More Awesome Games

Hey there everybody,

Before we show off today’s goodies. I’d like to share a little tidbit about Heifer.

The thing is, I talk about Heifer in general terms a lot, but I don’t often give specifics. And specifics are the meat of the thing. That’s where the real stories are.

Heifer International does a lot more than just give livestock to people. In Bangladesh, for example, the village of Bhairav is  flooded every year, making it impossible for children to travel to schools that are far away.

This is a problem, you see. If children miss out on a good education, it effectively cripples them for the rest of their lives. Without a good education, you can’t get a good job. Without a good job, you can’t make good money. Without money, your children end up hungry and they can’t get a good education….

To fix this problem, Heifer teamed up with a local women’s group to open the Bhawanipur education center so children have a school that’s closer to home.

But that’s only half the battle. You see, a school needs money to run. Heifer worked with the women’s group to set up a rice bank where donations of rice are sold and the money is put into a group fund that covers expenses like rent and the teacher’s salary.

The beauty of this system is that it’s self sustaining. Now that it’s set up, they no longer need Heifer’s support. They’re taking care of themselves.

Bangladesh story

Now, every year, thirty students aged 6 to 8 study in this school, including Morzina, age 6, pictured above.

They learn to read and write. They learn math. And their lives are better. And their children’s lives will be better.

This is what Heifer does.

And when you donate on the Worldbuilders team page, you’re helping them do it.

*   *  *

Today’s blog is full of games from a couple different sources. Some are going into auctions, some into our general prize drawing where anyone who donates can win.

The first of these games come from Cheapass Games. 

Here’s the thing: Don’t let their name fool you. I’ve been playing their games for twenty years, and they are fun as hell. More fun than hell, actually. A lot more.

And best of all, they’re games you can sit down and play with *anyone* at the drop of a hat. No huge rulebook. No elaborate setup. You just sit down, look things over, and in ten minutes you’re blowing up cows or setting up your villainous plans for world domination.

Because these games are so deliciously universal, we’re doing something we’ve never done before here at Worldbuilders and we’re putting a bunch of them in the general lottery.

Cheapass - Unexploded - Veritas - Dead Money

We here at Worldbuilders have learned to love games that come from James Ernest and Cheapass Games.  We have yet to find one we haven’t enjoyed, and we wanted to be sure to share that joy with some lucky donors.

This bundle has one of my personal favorites, Unexploded Cow, where you blow up mad cows, clear old mine fields, and make money while doing it.

  • Cheapass Game Bundle 2: Fish Cook, Diceland: Space, Ogre, Extra Space

Cheapass - Diceland Space - extra space - ogre - Fish Cook

This game bundle contains Fish Cook, as well as three Diceland games.

Diceland is the one that Amanda’s particularly fond of.  It’s a paper dice game, so you punch out and fold up dice which are effectively octahedron miniatures for your spaceships/tanks.  You then proceed to have a giant table-top battle, dictated by the sides of the die that you’re using.  It’s easy to learn, and awesomely fun.

  • Cheapass Game Bundle 3: Deadwood Studios, Captain Treasure Boots, Totally Renamed Spy Game

Cheapass - Deadwood - Spy Game - Treasure Boots

This bundle has the awesome Deadwood Studios game, with art by the beloved Phil Foglio.  It also has the cool Captain Treasure Boots.

Even more hilariously, it has the TOTALLY RENAMED SPY GAME. You see, it used to be called Before I kill You, Mister Bond until they got a Cease and Desist order.

As a bonus, all of these bundles have the game Light Speed added to them.  We took the time to play this one in the office last week.

IMG_20140114_170548731

It was a blast.  The point of the game is to lay your ships  wherever you can as fast as you can, so that your lasers are pointing at the asteroid, which you can mine, at everyone else’s ships, which you can destroy, and *not* at your own ships, which you can also destroy.

Amanda’s particularly fond of it because she likes to carry a game or two with her at all times for emergencies, and this one fits nicely into a purse or a pocket as it’s smaller than a deck of playing cards.

  • Auction: One of everything from 2013 from Cheapass Games: Deadwood Studios, Captain Treasure Boots, Fish Cook, Veritas, Diceland: Space, Ogre, Extra Space, Unexploded Cow, Dead Money, Totally Renamed Spy Game

Everything From Cheapass

We’re auctioning off a cool collection of all of the games made in 2013 from Cheapass games, including (though not pictured) Light Speed.

If you want the chance to own this awesome set, head over here and bid.

  • The Tinker’s Packs: An Ernest Games Bundle

Ernest Games Bundle

Here we have a collection of games from James Ernest and Cheapass Games, including Unexploded Cow, Deadwood Studios, Dead Money, Totally Renamed Spy Game, and Light Speed.

