As Werewolf: The Apocalypse celebrates its 20th anniversary, fans of its spinoff collectible card game, Rage, are still producing free print and play sets featuring art from many awesome furry artists.

Call of the Sea brings the battle for the ocean to the Rage CCG. It kicks off with the Chulorviah deck, featuring mind-controlling parasitic cephalopods. The block includes three semi-constructed decks and a combat set. The combat deck and Chulorviah deck are available for download, or you can get the Rage plugin for Lackey and play online. The Rokea (sharks) and Sea Dogs (werewolf pirates) decks will be released later this year.

This is a perfect jumping-off point if you’re new to Rage. Download and print the deck, and with a few minor tweaks to construction, you’re ready to go – or dust off your old Rage collection and use it with the original cards. They are fully compatible.

The voting for the 2012 Ursa Major Awards, for the best anthropomorphic literature and art of the calendar year 2012, is now closed. Voting took place from March 15 to May 15. 1,696 registrations were received, but only 1,113 people actually voted.

The winners will be announced at a presentation ceremony at Anthrocon 2013, held July 4–7, 2013 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The placing of the voting will be released at this time.

Registrations were received from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Grenada, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the U.S.A., Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam. This includes the large number of registrants who did not in fact vote.

Voting for the 2012 Ursa Major Awards, for the best anthropomorphic literature and art of the calendar year 2012 in eleven categories, closes on May 15. If you have not voted yet, you have a week left to do so on the Ursa Major Awards website.

In addition, the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association has closed the 2012 Recommended Anthropomorphic Reading List. Recommendations for the 2013 Reading List are now being accepted.

All fans are invited to recommend worthwhile anthropomorphic works in eleven categories (motion pictures, short fiction, dramatic short films or broadcasts, novels, other literary works, magazines, graphic stories, comic strips, published illustrations, games, and websites) first published during 2013, plus miscellaneous items. This List is often used by fans to nominate in the next year's Awards.

The Ursa Major Award finalists for 2012 are . . .

Voting for the Ursa Major Awards for the Best Anthropomorphic Literature and Art of 2012 is now open, and will continue until May 15. The winners will be announced at a presentation ceremony at Anthrocon 2013 in Pittsburgh, July 4-7.

Anyone may vote, and you are encouraged to ask your friends to vote also — please help to spread the word!

There are five nominees in each of eleven categories, except where there was a tie for fifth place. To be eligible, a work must have been released during the calendar year 2012; must include a non-human being given human attributes, which can be mental and/or physical; and must receive more than one nomination.

Read on for the nominees...

Nominations for the 2012 Ursa Major Awards, for the Best Anthropomorphic Art and Literature of 2012, close on February 28. There is only one week left to nominate.

Anyone may submit up to five nominations for works first published during 2012 in each of the eleven categories — Motion Picture, Dramatic Short Work or Series, Novel, Short Fiction, Other Literary Work, Graphic Story, Comic Strip, Fanzine, Published Illustration, Website, and Game. It is not necessary to nominate for all categories.

The 2012 Recommended Anthropomorphics List may be used as a guide for what is eligible, but its entries on the List are not automatically nominated. Titles not on the List that were first published during 2012 are still eligible, in case some gems have been overlooked.

Discussion about potential nominees is welcome at the Ursa Major Awards LiveJournal community. Voting will take place from March 15 to May 15, 2013. The winners will be announced at a presentation ceremony at Anthrocon 2013 on July 4-7.

It's a typical story: a successful Kickstarter campaign, followed by a gruelling six months of manufacturing delays, including a tray redesign, topped off with a customs holdup. But the wait is almost over for the makers and backers of card game Nature of the Beast, set to finish shipping rewards for the Prairie vs. Polar set this week. [tip: Aardwolf.Gen]

Its creators, who raised $15,381 from 187 backers, have opened sales to the public. The full game (including the Cities vs. Suburbs and Farm vs. Forests packs of 140 cards each, enough for six players) is available for $50+s/h.

