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The Village Square: September 10, 2018

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A quick message to the Board Game Twitter folks that I got to play games with at last weekend’s Strategicon: thank you for your friendship and the good times at the tabletop.

Pandemic in Rome
Z-Man Games is producing a Pandemic game set in ancient Rome. From the company website: “Instead of diseases, players face off against the migration of aggressive barbarian tribes. They must defend their cities long enough to forge alliances with the invading hordes, and in doing so save the Empire from certain doom.” Pandemic: Fall of Rome can be pre-ordered now and is scheduled for release later this year.
Source: https://www.zmangames.com/en/news/2018/9/7/announcing-pandemic-fall-of-rome/

More PoSplo
Dice Tower News reports that a second edition of Potion Explosion is in the works. “The second edition [comes]with an all new plastic dispenser that comes assembled so you can pop it out the box and off you go.” There’s also a new expansion: “Potion Explosion: The 6th Student, and adds not only the components needed to go up to 6 players, but also includes the plastic dispenser, and all new gameplay elements. Some of the new gameplay options include mandragora leaves, an ingredient that you collect and explode like all the other ingredients, but when used in potions counts as a wild. But be careful, even though it’s wild, it can’t be mixed with any other ingredients.” Both are due at Essen later this year.
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/potion-explosion-second-edition-and-expansions-are-coming-later-this-year/54426

WizKids Enters the Squared Circle
WizKids announced its multi-year partnership with the WWE, “with plans to bring the organization’s iconic Superstars to the tabletop with successful gaming platforms HeroClix and Dice Masters as well as branded board games.” The first WizKids WWE release is set for next year.
Source: https://wizkids.com/2018/09/07/wizkids-announces-new-licensing-partnership-with-wwe/

Two New Feuerland Games
Magnastorm and Fuji are two new Feuerland titles coming to North America in January, thanks to a collaboration between Capstone Games and Feuerland Spiele. Both will debut at Essen later this year.
Source: https://mailchi.mp/104ee1e30586/feuerland-spiele-titles-spiel-2018-preorders

Orbis
W. Eric Martin previewed Orbis, a Space Cowboys game that will be released at Essen. From Martin’s BGG blog: “In many ways, the universe-building game Orbis is reminiscent of Splendor … with 2-4 players taking bite-sized actions while operating with a tiny wallet in a tight economy over three ages to build up a collection of goods from the five-colored options displayed for drafting. The games feel similar in that way, yet Orbis creates a tenser game.”
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/80857/game-preview-orbis-or-lovely-crinkly-edges-splendi

Dice Settlers
According to the ACD Distribution blog, Dice Settlers is set to hit shelves this November. “Dice Settlers is a civilization game of dice-based exploration, expansion, exploitation and extermination.”
Source: http://acddistribution.blogspot.com/2018/09/dice-settlers-teotihuacan-city-of-gods.html

Bargain Quest
The Renegade Studios website now has Bargain Quest available for pre-order. Set to be available in January next year, “Bargain Quest is a game of adventure and capitalism for 2-6 players. You and your friends will take on the role of shopkeepers in an RPG town plagued by monsters. You must draft item cards to stock your shelves and arrange your displays to attract the wealthiest heroes to your shop.”
Source: https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/products/bargain-quest

Spieles des Jahres Chairman Stepping Down
Tom Felber, Spieles des Jahres Chairman since 2011, is leaving his post. According to W. Eric Martin’s BGG blog, “during Felber’s time as chairman, the jury introduced a third award (Kennerspiel des Jahres, or ‘Connoisseur’s Game of the Year’), set up an annual sponsorship program that would support game-related activities and projects of individuals and institutions, and helped the jury establish the ‘Spiel des Jahres’ brand beyond German-speaking countries.”
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/81019/interview-tom-felber-outgoing-chairman-spiel-des-j

How Glory to Rome Crashed and Burned
Cyrus Farivar of Ars Technica looked at how cult favorite Glory to Rome may never be printed again and how it led to one of the co-designer’s financial ruin. “With a successful production, he could have taken the game from indie cult favorite to something much bigger. But … this influx of cash instead represented the beginning of the end.”
Source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/09/how-a-ceo-fiddled-while-beloved-board-game-glory-to-rome-crashed-and-burned/

Designing Legacy
Rick Lane of PC Gamer talked to Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau about the development of Pandemic Legacy. “The idea debuted in 2011 with Risk Legacy, which took the vanilla mechanics of Risk and infused Daviau’s Legacy concept. Players would play through a campaign of fifteen rounds wherein the game would change radically.”
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-making-of-pandemic-legacy/

Game Found in a Castle
Russian archaeologists found what they believed to be a part of a medieval board game. According to George Dvorsky of Gizmodo, “While exploring the secret chamber, the Vyborg Museum archaeologists discovered a clay brick with tracings of what appears to be a board game. … The game played on the brick is actually very well known, and it dates back to the Roman Empire. It goes by several names, including ‘mill’ and ‘cowboy checkers,’ and it’s very reminiscent of Nine Men’s Morris.”
Source: https://gizmodo.com/medieval-board-game-unearthed-in-secret-castle-chamber-1828883767

From Warehouse to the Tabletop
Ever wonder what happens when you place an order at Miniature Market? The Game Boy Geek shared a behind-the-scenes video of the company’s warehouse.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFtP7o7RAb0

Upcoming Board Game Conventions
September 13-16. Buckeye Game Fest. Columbus, Ohio.
September 14-16. GrandCon. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
September 21-23. Protospiel Chicago. Chicago, Illinois.
September 27-30. Hurricon. Kissimmee, Florida.
October 5-7. Council of Five Nations. Schenectady, New York.
October 5-7. Great Falls Gaming Rendezvous. Great Falls, Montana.
October 5-7. TsunamiCon. Wichita, Kansas.
October 12-14. CinCityCon. Cincinnati, Ohio.
October 12-14. FlatCon. Bloomington, Illinois.
October 13-14. Congress of Gamers. Rockville, Maryland.
November 1-4. Midwest GameFest. Independence, Missouri.
November 8-11. Gamehole Con. Madison, Wisconsin.
November 9-11. ConQuest Avalon. Sacramento, California.
November 9-11. U-Con. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
November 15-18. Chicago Toy & Game Fair. Chicago, Illinois.
December 27-30. CAP-Con. Atlanta, Georgia.

Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.

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