Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending June 5, 2020.
Gaming News
- Please be sure to take a moment to read GeekDad Senior Editor Jonathan Liu’s post on Black Lives Matter. An important thing that we in the boardgame community can do is to amplify and support black people in our industry. Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave has started a list on her Twitter feed. If you know of others, please add them.
- GeekMom writer Elizabeth MacAndrew did a great piece this week on mixing-and-matching the components from the various Disney: Villanous games.
- Reader Julien pointed out an error in last week’s Re-Roll. I said that an app version of Imperial Settlers was now available, but it’s Imperial Settlers Roll and Write. I also correctly attributed the new Super Cats to Antoine Bauza, but failed to mention the others involved in the project: Corentin Lebrat, Ludovic Maublanc, Nicolas Oury, and Théo Rivière. Thank you, Julien, for bringing both of those points to my attention.
- SolidRoots, the makers of the game Mind the Gap, has partnered with Kid@Heart♥, Re-marks, and Barnes & Noble to support the 2020 St. Jude’s Virtual Gala during St. Jude’s Week of Hope NYC. According to the press release, “SolidRoots will host an enhanced version of Mind the Gap LIVE for St. Jude’s during its Virtual Gala.” More details on the event can be found on the St. Jude’s website.
- Gen Con Online badges are now available. The free event will feature “four days of streaming shows, remote gaming, community on Discord, your favorite exhibitors, and lots more”.
- Cryptozoic has decided that their first virtual convention went so well, they are going to do another one. Cryptozoic Con ’20 II will be streamed online on June 11-12.
- The surprise now isn’t which events have been canceled, but which haven’t. Added to the former: all Magic: The Gathering in-person events for the rest of 2020.
- Renegade Studios is releasing Space Battle Lunchtime Card Game, based on the popular graphic novel of the same name.
- Tim Fowers’ Fugitive, the two-player spin-off of his popular Burgle Bros., is now available to play for free online.
- Imperial Struggle, the long-awaited “spiritual successor” to Twilight Struggle, is finally getting a release.
- Under Falling Skies, a solo card game set in a world reminiscent of Space Invaders that dominated the BGG 9 Card Game Print and Play Design Contest, has been released by Czech Games Edition as a free print-and-play. They will also be releasing a retail edition later this year that further expands on the game.
- Rio Grande Games has announced three upcoming titles. Nevada City, the latest in a surprisingly growing number of games referencing places near where I live, is a 2-4 player worker placement game. Trans-Siberian Railroad is the latest in the company’s long-running series of railroad games, and Blue Skies is an economic game set just after the deregulation of the airline industry.
- The world of Fluxx is expanding down to Bikini Bottoms with Looney Labs’ release of SpongeBob Fluxx.
- Portal Games has two new titles announced for this year: Troglodytes, an expansion for Neuroshima Hex 3.0, and Golems, an expansion for Monolith Arena. Details for both can be found on the Portal website.
- Fantasy Flight has released solo play rules for X-Wing Miniatures. It’s definitely a game that one wouldn’t think would lend itself to solo play, so I’m excited to download the rules and give it a try.
GeekDad and GeekMom Reviews
- Michael Knight reviewed 7 Fortunes.
- Simon Yule reviewed Fantastic Lairs.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Michael Knight played 7 Fortunes: Greek Mythology Edition, Heroes of Normandie: The Tactical Card Game, and Disney Codenames.
- Simon Yule played D&D Dragon Heist, Ticket to Ride, and Thomas and Friends Surprise Slides.
- Michael Pistiolas played Magic the Gathering, Marvel Champions, Ingenious, You Gotta Be Kitten Me! Saboteur, Can’t Stop, Rallyman GT, 6Nimmt!, Connect Four, Color Pop, and For Sale.
- Jonathan Liu played Bullet♥︎, The Captain Is Dead: Dangerous Planet, and Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria.
- Robin Brooks played Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave and Pathfinder ACG.
- Greg Howley played Survive: Escape From Atlantis, Mancala, and Smash Up.
- I played Eurorails, Empire Builder, Samauri Swords, Canyon, Sierra West, Serenissima (our featured image this week), Forgotten Waters, Survivor, Citadels, Pirateer, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Western Legends, Family Business, Scotland Yard, and Stool Pigeon.
What is the game in the big picture, please?
It’s Serenissima. It’s one that Rob Huddleston listed in his “what we’re playing” section. 🙂
Sorry for this late answer.
Thank you very much for your answer, Jonathan!