Amazon.com Widgets

The Village Square: February 18, 2019

0

Thanks to those who I hung out with at this weekend’s Strategicon. It was a blast chatting with you and playing games!

KeyForge: Age of Ascension
Last year was the year of KeyForge, with Richard Garfield’s non-collectible card game taking the gaming world by storm. The second set, Age of Ascension, is now available for pre-order from Fantasy Flight Games. “Age of Ascension mixes up the cardpool with 204 brand-new cards, joining 166 cards first introduced in Call of the Archons to create an entirely new pool of 370 cards and billions upon billions more Unique Decks for you to discover, learn, and master.”
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/2/12/age-of-ascension/

Pop Board Gaming
Funko has joined the ever-burgeoning board gaming industry after acquiring Forrest-Pruzan Creative (Villainous, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle Cooperative Game, Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger). According to Yahoo! Finance, “Despite the interest in playing games on mobile devices, the board game market is seen growing 9% annually through 2023. The growth is expected to be fueled by millennials finally having kids and choosing more family style activities at home.”
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/funko-acquires-a-board-game-company-as-it-takes-aim-at-hasbro-143000610.html

Star Wars: Outer Rim
Star Wars fans can now play the part of the scoundrel in Star Wars: Outer Rim. According to Fantasy Flight Games, “you take on the role of an underworld denizen, setting out to make your mark on the galaxy. You’ll travel the Outer Rim in your personal ship, hire legendary Star Wars characters to join your crew, and try to become the most famous (or infamous) outlaw in the galaxy.”
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/2/8/star-wars-outer-rim/

Tiny Epic Tactics
The latest in the Tiny Epic series, Gamelyn Games’ small and affordable board games, is Tiny Epic Tactics. According to the website, it will launch on Kickstarter on February 19th and the game “utilizes a simple combat system with variable player powers and 3D terrain to achieve endless layers of strategy and fun.”
Source: https://www.gamelyngames.com/tiny-epic-tactics

USAopoly Becomes The Op
To celebrate its 25th year in business, USAopoly has rebranded itself as The Op. “In conjunction with the new logo debut, USAopoly today announced plans to produce Coraline-themed games and products with LAIKA, in a deal brokered by Striker Entertainment.”
Source: https://theop.games/2019/02/usaopoly-gets-a-new-look-as-it-celebrates-25-years-in-business/?fbclid=IwAR1Ed59tyawzeeeaKtbBeSuIlHIiZb99FIF56eskDnOopsFM-niqnaZWUzA

Talisman From The Op
USAopoly (or The Op, if you’ve been paying attention) announced new versions of Games Workshop’s Talisman. According to the press release, “This will be the first time a licensed version of the game will be available. The new partnership grants USAopoly international rights to distribute co-branded renditions of the ‘Magical Quest Game’ via distributors, online marketplaces and beyond.”
Source: https://theop.games/2019/02/usaopoly-and-games-workshop-embark-on-new-campaign/

Villainous Wins
With its expansion right around the corner, the original Villainous just won the Toy of the Year award at the New York Toy Fair. From Dice Tower News comes this quote from the CEO of Ravensburger North America: “The positive response from Disney fans and strategy board game enthusiasts for the growing Disney Villainous franchise has been overwhelming. In the last quarter of 2018, Ravensburger sold more than a quarter of a million copies globally of Disney Villainous: The Worst Takes It All, and it rose to Top 5 of Amazon’s Most Wished for Board Games.”
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/disney-villainous-the-worst-takes-it-all-wins-toy-of-the-year-at-toy-fair-2019/57480

T.I.M.E. Stories Reboot
Coming soon is a reboot of the T.I.M.E. Stories franchise from Space Cowboys. W. Eric Martin wrote on his BGG blog that “no base game will exist for what’s been re-dubbed TIME Stories Revolution. Each scenario will be a standalone item that can be played in any order relative to other titles in the ‘blue cycle.’”
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/86202/space-cowboys-resets-time-stories-revives-jaipur-r

Love Hormones In Board Games
Teri Litorco at Geek & Sundry cites a recent Baylor study about relationships and board games, in which one researcher said, “Our big finding was that all couples release oxytocin when playing together — and that’s good news for couples’ relationships.”
Source: https://geekandsundry.com/couples-who-play-board-games-together-release-love-hormones-baylor-study-finds/

Upcoming Board Game Conventions
February 15-18. Orccon. Los Angeles, CA
February 21-24. GhenghisCon. Aurora, CO
February 22-24. Marmalade Dog. Kalamazoo, MI
February 22-24. Gamicon, Cedar Rapids, IA
February 28-March 23. SaltCON. Layton, UT
March 1-3. CincyCon. Butler County, OH
March 8-10. Tennessee Game Days. Franklin, TN
March 8-10. Granite Game Summit. Nashua, NH
March 15-17. BFGcon. Frederick, MD
March 22-24. ConQuest. Sacramento, CA
March 22-24. Who’s Yer Con. Indianapolis, IN
March 27-31. AdeptiCon. Schaumburg, IL
March 28-31. GameStorm. Portland, OR
March 29-31. Arizona Game Fair. Mesa, AZ
April 5-6. DayCon. Dayton, OH
April 5-7. Lexicon. Lexington, KY
April 12-14. Mepacon. Scranton, PA
April 12-14. Pikes Peak Gamers. Manitou Springs, CO
April 26-28. Gaming Hoopla. Mundelein, IL
May 10-12. QC Game Fest. Davenport, IA
May 16-19. Geekway to the West. St. Louis, MO
May 23-27. KublaCon. San Francisco, CA
May 24-27. Gamex. Los Angelos, CA
May 30-June 2. Atlanta Game Fest. Atlanta, GA
June 12-16. Origins. Columbus, OH
June 21-23. RageCon. Reno, NV
June 22-29. Consim World Expo. Tempe, AZ
July 3-7. Dice Tower Con. Orlando, FL
July 19-21. KantCon. Overland Park, KS
July 20-28. WBC. Champion, PA
August 1-4. GenCon. Indianapolis, IN
August 30-September 1. GrandCon. Grand Rapids, MI
August 30-September 2. Gateway. Los Angelos, CA
Octber 31-November 3. Gamehole Con. Madison, WI

Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.

Leave A Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: