Take your first step into the eternal night of Vampire: The Masquerade with this bundle of digital RPG rulebooks & supplements—plus the physical Rivals card game!

Get everything you need to start running RPGs in the storied World of Darkness, including digital rulebooks for both Vampire: The Masquerade and Hunter: The Reckoning, a host of sourcebooks covering the setting’s darkest mysteries, and a selection of adventures to get your campaign up and running.

When you pay $40 or more, you’ll also get the boxed Vampire: The Masquerade Rivals, a thrilling expandable card game set in the World of Darkness, as well as The Wolf and the Rat expansion and two bonus promo cards (shipping and handling not included). Succumb to the deadly allure of this legendary RPG setting, and help support charity with your purchase!

Don’t forget to also peek into the deepest histories and mysteries of the Assassin’s Creed universe with this massive bundle of books and comics, found here!

You can always check out the most recent Humble Bundle offers here and here.

The post Get this Vampire: The Masquerade RPG and physical card game bundle! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Treasure, money and gold provide a way for the player of a game to track their progress through that game, in the most real sense, but beyond this, it’s just fun for people to roam around, collecting gold, hearing that “ding” that gives instant gratification and keeps them playing.

Pirate treasure is the best, most obvious example. Who hasn’t dreamed of being a pirate, sailing the seven seas, free to do whatever you want? Assassin’s Creed Black Flag showed this idea in one of the best ways in recent years. Whilst all Assassin’s Creed games have some form of loot system and treasures to find, Black Flag shows this in the most realistic way.

Set towards the end of the golden age of piracy, Blackbeard, Black Bart and Anne Bonny all make an appearance. But it is the abundance of treasure that is waiting to be found all around the Caribbean sea where the game really shines. Players have the ability to visit three major cities in the Caribbean, as well as literally hundreds of small islands and locations. There are treasure chests and other collectibles waiting to be found on all of these, and to find all of them takes days, weeks even. In these chests, players find a variable amount of money (Reales) and usually a random piece of treasure, such as a silver candlestick or gold statue. These treasures have no function within the game itself, being converted to Reales immediately upon being found, but they play into the realism of the game, the feeling of looking for and finding treasure.

As well as chests, maps can be found leading to buried treasure. These maps feature a “hand drawn” image of where the treasure is buried, meaning players have to look for these locations themselves, adding to the treasure “hunting” aspect of pirating. There aren’t many other games that have incorporated this idea, and this game is an outstanding example of it.

This being a game about pirates, there are ships to attack in pursuit of treasure. This is where the majority of a players treasure comes from, and it is the most fun to do. From the players ship, another ship appears on the horizon. Looking through a spyglass reveals what treasure the ship holds and roughly how strong it is in comparison to the player. Committing to the attack, real naval strategy is useful to know in order to take down the ships mast. At this point, players can choose to board the ship to claim all of its treasure, or simply sink it, in which case only half of the held treasure is claimed, in the form of cargo boxes rising up from the sinking ship. It’s usually a better, if longer, option to board the ship.

Boarding the ship gives the player a few random objectives, becoming harder with the strength of the ship, from killing a few crew to destroying black powder stores to removing the ships flag. As soon as the boarding starts, the crew of the opposing ship start actively defending themselves and their ship from the player and their crew. This defence of the treasure on the enemy ship makes it all the sweeter to the player when they finally fulfil all objectives given and see what they have won.

In addition to all of this, there are shipwrecks to be found that can be looted for the treasure that they hold. This speaks more to the adventurers, those people who play games as an escape, a way to experience things that they never would in their ordinary life. Avoiding sharks, making sure you don’t go too far from an air pocket, all in pursuit of treasure.

This is merely one example of treasure appearing in video games. You can find a manner of riches, so to speak, in thousands of games. Games such as Rainbow Riches Pick N Mix will give you real monetary riches whilst other video games will give you riches in other ways. For example, players are also able to hunt for treasure in Red Dead Redemption. But in a game purporting to be about assassins, which are definitely there, most of the game, and the most enjoyment from the game, comes from the sense of freedom, the simple joy of sailing around the Caribbean and happening across an island you have never seen before and wondering what will be found on it. And it isn’t that hard to find out, dive off your ship and see. There is a whole world to explore.

The post Hunting for Gold: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Full details about the plot of the game are understandably somewhat scant at the moment, but a new major release in the series would be considered due in 2020 based on previous release patterns. It’s one of the busiest and most prolific series of games currently on the market, with eleven ‘major’ games published so far and a number of spin-offs and related games, taking the total number of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ currently playable to a massive 21.

Releasing games so often can test the patience and spending power of an audience – the first-ever release was back in 2007, meaning Ubisoft have averaged almost one ‘major’ game every year – but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of them slowing down. That’s understandable when there’s money to be made; even the utterly lamentable movie didn’t do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of fans for the series, with the most recent installment ‘Odyssey’ still feverishly popular, and expected to be spiced up by some fresh downloadable content before Ubisoft completely turn their attentions to the new game. It’s to be wondered whether the Viking theme will have any bearing on the content of the Netflix series which is currently being produced based on the video games, which is also expected to receive a 2020 release. The anime series has been said to ‘share the same universe’ as the games, and so it would make sense for the bulk of the material to be connected with the most recent incarnation of the game.

