Judging by the Fellowship of the Ring theme being blared out of Steve’s laptop speaker, it’s safe to say that he’s a little excited about our first news article today.
And so he should be because there’s a lot to get excited for this week; such as a Dice Forge expansion, a series of gateway games from Board & Dice, another board game set in the Expanse universe (or should that be solar system) and, a sequel to Ganz Schön Clever. Of course there’s also a new Lord of the Rings board game coming out.
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: LORD OF THE RINGS: JOURNEYS IN MIDDLE-EARTH
Fantasy Flight announced the release of a new Lord of the Rings game sometime this spring/summer. The game will be fully co-op with an app-driven “Dungeon Master” controlling all the beasties and encounters as 1 to 5 players explore Middle-Earth over a 14 chapter campaign. Playable characters that we know about so far include Bilbo Baggins, Gimli, a female warrior, an elf (probably Legolas) and two, as yet unidentified male warriors.
Expect more information to be released over the comings weeks and for Steve to be positively giddy about it when he no doubt picks it up.
GAME ANNOUNCEMENTS: INUIT, DUST IN THE WINGS, WORLD SHAPERS
Board & Dice has released some of the plans for games released in 2019 – and the UK Games Expo gets 2 of them!
INUIT is a re-implementation of 2017’s Natives, adding gorgeous new art and 2 modular expansions. This light card drafting and tableau building game is all about the growth and prosperity of your village all in line with pleasing the spirits of nature. INUIT The Snow Folk is released in March.
DUST IN THE WING is a family weight game of perception and planning based on the Mancala system but this time it’s all about taking the perfect photo of a kaleidoscope of butterflies (the technical term for a group of butterflies – don’t go sayin’ you don’t learn nothing from Polyhedron Collider). Released at UK Games Expo in June
WORLD SHAPERS is a gateway card drafting game about building up combos of the four elements the shape your world. Also released at UK Games Expo in June
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: SUPER PUNCH FIGHTER
If a game called Super Punch Fighter doesn’t put you in mind of retro-style arcade beat-em-ups and have your thumbs itching already you may as well move onto the next news story. If you can already feel a “HADOUKEN!” rising in your gut then this game will be for you.
From Plaid Hat Games, released this summer, Super Punch Fighter is button bashing, combo building hand management game of kicking-ass. Literally, the cards you play are styled after game controller buttons which you use to pay for moves. Each fighter has their own unique deck, and at least one of them contains a pig (I don’t know why).
From Plaid Hat Games, released this summer, Super Punch Fighter is button bashing, combo building hand management game of kicking-ass. Literally, the cards you play are styled after game controller buttons which you use to pay for moves. Each fighter has their own unique deck, and at least one of them contains a pig (I don’t know why).
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: 3 LAWS OF ROBOTICS
Floodgate game is releasing a robot deduction game this year in which players are trying to identify themselves in what sounds like a mash-up of Spyfall and Hanabi those “who am I?” games.
Players know the identity of all the other players and are trying to work out who they are and then find their faction's leader. But questions can only be asked the adhere to the “rules of robotics”
Players know the identity of all the other players and are trying to work out who they are and then find their faction's leader. But questions can only be asked the adhere to the “rules of robotics”
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: DOPPELT SO CLEVER
Ganz Schön Clever caused quite a bit of a stir last year, with people bragging about their personal high scores on Twitter much to the utter ambivalence or chagrin of their followers. Well, we can expect more of that in 2019 when the sequel is launch.
Doppelt so clever will add new ways to manipulate the dice…so we all have that to look forward to.
Doppelt so clever will add new ways to manipulate the dice…so we all have that to look forward to.
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: CABO
The light and whimsical Cabo is being re-released this March from Bezier games with all new artwork. A memory and hand management game where players try to end with the lowest value cards in their hands.
The original Cabo was released in 2010 and featured a unicorn vomiting a rainbow, I wonder if they’ll keep that card
The original Cabo was released in 2010 and featured a unicorn vomiting a rainbow, I wonder if they’ll keep that card
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: CONSPIRACY: THE SOLOMON GAMBIT
Restoration games, the guys responsible for taking old games, like Fireball Island and giving it a new lease of life, has just announced their next release: Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit. This is a modernised version of 1973’s Conspiracy.
This game features a rather interesting and unique mechanic of blind bidding and shared piece control. Players move secret agents around a board, but no one agent belongs to any one player, instead, players pay the agents to do their bidding. This means that opponents can challenge a move, but they don’t know how much the agent was paid. Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit will be released at this year’s Origins Game Fair in June.
This game features a rather interesting and unique mechanic of blind bidding and shared piece control. Players move secret agents around a board, but no one agent belongs to any one player, instead, players pay the agents to do their bidding. This means that opponents can challenge a move, but they don’t know how much the agent was paid. Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit will be released at this year’s Origins Game Fair in June.
