It seems we have the attacks on the site under control now – the first attempt had failed because the attackers created their own backdoors during the original attack and we failed to find those. But now we had no further problems since last week, so we’ll consider that particular window nailed shut. Lets look at the news!
Fantasy Flight Games
There is a very special preview for Rex: Final Days of an Empire on this week: commentary from designers Christian T. Petersen, Corey Konieczka and Peter Olotka, offering insight into the design process. Rex is scheduled for release this month still. The new edition of Reiner Knizia’s Kingdoms, on the other hand, is already available now.
Artipia Games
We talked about Briefcase briefly last week, a game of building your economic empire and your deck of cards at the same time. The campaign on indiegogo has started now, and if you’re not sure if you want to fund Briefcase yet you can go and look at a lot of game art there as well.
Cryptozoic
Is it already an election year in the US again? It probably is, because Cryptozoic has announced a presidential election parody game. In SuperPAC players each represent a political action committee suggesting more or very slightly less ridiculous solutions to current problems, one of which the candidate picks for his campaign, awarding a point to the suggesting player. Pardon me, but what I saw from the other side of the Atlantic so far, this game will be hard-pressed to be more ridiculous than reality. But the idea has a lot of potential and the box art is pure genius.
alea
Some people may be disappointed that both spring announcements from alea are at the bottom end of the publishers complexity scale. After all, complex and strategic eurogames is what made alea famous. But lack of complexity doesn’t mean lack of fun as alea has proven in the past, and I don’t think they will disappoint this time. Both games are dice-centric; in Vegas by Rüdiger Dorn you roll some of the 40 dice and assign them to the casinos on the board, aiming for majorities. The goal of Saint Malo (Inga and Markus Brand) is to build a city, also controlled by dice, on a laminated game board that you’ll be drawing your city on.
Sirlin Games
To celebrate the imminent launch of fantasystrike.com this Friday – where you will be able to play Yomi and Puzzle Strike online but not Fantasy Strike – we’re getting a brief introduction of all the characters in the second edition of David Sirlin’s Fantasy Strike, starting with Magistrate Sirus Quince.
Alderac Entertainment
There’s no reason to interrupt a great streak of previews: Thunderstone Advance will have some quite unfriendly things inside: Curses. Curses are a bit like diseases – which you also want to avoid – but you can get rid of curses by making some sort of sacrifice specific to the curse. Why does everyone want to make our lives harder these days? Oh yeah, right – because adversity makes games fun.
White Goblin Games
Four new releases this march? Yes, please.
The Crazy Creatures of Dr. Doom are created in a laboratory in the middle of the forest, and the good Doctor’s only goal is to make the creatures as crazy as he can. He appears a bit unhinged that way. In Michael Schacht’s newest card game you want to prove your own insanity to the Doctor in order to become his new apprentice and to do that, you want to get rid of all your cards. Cards that make creatures more crazy.
Witches of Blackmore is another new card game, this one by Leo Colovini. It could be a simple trick taking game, but nothing is ever simple when witches are involved, and so cards change their values according to the magic wheel.
And one more trick taking game, Little Devils by Michael Feldkötter. Taking tricks may end up not being all that fun for you here as your opponents try to spice them up with devil cards and lots of negative points.
Finally, Neil Crowley’s Crooks sends you back to 1935 where you start your own criminal organisation – because that’s what people did back then. And of you go, recruiting thieves and mobsters from the seediest places in the city. Some of them have special abilities, others are merely big and imposing, and when your crew is complete you’ll start robbing the city blind.
How in the name of the Horned Meeple am I supposed to fit a giraffe in the banner? Are you kidding me? Well, obviously not a body shot on this one, then. Instead, we have this great portrait by Martin Pettitt (CC-BY). Thank you, Martin!