The Assassin’s Creed games are always a visual treat.

The first signs of confirmation that we’d be headed to the world of Norse warriors came in ‘The Division 2′, where eagle-eyed players spotted a poster of a Norse God holding up an Apple of Eden. That would mean nothing to the average player, but the symbolism of the image would instantly be obvious to ‘Assassin’s Creed’ fans, and Ubisoft would be well aware of that. That alone wouldn’t be cause to say where the next game will be based definitively – and it’s not like Ubisoft haven’t deliberately tried to deceive their own players with red herrings before – but Kotaku is claiming to have verified the rumors with two independent sources who have direct knowledge of the game’s development.

There’s also the small matter of former ‘Assassin’s Creed’ concept artist Michel Nucera posting images online of an idea he referred to as ‘Assassin’s Creed: Ragnarok,’ although at the time he said that he’d drawn them for his own personal enjoyment, and they’ve since been removed. ‘Ragnarok’ isn’t believed to be the next title, either; the code-name given to the project within the top-secret development labs at Ubisoft is ‘Kingdom.’

If all the rumors are correct – and at this point, we have no reason to doubt them – it would seem that Ubisoft has decided to jump on one of the hottest bandwagons currently rolling through town. Vikings – with their pointy helmets and incredible battle skills – have always been one of the coolest and most interesting topics to study in history. Right now, though, they enjoy the highest media profile they’ve seen in decades thanks to the runaway success of the ‘Vikings’ TV show, which went from modest roots on the History Channel to being second only to ‘Game of Thrones’ in terms of raw popularity.

That popularity is a powerful motivator when it comes to persuading people to part with their money and buy into related products. Go to any Comic-Con or similar convention, and you’ll find as many people dressed as Vikings as you will superheroes or science-fiction icons. Perhaps more tellingly, the world of online slots has been saturated with Viking themed slot games for much of the past twelve months. A look at the ‘newest games’ section of Late Casino reveals slot games with titles like ‘Wild Nords,’ ‘Vikings Unleashed,’ ‘Vikings Wilds,’ and ‘Viking Fortune.’ They’re on top of the official ‘Vikings’ slot. Online slots are a highly competitive world, and the companies who make games there will only use themes which they know will attract players. For there to be so many new offerings all sharing the same theme should tell you a lot about how large the potential fanbase for a Viking-themed ‘Assassin’s Creed’ installment is.

As always in the series, expect plenty of exotic locations and scenarios.

The final series of the ‘Vikings’ TV show is expected to reach the airwaves in November 2019, although that’s unlikely to have any bearing on an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ release date, as the series is already popular enough to sell itself without the aid of any associated media. It will mark what’s probably a long-overdue look at this exciting historical era, which is rich with myth and legend and (more importantly) epic battles which players can now look forward to taking part in. Fans have been clamoring for the series to head to this location and time ever since the second game made it obvious that visiting different eras would be a thing. Now, with this news all-but confirmed, attention will inevitably turn to where the time-traveling series might be headed in 2021 or 2022. Would the days of the Mongol Empire make for a suitable setting? How about the Napoleonic Wars? Could we see the series make the trip to feudal Japan (as was rumored years ago), or could the American Civil War provide precisely the kind of environment that the series thrives on?

Or, could Ubisoft have pulled the wool over our eyes yet again? Is all of the information we’ve been fed (and had confirmed) an elaborate hoax, leaving us to find out months from now that we’re finally taking the often-requested trip to the trenches of the First World War that Ubisoft has frequently hinted to? There’s only one way to find out, and so we’ll be waiting impatiently for the official word.

Would an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game set in Viking England excite you? If not, where would you like to see the game go that it’s never been before? Let us know down in the comments!

The post Assassin’s Creed Grows (Viking) Horns appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Here’s the link.

The Ubisoft Hits sale

The post Ubisoft Hits sale – Up to 80% off great game series like Far Cry, Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, and more! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Here’s the link. Offer expires 2018-04-25 11:00:00 PDT.

These are a few of our favorite things. Comics about games? Our Humble dreams have come true. Titan Comics is back with a library of awesome titles like Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Warhammer: Dawn of War III, Dark Souls: Winter’s Spite, and The Evil Within: Interlude.

Pay what you want. All together, these comics would cost over $197. Here at Humble Bundle, you choose the price and increase your contribution to upgrade your bundle! This bundle has a minimum $1 purchase.

Read them anywhere. These comics are available in multiple formats including CBZ, PDF, and ePub, so they work on your computer, e-readers, iPads, cell phones, and a wide array of mobile devices! Instructions and a list of recommended reading programs can be  found here.

Support charity. Choose where the money goes – between the publisher, Titan Comics, and the charity, AbleGamers via the PayPal Giving Fund. If you like what we do, you can leave us a Humble Tip too!

The Humble Book Bundle: Gaming Comics by Titan

The post Pay what you want for The Humble Book Bundle: Gaming Comics by Titan (Assassin’s Creed, Warhammer, Dark Souls, etc.) appeared first on Armchair Arcade.