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: THE RISE & FALL OF ANVALOR
Wizkids and Warhammer have combined forces to bring a "co-opetition" game where the combination of a player’s faction and Aspect changes the style and pace of play.
Together the players will attempt to build the stronghold of Anvalor, whilst defending it from assault. However, the throne only seats one, so only one player can be the real victor. With a large array of factions, Aspects and enemies this game looks to have some pretty decent staying power, but we’ll have to wait until its release in April to be sure.
Together the players will attempt to build the stronghold of Anvalor, whilst defending it from assault. However, the throne only seats one, so only one player can be the real victor. With a large array of factions, Aspects and enemies this game looks to have some pretty decent staying power, but we’ll have to wait until its release in April to be sure.
GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: FLUXX DEEP SPACE NINE
Have you ever wanted to play Fluxx but themed as Star Trek Deep Space Nine? No? Oh. Okay then.
Well, if you had said yes then I would have been able to give you some really exciting news. The Fluxx series of games is expanding boldly with a new Deep Space Nine skin, featuring all of your favourite characters form the show. You'll be able to pick this up this summer.
Well, if you had said yes then I would have been able to give you some really exciting news. The Fluxx series of games is expanding boldly with a new Deep Space Nine skin, featuring all of your favourite characters form the show. You'll be able to pick this up this summer.
EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT: DICE FORGE REBELLION
This expansion for Dice Forge adds plenty of new ways to play the game – and for Jon to get utterly wrong.
The Titan expansion adds 5 new pools of dice faces for each forge. There will also be a labyrinth for players to explore complete with a Minotaur at its centre and then there are 30 new exploit cards for heroes to change the play and pace of the game. Pre-orders are open now and the game will hit store shelves in February
The Titan expansion adds 5 new pools of dice faces for each forge. There will also be a labyrinth for players to explore complete with a Minotaur at its centre and then there are 30 new exploit cards for heroes to change the play and pace of the game. Pre-orders are open now and the game will hit store shelves in February
EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT: STAR WARS: ALLIES & ADVERSARIES
If you play any of Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars RPGs then this upcoming sourcebook may be a particular interest.
Star Wars is so great, in part, because of the huge variety of characters in that universe. Now, complete and full stat-blocks will be available for a 130 NPCs familiar from the movies and elsewhere. You’ll now also be able to create an Ewok character for yourself. The book will be worth it for that alone surely? Surely…? This will be hitting shelves sometime this summer.
Star Wars is so great, in part, because of the huge variety of characters in that universe. Now, complete and full stat-blocks will be available for a 130 NPCs familiar from the movies and elsewhere. You’ll now also be able to create an Ewok character for yourself. The book will be worth it for that alone surely? Surely…? This will be hitting shelves sometime this summer.
EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT: EXPANSE: DOORS AND CORNERS
Set in the Expanse universe from the TV series, Doors and Corners includes 5 additional modules to the game of politics, conquest and intrigue. Leaders, New Tech, resource Tokens, Protomolecule and Variable Setup can be used in any combination to increase the depth and strategy of the base game.
JUST RELEASED: THE NORWEGIANS
The first expansion for the game that already has enough options and components to sink a Viking Longboat, A Feast for Odin is on its way from Z Man games.
After the fashion of the base game, this expansion is chocked full of content; 3 new double-sided boards combine to create a varying tableau that replaces the action board representing the competition of rival chieftains. Artisan sheds, built instead of the normal shed and requiring additional resources, give you a host of new strategies and options. Then there’s the recompense for those Occupation cards that are a bit naff, or just don’t work within your current strategy, you can now sack these off for pure unfiltered victory points, but of course, there is a catch, these compensation cards are in short supply.
After the fashion of the base game, this expansion is chocked full of content; 3 new double-sided boards combine to create a varying tableau that replaces the action board representing the competition of rival chieftains. Artisan sheds, built instead of the normal shed and requiring additional resources, give you a host of new strategies and options. Then there’s the recompense for those Occupation cards that are a bit naff, or just don’t work within your current strategy, you can now sack these off for pure unfiltered victory points, but of course, there is a catch, these compensation cards are in short supply.
JUST RELEASED: CONAN THE BRIGAND
Modiphius has just released the Conan the Brigand supplement to their Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of.
This book adds brigand-themed castes, nomads, raiders, new creatures and new locations that Conan raided in Howard’s books such as Turan and the city-state of Zamboula.
This book adds brigand-themed castes, nomads, raiders, new creatures and new locations that Conan raided in Howard’s books such as Turan and the city-state of Zamboula.
TOP 10 BOARDGAME KICKSTARTERS
ICV2 – the geek culture website has revealed how good 2018 was Kickstarter boardgames with their table of top 10 board game Kickstarters of all time.