If you don’t want to leave the opportunity to get these games to chance, grab yours while you still can – we only have a few available.

Pathfinder book

Here’s an awesome book based on the incredibly popular Pathfinder games.  The folks at Paizo Games sent a bunch of copies of this, so we’re throwing them up in the lottery for some lucky donors. You don’t even have to be a fan of the Pathfinder games to enjoy this fantasy adventure.

  • Auction: Pathfinder Game Book bundle: The Inner Sea World Guide, signed by about a hundred people, Core Rulebook, crazy signed, and Stalking the Beast by Howard Andrew Jones.

Pathfinder Bundle

This is a really cool bundle: both of the game books are signed by a ton of people at Paizo Games.  Looking at the signature page is truly astounding.

Pathfinder singatures 1

 

Yep–those are the folks who worked on this game. This would be a great addition to the collection of any Pathfinder player.  If you want it, be sure to head over and bid.

  • Auction: The Art of Bioshock Infinite.  Signed and doodled by the folks at Irrational Games.

Bioshock

This is a truly beautiful art book, filled with intricate renderings of characters, locations, and costumes.  And as a bonus, it’s signed by about a billion people, some of whom took the time to doodle things as well.

Bioshock Signatures

There’s pretty much nothing but coolness about this.  If you want it, be sure to bid on it over here.

Auction: Fantasy Flight bundle: Eldritch Horror, Netrunner, Wiz-War, Ingenious, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, and A Game of Thrones.

Wall of Games 1 - Fantasy Flight

Here we have a collection of games that were donated by a group of fans at Fantasy Flight.

These are some seriously fun games for a group of serious gamers. I’m particularly fond of Decent, which I’ve played the hell out of.

If you want to add some grit to your game night, go bid over here.

  • Auction: Fantasy Flight and Mayfair bundle: Urbania, Giza, Empire Express, Catan – Cities & Knights, Eldritch Horror, Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

Wall of Gamesl 2 - Fantasy Flight

Here we have more cool donations from fans, which can help expand your game nights with friends.  To bid, go here.

  • Auction:  Roleplaying Books: Monster Hunter International, Star Wars Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual, Star Wars Age of Rebellion, Star Wars Edge of the Empire – Core Rulebook, and Mistrunner by Glenn R. Buettner (signed).

Star Wars - Mistrunner - Millenium Falcon Haynes 1

Here are some more awesome role playing books, some of which are signed, and all of which will give you something awesome and new to do.

Bid on them over here.

  • Auction: Limited Kickstarter Edition of Boss Monster Game with Quothe Ladykiller card.

Boss Monster

A generous fan donated this awesome Kickstarter-exclusive edition of Boss Monster, and we have a beautiful Quothe Ladykiller the Polymath card to send along with it.

The game is awesome, with you playing as the boss monster in an old 8-bit video game, expanding your dungeon to attract and kill heroes.  Quothe was a special, limited edition hero that Boss Monster made just for us.

And, while we don’t have it yet, we’re gonna have something else to send soon…

Bast - Thief

That my friends, is Bast, as an ordinary hero in the game.  And that’s not all:

Bast - Epic Thief

The winner of the auction will be receiving both of these cards once they’re printed, in addition to the Quothe card and the Kickstarter-exclusive edition of the game.

And, just to calm your fears, we will be having them available in The Tinker’s Packs someday.  But the winner of this auction will get it well before anyone else. So they can be really smug.

So there you go. You can click here if you’d like to donate directly to Heifer and be entered into our prize lottery. Or you can see all the auctions that are currently running over here. 

 

This entry was posted in gaming, Worldbuilders 2013. By Pat19 Responses

19 Comments

  1. leahnardo
    Posted January 20, 2014 at 5:18 PM | Permalink

    Okay, I was already sold on the possibility of books. Adding in games, now?

    Must find money in budget to make second donation!

  2. jake1421
    Posted January 20, 2014 at 5:24 PM | Permalink

    Hey there Mr. Rothfuss, I came across this article about some negative effects of gift livestock on the website of the charity I give to-

    http://awellfedworld.org/no-animal-gifts

    I’m not trying to start an argument against Heifer, I think it’s wonderful that you devote so much time to helping raise money for them. Just thought you might be interested. Thanks for the books!

    • Posted January 20, 2014 at 7:31 PM | Permalink

      I’ve always been wary of non-profit organizations that begin to attack other non-profits. After looking over this one I’ve found that it’s using some very questionable statistics.

      Your link references lactose intolerance, ignores the programs that are designed to educate and expand the options available, and also looks to point toward the more irresponsible uses of animal gifting.

