Quined Games
Action selection is going to French Polynesia. In Quined Games’s Raiatea players pick a location and its associated action each round, with the first player in each location getting a bonus. So far, so familiar. What is new in Raiatea are the Ceremony Rounds that occur after a few action rounds. Those ceremonies are expensive, and they are paid for from a shared pool. All players pay in, then ceremonies are performed from cheapest to most expensive. That means all that mana you paid might be used up by the time your ceremony comes around. Conversely, you might pay for a cheap ritual without paying anything into the pool yourself. Clearly a game to make friends.
Counterfeiters is this years new release in Quined Games’s Masterprint Pocket Series. In an unusual twist players have a steady income right from the start. Unfortunately that money is fake. Winner is whoever turns the most fake money into real money. To optimize their income players take actions like upgrading their printers or find new and better ways to turn fake money into real, all while the police is on their tails.
Renegade Game Studios
Can you ever really have enough of a great game? I don’t think you can, and Renegade Game Studios seem to agree. That’s why they’re making deck-building game Clank! episodic now. Clank! Expeditions will bring new boards to play Clank! on. In the first episode Gold and Silk you’ll enter an abandoned Dwarven mine and the castle of the Spider Queen.
dlp games / Renegade Game Studios
Things in the South American highlands are about to change with Altiplano: The Traveler. The expansion brings a variety of new things. First and foremost is the traveler himself. He wanders the highlands and brings new ideas from far-away places. When a player encounters him they may profit from this knowledge. Rare goods will be for sale at the trading post in exchange for opals, and fortunes may suddenly change everything. The promise of The Traveler is to make Altiplano more interactive and to make planing ahead even more essential.
Bezier Games
Bezier Games’s One Night series continues to branch out. After Vampires, Werewolves, and Aliens they’re now entering comic book territory with One Night Ultimate Super Villains. The basics stay the same: After one night and some heated discussion you vote for a player. If that player is a super villain the heroes win. If it’s a hero the villains win. And if it’s the mad scientist then the mad scientist wins. One Night Ultimate Super Villains will have sixteen new characters, and the Kickstarter page describes it as a perfect starting point for new One Night players.
Plaid Hat Games
For a long time I’ve been wondering why Dead of Winter was subtitled “A Crossroads Game”. Why the subtitle if it’s the only one? Now it makes sense, because it won’t be the only one for much longer. Gen 7 is the next Crossroads Game by Plaid Hat Games. In Gen 7 the players are the command crew of the seventh generation aboard a generation ship. Just as they take command, things start going wrong. Keeping the species alive won’t be easy. One thing is certain already: Gen 7 won’t be any less dramatic than Dead of Winter.
After the announcement of superhero brawler/deck mixer Guardians Plaid Hat Games go into more detail now. When you create your deck for a game by shuffling your chosen heroes’ power cards then you want to know what those heroes can do. The preview shows the example of Kosi, a specialist at hitting enemies in other locations. We also learn about heroes’ ultimate abilities, powerful special attacks that can turn the tides of battle but need to be charged first.
Fantasy Flight Games
Games based on H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror stories are one of Fantasy Flight’s biggest cash cows. I still didn’t see this third edition of Arkham Horror coming. The very first photo in the announcement post makes it clear that this is no mere reprint. Gone is the big board, replaced by a modular setup of Arkham’s neighborhoods. Things have changed under the hood as well. In Arkham Horror Third Edition the investigators don’t simply go up against different Great Old Ones in an otherwise unchanging game. The base game’s four scenarios each offer a branching path of narrative to explore. Arkham Horror always had a great mood and evolving story. If this new edition is just a bit more focused and less rambling randomly it could become a really great cooperative horror game.
This week’s photo shows a sunset on the island of Flores in Indonesia’s Komodo National Park. That’s the park for which the infamous Komodo dragons are named. The beautiful photo was taken and shared by Christopher Harriot. Thanks, Christopher! (Gili Lawa Sunset 2, Christopher Harriot, CC-BY, resized and cropped)