News Collider - Board Game News 9/1/19

Welcome to the sleepy suburb of boardgamesville. That elegant chirping you can hear is the early morning bird song of the lesser spotted News Collider. It wakes at dawn, ready to catch juicy tabletop gaming news worms to feed to its nest of board game chicks.

Today the lesser spotted News Collider has managed to bring back a bounty of board game news including housing developments, bird watching and dungeon Disney damsels – enjoy!

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: SUBURBIA COLLECTOR’S EDITION

In 2012 Bezier Games released Suburbia, and since its release, it's never been outside of the boardgamegeek top 100 games.  So now they’re releasing the Collectors edition for no other reason than the just bloody well want to.  

Suburbia Collector's Edition will not only include the four current expansions for the game but also a brand new one: Nightlife.  There’s also new art, some component upgrades in the shape of larger tiles, recessed spaces on the borough boards, GameTrayz organizer and even a tile dispensing tower.  

Suburbia the Collector’s Edition will be hitting Kickstarter on January 14th with an expected delivery of October this year.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: EVOLUTION THE VIDEO GAME

Evolution, the board game that challenges plays to create and evolve a prehistoric species is heading to a digital platform near you.

From February 12th you'll be able to buy Evolution on PC, Mac, IOS and Android.  The game features new watercolour style artwork, a soundtrack, 24,000 possible species combinations and a David Attenborough sound-a-bit-a-like (check the trailer here for a taste of all of this).  Naturally, there is an in-play tutorial, the "Apex Species" campaign, and multiplatform vs. mode.  So, whether you've played the board game or not, this version will let you quickly dive straight in.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: MAGNASTORM

Magnastorm from Capstone game introduces a pseudo-legacy style twist to a game set in a very well established setting.  After discovering a new planet, rich in natural resources players will compete to set up the best mining sites.  The game is very low luck, creating a tense tactical experience as players vie for resources and influence where logistics and timing are everything.

The twist?  At the end of every game, players are given 1 of 120 “End Game” cards to keep and use next game creating an overarching meta-game and adjusting the game’s depth for returning players. 

Magnastorm will be released later this month.  

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: FUJI

A co-op dice rolling game about reaching the summit of one of the world’s most famous active volcanos; Mt Fuji! Players roll their dice hidden behind screens before using those dice to navigate a safe path to the top of the volcano.  However, you can only move to a tile if you meet the criteria better than the players sat next to you.  But, you can only communicate “vaguely”.

Sound odd to you too? Well, it’s out later this month for you to check it out if bizarre co-op dice chucking games are your thing.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: GAMBIT ROYALE

Gambit Royale is a reimplementation of 2006 classic, Ruse & Bruise.  With your noble household, you’ll look to manipulate and control the court with crafty card choices and clever plays.

This version of the game includes 5 new cards not seen in the previous version.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: STONE AGE 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Now ten years old, the prehistoric worker placement game, Stone Age is getting a fancy new edition to celebrate its birthday. Foil detailing on the box and screen printed meeples are just two of the little improvements the game will receive alongside some new mini-expansions.   The double-sided board means players can now also struggle through winter, or add igloos to the pool of buildings, or fight off wild animals.

Pre-orders are open now from the publisher’s website.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: MOONSTONE

If Jim Henson Studios made a miniature skirmish game I would hope it would look something like Moonstone.  This whimsical, fantasy skirmish game smashed its funding goal on Kickstarter back in the winter of 2016 and this March it will be available for those, like me, that missed out on the campaign.

And yes, in this picture you can see a goblin riding a pug.

GAME ANNOUNCEMENT: PROVING GROUNDS

This April, Renegade Games is launching a new range of solo games with their Solo Hero Series.  The first part, Proving Grounds comes with a novella that sets the scene for the adventure.  Players assume the role of Maia Strongheart, who has to battle and fight her way back to her birthright in deadly gladiatorial-style combat.

Game and story are interlinked with a real-time dice rolling mechanic from which players will guide Maia through her saga.

EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT: CONCORDIA VENUS

The Venus expansion for Concordia, will be released on the 15th of January and brings a “team-mode” to the beloved strategy game. Pitching a couple of players—see what they did there with the whole Venus, Goddess of love thing—against one another.  Additionally, there are more personality cards and two new maps to play on!

PRE-ORDERS OPEN: WINGSPAN

Since we first told you about Wingspan from Stonemaier Games you’ve had a lot on your plate, what with the office Christmas party, Christmas itself, the in-laws, the Collider Cast of the Top games of 2018 and then New Years!  With all of that, it may have slipped your mind that Pre-Orders for Wingspan are now open

PRE-ORDERS OPEN: BLOOD BOWL STAR PLAYERS & NECROMUNDA GANGS

Forge World has just opened pre-orders for some new Star Players for Blood Bowl.  Karla Von Kill and Helmut Wulf look like they will do some serious damage to players unlucky enough to be on the opposing team, the rules for these new players can be found in the first Blood Bowl Almanac since the game’s re-release in 2016.

There are also some new Necromunda gangs kits too, including the House Orlock, Van Saar, and Cawdor to name just a few.

JUST RELEASED: FURY OF DRACULA 4th EDITION

When I heard that the FFG version of Fury of Dracula was to be discontinued, I was one of those people who immediately went out and bought it.  I needn’t have rushed, because now, the Wizkids 4th edition version of this bloody hidden movement game is available!

The game itself hasn’t changed one jot, there has just been some streamlining of the rulebook and some component upgrades in the shape of larger cards and pre-painted miniatures.

THE MAN WHO BOUGHT CATAN TO AMERICA DIES

Darwin Bromley, who co-founded Mayfair games with his brother in 1981, has sadly passed away this week.

Often credited as being a pioneer in the importing and republishing popular European games in English, including the Settlers of Catan, Agricola, Patchwork, Isle of Skye and amongst many others.  Bromley also helped establish the GAMA trade show where at times he served as Vice President.  

GO PRO

The professional ranks for the ancient board game Go will be welcoming their youngest ever player later this year when 10-year-old Sumire Nakamura, joins them.

She has been playing against her father, Shinya, (a national champion) since she was 3-years-old and when the 2019 season of games kicks-off on 1st April, she will be amongst the payers.

#MYBOARDGAMESKILLSINCLUDE

Earlier this week the @HashTagGame started a boardgame hashtag which has been “trending” with #MyBoardGameSkillsInclude.  There have been some obvious Monopoly posts...okay, a lot of Monopoly posts, and of course, the Fat Man playing Magic the Gathering Table Flipping GIF but a few proper games have slipped into this trend too.

My skill? Meticulously repacking the game after each play.

I’m also pretty good at digging up really random board game related news each week too  I think.
 #MyBoardGameSkillsInclude

D&DDD(DUNGEONS & DRAGONS with DISNEY DAMSELS)

A new web series that sees professional actresses portraying various Disney Princess playing Dungeons & Dragons is currently looking for funding on Indegogo.  Live streaming of D&D is very popular currently (you can even check Polyhedron Collider & Freinds play Storm Kings Thunder each Thursday night at 7:30 GMT on Twitch) and the tabletop community as a whole is becoming more aware of the importance of diversity in gaming.

Damsels, Dice & Everything Nice is aiming to do just that, and have a bit of fun along the way.  The pilot episode is up on YouTube now if you fancy checking it out.

WARHAMMER WORLD OPEN DAY

January 5th saw the doors of Warhammer World in Nottingham blown open as thousands of gamers poured in to look at all the new shinies that Games Workshop had to show across all their platforms.

There was something for every type of GW gamer from the Ambull of Warhammer Quest’s Blackstone Fortress, to new Genestealer Cultist characters, and with the recent announcement of the Gloomspit Gitz for Age of Sigmar there was plenty to gawp at.  Check out the Warhammer Community page for the full rundown of everything that was on display.

KNOW-IT-ALL ASMODEE

Bezzerwizzer Nordic, the Nordic publisher of trivia and party games including Bezzerwizzer (or Know-it-all) and Hint have been acquired by Asmodee.  The publishing giant was already the distributor for a number of Bezzerwizzer games across the Nordic countries and now they plan to bring them to the rest of the world.

KICKSTARTER HIGHLIGHTS:

War of the Worlds: New Wave - a 2 player asymmetric game set a few years after the events of Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds.  From Grey Fox Games this game launches on 10th January

Railways of Portugal - Designer Vital Lacerda (Gallerist, Lisboa, Escape Plan) introduces thoughtful & creative innovations to a new map in the ROTW series.

Secretum Mundi - The book of the Secret World - A book of plot hooks and encyclopaedic entries for Esoterica or other modern occult roleplaying games, and you can add your own content!

Circadians: First Light - A strategic dice-placement, resource management and engine building game, designed by Sam Macdonald (Architects of the West Kingdom)