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Gaming collided with the real world this week when Cards Against Humanity’s latest PR campaign took on Donald Trump’s wall, but there was also plenty of actual gaming news.
Leading Scrabble player banned for cheating.
It’s all kicked off in the world of Scrabble. Allan Simmons wasn’t just a competitive Scrabble player, he was a 30-year veteran of the scene, Times correspondent, co-founder of the Association of British Scrabble Players and author of related books… and now he’s been banned for three years for cheating.
Part of Scrabble is drawing tiles from a bag in a way which means you can’t choose the tiles you’re getting, and Simmons has been caught drawing tiles in a way that means he could. He denies cheating but accepts he might have been drawing in a banned fashion. He went bitterly, singing to them how he’d spend his time doing “more important things in life.”
Wings of Glory expands to include Tripods. You read that right
Wings of Glory started as a re-creation of World War One aerial dogfights, and is now expanding into… okay, pause there. If you love historicals but hate fiction and fantasy go onto the next story. For everyone else, well, Wings of Glory is going to ally with H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, and that means some players will have human planes and some players will have tripods. Actual alien war machines.
We’re not sure what they were doing when they realised Tripods and Triplanes, but that’s one hell of a brainstorming session. The Kickstarter goes live November 28.
Magic the Gathering will get miniatures and a Euro board game
Have you ever wanted your games of Magic the Gathering to be more three dimensional? Good news, Wizkids have announced a line of pre-painted figures based on the games that you’re meant to put down instead of the cards (when played).
Bad news, they could be a year away from release. In addition, we’ve all been promised a “decidedly Euro” board game based on the material, but again in a year’s time. It sounds like you’ll be playing as wizards.
Barenpark creator gives insight into his new idea.
Phil Walker-Harding has tweeted out a prototype of his new idea and… well, no one really knows what to think. On the ground is a game of Barenpark, the amazingly perfect tile laying game he created, and above it is what looks like a monorail expansion… oh and there’s a joke from the Simpsons about monorails.
As to how you add that to Barenpark no one really knows, but as an insight into how Phil gets and works on ideas its gold. Release date? No clue.
Lisboa and Vinhos team want you to escape from a bank robbery…
Vital Lacerda and Ian O’Toole have created some quality games in the form of Lisboa, Vinhos and The Gallerist, but those all have a theme that feels more BBC4 than their new one, which is 9PM ITV: can you escape from the aftermath of a bank robbery? And can you keep the loot?
Escape Plan isn’t co-operative, as you and the other players try and double cross each other as the cops close in. Okay, yes, this is Reservoir Dogs in all but name, but who doesn’t want that. It will be kickstarted in 2018.
Cards Against Humanity get political and take on Trump’s wall.
Cards Against Humanity (CAH) is nearly as controversial in gaming circles as Donald Trump is in real life, but now they’ve collided with each other as the former launches their CAH Saves America campaign. You might remember how in the past CAH has sold special packs and then used the profit for grand ideas like buying an island, so now they sold a large number of $15 special packs which gets the purchaser secret gifts and the company money to do tricks with.
So, trick one, they’ve bought land on the Mexico / American border and hired a lawyer to try and stop Trump’s wall. Yes, CAH have gone openly political and have more things coming. The $15 offers are sold out and were only available to US buyers.
The Captain Sonar team go to Warhammer 40,000.
The designers behind Captain Sonar have revealed a follow-up, and they’ve got a licence: a Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 licence. But of course there’s a twist, and the game really isn’t what you think: it’s a racing game involving the Orks favourite juniors and whipping boys, the Gretchin.
Gretchinz! is card-based, plays in 20 minutes and involves as much Mad Max meets Roman Chariot racing as you can take. In the far future, there is Death Race 2000 as well as war. The release date is currently March.
Manga drawing game Mangaka is getting a Westernised adaption.
Mangaka is essentially a drawing game, where you have to navigate through the demands of the manga world to create your own fun stories. But if you’ve ever wondered what makes Manga different from, say, Marvel’s cartoon style, than Mangaka highlighted that as it was tied closely to the source material.
What this means is Mangaka’s creators are rebuilding the game for a Western audience, and it’s now on Kickstarter as ‘Cartooner’.