Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending May 14, 2021.
Gaming News
- Pandemic: Hot Zone is becoming its own franchise-within-a-franchise as Z-Man has announced a July release of Hot Zone: Europe. Like its predecessor, this is a “shorter, more portable version of the best-selling cooperative game Pandemic.” It can be combined with Hot Zone: North America, and if you don’t want to wait until July to get your hands on it, you can download the free print-and-play right now from the link above.
- Thanks to the nightmare that is modern global shipping, The Game: Face to Face from Pandasaurus has been delayed until June. It was originally due to hit shelves next week.
- Gen Con is moving forward with plans for its smaller but still in-person convention in September. Limited tickets are available and will open up on May 23. The annual Trade Day for retailers, educators, and librarians, traditionally held the day before the convention, is also changing. This year, retailers will still have events on Wednesday, but the events for educators and librarians will be held on Saturday.
- Essen Spiel has formally announced in a Facebook post that they will be in-person in October.
- Games Workshop announced Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 3rd Edition. There are new Stormcast models announced, but they haven’t said yet what the other half of the box will be. More details will likely become available on May 29.
- Monopoly is going life-sized. This August, folks in London will be able to play in an “immersive, on-your-feet version of the world’s favourite family game brand played on a 15m x 15m lifesized Monopoly board!” Tickets for the August 14 opening are available now.
- Critical Role has announced Darrington Press’ Inaugural Game: Uk’otoa. Based on characters from the podcast, the tactical semi-cooperative board game has players in “factions of sailors vie to be the last claimed by the raging sea leviathan, Uk’otoa.” The game is due on shelves at the end of this month.
- Boardgame footwear is now a thing. Or, at least, boardgame-adjacent activity footwear, with Reebok releasing a line of sneakers based on Candyland. The collection, which reimagines NBA star Allen Iverson’s first basketball shoe line, will retail for $150 and is designed to pay “homage to the board game’s memorable characters with windows of vibrant Rainbow Trail–inspired paneling across the sides.” For what it’s worth, that same $150 could buy you 11 copies of Candyland.
- Wizards on the Coast is seeking player input on D&D with their latest survey.
- Renegade has announced Crimes & Capers, a new series of games that reimagines those old murder mystery party games by adding escape room-style puzzles. The first two titles in the series, High School Hijinks and Lady Leona’s Last Wishes, are due out this summer. At least from the descriptions online, it does appear that the series will focus on mysteries other than murders.
- According to Polygon, Magic: The Gathering in-store play will resume at the end of this month in the US, just in time for the anticipated release in mid-June of Modern Horizons 2.
- Vice has an article up this week on the super-hot and relatively crazy Pokemon market, which has seen a resurgence in the last year.
GeekDad & GeekMom Reviews
Here’s what we reviewed this week:
- Jonathan Liu reviewed Stationfall and Catch Don Falconi.
- Michael Knight reviewed Castle Panic Deluxe.
- I reviewed GeekDad Approved ESPN Trivia Night.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Jonathan Liu played Dice of Dragons, Long Shot: The Dice Game, Catch Don Falconi, Hidden Leaders, Paperback Adventures, Overboss, Stationfall, and Paper Apps: Dungeon.
- Michael Pistiolas played Villagers, 5er Finden, Checkers, Barnyard Bunch, Arkham Horror, and Sword & Sorcery.
- Michael Knight Alien Puppies, Kiwi Chow Down, and Castle Panic Deluxe.
- Z. played Dungeons & Dragons: Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
- I played The Crew: Quest for Planet X, Reigns: The Council, and Shadows Over Camelot (our featured image this week.)