This top 10 had 3 new entries last year, 2 of which came from Awaken realms with Nemesis and Tainted Grail, no surprise that Batman from Monolith also got in there. Kingdom Death Monster is still at the top followed by Exploding Kittens which somehow has an average backing value of $40
This top 10 had 3 new entries last year, 2 of which came from Awaken realms with Nemesis and Tainted Grail, no surprise that Batman from Monolith also got in there. Kingdom Death Monster is still at the top followed by Exploding Kittens which somehow has an average backing value of $40
RECORD AMOUNT RAISED FOR BOARDGAMES ON KICKSTARTER
2018 was a bumper year for board games on Kickstarter with $165.3 million raised in successful campaigns, that’s up on last year’s bumper performance of $137 by 20%. This makes it 4 consecutive years of growth for boardgames on the crowdfunding platform and 6 times the category has been in growth since Kickstarter launched 7 years ago. As Meatloaf would probably say, “6 out of 7 is pretty bloody great”.
As a final fact for you: Of the $564 million raised in total on Kickstarter in 2018, boardgames make up 29% of that pie.
BYE GEOFF
Geoff Engelstein announced that he’ll be leaving the Ludology podcast in May.
Geoff co-founded the podcast back in 2011 with Ryan Sturm as a way to discuss the science and theory of game design. Engelstein has said that he is leaving to spend more time on his writing and design but will occasionally return for special events. He is being replaced by Emma Larkins, writer, speaker and game designer (Heartcatchers, and …and then we died)
Geoff co-founded the podcast back in 2011 with Ryan Sturm as a way to discuss the science and theory of game design. Engelstein has said that he is leaving to spend more time on his writing and design but will occasionally return for special events. He is being replaced by Emma Larkins, writer, speaker and game designer (Heartcatchers, and …and then we died)
GEN CON SPONSOR
Fantasy Flight Games has recently signed a new, three year deal with Gen Con to be a dedicated sponsor. This gives the publisher increased advertising space in convention literature as well improved logistical support and a very prominent convention floor space.
NEW PLAYERS ON THE BOARD AT CMON
Adam Lovel has been promoted to VP of Sales and Operations at CMON.
Lovel joined the miniatures-based tabletop giant in 2017 as their Sales Manager for North America & International English. Along with this promotion, Luiz Coelho has been hired as the new International Sales Manager.
Lovel joined the miniatures-based tabletop giant in 2017 as their Sales Manager for North America & International English. Along with this promotion, Luiz Coelho has been hired as the new International Sales Manager.
RICK LOOMIS ANNOUNCES CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Founding GAMA President and CEO and founder of the publisher Flying Buffalo sadly announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
Flying Buffalo is believed to be the oldest game company still run by its original owner and next year will be its 50th anniversary.
“I’m told it is very treatable. However, I expect to be somewhat distracted for the next few months.”
Flying Buffalo is believed to be the oldest game company still run by its original owner and next year will be its 50th anniversary.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE™
Did you that “Choose Your Own Adventure” is actually a trademarked brand for the CYOA books? It’s owned by Choseco. #TrueStory
Netflix knew, apparently, they knew before they made the Black Mirror movie, Bandersnatch. The Netflix original movie was advertised as a Chose Your Own Adventure with the main character basing the video game on a fictional book. Talks between Netflix and Choseco didn’t….shall we say, end. Choseco are now asking for $25 million in damages from Netflix due to this unauthorised use of their brand.
Netflix knew, apparently, they knew before they made the Black Mirror movie, Bandersnatch. The Netflix original movie was advertised as a Chose Your Own Adventure with the main character basing the video game on a fictional book. Talks between Netflix and Choseco didn’t….shall we say, end. Choseco are now asking for $25 million in damages from Netflix due to this unauthorised use of their brand.
RETURN OF THE ARTIFICER
Fans of the 4th edition D&D, specifically those who enjoyed the Eberron campaign may be interested/excited to hear that playtest rules for the Artificer Class will be making an appearance next month as part of the Unearthed Arcana for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
The Artificer was a magic user, specialising in the creation of magical items. This may not mean the Artificer is returning in any official capacity soon, but it does hint at the possibility of another Eberron setting soon.
The Artificer was a magic user, specialising in the creation of magical items. This may not mean the Artificer is returning in any official capacity soon, but it does hint at the possibility of another Eberron setting soon.
COURSES IN BOARD GAME CROWDFUNDING
The Writing Bold Academy (an online teaching course) is about to launch a new, Board Game Crowdfunding course. Led by Tommaso De Benetti “students” can learn about the pitfalls and opportunities with using any crowdfunding platform for their game.
The course is free and can be done in your own time, all you have to do is enrol.
The course is free and can be done in your own time, all you have to do is enrol.
KICKSTARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Coral Islands - In 'Coral', use dice to make shapes in 3D! In 'Islands', draft colours, move dice, and try to claim the highest stacks by the end!Tsuro: Phoenix Rising - An exhilarating board game of tiles, floating lanterns, and constellations for 2-8 players.
New Salem 2nd Edition - A 2nd Edition of the drafting, set collection, and hidden identity game for 3-8 players.
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