Here are the latest announcements and stories that caught our eyes this week:
- I’m just gonna leave this here.
- Dice will be thrown–errr–Thrawn in the next booster pack for Star Wars Destiny. Empire at War will delve into the darkest time for the galaxy (and your player, if you leave the lights out when playing this addition) when it arrives third quarter of this year.
- In more Star Wars news, Fantasy Flight has released a preview of the Scurrg H-6 bomber that will have INFINITE BOMBS. How is that even possible? Do they have a munitions factory on board? No? It’s a bomblet generator upgrade and it’s not tied to any faction. All I want to know is if I can mount one to my car for my daily commute.
- Mansions of Madness gets a Streets of Arkham expansion. The creepiness will escape from the dark and dank halls and cellars to the museums and cafes of Miskatonic. The horrors are still very real, there’s just better lighting.
- Continuing with our almost exclusively Fantasy Flight news updates, Star Wars Armada has a new FAQ online with a bunch of rules updates. Check it out right away if you want to be the smartest guy in the room at the next tournament.
- Renegade Game Studios announced Planet Defenders will be released this fall, a game about robots, recycling, and technologies.
- Let’s talk about new games next week. Red Raven’s next title, Near and Far, a Kickstarted successor to Above and Below will be in stores on Wednesday. Asmodee’s long anticipated and beautiful Dice Forge will make its way to shelves on Thursday. Finally, Iello’s Arena: For the Gods, an enjoyable game of massacre, will be available on Wednesday. And not new, but Terraforming Mars gets yet another reprinting that should be in stores on Monday.
- Origins is over, but not only did they have a 10% increase in attendance over last year, but they also handed out some awards. Scythe received honors for not only the Board Game of the Year but also as the overall Game of the Year. We love Scythe, and another of our favorites from last year, Happy Salmon, took home honors for Family Game of the Year. All the things we like, they like too!
- When we talked about Minimum Advertised Prices a couple of weeks ago, there was a big name missing. No more. Asmodee North America announced a policy of no more than 20% off MSRP and also removed restrictions on which retailers can sell online.
- Finally, it’s 55 days until Gen Con. As a reminder, you’re invited to come play games with us on Day One. We have two events, one at 8PM and the other at 10PM. Sign up!
At GeekDad, we write a lot about tabletop games. Here’s what we’ve written about this past week:
- Ryan Hiller told us about the upcoming Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate.
- Robin Brooks holds our hands and gently guides us through a beginner’s guide to Warhammer 40K and gives us a peek at a Kickstarter called Savage Planet: The Fate of Fantos.
- Jonathan Liu gets all the games and, consequently, has to write all the reviews. This week he looks at Aura, a strategy card game, The Mysterious Forest, which has an awesome mini, and a Kickstarter called Helionox, a pretty cool looking game with some deck building.
Finally, here’s what some of the GeekDad Crew has been playing this week:
- Samantha Fisher: Evolution The Beginning, Nevermore (with Spectres of Nevermore expansion), Double Double Dominoes, Stroop, Pocket Ops (in Kickstarter), Happy Salmon, Boss Monster, Paramedics Clear!
- Ryan Hiller: Pathfinder RPG
- Robin Brooks: Dark Souls: The Board Game
- Jonathan Liu: Zero Hour, Flying Kiwis, Helionox: The Last Sunset, Leaders of Euphoria, Magic Maze, Aura, Legendary Creatures, Lovecraft Letter, Hippos Love Sushi (prototype)
- Will James: Personalitree, Star Wars: Risk
- Mike LeSauvage: Boss Monster. Clank!
- Kelly Knox: Pick-A-Seal
- Gerry Tolbert: Lighthouses, Drawing Dead, Onirim, Star Trek Adventures
- Sophie Brown: Sushi Go, Animal Upon Animal, Rhino Hero
- Michael Harrison: Anomia, Lords of Waterdeep with Scoundrels of Skullport Expansion, Stone Age, Timeline, Yspahan
- Evilgeniusmum: Go Extinct! Too Many Monkeys, Qwirkle
- Dave Banks: New York 1901, Kenjin, Netrunner
