Lots and lots of news.
There’s also lots of stuff I left out.
So much news...
Gen Con Release Early Attendance Figures
Expect the official and final numbers shortly, but early counts have America's largest board gaming convention growing by around 12% up to c.70,000 unique attendees. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the convention has exceeded 60,000.
Other early figures in are that the 583 exhibitors showed their wears this year and that more than $35,000 was raised for the charity partners; Game to grow and Special Olympics Indiana.
D&D The Movie
More news (or pseudo-news really since it's actually just rumour at the moment) around the long-in-development Dungeons & Dragons movie. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are "in discussion" to direct the film.
Previously, the pair directed Game Night, a film starring Rachel Adams and Jason Bateman about a literal game night gone wrong to hilarious consequences. They also wrote the final screenplay for Spider-Man: Homecoming.
These credits suggest that they are "our type of people" (read: geeks) so we can hope that should they officially come on board the project the magnitude and scope of the subject material won't be lost on them.
Spiel Preview Night Crashes Booking System
For the first time, Spiele Essen will hold a preview night prior to opening the doors to the public on 24th October. This preview night gives attendees the opportunity to demo games with publishers, enjoy some opening gaming and a few drinks and nibbles too.
However, spaces are limited and tickets were in high demand. A little too high for the organisers to deal with, causing their ticket booking system to crash.
So big was the rush for tickets a substitute system was put in place for organisers to sell tickets directly via a form of their homepage yesterday morning (6th August) which has now sold out.
Trump’s Surprising 10% Tariff on Toys and Games
(I’m not sorry. I just really can’t bear to have yet another picture of Donald Trump in the News Collider)
The will they, won’t they story of the US and China trade dispute kind of reminds me of the whole Ross and Rachel thing. It was like a shadow over the community throughout May and early June. After the G-20 Summit in Osaka, everything was okay...for a little while.
Declaring on Twitter (obviously), that China hasn’t kept up their end of the deal of purchasing agricultural goods or reducing the sales of Fentanyl as promised, President Trump announced a 10% on all remaining imports from China. This new tariff is to take effect on the 1st of September...However, Presidents Trump and Xi Jimping are meeting again in September to have another talk.
Finger’s crossed that this meeting will be like The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 2
Konieczka Leaves FFG to Lead a New Games Studio
Corey Konieczka, currently the VP of Research & Design at Fantasy Flight Games is leaving his post after joining the company in 2005 to spearhead a new game design studio (also under Asmodee USA) called Unexpected Games.
Konieczka is also a designer of some renown, with games such as Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, Star Wars: Rebellion, and Eldritch Horror under his belt.
His main role, and the goal of the Unexpected Games, is the creation of games that are novel, fun, and accessible, to create games that surprise and provide unique experiences.
Their first game, a multi layer story experience is due next year.
Marvel Champions LCG and Arkham Horror: Final Hour Announced
These days the News Collider doesn’t really feature new game announcements unless there is something really special about said game. That said Fantasy Flight Games made two game announcements that set a few of us here at Collider towers a buzz with excitement.
First up is the Marvel Champions LCG. In what looks to be using the Arkham Horror LCG engine at its core but with some key changes. In the base game players take on the roles of some big names within the Marvel Universe; Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther, or She-Hulk to begin with. Interestingly though players will have to play as both their superhero and mild-mannered civilian versions of these characters to complete scenarios and missions.
Unlike previous LCGs from Fantasy Flight Games the base set contains everything you will need to play the full base game. No additional copies will be required to fully play the game, everything is there for you upon opening the box.
Arkham Horror: Final Hour, as you would expect is a co-op game about saving the world from an interdimensional Ancient One. The aim of the game is to give fans of the genre the ability to play an Arkham game in less than an hour, but still have the game full of tension and horror. From what I can gather, the game hinges on players working semi-autonomously choosing their action cards without a group plan/discussion and then using a bidding-type of action to decide the order of action sand each actions “negative” side effect.
To reverse the spell that opened the rift players will need to search their location for special runes, deducing the correct ones and the correct sequence in order to play the necessary cards, seal the rift and win the game.
Needles to say. We are excited to see both of these games arrive later this year.
Marvel: Crisis Protocol - a Marvel Miniatures Game
In a homage to the mid credit sequence that has become a staple of the MCU movies, Fantasy Flight Games interrupted their "In Flight" Gen Con presentation to bring Will Shick, from Atomic MAss Games on stage to reveal and the Marvel Miniatures games: Crisis Protocol.
