If you’re at Gen Con this week, share your stories and photos with me so I can admire you from afar. And I’ll start saving my pennies in hopes of attending next year.
Imminent Doom
Fantasy Flight Games announced Doom: The Board Game, “a completely redesigned tactical combat experience for two to five players based on Bethesda’s blockbuster video game.” It will be ready for tabletops later this year.
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/28/the-invasion-is-imminent-1/
GenCan’t
For those of us who can’t make it to Gen Con this week, there’s the virtual gaming convention GenCan’t. The event is an “UnConvention, a Virtual Con, or Digital Gathering … a bit fun for everyone who can’t attend the world’s biggest board gaming event, Gen Con.”
Source: http://www.gencant.com/
New Citadels
Funny, I just played Citadels when I got the news that an updated version will be demo-ed at Gen Con. According to Asmodee, it has been “revised and expanded by the original designer and the Windrider team.” It has new art and new characters, as well as the characters from the original. These “twenty-seven characters offer you myriad options for customizing your game … The rulebook offers six preset lists of characters and districts beyond the starter list, each crafted to encourage a different style and intensity of gameplay.”
Source: http://drafts.asmodee.us/en/news/2016/7/29/the-most-magnificent-city/
Rolling the Force
Star Wars: Destiny is “a collectible dice and card game of saga-spanning, ‘what if’ battles for two players. … With an array of characters that spans the saga from The Phantom Menace to The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Destiny gives you freedom to play out any battle you can imagine.” Fantasy Flight Games will demo it at Gen Con before its release in November.
Source: https://drafts.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/29/star-wars-destiny/
Junior Conductors
Proving it’s never too early to introduce the wee ones to good board games, Days of Wonder has created a “junior” version of its classic Ticket to Ride. ICv2 reports that Ticket to Ride: First Journey will be a Target exclusive and it “features a new North American board with shorter routes and whimsical artwork. The rules are simplified and the game objectives are easier.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35138/introductory-ticket-ride-is-target-exclusive
Cardventures
Gamewright’s Cardventures sounds just like my childhood favorite Choose Your Own Adventure Books. According to boardgamebablyon.com, “Start each Cardventure by selecting a card and reading the narrative text. Then choose one of the options at the bottom, which leads to another card. Follow the story from card to card until you reach an end point.”
Source: http://boardgamebabylon.com/2016/07/30/press-release-play-path-cardventures-gamewright/
Corellian Conflict
A new Star Wars: Armada campaign is due out during the fourth quarter of this year. From the Fantasy Flight Games preview: “[W]age strategic battles for key hyperlane routes, seize vital shipyards, establish new bases, and decide the fate of the Corellian Sector. Working as teams, you will take sides with the Galactic Empire or Rebel Alliance, then meet your foes in battle for control of vital worlds. New campaign rules guarantee that your battles have long-term consequences, and the experience you gain from your victories may prove invaluable toward the success of your overall campaign.”
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/22/the-corellian-conflict/
Designing the Vale
A game design diary of one of the summer’s most popular releases, Mystic Vale. Designer John Clair says, “When it comes to the difficult transition from functional prototype to enjoyable game, brute force with occasional breather is my design strategy. Run into the wall and if it doesn’t break, back up a few steps, take a breath and hit it again.”
Source: https://www.alderac.com/mystic-vale-origins-card-crafting-system/
Greedy Diary
Richard Garfield talks about the development of his real-time, press-your-luck title Greedy Greedy Goblins. “I first started working on this game in about 2004, under the name Greedy Greedy Dwarves and later a playtester pointed out I was missing an obvious alliteration.”
Source: https://www.alderac.com/making-greedy-greedy-goblins/
Who’s Who
A two-part look at a few of today’s popular board game designers. “The board game hobby is full of eclectic designers, each with their own style of design, and preference for different themes.”
Source (part one): http://blog.timesunion.com/boardgames/2016/07/15/a-whos-who-of-boardgaming-part-1/
(Part two): http://blog.timesunion.com/boardgames/2016/07/29/a-whos-who-of-boardgaming-part-2/
New Rio Grande Games
Dice Tower News reports on the latest from Rio Grande Games: Tiffin, Imperial, and a full English edition of the expansion Concordia Salsa.
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/new-releases-from-rio-grande-games/29736
Coming Soon from Alderac
ACD Distribution announced two titles slated for release in August and September. Yeti, “a tactical dice game for 2-5 bold mountaineers” and Doomtown Reloaded: Bad Moon Rising, an expansion that “set in the Deadlands universe of gun slingin’, spell slingin’ and mudslingin.’”
Source: http://acddistribution.blogspot.com/2016/07/coming-soon-from-alderac-yeti-doomtown.html
Best Toys for Kids
A few games made it on to American Specialty Toy Retailing Association’s (ASTRA) 2016 list of best toys for kids: Rat-A-Tat Cat, Happy Salmon, and Dr. Eureka.
Source: http://www.astratoy.org/downloads/ASTRA%20Press%20Release–2016%20Best%20Toys%20Announcement.1.pdf
h/t http://www.dicetowernews.com/american-specialty-toy-retailing-association-announces-2016-best-toys-for-kids/29887
Transforming Gygax
According to ICv2.com, “The estate of Gary Gygax has entered into a deal with Transformers producer Tom DeSanto to oversee the Gygax catalog of works – both published and unpublished.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35118/gary-gygax-estate-partners-transformers-producer
Buried Blood Rage
Researchers at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery in Scotland discovered game pieces and dice buried with Viking warriors. They believe that “these were placed alongside the bodies of the dead to commemorate their skill in the games during life and to provide them with entertainment in the afterlife.”
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3711273/The-Viking-family-buried-favourite-board-games-Playing-pieces-Norse-boat-grave-thought-entertain-dead-afterlife.html
Upcoming Board Game Conventions
August 4-7. Gen Con 2016. Indianapolis, Indiana.
August 19-21. Dragonflight XXXVII. Bellevue, Washington.
August 26-28. Coulee Con 2016. La Crosse, Wisconsin.
August 26-28. Guns of August. Williamsburg, Virginia.
September 1-4. Tacticon 2016. Colorado Springs, Colorado.
September 2-5. Gateway 2016. Los Angeles, California.
September 10-11. WashingCon. Washington, D.C.
September 24-25. Congress of Gamers. Rockville, Maryland.
October 15-16. RetroWorld Expo 2016. Wallingford, Connecticut.
Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.