Players lead a themed animal army battling for domination of the playing field.
Game rules — Reviews (earlier sets): Play Unplugged - Gaming Gang - RPG.net: 1, 2

We missed this story last year because the tip was filtered into the "Other" box on Facebook. Use our contact form for tips - or better yet, register and submit your own stories or newsbytes!

The ALAA’s 2012 Anthropomorphic Recommended List will close on January 15, 2013, to allow for last-minute recommendations of last-week-of-2012 releases. The 2012 Ursa Major Awards nominations will open on January 17, the first day of Further Confusion 2013.

Go to the Ursa Major Awards website on January 17 to register for an online nomination form. You may cast up to five nominations in each of eleven categories: Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, Best Dramatic Short Work or Series, Best Novel, Best Short Fiction, Best Other Literary Work, Best Graphic Story, Best Comic Strip, Best Magazine, Best Published Illustration, Best Website, and Best Game. If you do not have five nominees in any category, you may nominate less. To be eligible, a work must have been released during the calendar year 2012; must include a non-human being given human attributes (anthropomorphic), which can be mental and/or physical; and must receive more than one nomination.

If you cannot think of anything to nominate, you may refer to the 2012 Recommended List. That has at least five titles in each category, recommended by Furry fans. Remember, 2012 Recommendations are not nominations for the awards. Nominations of a work are separate. You may nominate a work that has not been recommended if it meets the eligibility criteria.

Some say there's no money in porn. But furry porn? That's a different story.

Crowdfunding has proven very popular, funding projects from digital aardvarks, roleplaying rats and space-abducted foxes, to fluffy ears, Furcadia's 'Second Dreaming' and seemingly every other work by M.C.A. Hogarth. Twokinds raised enough to buy a good-sized house.

Furotica is largely a no-go for industry leaders Kickstarter and Indiegogo. But it's become a lifeline for Ben Tao, Eric Lai, and Barry C, whose adult crowdfunding site Offbeatr (covered in August) lists five successful projects to date — all furry. [tip: Ripner Cabbit/EarthFurst]

So how can you raise $4000 (or $40,000) for your dream project? We asked those who've done it, while taking a closer look at this new funding platform and talking to its CEO.

The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association, which administers the annual Ursa Major Awards, has updated the 2012 Anthropomorphic Reading List to include the titles recommended by furry fans through the beginning of December. This list is often used by fans to nominate in the next year's Awards.

There is less than one month to add your favorites of the year to the List. All fans are invited to recommend worthwhile anthropomorphic works in eleven categories (motion pictures, dramatic short films or broadcasts, novels, short fiction, other literary works, graphic stories, comic strips, magazines, published illustrations, websites, and games) first published during 2012, if they are not already on the list.

If you play the FRP game Pathfinder, don’t go it alone: Bring along one of many new animal companions to help  you out. “It’s time to level up every adventurer’s best friend with Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive. This player-focused guide to animal allies, steadfast steeds, and fearless familiars unleashes a host of options for everyone’s favorite companion creatures. Take your pick of new options for heroes, including new opportunities to give any class access to animal allies, new tricks to teach all manner of beasts, and a host of savage new archetypes, spells, equipment, and magical items. Or take your pick from any of a variety of new creature compatriots, whether it be one of Golarion’s numerous native animals, a choice from the comprehensive list of animal familiars, or one of an assortment of new creatures specifically designed as adventuring companions. An assortment of feats and archetypes for animals also gives your ally the edge over every other bestial bumpkin in the wider wilds. Don’t let druids and rangers be the only ones with an advantage, adopt your perfect furred or feathered, tailed or scaled ally with Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive.” Look for this new illustrated trade paperback in January, or pre-order it at Amazon.

