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Welcome to 2019 and a Happy New Year to you all. We hope that 2019 is filled with exciting games and friends and family to play them with. As you can imagine there has not been a great deal of news over the holidays, however here's what we think may be of interest.
More Acquisitions
Greater Than Games (Sentinels of the Multiverse and Spirit Island) have announced that they have acquired Nevermore Games. The specific details of the acquisition have not been announced but Greater Than Games have stated that they will support Nevermore's existing games and continue to fulfil Dark Dealings: Dwarven Delve Kickstarter.
Greater Than Games going Physic
Greater Than Games have announced a new party game for 2019 called Medium and is designed by first time designers Danielle Deley, Lindsey Sherwood and Nathan Thornton. Medium is a 2-8-player game where players team up in pairs with each player receiving five word cards.
Each player in the team selects one word and then creates a "physic connection" to try and come up with a linking word. Each person in the team then declares their word together and if they match, they win. If they don't match, they draw new cards and try again. Medium is set to release in the second half of 2019.
WizKids Taking Tricks
WizKids have announced a new spin on trick taking games. Trick taking games are traditionally played with cards but WizKids' new announcement, Thrown, uses dice. The game is designed by Adam Porter, the designer of Doodle Rush and Pikoko. Thrown also includes player powers allowing re-rolls and dice flipping. The game comes with 40 dice, 26 cards and cubes. Thrown is scheduled for release in February 2019 and is worth checking out of you are a fan of trick taking games and fancy something different.
New Awards
Van Ryder Games (publishers of Hostage Negotiator, Saloon Tycoon and the upcoming Detective: City of Angels) have announced the winners of their first ever Vendor Awards, which recognises the best of the board game industry. The awards are based on excellence in communication, relationship, service quality and price.
Awards are given for, amongst other things, Top Convention (The Dice Tower Con), Excellence in Fulfilment (Quatermaster Logistics and Aetherworks), Excellence in Media and Content (Brawlin' Brothers, Three Minute Board Game and Rahdo Runs Through) and Top Licensing Partner (Frosted Games and Blue Orange Europe).
Ashes Expand
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (Plaid Hat Games) is getting a new expansion and two new decks; The Grave King and The Protector of Argaia. There is no release date for the expansion yet. The new decks offer more cards and different actions and abilities to change up the game. It is always nice to see publishers supporting games with expansions and extra content. Anyone who is a fan of Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn should check this out.
Sit Down! have Three New Games
Sit Down! have three new games in the pipeline to start off the new year. First, we have Magic Maze Kids XXL. This is pretty much the same game as Magic Maze Kids but with a giant board and is compatible with Magic Maze Kids. To coincide with this there is also an expansion to Magic Maze, Hidden Roles, which can be added to the Magic Maze games when there are three or more players to include a traitor. This has been a much asked for expansion and fans of Magic Maze will welcome it with open arms I am sure.
The second game is Bad Bones. Bad Bones is a fantasy, action selection games where players are battling skeletons and their fellow opponents to defend their kingdom. Players will recruit troops, build walls, traps and magical defences to protect their kingdom or even pushed on to the adjoining kingdoms.
The third game is Gravity Superstar. A 2-6 player competitive space game. Players will be moving on a planet (represented by a grid). Players can move one or two spaces per turn but need to watch out for the effects of the planet's gravity. Players will collect stars (victory points), tokens that allow them to have another second turn and eject a player's piece from the board. Sounds like a lot of fun so keep an eye out for this one.
The Circus is Back in Town
Meeple Circus is getting an expansion in 2019. The "Wild Animal and Aerial Show" adds a whole load of custom meeples including lions, wild bears, an acrobat and a tightrope walker. The expansion adds more of the good stuff of Meeple Circus. More animals and more stunts to perform. There are also advanced rules to increase the difficulty if players choose.