At Gen Con last year, I purchased the Final Girl core box along with the feature film box, Camp Happy Trails. Both games are published by Van Ryder Games. What interested me about the games is that they are solo games. This means that you play them by yourself with no other players. It’s funny, you think that if this were a game I would play myself, I would have played it a lot sooner. I didn’t get a chance to open this until a few weeks ago. Final Girl was a fun and narrative-driven adventure with numerous replayability options.

Final Girl is a game in which you play as both the Final Girl and the slasher at the same time. The goal of the game is to either kill the slasher or kill the Final Girl. In the Camp Happy Trails box, there are two final girls: Reiko and Laurie. Both Final Girls possess distinct abilities that can be utilized in the game. There’s a bit of a deck-building component, as there are cards that the Final Girl can play to move around the board, search for items, and attack the killer. Some cards are free, while other cards are purchased with time, as in the time it takes to perform actions. There can be a lot to keep track of, but once I played a few rounds, it was easy to pick up.

I loved the dice rolling aspect of the game. For the Final Girl’s actions to work, you would need to roll the dice. Fives or sixes counted as successes, while anything four or lower did not. Depending on the successes rolled, it would impact how well things went. For example, I could play a Sprint card, which allowed the Final Girl to sprint around the board. If I rolled one success, they could go a certain number of spaces, but if I rolled two successes, I could move more. If I fail the roll, it could end my turn, or I could lose time, which meant I couldn’t spend as much to buy new cards. I like this component of the game. In my first game, I was rolling hot, but in my second game, I wasn’t rolling well at all. It completely changed the tone of the game.

One thing I don’t pay as much attention to is how the game is designed. In the Camp Happy Trails box, each side of the box pops off, and it’s the killer’s health and the game board. To put it back together, you slide it back into the box, and it seems like it’s magnetically held in place. It makes for easy storage and is easy to put the game away. This isn’t something I normally care about, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

In each game, I successfully killed the killer with both Reiko and Laurie. Once this happens, there’s a card in an envelope that you open only when you kill the killer. It unlocks special items for both Reiko and Laurie, which can be used in other feature film boxes. I think this is neat. It allows for more replayability with both Reiko and Laurie, and the items are connected to them as Final Girls. I could see this being fun to include Reiko in another feature film box with her special item and trying the harder version of the game. Speaking of which, there are two modes to the game. I played the easier difficulty because I didn’t know what I was doing, but I would be open to trying the greater difficulty with each Final Girl to see how it varies.

I liked playing Final Girl a lot. I could see myself buying the other feature film boxes in the future. If I find myself at Gen Con again, I’ll definitely wander towards Van Ryder’s booth.

Last week at Gamescom, it was announced that Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was going to release on October 21st, 2025. In addition to this, there were pre-order bonuses for those who pre-ordered and for those who pre-ordered beyond the base game. It was revealed that two vampire clans, Toreador and Lasombra, were locked behind a DLC. For those who aren’t gamers, this means that the base game doesn’t include Toreador and Lasombra, and to get them, you would have to buy them as additional content. Internet reaction has been swift, and there are a ton of angry fans upset by this. I have talked about Bloodlines 2 before, so of course, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I address this.

Let’s talk about the clans locked behind a paywall. To try to explain this, imagine if Baldur’s Gate 3 locked the Wizard and the Barbarian in additional paid content. For a game that’s based on a TTRPG, I find it odd that the base game wouldn’t include all the clans. If anything, I’d understand if clans like Lasombra, Banu Haquim, or Salubri would be additional content since they weren’t pushed into the fifth edition of the game, but Toreador? Toreador is a hugely popular clan, and the fact that it’s not included in the base game is irritating. Let’s be clear, Bloodlines 2 isn’t the first game or franchise to not include everything in the base game. However, this feels like a major misstep to me.

