News Collider - Board Game News 28/11/18

I always thought that many mainstream board games are shit.  Well I wasn't wrong, because apparently they are now award winning shit.  

But don't let the family board game industry get you down becuase we've got some proper exciting real news, like a big tease from Stonemaier Games and so really cool news about Board & Dice and NSKN merging.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: WINGSPAN FROM STONEMAIER GAMES

Today, Jamey Stegmaier announced his next game Wingspan.  So far all we know is that it has something to do with birds.  

No seriously, that's about it, because Jamey is a big tease.  We do know it is designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and that pre-orders will open on 2nd January.  The best place to learn more about the game as it is revealed is the Polyhedron Collider News Collider...or the game's Facebook Group

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: MAGE KNIGHT: ULTIMATE EDITION

Combining the base game and all the expansions, the Ultimate Edition, announced from WizKids this week is "the most comprehensive version of the critically acclaimed strategy game ever created". 

As far as I can tell there is no new content or components, it is the on-box collection.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING

From the good folks at Burnt Island games (Endeavour: Age of Sail) comes a fantasy polyomino-tile placement game with a very interesting twist of cascading production system - I think similar to that of Ragusa - which is awesome! 

In this game, you'll be playing as trolls trying to carve-out grand halls and digging tunnels within the mountain, placing each additional troll in a pyramid-like fashion, but in doing so reactivating the previously placed trolls.  

Hall of the Moutain King is heading to Kickstarter February 5th, so keep an eye out.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW TSURO: PHEONIX RISING

One of Jon’s favourite games, Tsuro will next year see another sequel: Tsuro: Phoenix Rising.

Not much is known about the game yet but publisher’s, Calliope Games will be unveiling the game in all its glory this coming weekend at PAX Unplugged.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: CULT - CHOOSE YOUR GOD WISELY

Let’s face it, playing as the good guy all the time can get a little dull, at least I assume so because Cryptozoic has just announced their next game, Cult: Choose Your God Wisely.  A worker-or Priest-Placement game where the only currency you are interested in is humans to be sacrificed.  

Choose from an array of gods such as Fafnir, Janus, and of course, Cthulhu, to worship, each of which lends itself to a particular game-winning strategy.

GAME EXPANSION: WARHAMMER - AGE OF SIGMAR CHAMPIONS: ONSLAUGHT

The first expansion for Warhammer: The Age of Sigmar- Champions is released on the 30th of November.  From Games Workshop and PlayFusion, the 128 new cards will bolster player’s current forces, and will also include Realm Magic.  

With two Realms, Aqshy (Fire) and Ghyran (Life) players now must choose a Realm to battle from, giving them access to spells and blessing from that Realm, but locking them out from the other.  All the new cards have been revealed so you can check them out here and start planning on how best to use them.

EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT: THE GAME CHANGERS

Rather uniquely, this is an expansion for every game.  

Ever.  

This is a deck of 80 cards that add variant rules or win conditions to any game in your collection.  Think of it as a random “house rule generator”.  Obviously, not every game will work with every game, but the idea is to breathe some fresh, fun air into some of your older games.

BOARD & DICE & NSKN

In an age where Asmodee owns 99.99%* of board game publishers, it is both refreshing and exciting to hear of a merger that doesn’t include that Goliath.  

Board & Dice (Awakening, Inbetween, Multiuniversum) and NSKN games (Teotihuacan, Mistfall,  Dice Settlers) have combined forces, teasing us with 2019 releases such as Inuit: The Snow Folk (from the same design team that brought us Game of Trains), Dust in The Wings a Mancala style game about photographing butterflies and of course expansions for Teotihuacan, Dice Settlers, a Big Box game in the Exodus universe, Inbetween and something new (and mysterious) from Daniele Tascini.

*completely made-up statistic

MEEPLECON

India's first and only board game convention takes place this weekend.  Meeplecon is a free-to-enter convention showcasing many well-known gateway and gateway plus games, held in one of Mumbai's biggest and busiest malls, Phoenix Marketcity.  

Given that the mall receives over 50,000 visitors at the weekend, organisers are expecting an attendance of around 3,000 which would be a great start in spreading the good word of this cardboard hobby.

DIGITAL BLOOD RAGE

CMON Launch their next Kickstarter on 3rd of December, this time for Blood Rage Digital.  This will be a "fully realised" version of the board game playable through Steam.  Backers will also be able to get their mitts on some new miniatures, including Gam the wolf of the underworld

CMON COMING TO UK GAMES EXPO

The UK Games Expo gets bigger and better each year, with more publishers, more games and more gamers.  Next Year will see miniatures giant CMON joining the list of official sponsors where one can hope to get a proper look at Night of the Living Dead game that we reported on previously plus any other game in their current or upcoming portfolio.

ARKHAM HORROR CALENDAR

I can't think of a better way to cheer up my January mornings than being greeted by Cthulhu when I make my coffee, and now I can! 

Sold exclusively through their website, Fantasy Flight have just released their range of 2019 Calendars, including Arkham Horror, Android, KeyForge, Legend of the Five Rings, and Realms of Terrinoth.

A COOL NEW CHAMPION

The first World Championships for Ice Cool, from Brain Games, were held last weekend where Khanh Hung Dong from Canada took everyone by storm with his penguin flicking skills.  You can watch the video of his victory on the ICECOOL Facebook page

GAME PLAN

On loan from London’s V&A Museum of Childhood, the exhibit, Game Plan: Board Games Rediscovered can now be explored at St. Alban’s Museum & Gallery.  

Exploring and celebrating the history of this hobby from its origins.  Of course, Chess, Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit are there alongside some of the more modern game changers.  The exhibit opens on Saturday 1st December with a series of free family-focused events.

STEPPING IN POO WINS BEST INNOVATION

At the recent 2018 Toy & Game Innovation (TAGIE) Awards, Don’t Step In It, from Hasbro took home the award for Most Innovative Game.  A game where kids are blindfolded and forced to walk barefoot across a plastic mat covered in dog shite.  Fake, plastic dog shite, but dog shite nonetheless.  

All the more amusing is that the awards are described on the website as: “an elegant and playful evening gala that brings together industry leaders from inventors to manufacturers to retailers" Of course, the awards are held in the Grand Ballroom of the Navy Pier in Chicago.

PNP ARCADE

Launching over last weekend, PNP Arcade is a new platform to help gamers find great PNP games.  The system will be pretty familiar to those who use DriveThruRPG.  With games for free to a couple of quid you’ll be able to buy, print and play new and innovative games.  

Titles include classics in the genre as well as the possibility for current Kickstarters to give players and potential backers a chance to try before they buy.  Best of all, the designers of the games will be earning 70% of all sales which is a fantastic way to support up-and-comers.  I’ve literally just downloaded Perfect Moment (for free) which we feature in our Kickstarter recommendations last week.

KICKSTARTER HIGHLIGHTS:

Ragusa - is a worker placement Euro with a little twist.  Steve and I loved this game when we saw it at the UK Games Expo - you can read Steve's thoughts on it here.  The game is already fully funded and with an entry price of just £35, this was an instaback for more than one of us here at Collider Towers.

Trick or Tree is an interesting game/product design from first time Kickstarter, Kelvinkit Design Co. Ltd. A blend of design, toy and game Trick or Tree uses multi-coloured, magnetic wooden blocks to build a tree.