Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending February 12, 2021.
Gaming News
- In an announcement that seems to have been a surprise to most in the industry, Asmodee announced this week that they had acquired Board Game Arena, a widely used tool for playing games online virtual gaming platform. As of this writing, the company has said that they have no plans to remove non-Asmodee games from the platform. If you are unfamiliar with Board Game Arena, you can check out Jonathan’s post last week on virtual gaming.
- The Snallygaster Situation: Kids on Bikes from Renegade is now available for pre-order.
- Renegade has also announced that Gravwell will be getting a second edition, with “an expanded player count, new art, and unique player powers.” The game is also available for pre-order.
- Everyone knows penguins are awesome, and you can now add yet another penguin-related title to your shelf with Waddle from WizKids.
- AEG has opened up pre-orders for Cubitos, which, from what I’ve seen, looks like a very cute game.
- CMON is expanding its cooperative game series The Grizzled with a new title, We Care – A Grizzled Game, in which players take on the roles of overworked frontline hospital workers. The company will make a donation to Doctors Without Borders for every copy of the game they sell. The game is due out in the second quarter.
- Z-Man has a new title coming out as well. Cryo is a worker-placement game of factions competing for survival on a frozen planet and is due on shelves in the spring.
- Polygon is reporting that Go on Board and CD Projekt Red are teaming up to bring us The Witcher: Old World, a board game based on the books that were also the basis for the Netflix series. The game is set “long before” the stories in the books, however. The game is going to seek funding on Kickstarter in the spring.
- According to ABC, Hasbro says board game sales up 21% in the fourth quarter of last year, a combination of holiday sales and the continuing pandemic. Magic: The Gathering, Monopoly, and D&D were reported to be the big drivers of the increased sales.
- Van Ryder Games announced a second edition for a personal favorite of mine, Saloon Tycoon, which will be going direct-to-retail (so no Kickstarter) this summer. You can read my review of the first edition, which is also our featured image this week.
GeekDad Reviews
What we’ve reviewed this week:
- Paul Benson reviewed Curse of Strahd.
- Michael Knight reviewed GeekDad Approved Almanac: The Dragon Road and Clash of Deck.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Robin Brooks played Blobby’s Pizza, Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm, and Mörk Borg.
- Jonathan Liu played Under Falling Skies, Adventure Games: The Volcanic Island, Block and Key, Long Shot: The Dice Game, Valeria: Card Kingdoms – Darksworn, and Tiny Epic [redacted]
- Michael Pistiolas played 7 Wonders, Azul, Puerto Rico, Marvel Champions, and Exit: The Game – The Enchanted Forest.
- Michael Knight played Almanac: The Dragon Road, Clash of Deck, and Quirky Circuits.
