The Village Square: January 8, 2018

Blood Bound
An interesting social deduction game is now available for Fantasy Flight Games. Interesting not because it’s social deduction, but because it’s an asymmetrical team game for 6-12 players – and no one knows who is friend or foe!  Teams represent two battling Vampire factions and players must discover who is their ally and who is their rival’s leader. Bits of information are revealed as a dagger is passed around and sometimes used to inflict wounds on another.
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/1/4/striking-at-shadows/

Fairy Tile
Iello Games releases Fairy Tile on February 8. Guide a princess, a knight and a dragon across this tile-laying adventure. #Kenith approves of the dragon!
Source: http://www.iellogames.com/fairy-tile.html

Hunt for the Ring
This month Ares Games’ Hunt for the Ring will hit U.S. shelves. In the hidden movement, deduction adventure game one player is Frodo attempting to reach the sanctuary of Rivendell while other players are Nazgul trying to thwart him.
Source: http://www.aresgames.eu/20388

Topiary
Renegade Game Studios releases Topiary this week. Position your visitors and rearrange the sculpted bushes to give them the best experience in the garden.
Source: http://www.renegadegamestudios.com/news/2017/12/20/topiary-release

Scythe Finale
Stonemaier Games has announced the final expansion to its popular, award-winning Scythe. Releasing in Q3 2018, The Rise of Fenris will include an 8-game campaign and 11 modules…and plenty of mystery until it launches.
Source: https://stonemaiergames.com/games/scythe/scythe-the-rise-of-fenris/

Multiuniversum
Now up for pre-order and releasing in March, Grey Fox Games announces Multiuniversum. In this 1-5 player card game, players are researchers at CERN who must explore and close dimensional portals accidentally opened while inventing a time machine. The game comes with 18mm scientist meeples!
Source: https://www.greyfoxgames.com/games/multiuniversum/

Mystic Vale
Looking to buff up and find a way to store your copy of the award winning card-crafting game and all it’s expansions? Conclave offers enough storage for it all, plus provides some new elements to customize your games with new starter decks and some mechanics to liven up play even more.
Source: http://acddistribution.blogspot.com/2018/01/mystic-vale-conclave-new-from-alderac.html

Nut So Fast!
In March Smirk and Dagger will release the speed deduction memory game Nut So Fast! Be the first to snatch nut tokens matching those revealed. If everyone takes too long and a numbered card appears, it’s a race to strike a nutty pose, instead!
Source: http://www.smirkanddagger.com/news-and-events

News from Game Salute
The publisher and games media supporter has announced the launch of three new board gaming imprints to focus on the company’s various products, all under the Game Salute, LLC, umbrella. Starling Games will publish their catalog’s heavier hobby oriented titles, strategy games and Euros. Lighter, more accessible designs will be offered through Sparkworks. And Flying Meeple will handle kids and family games.
Source: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57dbf7106b8f5b39fb80757a/t/5a4e8d57e4966b5d9ee5aa88/1515097434145/Press+Release.pdf

Elite Dangerous RPG
Already available via pre-order, Modiphius Entertainment will be releasing elements of their new Elite Dangerous role playing game. Based on the classic space trading video game, players equip and pilot a spaceship and traverse a futuristic sci-fi interstellar world.  The D10 based system’s core book will be available this month. More extensive boxed and starter sets, and other material, will release in March.
Source: https://www.modiphius.com/modiphius-press-releases/elite-dangerous-rpg-pre-order-campaign-opens

Magic History
From SeattleMet.com is a fascinating, in-depth article about the creation, beginning and evolution of the iconic and transforming Magic: The Gathering and the two biggest men behind it – designer Richard Garfield and Wizards of the Coast founder Peter Adkison.
Source: https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/2017/12/18/spell-casters-a-magic-the-gathering-origin-story

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.