Weekly News

2/27/14

New Games:

It was Toy Fair 2014, and there was a lot more game news than I expected to come out of it. So let’s get started:

Cryptozoic has announced their 2014 line-up. Here are some highlights:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Deckbuilding Game (anticipated in May)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Deckbuilding Game (anticipated in June)
• Archer: The Danger Zone!, in which you fling insults until someone wins (anticipated in Q2)
• Bravest Warriors Co-op Dice Game (anticipated in July)
• The Walking Dead dice game (ant. in August)
• Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game (ant. in Q3)
• and a few expansion packs. (via BGG)

Not to be out-licensed by Cryptozoic, Gale Force Nine will be releasing games based on Homeland and Black Sails. The first is a “PvP co-op” game in which players must work together to stop a terrorist event while also trying to fulfill their own personal goals. Should be out in Q4. Black Sails will be another pirate game, but few details are available yet and the release is set for 2015. (via Purple Pawn, because they went to Toy Fair and I did not)

Mad City, by Mayfair, is a tile-laying game in which players build a city by . . . well, laying colored tiles. There is a speed component to it though, so the fastest player is likely to have an advantage. (via Purple Pawn)

Spin Master Games has two relatively-light offerings. Shark Mania is a simultaneous action roll-and-move game about doomed pirates, and  Moustache Smash is a grabbing game in which players use wands with suction cups to pick up cards (which I’m assuming are thoroughly destroyed in the process). Might be good for kids? (via Purple Pawn)

Fantasy Flight has announced Age of War, a dice game set in feudal Japan. Reiner Knizia’s behind the design, which means that it should at least bear looking into, though I’m having a bit of trouble visualizing FF’s description of the game.

Fantasy Flight has also announced The Witcher Adventure Game. I’m a fan of The Witcher and Fantasy Flight, but licensed IP tends to make me nervous. It seems to bear some similarities to Android, though without that title’s cutthroat nature. It’s due out later this year.

Stronghold Games is publishing a new game in the Space Cadets line. Spacemen vs. Aliens

But whatever. Forget all of that, because there’s going to be a Downton Abbey game and I will be covering it with the same ferocity that Bates covered [REDACTED DUE TO SPOILERS]. I mean, the game itself is probably not that good but if it gives me an opportunity to make just one Dowager Countess one-liner, I will give it all my thumbs up. (via Purple Pawn)

Expansions:

Fantasy Flight is releasing Crown of Destiny, a new Hero and Monster Collection for Descent 2nd Edition

Crowdfunding Corner:

Primary, by Nosidam Games, takes a new approach to the strategic card game. Instead of offering nearly-unlimited variation, Primary gives players a small set of strategies and tells them to work within those boundaries to win. It aims to take the advantage away from players who have spent the most money to acquire the best cards. $25 pledge gets the game.

The Orcfather bridges a gap that I never even knew I wanted bridged. It combines a gritty fantasy realm with the modern criminal underworld, and the artistic results are wonderful and evocative. It’s a 4-10 player team-based card game, and it seems to have a lot of social and deduction components. £15 will get you a copy of the game.

The Clay that Woke is an RPG about minotaurs, but it seems to be much more than that. It’s about a clever world and unique system that incorporates traditional RPG trends/tropes with awareness and skill. I’m going to be watching this one. $14 for a pdf.

Other News:

It was reported earlier this week that MtGox, one of the online exchanges for Bitcoin (that virtual currency that exists outside of your World of Warcraft accounts you occasionally hear about on the news) went under this week under rather sketchy circumstances. The connection to gaming? MtGox originally started out as a trading site for Magic: the Gathering cards.

Lastly, USAOpoloy also announced their product lineup for the year, but with such titles as a My Little Pony-branded Game of Life, WWE: Monopoly, and a Firefly Clue game (a black mark on both franchises really), we just couldn’t in good conscience put it with the actual game news.

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