The Village Square: December 21, 2017

Torg Eternity
At the end of January Ulisses Spiel and Ulisses North America will release the core rules to the revamped edition of Torg Eternity, as well as other goodies and supplements to the cinematic multi-genre RPG set in a near Earth future.  Players take on the roles of Storm Knights, larger-than-life heroes battling alien invasions from different cosms, or realities, each bringing a different popular genre setting like cyberpunk, pulp, Gothic horror and even classic fantasy.
Source: http://www.ulisses-us.com/ramping-up-torg-and-ulisses-social-media/#more-439

Favelas
The 3D stacking and tile-laying Favelas is now available from Wizkids.  The colorful puzzle game tasks players with beautifying Rio de Janeiro, but the city council is constantly changing their demands for how they want your neighborhood to look.
Source: https://wizkids.com/favelas

Rising 5
In March 2018 Grey Fox Games will release Rising 5 (pre-orders now available). The cooperative sci-fi deduction yarn is for 1-5 players with art by prolific board game illustrator Vincent Dutrait, and game play will be supported and driven by a free digital app.
Source: https://www.greyfoxgames.com/games/rising-5-runes-of-asteros/

Black Souls
Next month Medieval Lords will release their successfully funded Kickstarter game Black Souls.  In this new title you are in charge of designing a dungeon crawl video game, but making your management team and playtesters happy will be no easy task!
Source: http://www.medievalords.com/blacksouls/

Kitty Quest
Vennovate Labs has also now released a successful Kickstarter project to the general public.  Kitty Quest is reminiscent of classic board games like Chutes and Ladders, but is entirely card based to create the board and events as players resolve cards from their hands for a unique scenario every session.
Source: http://www.vennovatelabs.com/kitty-quest/

Truck Off
Adam’s Apple Games has released Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy.  Earn money by sending your food trucks to the most lucrative locations, which always involves smart planning and a little luck, of course!
Source: http://adamsapplegames.com/product/truck-off-food-truck-frenzy/

Alexa and Trivial Pursuit
Hasbro and Amazon are teaming up to update Trivial Pursuit for a new age that will utilize the Amazon Alexa and buzzer-like Echo Buttons for an interactive way to play the classic trivia game.
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/hasbro-amazon-bring-an-update-to-trivial-pursuit/48477

Kobolds & Cobblestones
Looking for something a little different? In January Osprey Games will release the paperback booklet to Kobolds & Cobblestones, a new miniatures skirmish wargame ruleset.  Card based with a bribery element, you will gather a gang of thugs from a list of classic fantasy races to fight other kingpins for control of the seedy criminal underworld.
Source: https://ospreypublishing.com/kobolds-cobblestones

Board games and PR
League of Gamemakers has a Q&A with Martyn Poole of Board Game Exposure about building relationships, value propositioning and board gaming public relations.
Source: http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/qa-martyn-poole/

Dragon+
Looking for advice to run your next RPG?  Or just some fun reading and other highlights regarding role playing?  Check out issue #17 of Dragon+.  Not only is it informative…it’s also free!
Source: http://www.dragonmag.com/5.0/#!/articles/106375

Upcoming Board Game Conventions
January 11-14. Midwinter Gaming Convention. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
January 12-14. OrcaCon. Everett, Washington.
January 12-14. PAX South. San Antonio, Texas.
January 12-14. PAX West. Seattle, Washington.
January 13-14. Congress of Gamers. Rockville, Maryland.
January 19-21. Cascade Games Con. Bellingham, Washington.
January 19-21. HexaCon. Denver, Colorado.
January 19-21. Protospiel Minnesota. Bloomington, Minnesota.
January 26-28. EsCon. Escondido, California.
February 16-18. Con of the North. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
February 16-19. Orccon. Los Angeles, California.
February 19-25. PrezCon. Charlottesville, Virginia.
February 23-25. Great Plains Game Festival. Lincoln, Nebraska.
March 9-11. Granite Games Summit. Nashua, New Hampshire.
March 16-18. MeepleCon. Las Vegas, Nevada.
March 22-25. AdeptiCon. Schaumburg, Illinois.
March 23-25. ConnCon. Stamford, Connecticut.
April 5-8. PAX East. Boston, Massachusetts.
April 19-22. Kingdom-Con. San Diego, California.
April 27-29. QC Game Fest. Davenport, Iowa.
April 27-29. Gaming Hoopla. Mundelein, Illinois.
May 4-6. Heroicon. Decatur, Illinois.
May 11-13. CMON Expo. Atlanta, Georgia.
May 17-20. Geekway to the West. St. Charles, Missouri.
May 25-28. KublaCon. Burlingame, California.
May 25-28. Gamex. Los Angeles, California.
June 1-3. NashCon. Nashville, Tennessee.
June 13-17. Origins. Columbus, Ohio.
June 24-30. Rocky Mountain Gaming Vacation. Park City, Utah.
July 4-8. Dice Tower Con. Orlando, Florida.
July 12-15. HistoriCon. Fredericksburg, Virginia.
July 21-29. WBC. Champion, Pennsylvania
August 2-5. GenCon. Indianapolis, Indiana.
August 24-26. MegaMooseCon. Richburg, South Carolina.
August 24-28. Coulee Con. La Crosse, Wisconsin.
August 31-September 3. Gateway 2018. Los Angeles, California.
September 14-16. GrandCon. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
September 27-30. Hurricon. Kissimmee, Florida.

Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.