USD ($)
EUR (€)
This week, Cthulhu goes to Australia, Zombicide goes to space, werewolves go into legacy mode and some guy called Thanos hits the tabletop.
Cthulhu is going to ‘AuZtralia’
A Study in Emerald is getting a spiritual follow up because designer Martin Wallace is returning to the world of the Cthulhu Mythos, but he’s moving the action (and changing the mechanics) to Australia. Yep, AuZtralia sees a broken humanity try and colonise the land of Kangaroos before the Mythos monsters can complete their job of destroying us, so players have to expand into the heart of the continent, gaining enough points to win individually but working together enough to keep the Old Ones at bay.
AuZtralia is being Kickstarted with a proposed September release date, and the funding target has already been met.
Zombicide in Space!!!
It’s not pigs in space, it’s Zombicide in space, as CMON are mining the world of science fiction for their next iteration of the zombie killing franchise. Zombicide Invader put players on a galactic mining colony, either as civilians or heavily armoured (Space?) marines, facing off against arrange of aliens who want nothing more than to eat their face.
Yep, it’s Aliens meets 40k meets just about everything else, and of course it’ll launch on Kickstarter on April 10. Now, will they have a Dreadnought or a Power Loader…
Pathfinder Second Edition
Pathfinder shook up the RPG industry and has proven more popular than anyone bar its mother could have imagined; now a second edition is coming. The actions system is being revamped with ‘three actions and one reaction’ a round while bonuses are turning into proficiency ratings that combine with stats: Pazio have published an in-depth FAQ to answer all your questions.
In addition, all first edition scenarios and modules will still work with the second. If you fancy helping Pazio out, a playtest version is coming August 2nd.
Werewolves go Legacy?
Legacy game mastermind Rob Daviau has parachuted onto the island marked Ultimate Werewolf, where he’ll be working with Ted Alspach to create a legacy version of the swift social deduction game. We did not see that one coming.
The new campaign will be played over 16 games, each taking an evening to complete, and while there will still be a werewolf there will also be families, teams, a changing village and a diary that gets filled in and altered. In short, a full legacy experience, just with a werewolf hiding among the players.
Crucially, the game is designed for players to drop in and out, so it’s not essential to have the team together all the time. Ultimate Werewolf Legacy will be out in August, will cost $60 and come with a recharge pack for further play.
Pacific Rim: Extinction prepares for launch
The Pacific Rim movies just scream out for a miniatures game, although presumably you could just add Godzilla to Battletech. Anyway, we’re getting one as River Horse are launching Pacific Rim: Extinction in which players control the Jaegers or the monsters, and we now have a date: launching on Kickstarter March 12.
Gameplay uses a card system. So what’s the twist? Pacific Rim is about big mechs and big creatures, so the pre-painted figures in Extinction are going to be around 75mm high.
Your chance to fight Thanos
If you don’t know who Thanos is yet, you won’t be able to escape the purple bad guy once Avengers: Infinity War is released in April. You can try your luck against him in Thanos Rising: Avengers Infinity War, a co-op game where you play a team of superheroes trying to stop Thanos collecting the Infinity Stones (you won’t be able to escape them either.)
The mechanics are dice and card drafting and USAopoly is the studio.
The Lost Expedition travels to the Fountain of Youth
Osprey’s Lost Expedition is getting an expansion, and it’s going to feature one of the leading causes of early modern lost expeditions, the Fountain of Youth. There will be four modules that can be used, and curses and strange anomalies are hinted it. The Lost Expedition: The Fountain of Youth & Other Adventures is out September 18.
Agra Update
Agra is being reprinted and will be out in the second quarter of 2018, so you don’t need to be glued to eBay if you want a copy of this richly visual game.
Quote of the Week: Steve Jackson Games
The Annual Stakeholder Report for Steve Jackson Games isn’t normally essential reading for gamers, but there’s a fascinating quote from it that reflects the changing nature of the industry we all buy from:
“The current market is more a periodicals business than one that encourages growing and nurturing single games, leading to our evergreen titles — Munchkin and Zombie Dice — dropping in sales.”
The report explains that this means; "The flood of games continues to overwhelm distributors, retailers, and shelves, leading to an accelerated release schedule for many publishers as games get less time as a 'new release' and get dumped online as fast as they leave the 'hot and new' category."
The industry is changing, and studios are changing to match. Steve Jackson will be letting some ‘evergreen’ material go out of print.