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Manifest Sudoku
Manifest Destiny, the sprawling, brutal comic by Chris Dingess, is a tough read. Pitched as an alt-history version of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, one where minotaurs and head-snatching pterodactyls pose as much of a threat to the survival of its battered Corps of Discovery as starvation or the weather, it’s both a rollicking adventure and a mouth-covering gasp at the westward roll of genocide. And if those elements don’t sound like they blend as smoothly as chocolate and peanut butter, you’d be right on the money.
But I’m not here to review the comic. Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny is the third title from Off the Page Games, Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim’s follow-up to both Mind MGMT and Harrow County. As a game — and in terms of quality — it hobnobs more with the former than the latter, presenting one of the best exploration puzzles I’ve ever witnessed. As an adaptation of the comic, unfortunately, it leaves the tale only half-told.
Summer Ludens
Yesterday, my car thermometer clocked 104°. Granted, our car is black, which means it regularly measures temperatures about ten degrees too warm, but still, that’s too damn hot.
Like everybody else descended from pioneers who decided to settle in the desert, we’re always on the lookout for ways to beat the heat. Our answer, like our answer to every other apprehension, has been board games. What follows are the ten titles that are helping my family cope with the Great American Bake-Off.
Corpse of Discovery
I don’t read comics, or at least that used to be the case. While I still don’t count myself an enthusiast, Mind MGMT, the inaugural title by Off the Page Games, introduced me to Matt Kindt’s series of the same name — and a wider world of comics than I had previously known existed. Harrow County, the imprint’s second effort, didn’t spark my affection quite so thoroughly, but that’s a tall bar to clear.
Now Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim are back at it. This time they’re tackling a brutal comic series by Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts called Manifest Destiny. In a wise marketing move, Cormier and Lim have switched the title to Corps of Discovery — it’s pronounced “core,” lest the headline lead you astray — and mechanically, it’s one of the most enthralling cooperative games I’ve played in ages. I’m of two minds about it.
SPACE-BIFF! 