The only good thing about my fantasy football season getting off to a terrible start: more time for board games.
Shadow Games
Coming this November is Shadow Games, a quick bluffing game based in the Guild Ball universe. According to Dice Tower News, “In Shadow Games, you must gather enough favors to secure the new star player for your guild. Players use various Plot and Agent cards to bribe, steal, and earn favor, but it is not enough to simply play the cards you receive. Fortune favors the bluffers.”
Source: http://www.dicetowernews.com/new-game-in-guild-ball-universe-coming-in-november/31515
Relationship Ended
Fantasy Flight Games announced that it will no longer be publishing titles from Games Workshop. “Beginning February 28th, 2017, Fantasy Flight Games will no longer offer for sale any games in conjunction with Games Workshop, including Talisman and all games taking place in the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 universes.”
Source: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/9/9/a-new-path-forward/
Z-Man Releases
According to ACD Distribution, there will be five new Z-Man Games releases next month: Nautilon, Pandemic: The Cure: Experimental Meds, A Feast for Odin, Carcassonne Amazonas, and Pandemic: Iberia Limited Collector’s Edition.
Source: http://acddistribution.blogspot.com/2016/09/new-october-products-from-z-man-games.html
Sushi Goes Digital
Sushi Go! landed in the App Store last week, according to David Neumann’s boardgamegeek.com column, with no word on an Android version yet.
Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sushi-go!/id1098207701?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
h/t https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/57563/app-news-sushi-go-releases-baseball-highlights-204
The Right Side of the Law
Asmodee previews the upcoming Marshal and Prisoners expansion for Colt Express. “As the Marshal in a game of Colt Express, you fight for very different goals than the bandits arrayed against you. You aren’t out for personal glory or riches. You’re here to uphold the right, to protect the innocent passengers aboard the train, and to put those criminals behind bars, where they belong.”
Source: http://drafts.asmodee.us/en/news/2016/9/9/the-right-side-of-the-law/
Micro Robots
Z-Man Games is set to release the abstract strategy game Micro Robots in 2017. According to ICv2.com, “This fast-paced puzzle game is a simultaneous play game inspired by Ricochet Robots. The central computer has been damaged, and must be repaired. Players roll the dice to find the target space that the robot must go to next, then plot a path to get there. The goal is to be the first player to bring the robot to the target.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35476/micro-robots
Return of the Ogre
A new edition of the classic sci-fi war game Ogre will be released in January, reports ICv2.com. “This version is designed to be compatible with the massive Ogre Designer’s Edition that was released in 2013 … using the same game board and 58 over-sized counters for the game’s units, as well as two constructible 3D Ogres and two Command Posts.”
Source: http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35471/steve-jacksons-ogre-returns
Destiny Preview
Fantasy Flight Games reveals the first look at Star Wars: Destiny, its upcoming dice game: “you’ll need to eliminate each character on your opponent’s team, and your dice are the primary way for you to deal damage to enemy characters. You’ll also use your dice to remove your opponent’s cards and resources, generate resources for yourself, shield your characters, and trigger special abilities; it’s immediately obvious that your team will live and die based on how you choose to use your dice.”
Source: https://drafts.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/9/9/is-your-strike-team-assembled/
Confrontation Expanded
Reiner Knizia’s Confrontation will receive its first expansion on October 27th, toucharcade.com reports. The new Variant Mode will add “18 new characters and 4 new special cards, but the most important change is that the power level of both sides has been equalized with Light having slightly stronger characters and Shadow slightly more tactical ones.”
Source: http://toucharcade.com/2016/09/08/reiner-knizias-the-confrontation-gets-variant-mode-expansion-on-oct-27th/
Swimming with the Shark
Hasbro’s third game design challenge will focus on family games and one of the judges will be reality show Shark Tank’s Daymond John. According to purplepawn.com, “five finalists chosen by Hasbro will pitch their designs to the public with crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo” and the winner receives $25,000 and a trip to Hasbro.
Source: http://www.purplepawn.com/2016/09/hasbro-throws-game-designers-to-the-shark/
Upcoming Board Game Conventions
September 24-25. Congress of Gamers. Rockville, Maryland.
October 8. Mid Meeple. Las Vegas, Nevada.
October 15-16. RetroWorld Expo 2016. Wallingford, Connecticut.
October 21-23. What-Khan. Rockford, Illinois.
October 28-30. ConnCon (Falcon 2016). Stamford, Connecticut.
November 11-13. MEPACON. Scranton, Pennsylvania.
November 25-27. Chessiecon. Timonium, Maryland.
Visit casualgamerevolution.com for more convention listings.