow is the lair of Khufu, the Mummy. The board is created to be set up in a number of ways, as each Province is detachable from the board enabling players to lay them out in any of the six spots.

On the flipside of each Province is what’s known as the Sewers. At the beginning of the game, you’re given ten minutes to "become" a Harbinger. If, at the end of those ten minutes, you haven’t made it to a Headstone, you have to spend the rest of the game as a Soul Ranger. The unclaimed Provinces get flipped over to the Sewer side and the Numbskull tokens of the Soul Rangers start on a skull space in one of the Sewers. As a Soul Ranger, the only way to achieve a Keystone is to hunt down other players and steal them.

Pictured: Would you trust Dr. Mastiff to do your dental work? He’s the host of Atmosfear: The Soul Rangers (expansion tape)

There were two booster tapes made for this version of the Nightmare/Atmosfear series. First, there was a 45 minute version which was harder (less keys available at the start of the game, shorter time, etc.), and a special Soul Rangers tape that was hosted not by the Gatekeeper, but by Dr. Mastiff, the demented dentist. In this variation, instead of gaining keys, you tried to get rid of them and then attempted to draw the thing that disgusts you most, at the end of 60 minutes. I don’t own either of these games, though I’d really like to acquire them sometime soon.

The Atmosfear series of games is really remarkable, in my opinion. It has a huge fanbase and has actually survived more than ten years, though not continuously. Now that new life has been breathed into it with the DVD version, my hope is that it lasts even longer. I have no choice but to give this game a 5 out of 5. The Gatekeeper demands nothing less!

BONUS! In a search on the YouTube site, I came across a rare music video. It was originally featured at the end of the Nightmare IV game, after the short ad for the Khufu game that was never created. The song is called Thrill Me and the video features my favorite zombie, Baron Samedi. I love this video, and I hope you do, too! Here’s the video:

Have a good day everyone. Until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!

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Originally published: June 8, 2006 @ 4:00am PST

"STOP!"

says the Gatekeeper from Nightmare, the VHS board game

This week’s Monster of the Week may not seem like a monster, really. He looks human, in a way. He’s probably not as scary as Jason or Freddy or any number of other movie villains. He’s the host of a series of games called Nightmare and Atmosfear. The games are played using a VHS tape or, most recently, a DVD. The game will take up to an hour (times vary depending on the game you’re playing), with the tape/DVD acting as the timer.

Sounds easy, you say? Not so fast, not with the Gatekeeper…

"Wave to me, precious. I’m waving to you. I’m waving you good-byyyye. You’re banished."

- The Gatekeeper from VHS board game Atmosfear: The Harbingers

The first game, Nightmare (released as Atmosfear outside the United States) introduced us to the Gatekeeper, who looked relatively normal. As the game progressed, though, he started looking stranger and stranger, until, by the end, he was blacklit, purple-faced and green-eyed. This is very similar to how he appears in the first American Atmosfear game. During the game, he’ll give out commands, ask the players questions, banish people to Black Holes (and release them at certain intervals), and generally do everything he can to prevent any players from winning the game. The DVD game, released last year, introduced a random element to the game. Before, when playing the game multiple times, you could pretty much memorize what would happen when. In the new DVD version he randomly hits you with different commands, making every game played different from the last.

"I’m just trying to picture you with a personality… nope, can’t see it."

- Gatekeeper from the DVD board game Atmosfear: the Gatekeeper

The story behind the Gatekeeper is this: He’s the one that keeps the Harbingers powers in check and keeps them out of our world. If one of these Harbingers… the Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf, Mummy, Witch or Poltergeist… were to escape their terror-tory and enter our world, they would wreak havoc upon us. However, since he’s immortal, it can get pretty boring so he gives the Harbingers a chance to escape… if they can beat him at his own game. So far, at least in the games I’ve played, he’s never lost.

The Atmosfear series of games is really fun and I hope to cover a game of it in a future article for this site. Until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!

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