USD ($)
EUR (€)
It’s a great week for fans of classic sci-fi with a new, multi-game Dune licence signed, and if you like it a bit more modern Games Workshop are exploring visual media.
The next Games Workshop licence could be TV…
Games Workshop’s Annual Reports have long been interesting reading, but the passive-aggressive tone of past management has gone and we now have a team expanding the brand in unusual directions. So what might follow 40K Monopoly? TV and movies! Yes, GW have put together a team to pursue visual media to promote and exploit their IP. Could GW ever produce the next Game of Thrones from among their universes? In the right hands of course they could…
Harlem Unbound to get Second Edition
As much as your scribe loves the work of HP Lovecraft, he has to acknowledge the unpleasant, racist edge within. Chris Spivey’s Harlem Unbound was a bold attempt to tackle this and it won plenty of awards… and that means a second edition filled with new artwork, new scenarios and an all around bigger budget approach. While the original came from Spivey’s own indie studio this time Chaosium, the king of Mythos RPGs, is releasing it.
Gizmos: Oh Yes
The Gizmos tabletop is dominated by a device that dispenses coloured marbles, which you then store in rings to stop them rolling away and use in the game. Assuming you need to hear more, and quite frankly I’m sold already, Gizmos is from Phil Walker Harding, aka Mr Sushi Go!, and it tasks you with building fantastic contraptions which you hope will win the Great Science Fair.
Think the start of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and you’re there. Eric Lang is working on this too, and it feels like he’s involved in something every week, so please let’s all hope he actually sleeps. It’s coming out at the end of this August month.
Discover: Lands Unknown
If you thought Fantasy Flight’s decision to make every deck of the card game Keyforge unique was intriguing, the next in their ‘Unique Game’ line is a full on board game. Discover: Lands Unknown comes with every copy different, although the gameplay from Imperial Assault man Corey Konieczka will stay the same.
It’s a co-op where you’re trying to survive a perilous landscape, and that’s what differs as there’s six landscapes and many hex combinations to battle across, as well as a range of scenarios and characters. It’s not legacy and you can replay… or you can buy a different box for a slightly different experience. It’s a winter release.
Pax Pamir gets Kickstarter Exclusive 2nd Edition
Pax Pamir is a ‘tableau’ game of competing tribes in Afghanistan during the time of the Great Game, when imperial powers struggled over the region. At least one of the original designers, Root’s Cole Wehrle, is back with a second edition which is going to be a Kickstarter exclusive. However, there are some pretty big changes.
The rules have been halved in length, gameplay is reduced by a quarter, and Wehrle has been quoted as saying the changes are so big it “may unnerve some long standing fans,” which is always… interesting. New rules come with new art, and the crowdfunder launches later this month.
Gale Force Nine sign multi game Dune licence
It would be fair to say Dune is a major science fiction property… and Gale Force Nine have signed a licence to produce multiple types of tabletop game over a multi year period. Now, it appears the target release date for many of these is around the 2020 movie, but a press release explains they expect to produce an equally expansive and inspired line of games for years to come.
GF9 will also be taking this licence into co-ops with other companies, and Modiphus will be working with them on an RPG. All systems go for this one! Now, let’s talk two foot long sandworm miniatures…
A New Company Forms
A few months ago this column brought you news of Stronghold Games changing their logo, and it turns out that was a total waste of time as they’re now merging with Indie Boards and Cards to form a new company called Indie Game Studios… with a new logo.
Speaking of Company News…
Another month, another Asmodee purchase, probably.... Talks are being held to see the current gaming sponge acquire Brazil’s Galapagos Jogos. The two will work together to bring Asmodee products into Brazil and Brazilian products round the world.
Historical Science in Newton
CMON isn’t all million dollar Kickstarters and masses of models. In Newton you play eighteenth century scientists trying to become a leader in the age, just like Newton. You play cards, visit universities, research and train, all without (zombie)cide. The release is the end of November, with a 90 minute play time.
A New Way to Start Magic the Gathering
It can be hard to get into Magic the Gathering, and Wizards of the Coast are easing this process with a new ‘Spellslinger Starter Kit.’ This comes with two decks ready to be played, but here’s the twist: the cards are already in a special order which you work through to teach you how to play. It’s like a YouTube video you can use again at the end and then buy extras for. Lots and lots of extras.
A’Writhe: A Game of Eldritch Contortions
Wizkids have a new way for you to get into an embarrassing situation with your group, and it’s A’Writhe: A Game of Eldritch Contortions. I’ve seen a few fancy ways of describing this, but it’s essentially Twister, only you’re trying to summon a Great Being by curling to the right tiles on the floor rather than simply not falling over. Play age is 14+, and we presume that’s solely because you play cultists etc. rather than the difficulty.
Quined Games take on a triple Kickstarter
If you back on Kickstarter, do you prefer projects where the creator has fulfilled the last one? Quined Games are about to give you a panic attack. Put simply, they’ll have three campaigns going at once, and it’s expected a triple discount deal with be on the way. So, there’s a second edition of set collector Firenze, as well as the ‘takes us far too long to check spelling’ Raiatea and also Counterfeiters. This is certainly ambitious, and all three games are in their ‘Masterprint’ line which puts an emphasis on quality.