The board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending September 13, 2019.
Gaming News
- Hasbro is releasing Ms. Monopoly, a spin on the classic game that has innovations such as starting female players off with more money and paying them more when they pass Go! than male players and the ability to purchase inventions made possible by women rather than properties. The game is currently available for pre-order at Walmart and will be available everywhere later this month. One woman of note who is conspicuously absent from the game is Liz Magie, the widely acknowledged inventor of Monopoly.
- Looks like I need to clear a bit more space on my Ticket to Ride shelf as Days of Wonder has announced the upcoming release of Map Collection 7: Japan. As with other map expansions for the game, this one is double-sided. The Japan side features a shared project and a submap with the Tokyo subway system. The reverse side is Italy, which introduces a new ferry route mechanic. The rules for both are available on the Days of Wonder site, and the game is due to be released first at Essen, then in November in Europe. Those of us on this side of the pond will need to wait until January.
- Fantasy Flight’s Head of Studio, Andrew Navaro, recently held an “Ask Me Anything” livestream, the contents of which are now online as a blog post. In it, he addresses the complaints made by some customers that the company often focuses too much on seemingly endless expansions to current games, and said that moving forward the studio will take a “more thoughtful” approach to expansions. He also confirmed that Star Wars: Imperial Assault is not going to be getting any more expansions. He did not, however, address whether or not the company will ever start including useful inserts for storing its games.
- BoardGameSquad put out a list of the “10 Japanese Board Games Worth Checking Out”. I’m not honestly familiar with most of the games on the list, but the inclusion of Oink’s Deep Sea Adventure lends a lot of credibility to the list.
- This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which is relevant here because Star Trek Catan is this week’s featured image.
GeekDad and GeekMom Reviews
Here are the games we’ve reviewed this week:
- Jonathan Liu reviewed Here Comes the Dog, which is this week’s featured image.
- Elizabeth MacAndrew reviewed Pigasus.
- I reviewed Half Truth.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Robin Brooks played Warhammer Underworlds: Dreadfane, Warhammer: Warcry, and Block Happy.
- Jonathan Liu played The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Mord im Arosa, SlipStrike, 1001 Odysseys, The Aquicorn Cove Board Game, Clank! Expeditions: Temple of the Ape Lords, ClipCut Parks, Colorful Treasure, Emperor’s New Clothes, Flip Over Frog, Harry Potter: Defence Against the Dark Arts, Maskmen, Mountains, Nine Tiles Panic, Peek & Push, The Quick and the Undead, Rhino Hero, Sabotage, Silver & Gold, Startups, Time Chase, Tricks and the Phantom, Tussie Mussie, UBike Tour: Taiwan, and Kuiper Kowboys.
- I played Half Truth.
