The Village Square: April 1, 2019

Star Trek Conflick

The first Star Trek-themed flicking game is coming this summer from WizKids. Dice Tower News reports that Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone will have “2-4 players taking control of Federation or Klingon vessels, represented by disks. The disks are flicked to both collect abundant resources, and attack other ships in the eponymous neutral zone.”

Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/flicking-games-go-where-no-man-has-gone-before/58105

Fort Sumter Digital

Fort Sumter, the two-player, card-driven game from GMT Games is coming to Steam, Android and iOS. GMT has partnered with Playdek Games in creating the digital version of Fort Sumter, “set in the 1860 secession crisis that led to the American Civil War.”

Source: https://www.playdekgames.com/

Expansions From Portal Games

Portal Games announced street dates for three expansions, including Detective: L.A. Crimes, Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales, and 51st State: Allies.

Source: https://portalgames.pl/en/portal-games-announces-release-dates-for-three-major-expansions/

Legendary Aliens Return

According to ICv2.com, Upper Deck will release Legendary Encounters: Alien Covenant at Gen Con later this year. “The expansion will draw content from the Alien: Covenant portion of the timeline.”

Source: https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42826/aliens-return-in-legendary-encounters-alien-covenant-expansion

Roll for the Galaxy: Rivalry Preview

Co-designers Tom Lehmann and Wei-Hwa Huang preview the new expansion for Roll for the Galaxy, Rivalry. “Rivalry is the second expansion for Roll for the Galaxy. In many ways, however, Rivalry is three complementary expansions in a single box.” They talk about and share photos for each of these expansions.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/87988/designer-preview-roll-galaxy-rivalry

Imperial Settlers Roll and Write

While at GAMA Rodney Smith talked to Luke Otfinowski of Portal Games and got a closer look at the upcoming Imperial Settlers Roll & Write game. Check out the BoardGameGeekTV video on YouTube.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpxW-c2E4h0

Accessibility at Conventions

T.R. Knight recently wrote about improving accessibility at conventions. “After five years of attending Gen Con with my wife in her wheelchair, and hosting quite a few of our own community game nights, I have some specific areas to recommend for making games conventions more accessible to a wider audience.” There’s a lot of terrific info here, from having a quiet space available to adjusting table heights.

Source: http://www.freelanceknight.com/how-to-make-game-conventions-more-accessible/

Osaka Game Market

On BGG Saigo shared a report on the Osaka Game Market. Nearly 7,000 people attended, with over 150 new games debuting. Mattel was one of the bigger vendors there, showcasing Blokus.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/87771/osaka-game-market-2019-report-table-games-world

Diversity in Gaming

Jamey Steigmaier shared his thoughts on diversity in gaming. “When Elizabeth Hargrave sat down with me at Gen Con 2016 to pitch Wingspan to Stonemaier Games, I was just looking for a good game, and I got one. But I also got lucky, because despite our focus on inclusivity, we weren’t doing everything in our power to attract a diversity of designers. I was lucky that Elizabeth gave us a chance anyway.”

Source: https://stonemaiergames.com/the-box-matters-how-publishers-can-prioritize-diversity/

Upcoming Board Game Conventions

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 Angeles, CA

May 30-June 2. Atlanta Game Fest. Atlanta, GA