Another critique I have been reading is the fact that you can’t create your own character. In Bloodlines 2, players play as Phyre, and while you can choose your clan, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of customization beyond that. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, I don’t mind playing as a pre-made vampire, as long as I get access to the clans that I want to play. With that said, I would prefer to at least be able to customize my appearance and hairstyle. It’s an RPG, and with most RPGs, character customization is a part of the game. I’d also add that I enjoyed the Vampire: The Masquerade visual novels on Steam, and I didn’t get to customize anything about the character.

Will I be pre-ordering this game? Nope. With that said, I rarely pre-order games. The last game I pre-ordered was Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and that’s because I knew the game would be good, and it was. Will I play this game? I want to, but I don’t want to waste my money either. If I had to guess, I would lean towards playing it because I want to see if I like the story at least. No matter what, this game is disappointing and had the potential to be so much more than what it is.

Several weeks ago, Badwolf Adventure Studios hosted a Daggerheart one-shot utilizing one of the campaign frames from the rulebook. I played Daggerheart once last year before the game’s release. I haven’t played it since the beta and was curious if there were any substantial differences. I was also watching Age of Umbra, which is Critical Role’s shorter series taking place in another campaign frame from the book. In the past, I expressed skepticism about the gameplay, specifically with the lack of initiative order and how rolling with d12s would work. I’m happy to say that I am impressed with Daggerheart as a system, and I’d join a campaign if I had the opportunity to do so.

In our one shot, we had seven players. It was nice to see a full table of other players who were curious to see how Daggerheart would run. I ended up playing a Faun Ranger with the Beastbound subclass. This gave me an animal companion. As a side note, you will never catch me having an animal companion in Dungeons & Dragons. Why? I would be emotionally destroyed if my animal companion were to die in combat. In Daggerheart, when the animal companion loses its health, it doesn’t die. Instead, it becomes stressed, either running away in combat entirely, hiding, or taking another action. At rest, the player can choose to clear stress, and if so, the animal companion comes back. This is perfect. It lets the Ranger class shine, but also allows players to have the comfort of knowing that the animal they choose will never die.

The Ranger in Dungeons & Dragons is notorious for not being as powerful as the other classes. I think it’s a shame, really. In Daggerheart, the Ranger has vastly improved. There are abilities that the Ranger can initiate, which include the animal companion. In our group, I had a robotic tiger named Petunia, and she could benefit from some of my Ranger abilities. I think that’s rad. There’s nothing more fun than sending a robotic tiger in to do some work. After our session, one of the players also commented on how much fun the Ranger was and how they would consider playing the class next.

In Daggerheart, there were two things I was skeptical about. The first being a lack of initiative order. During combat, players decide who goes first, and once a player rolls with fear, the GM goes next. Our group did a great job at asking other players who haven’t gone for a bit that they should take their turn next. Our group had seven players, so it’s easy for one person to accidentally dominate the game. With that said, our GM was great, and he queued players up as well, so they could take their turns. The overall gameplay experience was seamless.

The other thing I was skeptical about was rolling two d12s, one representing hope and the other fear. Our group, for whatever reason, always seemed to roll higher in fear. The GM could have wrecked our group, but chose not to. With this being a one-shot, I don’t think it was the GM’s goal to kill our characters. For Daggerheart campaigns, I think it’s important to settle on a difficulty level. Do players want an easier game or a tougher campaign? I think this would dictate how the GM spends fear based on what the players want. This was something I was nervous about, but in the two times that I have played Daggerheart, it was a non-issue.

Daggerheart has been a fun game to play. I’m curious to see what else is developed alongside the system. I wanted to give a special shout-out to Jordan from Sortilege, who was our GM for the game. He did a great job at keeping all seven of us on track. If Badwolf Adventure Studios decides to do more Daggerheart one-shots in the future, I will definitely be there.

