Re-Roll: This Week’s Tabletop Game News for Week 36 — Sept 1-8, 2017

Murder, flooding, disease, killer sharks, escaped dinosaurs, dirty communists, pirates, and cute jungle animals are this week’s game highlights. I don’t know whether to be happy or afraid. Let’s get to it!

• This week’s image is Photosynthesis, a really pretty strategy game. Read our review.
• Another murder has shocked the streets of London. In Whitechapel Mystery, out now from Fantasy Flight, one player takes on the role of Jack while the others scramble to find him before he kills again. In this standalone game, detectives have special powers, rules can be fine-tuned to different levels of difficulty, and the Thames now presents a formidable barrier for Jack!
• Z-Man has a new game on the way in an oddly shaped box. Junggle, by two prolific designers, Anja Wrede and Bruno Faidutti, is actually five games in one and features some cute jungle animals. All the games play in under 15 minutes and up to 10 people can play at once.
• We mentioned Z-Man’s postponement of their next Pandemic game, Rising Tide, because of Harvey. Well, sneaking in before Irma is the official announcement. Check it out.
• Raxxon, the temporarily viral game from earlier this summer, will be as widespread as the common cold in October when it gains full retail release. Plus, if you buy soon, you’ll get some Dead of Winter promo cards.
• Mayfair announced another Uwe Rosenberg title is on the way. In Nusfjord, you’re in a Norwegian fishing village, looking to expand your harbor, develop a fishing company, and bring glory to the fjord.
• Games that will be hitting shelves next week include:
  • Dinosaur Island, from Pandasaurus, is a worker placement game that Sophie Brown wrote about when it was on Kickstarter.
  • Expand your Happy Salmon table with a blue version of Happy Salmon, which will offer six more color backs for a super zany game of up to 12 players when combined with the original.
  • AEG brings a second worker placement this week in the form of Oath of the Brotherhood. It’s all about piracy and exploration. Arrrrr!
  • It’s time to root out the dirty communists in Red Scare from Pandasaurus. As a trusted patriot in the FBI, you’ll have to deduce who is on your side and who’s a traitor–while remaining vigilant about double-agents. This game is so top secret, it even includes special decoder glasses!
  • Finally, an appropriate end to this summer’s beach visits is Shark Island, a semi-cooperative that pits fishermen against a single shark player. Look for a review soon.

At GeekDad, we write a lot about tabletop games. Here’s what we’ve written about this past week:

• Jonathan Liu carried all our water when he wrote a roundup of Kickstarter games to check out and told us about King Frog, releasing next week. Finally, he showed off the final results for Herbaceous, a very pretty game he wrote about when it was on Kickstarter.

Finally, here’s what some of the GeekDad Crew has been playing this week:

• Jonathan Liu: Clank!, Clank! In! Space!, Deep Sea Adventure, Startups, Herbaceous, Cursed Court, Custom Heroes, Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters: Expansion Pack, Go Nuts for Donuts, Horizons, King Frog, Pirate 21, Scrapture (prototype), Stellar Leap (prototype), Wasteland Express Delivery Service, Gravwell
• Randy Slavey: Settlers of Catan
• Ryan Hiller: Pathfinder RPG, Starfinder RPG
• Preston Burt: Campy Creatures
• Anthony Karcz: Starfinder RPG
• Will James: Starfinder RPG, Deep Sea Adventures, Go Nuts for Donuts, All or None, home brew Star Wars RPG
• Mike LeSauvage: All or One (Kickstarter prototype), Scrapture (prototype), Go Nuts for Donuts, Deep Sea Adventure, Gravwell
• Robin Brooks: Monster Lands, Dreamcatcher (Forthcoming Kickstarters), Samurai Gardener, Kiwetin, Cluedo
• Chris Wickersham: Photosynthesis, Mini Rails, Joraku, Wizards Wanted, Cobra Paw
• Dave Banks: Seikatsu, Dicey Peaks, The Blood of an Englishman, Whistle Stop, Photosynthesis

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