Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending February 26, 2021.
Gaming News
- Ravensburger announced several new games this week, including Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Disney Gargoyles: Awakening, Marvel Eye Found It! Card Game, Mickey and Friends Magical Treats, and Taco Bell Party Pack Card Game (no, really). They are also releasing, this weekend, Disney Villainous: Despicable Plots (our featured image this week), which at long last brings Gaston and Lady Tremaine to the world of Villainous. We here at GeekDad are working to bring reviews of these games to our readers, so keep an eye out for them.
- Funko also has a slew of announcements this week, including Fast & Furious: Highway Heist, ESPN Trivia Night, and preschool-focused titles such as Disney Princess See the Story. They are also adding to the Funkoverse, uh, verse with Alice in Wonderland, and expanding the Marvel Battleworld with Marvel Battleworld: Series 1 Mega Pack – Loki (Frost Giant).
- Bezier Games has a new edition and an expansion to Suburbia due out next month. The new edition has updated artwork, a dual-sided scoreboard, GameTrayz™ storage organizers, and more, while the expansion, or rather, expansions include Suburbia: Suburbia Inc., Suburbia 5-Star, and Suburbia Nightlife as well as two smaller expansions: Essen and Cons in a single box.
- As a board gamer of course you can never have too many dice, and the Level Up Dice‘s Glyphic Blind Bags Series 2 will let you expand your collection with a bag that contains one of thirty-two glyphic designs on a finely crafted semi-precious stone d6.
- Pandasaurus is bring Brew to stores in June. Brew is a light-to-midweight game that utilizes a combination of dice rolling, worker placement, and area control mechanisms into a clever design by Pandasaurus’ very own Stevo Torres, their Head of Graphic Design.
- The Wall Street Journal (warning: article might be behind a paywall) reported this week the Hasbro is creating a separate division to handle Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, as those two titles continue to surge in popularity. Hasbro-owned publisher Wizards on the Coast saw profits of $816 million in 2020, up 24% from 2019. According to the article, Hasbro will now consist of “three units. Consumer products will encompass toys like Transformers action figures and classic board games like Monopoly. Entertainment will be dedicated to licensing, distribution and production of film and television content. Wizards & Digital will house the assets of Wizards of the Coast and focus on expanding the existing games, creating new ones and overseeing digital licensing for the entire business.”
- In related news, Wizards announced that Magic was expanding “into the realms of Universes Beyond—a series that combines the gameplay of Magic: The Gathering with worlds, characters, and stories that are cherished by millions of fans around the world,” including Warhammer 40K and Lord of the Rings.
GeekDad Reviews
What we’ve reviewed this week:
- Jonathan Liu posted a Kickstarter (and Gamefound!) Tabletop Roundup and reviewed Tiny Epic Dungeons.
- Michael Knight reviewed ElevatorUp and Orconomics.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Jonathan Liu played Tiny Epic Dungeons, Dawn on Titan, and Valeria: Card Kingdom – Darksworn.
- Robin Brooks played Blobby’s Pizza, Marvel Champions, Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm, and Troika.
- Michael Knight played ElevatorUp, Orconomics, and Thunderstone Quest
- Michael Pistiolas played Pandemic Legacy: Season 0, Mountain Goats, Paleo, and Tiny Towns.
- Sarah Pinault played Risk Godstorm, Furry Foodies, Carcassonne, Winter Carcassonne, and Dwarves Fall..