During Darkness Emergent Los Angeles, it was announced that World of Darkness is being rebranded to White Wolf and will be the official publisher for World of Darkness properties. This includes: Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and Hunter: The Reckoning. For those new to World of Darkness, the original role-playing books were published under White Wolf Publishing, which is now defunct and has been merged with a gaming company, subsequently acquired by another gaming company. If that sounds messy, it’s because it is. This announcement comes full circle, meaning World of Darkness products are going back to the White Wolf name. Is this purely a corporate stunt? Or will this improve upon the World of Darkness brand?

Let’s start at the very beginning. White Wolf and Vampire: The Masquerade were created in the 90s by Mark Rein-Hagen. After Vampire’s release, there were Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming. In the 1990s, numerous editions and revisions were made to the games to enhance their quality. With the business downturn and Mark Rein-Hagen leaving, White Wolf was acquired by CCP Games in 2006. In 2015, Paradox Interactive acquired White Wolf Publishing from CCP Games. World of Darkness partnered with Renegade Game Studios to sell World of Darkness licensed products. I’m skimming over quite a bit of history, but to simplify this as much as possible, that’s where we are.

It took me more time than I care to admit to research and cite all this information. Going back to the announcement, what does this actually mean? In the announcement, it says, “As White Wolf enters its next chapter, it brings World of Darkness’ IP closer to fans and empowers a new generation of storytellers to explore and expand its rich universe.” My thought is that White Wolf and World of Darkness would move away from Paradox and Renegade and own everything. I don’t see this as a bad thing. This history is convoluted, and when you introduce new players to the brand, it would be easier if White Wolf owned everything. Given White Wolf’s history, I think there is skepticism about the announcement. I’m curious to see how this plays out in the next six months to a year from now.

My first thought when I heard this announcement was, are we getting a current Wraith: The Oblivion book? I came into World of Darkness later, so I’d be curious if some of these older games will get a rebrand. Wraith: The Oblivion is on Drivethru RPG, and reading the description of this game, this is absolutely something I’d love to play. Based on the description, players play as ghosts who have recently died and are now trying to survive in this gothic underworld. How cool is that? There’s a lot of opportunity with this rebrand; it depends on how White Wolf approaches it.

It’s too early to say more than this, but I’m hoping for an update on some of the other World of Darkness properties. The World of Darkness property has so much potential, and I’d love to see these games become more popular in the TTRPG space. The last thing I will say, I’m not an expert in World of Darkness; I’m simply a fan who loves the game. If I missummarized anything or if something needs to be updated, let me know in the comments below.

I remember a friend of mine had recommended Life is Strange to me. She isn’t normally a gamer, so I was surprised to hear that she played this game. I took her recommendation to heart and played it. This game was a punch to the gut emotionally, and I loved every second of it. I played Life is Strange: Before the Storm, which came out after the original game. It served as a prequel, and I really enjoyed it. Since then, there have been several Life is Strange games, but I haven’t had a chance to play them yet. When I heard about a direct sequel to the original Life is Strange, I bought it instantly. Life is Strange: Double Exposure was good, but it falls flat compared to the first game.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure picks up several years after the first game. Max Caulfield has relocated to Vermont and works as a photographer at a prestigious liberal arts college. Max is good friends with Safi and Moses, as they help Max regain a sense of normalcy. After hanging out together, Max looks for Safi and finds that she’s been murdered. Max reacts as anyone would, but instead of rewinding time like she did years earlier, she can split timelines: one timeline in which Safi is dead and the other in which Safi is alive. Max jumps to each timeline with the hope of saving Safi and uncovering what happened to her.

I like the new setting! The university is stunning and feels like it came straight out of a dark academia novel. I like how snowy it is. It’s beautiful, but it adds a bit of darkness to the story. I liked learning about Max’s life, how she spends time at The Snapping Turtle, a bar where students hang out. This game captured Max’s personality perfectly, which is tough to do considering the first game came out several years ago. I have never been to Vermont, but this game makes me want to visit.

