On behalf of the iSlaytheDragon crew, best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season. I’ll see you back here in 2017.
Agricola Expansions
The Agricola expansions are due in May, according to ICv2.com. “There are six color-coded Agricola Game Expansions, which all include five pre-painted miniatures and 20 all-new cards (including exclusives to this expansion) designed by game creator Uwe Rosenberg.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/36347/images-release-date-wizkids-agricola-expansions
Jump Drive
The ACD Distribution blog reports that Race for the Galaxy: Jump Drive arrives next month. “Jump Drive is a stand-alone game intended to introduce players to some Race for the Galaxy concepts with simpler rules and shorter game play.”
Source: http://acddistribution.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-from-rio-grande-games-race-for.html
New Le Havre
On his blog on boardgamegeek.com W. Eric Martin wrote about the new edition of Le Havre out next year. This version will include “the base game, all promotional cards released to date, and the Le Grand Hameau expansion.”
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/60658/new-game-round-hand-fate-comes-table-and-le-havre
Upcoming Steve Jackson Games
New Steve Jackson Games coming in 2017, as noted by Dice Tower News, including an expansion for the sixth edition of Ogre, a second print run of Munchkin Oz, and the latest Munchkin Guest Artist Edition. “[T]his time around it’s the [Munchkin] base set getting another new coat of paint courtesy of Edwin Huang. He is best known for his comic series Skullkickers and Street Fighter Unlimited.”
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/upcoming-march-releases-from-steve-jackson-games/34806
Ascension Collector’s Edition
According to ICv2.com, Ultra PRO will release Ascension: Year Three Collector’s Edition next month. It contains “all 380 cards added to the game in the last year, including Rise of Vigil, Darkness Unleashed, the PlayDek promo pack, and all the promo cards from year three. The cards are packaged in a deluxe storage tin, and have been given a premium foil finish. A foil-finish game board, card dividers, 70 Honor tokens and a bag to hold them in completes the set.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/36342/ascension-year-three-collectors-edition
App Updates
David Neumann wrote about new apps coming out soon, including updates for Mansions of Madness and Galaxy Trucker, which has “some holiday surprises such as a new Christmas tree ship design and multiplayer missions that revolve around delivering presents. They also have a special New Year’s mission that involves explosives and things going BOOM.”
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/60674/app-news-final-deck-rise-runelords-released-pathfi
Anatomy of a Line
The mechanics-and-meeples.com crew break down The Manhattan Project brand and how it has “encompassed three different games in the last few years: a serious strategy game, a card game conversion, and a second serious strategy game.”
Source: http://www.mechanics-and-meeples.com/2016/12/19/anatomy-of-a-line-the-manhattan-project/
Personal Accountability
Marcus King, a game and comic store owner in Kentucky, offered his thoughts on personal accountability. In his column on ICv2.com he wrote, “In business, I find it more suitable to find a way to succeed than to find someone to blame for my failures. Amazon surely hurts my sales, and it is why I use Amazon to increase my revenue.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/36351/view-game-store-the-personal-accountability-retailers
Quitting Kickstarter
In a two-part article Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games explains why the company is moving away from Kickstarter. “I want Stonemaier Games to do things that bring out the best in people. I believe that people are inherently good. So if Kickstarter has the opposite effect on a significant number of backers, that’s a clear sign that I need to try something new.”
Source: http://stonemaiergames.com/lessons-learned-from-quitting-kickstarter-as-a-creator-part-1/
Seth Jaffee Interview
Over at goplaylisten.com there’s an interview with Seth Jaffee, game designer and head of development at Tasty Minstrel Games. “I found that designing a game was a lot like making a deck for Magic… instead of putting certain cards together in an effort to make the deck perform a certain way, I started putting mechanisms together in an effort to make a game perform a certain way.”
Source: http://goplaylisten.com/games/designers-dozen-qa-interview-with-seth-jaffee/
Upcoming Board Game Conventions
January 20-22. Rocket City Gamefest. Hunstville, Alabama.
January 27-29, 2017. Polar Vortex Convention. Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
January 27-29. Eugene Games Gala. Springfield, Oregon.
February 17-20. Orccon 2017. Los Angeles, California.
February 20-26, 2017. PrezCon 2017. Charlottesville, Virginia.
February 24-26, 2017. Fire & Ice Gaming Convention. Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
March 3-5. GAD-Con. Aberdeen, Maryland.
April 7-9, 2017. Gaming Hoopla. Gurnee, Illinois.
May 26-29, 2017. Gamex 2017. Los Angeles, California.
September 1-4, 2017. Gateway 2017. Los Angeles, California.
Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.
