WizKids / NECA
This new line of games is either a stroke of genius or a sign that Mike Elliott and his colleagues have abandoned all pretense of sanity. I’m really not sure which. Connect with Pieces takes the old and familiar idea of a jigsaw puzzle and builds a competitive game on top of it. Adding pieces to the puzzle wins points, but allegedly there is an element of strategy in when to place a piece for best effect, and where you place it, because most pieces fit in multiple places. Additionally, pieces have symbols embossed that let you block opponents or score extra points when played in the right pattern. The question of genius or madness aside, this is another opportunity for WizKids to milk their various movie licenses, Connect with Pieces will be available with images from Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Hunger Games and that other popular movie I refuse to name.
Fantasy Flight Games
In the newest Blood Bowl Team Manager – Sudden Death preview we get a closer look at the remaining two new teams: Dark Elves and Vampires. Both have nasty, dark abilities to bring to the field, but my vote for the most evil team will go to the Vampires of the Black Fang. Eating your own team mates to buff your own power just isn’t the polite thing to do. Plus, with a name like that, I’m certain they don’t brush their teeth.
The newest game announced by FFG is another remake of a classic American style boardgame: Borderlands by
Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka, originally released in 1982. The new game, Gearworld: The Borderlands, streamlines the rules and makes the game more accessible while keeping all the elements of the original intact: trade and diplomacy, but also conflict. And all that in a post-apocalyptic steampunk setting. Because, you know, post-apocalyptic or steampunk just isn’t enough any more.
Privateer Press
In Level 7 (Omega Protocol) players return to the underground facility they escaped from in Level 7 (Escape). This time taking the roles of a special ops team, they enter the facility to root out the alien infestation – so they are obviously better equipped, better prepared and better trained. But using their skills uses Adrenaline, which is then transferred to the Overseer – the player controlling all the aliens – to use for his own abilities. Level 7 (Omega Protocol) is, as far as we can tell, a stand-alone sequel to Level 7 (Escape), not an expansion. (via ICv2)
Alderac Entertainment
The previews for Smash Up: Awesome Level 9000 keep coming, this time with this beauty from the Plants faction. Overgrowth basically ensures a base will score on your next turn, unless your opponents find a way to prevent it. But you better be certain you’ll be able to win it at that time, scoring still proceeds as usual.
Albino Dragon Games
Dragon Whisperer, the new Kickstarter project by Albino Dragon Games, is a trick-taking card game at its core. But around the trick-taking part it builds a fantasy game that makes “how do I win this trick” not be the only decision and winning the trick not necessarily the most important goal. Special cards let you snatch the first player token from the legitimate winner of the trick, others award additional monster and treasure tokens, all of which are worth points at games’ end. You’ll need more strategy than in the average trick taking game to maximize your score – which actually doesn’t come as a surprise when you consider the designer is Richard Borg, well-known for the war-games Memoir ’44 and BattleLore.
This week’s featured photo was taken by Flickr user LWY and was generously shared with a CC-BY license. It shows the pre-hispanic Mexican city of Teotihuacán, literally “the place where the gods were created”.