Max’s new power is interesting. I’m curious if Max can’t rewind time anymore, or if her power depends on what she’s reacting to. In the first game, Max needed to rewind time to save Chloe, but in this game, Max didn’t have enough information to do that, hence why she created two timelines. If there are future Life is Strange games planned, I’d be curious to see if they explore more of Max trying to figure out how her powers work, or if there will be answers as to why Max has the powers she does.

When I think about the story as a whole, I was underwhelmed. Regarding Safi, I was intrigued by what Max would find out. Was Safi involved in something? Was there corruption at the university? It turns out that Safi took a photo of her killer. The photo shows Max pointing the gun at Safi. Max shoots Safi because of the dual lifetimes, causing a similar storm that appeared in the first game. I was hoping for a murder mystery, and that’s not what this game was. There’s a subplot of Safi being friends with another student named Maya. Maya died before Max got the job at the university. None of this matters because it has nothing to do with what happens to Safi, so why bother putting it in the game? I’m fine with red herrings, but when the red herring takes up so much of the game, and then it doesn’t even matter in the end. It’s disappointing.

I have no regrets about playing Life is Strange: Double Exposure. It kept my interest, and I wanted to know how the sequel would play out. While I liked it, I wasn’t a fan of the story. If more games are coming out that center on Max’s story, I hope they explain Max’s powers and why they work the way they do.

I still play in my weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign at Badwolf Adventure Studios. We are almost at our second anniversary, as I started this campaign in the summer of 2023. A few sessions ago, a few of our characters reached level #20, including Vesper! I was excited to see Vesper at the highest level in Dungeons & Dragons. Before playing as Vesper, my previous character, Levenia, made it to level #13. I wanted to share some of Vesper’s journey to get here, along with leveling up to level #20, in more detail.

It was a no-brainer that I signed up for a second campaign at Badwolf. Once I finished Curse of Strahd, I knew I wanted to play in another campaign. If I could go back and tell myself what I know now, I’d say I’m in for a wild ride. Vesper has been through so much to get to level #20. She almost didn’t roll high enough to pull off a cursed mask, lost her eyesight temporarily, made a bond with a powerful entity, got married, and helped an NPC regain her will to live after that NPC survived a traumatic event. These events in Vesper’s story would take too long to detail for this post, but Vesper has earned all her levels.

It wouldn’t be a post about hitting level #20 if I didn’t talk about Vesper’s new abilities. Since Vesper is a multi-class character (she has 17 levels in Sorcerer with 3 levels of Paladin), she didn’t unlock a boon naturally. Through an in-game moment, she unlocked “Boon of Magical Resistance”. This gives her advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. One of my favorite spells that I unlocked at level #20 is Blade of Disaster. Blade of Disaster is a magical blade, allowing for two melee attacks. On a hit, it’s 4d12 force damage, and a critical hit is on a die roll of 18 or higher. I used it recently in a combat encounter, and it was sick. I can’t wait to use it again.

I’m not sure how much longer our campaign will run. We are on our last major story arc of this campaign. I will never forget Vesper and how much this character means to me. This campaign has taught me a lot when it comes to being a better player at the table. Once this campaign ends, I will absolutely sign up for another one.

One of my family members gifted me the board game Forbidden Jungle for the holidays. It should be no surprise to anyone that I love receiving board games as gifts. It’s a chance for me to play a new board game, and I can take it to family board game nights or a board game night with friends. I played Forbidden Jungle with my brother for the first time, and we lost. I wanted to redeem myself, so I brought it to our latest family board game night. We did win one game, but lost the rest.

Forbidden Jungle is a cooperative board game where players play as a team of explorers. Their goal is to work together to locate a portal. This portal will teleport players away from the jungle, therefore winning the game. Besides locating the portal, the portal needs four crystals to power it, and those crystals must be attached to the portal. To locate both the portals and the crystals, players must reveal game tiles. As they do, aliens will populate various spaces. Threat cards are drawn to raise the stakes, often working against the players. If any of the players lose their health from the aliens, or there aren’t any more alien tokens to populate the board with, the players lose.

