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The Village Square: May 18, 2017

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Origins Award Nominees
The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design has announced the 48 nominees up for awards in 7 categories including Family Games, Role-Playing Game, Traditional Card Games, Game Accessories, Board Games, Collectible Games and Miniatures. The winners as voted separately by members of the Academy, and then also fans (voting during the convention), will be revealed at Origins on June 17.
Source: http://www.originsawards.net/current-origins-awards-nominees/

Catching fireflies
Z-Man Games will release Smile in August, a family push-your-luck and bidding game. Using fireflies to entice critters (bidding), you try to collect the cutest ones (most valuable) while avoiding the wild ones (worth negative points).  The artwork alone is sure to put a smile on you face!
Source: http://www.zmangames.com/news/collect-cute-critters-in-smile

What do you see?
Mayday Games will release their successfully Kickstarted reprint of Macroscope in June. The unique picture deduction game from Martin Nedergaard Anderson tasks players with revealing a picture through small holes in a card a little at a time, trying to guess what’s beneath.
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/mayday-games-macroscope-to-hit-stores-june-14/44732

Monster Mash
Rampaging into your local FLGS this November is Fireside Games’ Kaiju Crush.  The card-based grid movement design empowers players with smashing city blocks and fighting other players’ monsters for points and secret objectives.
Source: http://firesidegames.com/2017/05/15/kaiju-crush/

How are your haggling skills?
Rather Dashing Games will release Hafid’s Grand Bazaar in September. The auction, negotiation and set collecting game pits players against a changing market and each other to acquire…what else? Wealth!
Source: http://ratherdashinggames.com/games/hafids-grand-bazaar

Rolling craze
Later this year Spielpress will roll out a new roll-and-write game, Landmarks, designed by Nat Levan of Oakleaf Games. The city-building game in which dice determine where you can develop is also chapter-oriented. Certain sets of buildings and landmarks only become available as the story unfolds.
Source: https://oakleafgames.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/announcing-landmarks/

Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey
Gale Force 9 announced they have reconfigured their upcoming Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks.  The title will now be a four-player game with specific Doctors. More will enter in future expansions, many already in development, which will also bump up the player count potential.
Source: https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37506/doctor-who-time-daleks-regenerates

Way to Go!
Yes, Virginia, there is a league for everything. The UC Santa Barbara Go Club won the Collegiate Go League championship last month, narrowly defeating the best from the University of Toronto. Interesting article reporting that, and even more about passion for the game, companionship and life!
Source: http://dailynexus.com/2017-05-11/playful-wisdom-go-club-and-their-quiet-success/

State of the Company
Stonemaier Games released its 2016 Stakeholder Report and some amazing behind-the-scenes business information about the company’s growth, development and current state of operations.
Source: https://stonemaiergames.com/2016-behind-the-scenes-stakeholder-report-for-stonemaier-games/

Want to design?
Here are 8 tips from the Game Crafter, a site dedicated to designers and creativity.  These are some quick and very practical thoughts to think about when diving into making a game…especially if you’re new to the endeavor!
Source: http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/160589084348/8-amazing-board-game-design-tips-you-might-not

Upcoming Board Game Conventions
May 18-21. Geekway to the West. St. Charles, Missouri.
May 25-29. Game Fest 29. Atlanta, Georgia.
May 26-29. Gamex 2017. Los Angeles, California.
May 26-29. KublaCon. San Francisco, California.
June 14-18. Origins Game Fair. Columbus, Ohio.
June 23-35. Polycon. San Luis Obispo, California.
July 5-9. Dice Tower Con. Orlando, Florida.
July 15-17. Protospiel. Manchester, Michigan.
July 22-30. World Boardgaming Championship. Champion, Pennsylvania.
July 28-30. NovaComic-Con. Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.
August 17-20. Gen Con 50. Indianapolis, Indiana.
August 25-27. Coulee Con. La Crosse, Wisconsin.
August 25-27. Congress of Gamers. Falls Church, Virginia.
September 1-4. Gateway 2017. Los Angeles, California.
September 1-4. Pacificon Game Expo. Santa Clara, California.
September 9-10. WashingCon. Washington, D.C.
September 15-17. GrandCon. Grand Rapids, MI.
September 15-17. Protospiel. Chicago, Illinois.
October 6-8. TsunamiCon. Wichita, Kansas.
October 6-8. CinCityCon. Cincinnati, Ohio.
October 7-8. Congress of Gamers. Rockville, Maryland.
October 13-15. XPO 2017. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
October 13-15. ConnCon/FallCon. Stamford, Connecticut.
November 17-19. PAX Unplugged. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.

I have lots of kids. Board games help me connect with them, while still retaining my sanity...relatively speaking.

Discussion1 Comment

  1. Stonemaier quitting Kickstarter, wow, end of an era.
    Gotta hand it to them, they’ve put themselves in a great position to act as a traditional publisher.

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