The makers of Bananagrams have launched the Bananagrams School Club, which provides kits—including 2 copies of the game—to school clubs to encourage teachers to incorporate the popular word game into classroom exercises.
According to Tabletop Wire, a Toy Association representative testified in front of Congress last week, stating that the proposed tariffs on toys (which includes boardgames) would “devastate” the industry, leading to 68,000 lost jobs and $3.4 billion in lost wages. The tariffs would also hit video game consoles, which prompted traditional rivals Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo to issue a joint statement opposing them. As of this writing, however, the tariffs are still due to take effect. However, Bloomberg is reporting that the US has indicated that if talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend in Japan go well, these and other new tariffs may be suspended.
In happier news, Haba’s Valley of the Vikings won the coveted Kinderspiel des Jahres award, which is given out annually for the best kid’s game.
Renegade Game Studios announced the fall release of ClipCut Parks, a “roll and cut” game. A spin on the “roll and write” genre of games, ClipCut Parks has players take scissors to their game to compete to make the best city park.
Brain Games, the makers of Ice Cool, have four new titles coming out in August (which is generally code for “at Gen Con”): Team3, which is described as “a party game high on variety that pushes communication to the next level”; Snowman Dice, the “first ever game to use dice in 4 ways: stacking, pushing, rolling, and flicking”; Pigasus, “a fast children’s game with a unique and funny artwork”; and Farm Rescue, “a cooperative game for ages 4 and up developing memory and communication.”
Arcane Wonders is set to release an English version of Smartphone, Inc., an economic simulation Euro. The game is being previewed at all of the big cons this summer, but no release date has been announced.
Rob, GeekDad's Gaming Editor, is a technical writer for Google (provided by HCL). He is alo college professor teaching design, programming and 3D printing, watches a ridiculous number of movies, plays as many board games as he can, and loves history, from the medieval period to the technological age. He's also the Umpire-in-Chief for his local Little League, and is a Little League Certified Tournament Umpire.
His kids are a 20 year old college junior and a 16 year old high school senior. (Although there's a good chance that they're older now and this just hasn't been updated.)