We don’t look at a lot of board games around here (how anthropomorphic can you get with them, really?), but now and then something catches our interest.  One such thing is Sewer Pirats. It’s a new 4-player board game created by Andreas Pelikan, with artwork by Marina Fahrenbach, and published by Heidelberger Spieleverlag (whew!). Here’s how they describe it: “In Sewer Pirats, deep underground in a maze of domed caverns, narrow tunnels, and piped passages, a motley cast of rodents, insects, and other vermin sail the treacherous waters of human refuse aboard bizarre vessels in search of discarded booty. In order to claim the best haul from the abandoned flotsam, players must make careful use of the unique abilities of their crews’ rats, cockroaches, weasels, and other critters. Don’t settle for less than left-over fast food and dumped toys. Go for your goal to become a true legend among the sewer pirates.” Apparently out for a while now in Europe, the game has only recently become available in North America. Check it out at Board Game Geek.

image c. 2012 Heidelberger Spieleverlag

"RATS!", a satirical rat-themed role-playing game, is seeking sponsorship on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo. In the game, players will take on the roles of intelligent rats who are engaged in a holy war against modern humanity, other animals, each other, and "numerous inanimate objects".

RATS! will be based on the third-edition d20 system. Rat characters advance by spending experience points to gain new abilities and mutations, and by growing in size. The rules are being developed by Uri Kurlianchik and Stan Levi. Kurlianchik is a game writer and storyteller from Israel, whose works have been published by Wizards of the Coast, Paizo Publishing, Mongoose, Bull Spec, and Brain Harvest. Levi is an artist, illustrator, and animator.

The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association, which administers the annual Ursa Major Awards, has updated the 2012 Anthropomorphic Reading List to include the titles recommended by furry fans through the end of August. This list is often used by fans to nominate in the next year's Awards.

All fans are invited to recommend worthwhile anthropomorphic works in eleven categories (motion pictures, dramatic short films or broadcasts, novels, short fiction, other literary works, graphic stories, comic strips, magazines, published illustrations, websites, and games) first published during 2012, if they are not already on the list.

Send in your recommendations and read the List to see what other fans have recommended. Have you read all twenty-one comic strips, for example? What have you been missing?

The creators of Tails and Tactics, an "exciting upcoming collectible trading card game with guns, puns, bazookas, tanks, and hot dogs," have turned to Kickstarter to make it a reality.

The trading card game, conceived by Reynard Loustaunau in October 2011, and with “Jan” of the Swords and Sausages and College Catastrophe online comic strips as Lead Artist, has undergone extensive play-testing with dozens of cards. Now the creators hope to get the funding to start professional printing by the end of 2012.

Tails and Tactics is a collectible trading card game featuring dozens of funny-animal modern (or pre-Soviet breakup) soldiers in humorous military situations. There will be Soldier Cards, Troop Cards, Vehicle Cards, Position Cards, Field Cards, Equipment Cards, Event Cards, and Trap Cards. The sample cards show the American and Russian (Soviet) funny-animal soldiers to be mostly dogs of different breeds, with occasional horses, foxes, and others.

As usual, several rewards are available, including signed decks and rare or custom cards.

Today’s feature in Mumbai-published Animation Xpress, a daily newsletter on all things animated in India, is about a new video game called Smell Raiser starring Spiffy, an anthro young skunk. (Also Tap Tap Sushi, for gamers who are also gluttons for sushi, but there is nothing anthro about that one.)

The official launch trailer for Smell Raiser was posted on YouTube on May 11.

Founded by industry veterans Ninad Chhaya and Chirag Desai, Mumbai based Playcaso has thrown its hat in the ring with the release of two games Tap Tap Sushi available on the iOS and Smell Raiser available on iOS [$0.99] and Android [free] platforms.

Smell Raiser is a side-scrolling, adventure game having Spiffy- a swift and energetic skunk on a mission. He wants to explore the lands of the unknown and travel as far as he possibly can. Using simple jump combination controls, help Spiffy collect stars, activate combinations and evade the creatures of the exotic. The game includes three exotic colorful environments with full retina graphics. It is a simple but skillful ‘one-touch’ control, endless game.