Amazon.com Widgets

News Bits: 8/18/2014

0

This is my last week on the NEWS, but stay tuned. Next week Andrew will be taking over. But first, the NEWS:

Gen Con! [Drive-Thru review coverage, Board Game Geek News Twitter coverage, Dice Tower coverage, GenCant2014 on TwitterI didn’t get to go to Gen Con this year, so I lived vicariously through those who did. My main mode of interface is Twitter, so take my round-up with a grain of salt. That said, the pictures and videos shared on Twitter are enough to get a sense of the show and what the main buzz was about. Also, you can check out GenCant2014, a hilarious hashtag of those of us who were left behind. (And for additional funnies, check out the GenCantContest.) Our own Futurewolfie and Andrew were at Gen Con, and they should be writing some recaps for you (and me!) this week.

Fantasy Flight announces big news for Star Wars license [Scum & Villainy faction for X-Wing, Imperial Assault minis gameI’m no longer a Star Wars nerd–at least in the sense that I have to own everything Star Wars related. (It took a long while to break this cycle, and I won’t bore you with the details.) Still, I recognize big news when I see it, and this is it, straight from Fantasy Flight’s In Flight briefing at Gen Con. Imperial Assault is a new Descent-style minis game in the Star Wars universe, and Scum & Villainy is a new faction (to rival Rebels/Imperials) in X-Wing. These announcements, by the way, come on the heels of pre-Gen Con announcements of X-COM the board game and Star Wars: Armada (X-Wing for capital ships).

BGG user mbialeck details demo of Roll for the Galaxy [LinkRoll for the Galaxy–the newest game set in Tom Lehmann’s Race for the Galaxy universe, wasn’t present for purchase at Gen Con, but it was available for demo. This is a thorough rundown of the game.

Star Realms accepted in Apple app store [LinkI would say I feel sorry for you iOS people that you had to wait so long, but now you know what it’s like to have an Android device (…). Still, enjoy the game! It’s great. (My review is here, and the app is a lot of fun to play around on.)

Oliver Kiley (Hegemonic) crowdsources game definition [LinkThe results are lengthy but informative.

Cahoots! debuts on iOS [LinkA new trick-taking game by Jay Treat and developed by friend of iSlaytheDragon Josh Edwards has debuted on the Apple app store. Give it a try and let me know how it is! (I have Android.)

Last week on iSlaytheDragon [News Bits, Gloom review, A look at the Sentinels of the Multiverse preorder, Evil Intent review, Who Stole the Cookie? review, Are board games really shared experiences?]

Kickstarters of Note

  • [redacted]: A cool name for a game, and it looks like a cool game about spies and spying. $55.
  • Era: A new civilization card game that looks fast and fun. $45.
  • Fidelitas: Fidelitas is a game of “medieval meddling,” the first release from Green Couch Games. It’s from designers Jason Kotarski (The Great Heartland Hauling Company) and Phillip duBarry (Revolution). Looks great and the price is right. $19.
  • Nautilus Industries: A worker placement game set in the world of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I’m a sucker for the theme, and it looks cool. ~$45.

What We’ve Been Playing

  • Kuhhandel: Despite this week’s being “the best four days in gaming” for just about everyone I know, I’ve been busy at work and home and so haven’t had much time for games. Still, on Thursday, four of us played Kuhhandel, which is fast becoming one of my favorite bluffing games. I did terribly, ending the game third place out of four, but I had a lot of fun doing it nonetheless.
  • Lords of Xidit: I went to Gen Con for the first time this year (I’ll share more about my really awesome experience soon) and worked in the Asmodee booth demoing games.  And by demoing games I mean demoing Lords of Xidit and occasionally something else.  Lords of Xidit is a programming game in the vein of RoboRally but has a much more euro feel to it and is far more forgiving.  The first time I played it I did very poorly but over the course of teaching, watching, and playing it during Gen Con I have really grown to enjoy and appreciate this game.  We sold out and I’ll take full credit!  (Andrew)
  • Hyperborea: Another Asmodee game but not one that I ended up getting to give demos for.  I was able to get a full game explanation from Maurizio Vergendo of Yemaia and after much deliberation over the course of my shifts I took the plunge and got it.  Fortunately Wolfie was around on Saturday night so I got the chance to try it out right away with him and a couple of his friends.  I’ll save the details for my recap but I will say this much: Hyperborea is amazing.  So amazing. (Andrew)

I'll try anything once, but my favorite games are generally middleweight Euros.

Leave A Reply

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

%d bloggers like this: