Weekly News

4/3/14

Site News:

International TableTop Day is coming up on April 5th! We have an event on their webpage and a Facebook event. If you’re in the Metro North area of Boston and don’t already have plans, consider stopping by and saying hello. We’ll probably have a couple giveaways, and we’ve invited a number of local designers to come and test their new games. (And if you are a local designer we haven’t spoken to, feel free to contact us!)

As if that wasn’t enough, Pax East is the following weekend (April 11-13). We’re arranging a time where people can stop by in the free play area and say hello, but if you are a game designer looking to demo or a fellow reviewer who will be attending, we would love to hear from you!

New Games:

Here’s an interesting one: Student Bodies was originally up on Kickstarter as Zombies 101. It didn’t fund then, but the designers were able to show it off to Smirk and Dagger Games. Despite it’s lack of crowdfunding success, S&D has decided to take a chance on it. It’ll be released for Gen Con this year. A bit about the premise of the game: you are a high school student infected with the zombie-virus, but you haven’t yet turned. Your crazy science teacher, who caused this whole debacle in the first place, has an antidote, but his office is all the way on the other side of the board. Can you fight your way through the horde of zombies and get to the antidote before any of your fellow students? But don’t worry – if you die, you come back as a zombie, with new abilities and a secondary win condition of eliminating all living players. (BGG)

Steel Angels is a semi-coop card game by Patrick Stevens of Numbskull Games, and it focuses on the U.S. suffrage movement. Yes, that U.S. suffrage movement. (BGG)

How very meta. ESSEN and ESSEN The Game: SPIEL ‘13 both involve selling board games at the world’s largest convention. In Essen, players are publishers trying to find people to buy their games. In ESSEN The Game: SPIEL ‘13, players are gamers trying to locate and purchase all of the games on their list. (BGG)

Deniable is a comedic spy game, and it’s available for free from Storyweaver’s website.

Expansions:

Foul Play is a new expansion of Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game. It gives you a new subdivision of the Team Managers’ Union, and they’re up to no good.

What’s Your Game? is set to release a “microexpansion” for Madeira. The Ambassadors contains four new guild favors related to the colonies. (BGG)

There’s also soon to be an expansion for Mage Wars. Forged in Fire includes two new mages and 158 spell cards. (BGG)

Fantasy Flight is also releasing four new Descent Lieutenant Packs.

Stronghold Games has announced a few expansions for Core Worlds. Revolution adds new heroes, tactics, and advancements. Core Worlds Digital is . . . well, pretty self-explanatory. But yeah, it lets you play digitally on iOS. There’s also going to be a Core Worlds webcomic. So, Stronghold Games is definitely branching out. (BGG)

Crowdfunding Corner:

Westerly is at it again. The Oregon-trail inspired board game is back on Kickstarter a third time, so if you like your satire with a side of dysentery, check it out. $45 will get you a copy of the game.

Heavy Steam is a steampunk mech battling game by Greenbrier Games. We had a chance to preview this one, so you can check out a more in-depth write-up here. $75 gets you a copy of the game, but keep in mind that this price includes customizable minis.

Coup Reformation is an expansion to the popular large-group hidden role game Coup. This is a special edition project that won’t be released in stores, so jump on it now if you want it. $15 will grab you a copy of the game.

Other News:

Steve Jackson Games has announced that it’s going to reprint Munchkin Fu, Munchkin Fu 2 – Monkey Business, Munchkin Impossible, Munchkin Booty 2 – Jump the Shark, and Munchkin Quest. These games sold out and went out of print not long after they were released, so fans will have another chance at them this summer. You know, if you want.

If you’re anything like me, you think that the most fun part of Scrabble is complaining about your tiles and criticizing your opponent. (And if you’re not anything like me, we probably shouldn’t play Scrabble together). Scientists at Carnegie Mellon have engineered my perfect Scrabble opponent. Victor is a robot, and not only can he play with mediocre skill, but he can trash-talk you and the game while doing so. (via Purple Pawn)

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