The board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending February 16, 2018.
- Enough talk! Star Wars Legion will be available for test drives—early demos—beginning March 8th at participating retailers. Here’s a list you can use to find one close to you.
- Did you get a hotel room for Gen Con? Were you lucky enough to score something downtown? Or did you have to get another mortgage on your house to find something outside the lottery system?
- This week’s image is the Charterstone from Charterstone.
- You’re reading this, so you must be interested in tabletop gaming. I have an offer for you! How would you like to become a writer for GeekDad with a focus on game reviews? We’re looking to bring on a couple of new game reviewers, so if this is appealing to you, please let me know. Send me an email, dave at geekdad dot com, and please include a short note about why you’d like to write for GeekDad, what kind of games are your favorites, and a sample of your writing; a review will earn special attention. Join us!
- Formal Ferret Games is going to have an expansion for The Networks, which will feature British shows. The Networks: Telly Time will release at UK Games Expo in June 2018. This is in addition to The Executives expansion, which was Kickstarted last fall.
- North Star Games has this great, thinky post on game depth and legacy games. Worth reading!
- North Star also launched a new imprint, Happy Planet Games. The label will focus on games that make people happier when playing them. Like… Happy Salmon. Two additional games will debut at Toy Fair: Funky Chicken, like Happy Salmon but with dance moves, and Monster Match, a dice and card game of matching monster parts.
- Czech Games joins the ranks of publishers pointing out pirated copies of their games being sold online at very deep discounts. Don’t be a jerk. Buy from a reputable retailer.
- “The Death Star is nearly complete—and it’s time for battle to be joined in the skies above Jedha, Scarif, and Eadu.” Wave XIV of Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures is getting some Rogue One ships (via two expansions) from the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, available for pre-order today.
- Z-Man has a new game on the way. Lowlands puts players in an agrarian community at odds with a rising North Sea. I’ve not read the rulebook yet, but it looks like Agricola meets Pandemic: Rising Tide.
- Steve Jackson Games and IDW are joining forces to bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the Munchkin world. Look for it in June. And on Kickstarter in March.
- Renegade has Castell coming out next week, a drafting and set collection game that uses human tower festivals in Catalonia as its theme. Look for a review from us early next week.
- The previously Kickstarted Constellations: The Game of Stargazing and the Night Sky (read our review) will be in stores next week. Not only is it a good game, it’s educational!
- Another Kickstarter on its way to shelves is Food Truck Champion (read our review) from Daily Magic. Food, trucks, delicious fun.
- On the horizon, Renegade also has another expansion for Explorers of the North Sea. Rocks of Ruin will feature shipwrecks battering rams, and add a fifth player. Look for it in April.
- Finally, Tak gets a smaller edition called the University Edition, perfect for travel games. Look for it next week.
At GeekDad, we write a lot about tabletop games. Here’s what we’ve written about this past week:
- Jonathan Liu reviewed a quick-playing blackjack-style game called Pirate 21.
- Simon Yule ventured into the fray yet again, with the 43rd recap of his group’s Curse of Strahd adventure.
- Anthony Karcz opined how Starfinder got him to be a GM.
- Ricardo Rebelo looked at a Kickstarter for Eternal Kings, a chess and card game.
- I reviewed Witches of the Revolution, a fun cooperative deck-builder.
Finally, here’s what some of the GeekDad Crew has been playing this week:
- Rob Huddleston: Magic Maze, Wits & Wagers Party Edition, Fluxx, Happy Salmon, Jenga Pass Challenge, Ice Cool
- Jonathan Liu: Apocrypha Adventure Card Game, ARGH, Planetopia, Potato Pirates, Terminus Breach TD
- Michael Harrison: Ice Cool, Love Letter, Roll For the Galaxy, Zombie Dice
- Robin Brooks: Herbaceous, Red7, Sakura, Niche, Kingdomino. Codenames: Duet
- Simon Yule: Risk, D&D Curse Of Strahd
- Dave Banks: Witches of the Revolution, Castell, Spaceteam, Rising Sun
