Plaid Hat Games
Give me a game where two players each control a team of three people beating each other up and I’ll be bored quickly. Now make those six people superheroes and things look completely different. Guardians does exactly that. Each player assembles a team of three heroes with impressive powers and start fighting over the different locations of the battlefield. I’m getting a vibe of Smash Up from this game, you make your deck from the heroes’ cards and fight over locations. I hope that more detailed previews will show us how Guardians is different or similar.
In Neon Gods‘ distant, neon-illuminated future of 2009… wait… is that right? 2009? Really? Oh, okay. In Neon Gods‘ distant, neon-illuminated future of 2009 as it looked from the 1970s the world is controlled by corporations. You won’t be running one of those, that’s for rich people. But you can run your own little gang, maybe start a few legitimate businesses for a bit of profit. But most importantly, mind that no one takes your territory. Neon Gods is an area control game with its roots in City of Remnants, but with with streamlined rules and way more retro neon.
Alderac
After an extensive run of previews over the last few weeks, there really isn’t much left to say about Thunderstone Quest: Back to the Dungeon. If you enjoy Thunderstone Quest and just want more of it, or want to play it with your friends instead of against them, then this is the expansion you want to kickstart.
FryxGames
The origin story of your Mars-going corporation is not the only thing you get in Terraforming Mars: Prelude. You’ll also get a selection of new corporations moving in on the Mars project with very different approaches to business and terraforming.
REDIMP
Sinking was not the only problem in the last days of Atlantis. There was also the little issue of Ares, God of War, making Atlanteans fight. The gods of Atlantis tried to save their people, and that will now be your job in Atlantis: Island of Gods. In the four areas of Atlantis you’ll recruit followers that will then build temples for you. Take care to get those temples in the right configuration, that’s the only way to complete your mysterious, divine plan and win the game. And those modular temples, different shapes for each player color, sure look good.
Eagle-Gryphon Games
There are a few game designers who’s new releases I’m especially looking forward to, and Vital Lacerda is near the top of that list. He let players be vintners, gallerists, architects of Lisboa’s reconstruction. Now we can be criminals. Our big heist is already over. Now we have to escape the city before the police can close off all the exits. Whoever can recover most of the hidden loot and make it out wins. Escape Plan sounds different from Vital’s other games. You don’t build or produce anything. But don’t worry, it’s a typical Vital Lacerda game where it counts. You have many things to consider, to prioritize, to strategize – it’s a complex game where you’ll want to do everything first. Different, but certain to appeal to Vital Lacerda fans.
We have many impressive human achievements in our photos of the week, but it’s hard to compete with nature in impressiveness. The area known as High Coast in Sweden and as Kvarken Achipelago in Finland was weighed down by a glacier during the last ice age. Now, without that weight on top, it’s springing back up at an incredible eight millimeters per year. This photo of the area was taken by Antonio Caiazzo. Thanks for sharing, Antonio! (Emerging land, Antonio Caiazzo, CC-BY-SA, resized and cropped)