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Oddly, there are three games set in hex arenas this week, including the new Games Workshop effort, and there’s also Scrabble getting just that bit easier.
Warhammer goes Deeper into Underworld
Games Workshop’s Shadespire came with the tag ‘Warhammer Underworlds’ so they could expand it, and now we’re going deeper into this with Nightvault. You’re still in a hex-based arena where two teams use miniatures and decks to battle.
Developments in Nightvault include spells on the board and a ‘Matched Play’ tournament set up, as well as Nagash’s undead and the returning Sigmarines. What’s more, if you buy enough copies, there’s rules for three and four player combats. The release date is this weekend.
Splotter News
Firstly, if you’re after a copy of Splotter’s Roads and Boats then step back from eBay, Splotter will be reprinting it early next year.
Secondly, an expansion is coming for Food Chain Magnate and humour is in the air. Splotter have made reference to ‘The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas’, and while we don’t know what either of these are, their teases have involved a possible six player adaption and ways for people trapped behind (aka losing) to catch up. Here’s their eccentric post:
“Chef! Some of our guests are asking for ketchup. Do we have any?" "We don't serve ketchup in this company." "Also they are asking if the restaurant will expand anytime soon? There's a restaurant in the new quarter and with all the roadworks lately it is getting a lot of traffic." "Can't you see I am working on my new masterpiece? How can I concentrate like this? I need that Michelin star! And this new sushi dish is just the thing. Or maybe if I combine kimchi with icecream..." "But chef. Your guests are not asking for fancy stuff; they want ketchup and coffee. And better decorations. And a new menu." "Get out of my kitchen. Now!" The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas is an expansion for Food Chain Magnate. Help play-test it at the Splotter booth at Spiel, Essen, 2018! First come, first served.”
Scrabble Update
The Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary is being updated, and that means 300 new ways to score points. Apparently, purists are aghast at Ok and Ew being made legal, but we aren’t, we are ready to score. Points. Also appearing is the u free q word Qapik, and we’ll save you Googling by telling you it’s a currency unit in Azerbaijan. Among the many other legal words is the chance to score with beatdown while doing one.
GMT go Mystery… Wizard
GMT made Twilight Struggle and the homework needed COIN series, so we were surprised to see news of Mystery Wizard, which looks far more accessible and fantastical than their better known games. Mystery Wizard has a hex-based island on which players try and ‘capture the flag’ while harassing others, at the same time as adventuring into quests. It’s part of GMT’s P500 system of pre-ordering and is already nearly halfway through the minimum order target.
Men At Work
Men At Work isn’t just the name of the 80s cheese merchants behind Down Under, it’s also Pretzel Games’ (aka the team behind Flick Em Up) new one. You’ll be getting hard hatted and dungaree wearing Meeples plus the challenge is to build a tower out of balanced girders in accordance with cards giving you orders. It’ll launch at Essen.
Also, Pretzel’s Junk Art and Flick Em Up are getting new editions tweaked to be cheaper and with better inserts.
Monolith Arena
If we told you the creator of an acclaimed game was releasing a hex arena combat game in a fantasy world, you might be like us and have Michał Oracz low down the list. But it’s true, the man behind This War of Mine: The Board Game has switched vibes, pitting elves, demons, dwarves and humans against each other in Monolith Arena.
The monolith part comes in the way your tokens can be stacked and broken down again for a tactical twist, while actions come from order tiles. Portal is releasing it at Essen.
Mezo
After a successful Kickstarter, Kolossal Games and John Clowdus are returning with another one of his designs. Mezo is inspired by Mayan culture, but we confess to not knowing enough to tell if this is vaguely accurate or just a way to build a fantasy game. Sorry. On the plus side it definitely comes with miniatures, is all about area control and has asymmetric factions. At time of writing it’s a few thousand off funding.
We’re Not Making This Up
Hasbro are releasing a new series of games but oh my, aren’t they different. The gaming giant is taking a satirical swipe at its own products, along with a dose of dark humour, for their self aware parody game line.
What are they? Cluedo becomes ‘What Happened Last Night? Lost in Vegas’, where you’re trying to piece together the night before. Sorry! becomes Sorry! Not Sorry! as you can actively backstab each other’s pawns. Game of Life: Quarter Life Crisis casts you as millennials mired in student debt, poorly paid jobs and getting badly done tattoos.
No really, that’s an actual thing in the game. There’s also Botched Operation which describes itself. These are planned to be exclusive’s at Target in the US from October 1, but will filter out.