Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending September 18, 2020.
Gaming News
- Wizards on the Coast is hosting the D&D Celebration 2020 this weekend. The event is, of course, virtual, and free, so you can join in the fun from home.
- According to ICV2, WotC is also experiencing delays in production of the next few editions of Magic: The Gathering.
- ICV2 has also said that the management of classic board game brand Avalon Hill was moving from WotC to parent company Hasbro. It’s unclear what, if any, impact the move may have on the brand’s catalog.
- Mondo has released Disney Shadowed Kingdom, a two-player cooperative card game illustrated by Marcel Mercado.
- The long-awaited Troyes Dice, a dice-based roll-and-write, will soon be on the market. Sébastien Dujardin from Pearl Games posted on Boardgame Geek that the game will hit shelves on October 16. You can download and read the rules from the game’s website.
- Z-Man Games this week posted a history of Pandemic, from the release of the original title (our featured image this week) a dozen years ago to the upcoming release of Pandemic Legacy: Season 0.
- If, in all of the mess that is 2020, you’re sitting around saying, “you know, I just have too much money right now,” then you may be happy to know that you can now buy an 8″ tall plexiglass dice case that holds five ridiculously ugly dice, for only $720. Oh, but it has a leather strap and the dice have the Louis Vuitton monogram on them, so I guess it’s OK? Or, you know, you could also spend $720 buying games from your FLGS to help it survive. Your call.
- We don’t know how much longer we’re going to need to avoid indoor places with lots of other people, but most experts agree it’ll probably be at least another year. By then, Fantasy Flight will likely have released solo rules for every title in their library. The latest entry: Civilization.
- WizKids has a new dexterity game coming to an FLGS near you in early 2021. In Redcap Ruckus, players slide Redcaps, (I was today-years-old when I learned that that is how gnomes are referred to in English folklore) across a mushroom cap board to try to gain territory and claim the Great Crystal.
- Portal Games will be releasing a limited edition, big box set of Neuroshima Hexi! The Neuroshima Hex! 3.0 The Year of Moloch will feature “tons of promotional materials and new graphics.”
- I missed it at the time, but back in July, NPR had an interesting piece on Kickstarter funding of board games.
GeekDad and GeekMom Reviews
- Jonathan Liu was busy this week, reviewing In Too Deep, Cascadia, and Lucky Luau, all in one day, and then following up the next with Tellstones: King’s Gambit.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Jonathan Liu played My City, Cascadia, and Abalone.
- Michael Pistiolas played Harry Potter: Hogwart’s Battle, Hanabi, and Splendor.
- Z. played Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon of Icespire Peak.
Rob Huddleston
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.)
Thank you, guys! Your news is just super)