The board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending April 6, 2018.
- April Fool’s Day was on Sunday. There was some tabletop related silliness, but we’re not going to cover it because that tradition is starting to feel played out.
- General Veers. Know the name? Probably not unless you’re a true Star Wars geek, but if you are, you’re one of the targets of Star Wars: Legion. General Veers will be coming to your table in Q2 to target main generators and take names.
- Renegade had two new releases this week, Sabordage, a pirate-themed take-that game that has great art, and The Mummy’s Curse, an expansion for the awesome and wonderful deck-building adventure game, Clank!. (We reviewed both! See below.)
- Space Base, “an intergalactic dice game,” is a game where everyone gets stuff when each person rolls. It’s also a tableau game like Dice City. Both of those are from AEG but only one of them is showing up on shelves for its first time on April 18. (That’s Space Base.)
- On the same day (if distribution dates are to be believed) is the expansion for one of our favorite games of 2017, Magic Maze. This one is called Maximum Security and it will feature a half-dozen assists for players and a half dozen insidious challenges to trouble the players.
- This one sounds fun. Dad Joke Face-Off throws the gauntlet at players, asking them to read a series of groan-worthy dad jokes to each other. You laugh (or even smile), you lose. Look for it in early June from Playroom Entertainment.
- In deeper space, among the stars of Lotus Galaxy, clans use samurai to fight their battles. In Starship Samurai, an area control game announced this week by Plaid Hat Games, players will need to be smart about allocating resources and wielding political influence. You have to check out the minis!
- From IDW Games, the next game in their Atari series is out. We reviewed the first, Centipede, and it wasn’t great. But Missile Command has a different designer and is out now.
- I know what the Z stands for in Z-Man, but today it might stand for zombies, because they are resurrecting games this week. First, a press release announced that they would be re-theming the area control game, Clans, and take it from the prehistoric to the Celtic. The new game, Fae, is available for pre-order. Next, Reiner Knizia’s Taj Mahal, which was recommended by the Spiel des Jahres back in 2000, will get a facelift and is also now available for pre-order.
At GeekDad, we write a lot about tabletop games. Here’s what we’ve written about this past week:
- Sara Blackburn reviewed the beautifully isometric game about Brazillian favelas, called… erm… Favelas, from WizKids.
- Kim Haynes examined Operation Escape E.V.I.L., a chemistry-themed family game that incorporates some learning into gameplay.
- Simon Yule dove into his 49th session of Curse of Strahd and the never-ending torment his adventurers are facing.
- Jonathan Liu reviewed the Clank! expansion, The Mummy’s Curse, reaped his rewards from the Kickstarter for The Grimm Forest (that insert!), and alerted us to a Kickstarter for Wizards Bluff. Liu-bot firing on all circuits!
- Jim Kelly ran through his tabletop plans for the foreseeable future and, as for many of us, his list is ambitious.
- Ryan Hiller talked a bit about the impending Pathfinder: Kingmaker computer RPG.
- Michael Harrison’s in-depth podcast examination trained its eye on Ex Libris. (One of our finalists for 2017 Game of the Year.)
- I reviewed Renegade’s take-that pirate-themed outing called Sabordage.
Finally, here’s what some of the GeekDad Crew has been playing this week:
- Simon Yule: Monsters vs Heroes Victorian Nightmares, D&D Curse Of Strahd
- Logan Giannini: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Kung Fu Zoo, Treasure Mountain, Azul
- Jonathan Liu: Visitor in Blackwood Grove, Space Base, Agricola, Altiplano, Barker’s Row, Dinosaur Island, Filler
- Michael Harrison: Arkham Horror: The Card Game (Essex County Express and Blood on the Altar scenarios), Ex Libris, Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, Vikings
- Sara Blackburn: Ticket to Ride, Sagrada, Martian Dice, NMBR9
- Robin Brooks: Love Letter, Stuffed Fables, Awakening Lair, Go Nuts for Donuts, Exploding Kittens, Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire, Warhammer 40,000, Tumble Tree, Xtronaut, Bang! The Dice Game
- Dave Banks: Sabordage, Explorers of the North Sea: Rocks of Ruin
