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There’s a new Ghostbusters game this month, along with a surprising merger between Ludwig and Two Cities, while Stone Age has a birthday special.
Between Two Cities of Mad King Ludwig
You might have noticed from the rather unsubtle name, but this story is about the new mashup of Between Two Cities and the Castles and Palaces of Mad King Ludwig. The design team behind Between Two Cities have adapted their fascinating ‘work with and against your neighbour’ mechanics to enter the world of Ludwig, so you are building his castles.
Stonemaier Games is publishing, making this the second most surprising rework they’ve done this year after My Little Scythe. The release date October 29 but there will be pre-release copies through Stonemaier.
Down the River
Sébastien Pauchon created Jaipur and worked on Jamaica, both games we love. His new one is The River, which promises new takes on tile and worker placement. You’re exploring a river and growing your villages, but here’s the twist: your workers will actually settle (presumably to have kids and/or retire), which means your choices in the game will get smaller as it goes on, not bigger (as in something like Everdell.)
It sounds like a mechanic which wonderfully ramps up tension… It’s family oriented rather than hardcore, and Days of Wonder are releasing before Christmas.
Ghostbusters: The Card Game
There is something pleasing about the way my spell check knows the word Ghostbusters, but you don’t need to know that, you want to know about the game. Well, we’ve had board games of the original Ghostbusters franchise, and now Renegade (aka the publisher behind Clank!) has created Ghostbusters: The Card Game.
The famous four guys are in it, with the cards rendered in a wonderful cartoon style and you compete against other players to bust the most ghost(s) over what looks like half an hour of play time. There will be card drafting to build your Buster, and set collecting to trap those spirits. Release date looks like being in time for Halloween.
Stone Age 10th Anniversary gets Chilly
We’re going to call Stone Age a classic, as the worker placement game is both perfect and 10 years in age. That also means it’s getting an anniversary edition courtesy of Z-Man Games, with upgraded components… but it’s also getting a re-theme in that package.
No, not Stone Age in space, but a winter version with a double-sided board so you can be traditional or play new rules for surviving in the bitter cold. I mean, I never played Stone Age and felt the need to put a jumper on before, but probably soon. It’ll be out this year with a price tag of $80.
Quarriors! Qultimate Quedition
We’re several posts into this week’s news and we haven’t had any Eric M Lang yet, so let’s sort that out. His Quarriors is getting a deluxe big box called Quarriors! Qultimate Quedition via Wizkids which will include everything that’s been released for it: base, expansions, promos. It’s going to cost a cool $100.
MacGyver: The Escape Room Game
Escape rooms are a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, but you can’t always get to them (and when you’ve done them once you need to wait a year for a change). Into that market came the escape room board games such as Exit and Unlock, but now Pressman have created a Target exclusive which brings the one man who can break out of anything: MacGyver: The Escape Room.
The press suggests you will, indeed, be doing amazing things with paper clips. There are five scenarios in the game.
Loony Star Trek
We have no details on this except the confirmation, from Andy Looney of Looney Labs, that he has a license to release a Star Trek version of his Chrononauts game. 2019 release is expected.
Fuji Explodes
Ever wanted to escape a volcano? Feuerland Spiele are going to let you do that from the safe zone of your gaming room with Fuji. In it you play people climbing Mount Fuji when the volcano goes bang and you have to negotiate lava to get home. It’s a co-op dice game with player secretly rolling a bank of dice each round and then using them to cross the round’s terrain cards, but you can’t just tell each other what values you all have. Expect lots of nodding, winking and fiery death.
Magnastorm
Feuerland Spiele have a big, tactical sci-fi game coming called Magnastorm and there’s a wrinkle that’s sure to spark discussion. You are trying to earn the best reputation by working in the atmosphere of Magnastorm, influencing commanders, building transmitters and all the wonderful things a group of pioneers in space can do with a system that promises very little luck. But at the end of the 100 minute play time you might receive one of 120 different reward cards which can be played, not in that game, but in later games of Magnastorm to balance skill differences. It debuts at Essen.
Passing Through Petra
Renegade will be showing ‘Passing Through Petra’ at Essen, and the game is set within the marvellous city of the same name, with the passing bit referring to merchants. You try and hook up trade deals to grow your own local influence and power, and you’ll control economics and tiles. Not too much more info is available as this is very much in the tease stage.
Tomb Raider: The Board Game
Another teaser is from Square Enix, and it’s Tomb Raider Legends: The Board Game. With art drawn from the games, you’ll be exploring a circular board to, well, raid tombs, with you selecting what actions you’ll take each turn. More info is coming soon.
NEOM: Sim City
City building games retain their popularity and Lookout Games are providing the latest genre entry: NEOM. In this you are building your city by drafting and placing tiles, but there’s a generational progression which unlocks more advanced cards and provides you with all sorts of placement problems as the city grows either as you want it or very much the opposite. We’re expecting an October release.