      I wasn’t able to find the educational material that Heifer Int. provides when it’s gifting, but the process includes a 5 year animal husbandry program, farming, and water management. It looks as though it takes the recipients through the entire process and gives each one the kind of help that will work best in their area rather than just dumping off a cow and washing their hands of the process. It looks like a fascinating program and I wish I was in a position to help.

      • Posted January 21, 2014 at 6:52 AM | Permalink

        Yeah. Pretty much what they said.

  3. gerli
    Posted January 21, 2014 at 4:52 AM | Permalink

    Awesome stuff and great auctions but I am really freaked out by the shipping cost: for the 6 games from Fantasy Flight $1,070.66 to Estonia! The other game bundle has $122.55 shipping.

    A thousand dollars just for shipping?! There’s no way I’m going to bid on that…

    • Posted January 21, 2014 at 7:03 AM | Permalink

      I think e-bay automatically calculates some of these shipping costs. So it’s not like we sat down and said, “Hmmm…. how about we charge a thousand dollars?”

      We’ll look into this tomorrow, and see if it’s a glitch in the system. But I suspect that it’s just the fact that after the games stacked together and well-padded so they aren’t damaged in international shipping… well, the box is going to be about the size of a 2-drawer filing cabinet, and it’s going to weigh 20-30 pounds.

      But yeah. International shipping is always a problem. It’s something we’re looking into fixing, but there’s only so much we can do….

      • Amanda
        Posted January 21, 2014 at 10:06 AM | Permalink

        Yeah… I’ve done a lot of digging, and this is just really how much it’ll cost, unfortunately. The box weighs over 27 pounds, and breaking it up into many smaller packages actually costs more.

        Like Pat said, we’re looking into cheaper international shipping for the future, but we won’t be able to do a whole lot…

        • gerli
          Posted January 22, 2014 at 10:09 AM | Permalink

          Wow, that’s heavy. I understand this is a difficult problem and thanks for trying. :)

  4. Showthief
    Posted January 21, 2014 at 11:55 AM | Permalink

    Awesome stuff like this plus a fantastic charitable cause makes me really wish I had money to spare. I suppose I’ll have to swear to a solemn promise to donate when it is feasible for me. On my honor!

  5. TenThousandRad
    Posted January 21, 2014 at 12:32 PM | Permalink

    Hi, I just wanted to chime in and say that I think I think Worldbuilders and Heifer are really awesome!

    However, the picture at the top of the blog you provided I don’t think matches up with the story. The towns and schools and names definitely sound more like somewhere in Southeast Asia, not Uganda. Also, the picture provided of the girls at the school has materials that seem to be in Hindi. I don’t want to nitpick, but I figured I wasn’t the only one to notice. Keep up the good work Pat!

    • Amanda
      Posted January 21, 2014 at 12:48 PM | Permalink

      That story is definitely from Bangladesh, not Uganda. We’ve fixed it – thanks for catching that.

    • ali rahemtulla
      Posted January 22, 2014 at 7:31 AM | Permalink

      That’s because a lot of Pakistanis , Indians etc. live in Uganda. I should know, my father and his family did. So it’s pretty normal to see stuff like that.

  6. trattman
    Posted January 21, 2014 at 4:44 PM | Permalink

    I was wondering about shipping and haven’t seen anything on the FAQ. I live in Australia and have donated a bit of money but would feel terrible if you had to pay $50 to ship a prize. On the other hand, I would like to know if I am going to have to pay the shipping. How is it handled for the lottery?

    • Posted January 22, 2014 at 11:12 AM | Permalink

      We cover the shipping whenever someone wins a prize. It’s one of our operating expenses.

  7. JasonDenzel
    Posted January 22, 2014 at 10:01 AM | Permalink

    I love board games, especially Descent. Pat, do you play 1st or 2nd edition? Any particular characters you enjoy? Or are you the Overlord type… Yeah, I bet you’re an Overlord.

    • Posted January 22, 2014 at 11:11 AM | Permalink

      Second edition is *much* better.

  8. Joe M.
    Posted January 23, 2014 at 12:31 PM | Permalink

    Oh, wow. I’ve been completely missing your blog for 6-8 months now and just realized it. (I blame grad school.) After Google Reader died, I didn’t have a steady RSS source for several months and when I finally adopted Feedly I just forgot to add your feed. Glad the Paizo blog today reminded me! :-)

  9. Posted January 28, 2014 at 8:55 AM | Permalink

    It’s too bad that “innkeeper” is misspelled on the non-epic Bast card (“Bast, the Inkeeper’s Assistant”). Other than that, looks like a fantastic set of items.

  10. Laura
    Posted November 28, 2020 at 1:22 PM | Permalink

    Interesting games! And very useful!

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