Fantasy Flight Games
Now that didn’t take long, did it? The first expansion for Eldritch Horror is on its way. Forsaken Lore is a “small” expansion with tons of new cards but no additional board. But new encounters, epic monsters, fresh mysteries and new research to pursue is nothing to be sneezed at, either. Nor is the snake-like Yig as a new Great Old One to defend our world against. I’m sure that an expansion with its own board is coming next, though.
Did I say recently that the new Hero classes in Descent: Shadow of Nerekhall sound pretty powerful? They better be, because this week’s preview showcases some new monsters and the new Overlord class, and the heroes are going to need every bit of help they can get. The new Changeling monster is dangerous on its own already, making heroes bleed and run away in fear. The Master Changeling even has an aura that reduces heroes’ attributes. But they get even worse than that, because the Overlord can buff them with the powers of Corrupted Citizens. The new Overlord Class sounds even more fun, what the Shadowmancer specializes in is turning heroes against each other. I always wanted more mind-control when playing as the Overlord!
And another preview, this one for the next Talisman expansion The Firelands. The Ifrit on the new adventure cards are rather nasty, they want to set the world on fire and they’re not lazy about spreading flames. They have multiple ways to spread fire tokens around the board, and ending on a space with one of those costs you a life. Even worse is the new alternative ending: Spreading Flames really heats things up, spreading fire everywhere, and the only thing you have to do at that point is be the last player alive.
Days of Wonder
This year makes it ten years since Ticket to Ride was first published. That’s quite a long time. Long enough, in fact, that it deserves an extra large anniversary edition. All new art, an oversized box and a new game board that is 50% larger than the original, which wasn’t exactly small to start with, is tempting. But what really gets me are the five different wagon models to build your routes with in their colourful storage tins. Those I really want.
Ares Games
When you spend most of your time fighting aliens, you’re bound to learn a trick or two. The latest (and last) preview for Ares Games’ cooperative tactical alien extermination game Galaxy Defenders reveals how you go about learning those tricks, exploring how agents level up and learn new skills in a campaign. Character customization goes a long way in this game, picking different skills and gear can alter the way you play completely, and there seems to be quite a lot to choose from.
Mercury Games
This summer, Mercury Games will publish a new area control game named The Walled City: Londonderry. Players will create the titular city in Ireland and try to get English and Irish citizens into the city in a way that maximizes their political power. That’s also the reason you build streets, hire watchmen and play nice with the guilds: all to be the first mayor of Londonderry.
Plaid Hat Games
Here are some preview cards from Dead of Winter, the semi-cooperative zombie survival game that is first in Plaid Hat Games’ Crossroads series. The art is terrific, if the game is half as good as it looks it will be excellent.
This week’s featured photo, taken by Flickr user vlod007 and shared with a CC-BY license, doesn’t look like it was taken in a very special place. But in this case, looks can be really deceiving: the photo was taken in the Bialowieza Forest in Poland, Europe’s largest remaining primal forest. It’s one of a select few places in Europe where you can still encounter wolves, lynxes, elk and bison.