This is a skirmish hobby game where players will assemble teams of heroes, villains or a mix of both to duke it out. The game makes use of a “miniatures draft system”, selecting any 10 characters to begin with before creating the mission by each player selecting their own Crisis Card. These cards create a narrative for each game before players draft a team of five characters from the pre-selected ten.
The game also boasts a dynamic catch up mechanic where characters generate the all important “Power” resource that will enable them to heal or take special super powered actions.
The base game will be released this autumn and will include everything you need to get started including ten highly detail multipart hard plastic miniatures. After the initial release the game will be supported each month with extra character (or character variants) chich will also include new Team Tactic and Crisis cards creating more scope and missions for players.
The rulebook is available for download now if you’d like to get a taste of the game ahead of its release.
The much PHC beloved game of Tiny Towns for AEG is getting its first expansion,as announced during Gen Con by designers Peter McPherson and Josh Wood.
Unfortunately, that's all the information we have at the moment, that it's coming, its name and box art, but we'll be sure to bring you more when we have it.
Tiny Towns Expansion Announced
Unfortunately, that's all the information we have at the moment, that it's coming, its name and box art, but we'll be sure to bring you more when we have it.
Back to the Future Game
After the success of first Jurassic Park in 2018 and then Jaws this year, Ravensburger announced during Gen Con next years "Summer Blockbuster" board game being Back to the Future. Not much is yet known about the game, other than it is a co-op dice game where you won't need roads but it will be out in autumn 2020 in the same year that the film celebrates turning thirty-five. Heavy.
CMON Announce Ankh - Gods of Egypt by Eric Lang
We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when; at Gen Con CMON announced the third title in Eric Lang’s area control trilogy, Ankh God of Egypt. Set in ancient Egypt, Ankh will have you playing one of the old gods and is promised to be very luck free, playing in less time than both Blood Rage and Rising Sun. Very little has been released about the game play but the story from Mr Lang himself is that it will be an “indirect area control game”. What exactly indirect means is anyone’s guess.
Based on the success of both Blood Rage and Rising Sun, you can guarantee that this is going to be huge.
CMON Announce Cyberpunk 2077: Afterlife the Card Game
If Keanu Reeves has already made you excited about the release of CD Projekt Red’s stonkingly massive new open world cyberpunk video game (which is based on an old tabletop RPG), maybe the latest card game from CMON will. In Afterlife you will recruit cyber punks, equip them with the best gear and send them on missions to improve your street cred.
At the UK Games Expo the good folks at CMON told us how their other video game crossover, God of War, was designed to be a low cost game that can appeal to the mass market. Our bet is that Cyberpunk 2077 Afterlife will be heading for the same target demographic.
Diana Jones Award Winner: Star Crossed
Previously on the News Collider we gave the shortlist of nominations for the Diana Jones Excellence in Gaming Award, and now we can tell you about the winner: Star Crossed.
Star Crossed is a two player role-playing game about two individuals that really, REALLY want to...y'know, but really shouldn't. It’s a game about forbidden-attraction played over a series of scenes where players try not to bring too much heat. Each game players will devise characters that “should” be together and then contrive a world that will not let them. Players are encouraged to create or borrow from anything and everywhere, setting their story within the pages of a favourite book, or from a movie or to create one afresh together.
Most interestingly, the game makes use of stacking blocks (Jenga), where each time a character does something to increase the attraction another block is removed and re-stacked, the aim is to make it through the story without the tower falling. However, if the tower does fall the characters act upon their desires immediately and their world goes wrong.
There was a very successful Kickstarter for the game and if you want to give it a try it you can download the rulebook PDF from DriveThru RPG for around £10 <>
ENnie Award Winners Announced
The eighteenth annual Ennie award winners were announced during Gen Con, recognising the best in role-play games over the last twelve months. There are twenty-four categories (and you can see the full list of winners and runner-ups here )
Best Game went to Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide from Tuesday Knight Games, Best Product to Product of the Year was won by Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set from H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (who also picked up a host of the other awards)
Archon Games tease Wolfenstein Boardgame
If you were playing first person shooters when the genre was being created you’ll know about Wolfenstein and might even become a little bit giddy with the thought of a board game based upon this classic game of espionage and shooting the crap out of stuff. Unfortunately, that’s all we can give you currently; The thought of it. No further information has been released but if you want to stay on top of it the best way to do so would be the publisher’s website.
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