I like how challenging Forbidden Jungle is. As mentioned previously, I have only won this game once. It’s easy for things to slide because there’s a lot to keep track of. This includes how many aliens are populating, where the players are in relation to the aliens, and how many crystals we still need to find. The more times I play, the more I start to understand the strategy. In the game that we won, we did a good job of assigning duties to the players. For example, one person in our group was solely responsible for killing the aliens while another player was shifting the crystals closer to the portal. It was rewarding to have finally won at least one game that we played.

Since Forbidden Jungle is a game involving flipping tiles, the game is different every time you play. There are at least three different tile positions, so it keeps things interesting. In our games, we randomized the role cards, which helped keep things fresh. The Chemist and Healer were probably my favorite roles in the game. The Chemist is immune to alien stings, so they can’t die. The Healer is the only role in the game that can heal other players, which is a must if players are cornered by the aliens. If I’m going to own a board game, I’d like a game where I can play it multiple times and not be bored.

Forbidden Jungle is made by Gamewright, and it looks like they have other Forbidden titles, including Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. I’d be open to playing the others because I like how Forbidden Jungle is designed. Forbidden Jungle is a challenging, cooperative game that offers something different every time you play.

I alluded to this in several posts, but I found a Candela Obscura campaign group. I have been playing Candela with two other players since November, and we had our last session to wrap up our circle, The Circle of the Serrated Hook. As a side note, our circle name rocks. I did not come up with this; one of the other players did, but I love it. As we wrapped up our session, I am happy and surprised to say that Dr. Vivienne Baker lives on.

Before getting into the session, I wanted to write a bit more detail on Dr. Baker. Dr. Vivienne Baker was a professor at a college university, but her focus was on providing affordable healthcare to all. She is someone who believes anyone of any status should receive medical care. At some point, Dr. Baker partnered with Candela to continue her research, but also to protect people from Bleed, the corruptive force left behind by Magick. She is not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but makes up for it in her intelligence and ability to help others who have been injured.

Our circle has had so much happen! Our original lightkeeper was murdered because he was corrupt. It was revealed that he was using Candela to steal items and sell secrets. We got a new lightkeeper who was not well-liked, which made for tough social situations for our characters. This led to the final showdown where our circle was tasked to go undercover in a prison. Once we arrived, our task was to find a secret vault beneath the prison and secure the artifacts or seal the vault permanently.

Horror TTRPGs are all about creating tense situations with players. Our group had to get climbing gear to go underneath the prison. As we tried to maneuver our way around, Dr. Baker got stuck! Talk about horrifying, I couldn’t imagine being pushed up against rocks and not being able to move my body. Thanks to the other players, they were able to pull me out, and we came up with a new plan where we somewhat safely got through the rock tunnels.

We arrived at the vault and saw lights slowly coming on. There was messaging that we found earlier that indicated the light was lethal. As the room started getting brighter, one other player and I dove for cover. The other player tried to commune with the spirit in a glass tube. While he was able to do that successfully, the light shone, and that player was incinerated. Uh oh. Now we are in this prison vault with an injured character. While I’m a doctor, I don’t have the medical equipment to treat this type of injury. The other player, who dove for cover, suggested finding a way to turn on the light, and that’s how we sealed the vault. Genius. Through some discussion, we found a well-wheel that could permanently turn on the light. While that’s happening, a team was sent down to dispatch us, and one of their members was incinerated as well. Dr. Baker made it out along with the player who originally dove for cover, but unfortunately, the character that was incinerated did not make it out. RIP.

The Circle of the Serrated Hook has two surviving members, and while Dr. Baker made it out alive, I’m sure her partnership with Candela is tarnished after this series of adventures. I am grateful I was a part of this group. The more I have played Candela Obscura, the more I have enjoyed the system. I’d love to hear Critical Role announce another Candela Obscura live play soon. I’d like for other players to have a chance to play this game and see if they can survive till the end.