Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending June 25, 2021.
Gaming News
- Asmodee has announced a limited edition for their Ticket to Ride Europe: 15th Anniversary game. The game will be similar to the base game’s 10th-anniversary edition and will include a giant board map of European train routes with all-new illustrations, sculpted wagon cars in tin boxes, colored train stations, all Destination Ticket Cards published to date, and more. All of this will presumably be in a box too big to fit in Kallax shelves, but, otherwise, it looks like a great addition to anyone’s TTR collection. No specific released date has been announced.
- Pandasaurus is set to release two new titles. The Loop “is a quirky cooperative game where everyone must unite to battle the evil Dr. Faux. In the game, players are Temporal Agents tasked with gathering powerful artifacts, defying the Doctor’s clones, and sabotaging his maniacal machine.” And in Wild Space, players build a crew to explore a new region of the galaxy. Both games are due out in August and are available for preorder now.
- Dead Men Tell No Tales is returning to shelves this year thanks to a reprint from Renegade Games.
- For those planning to go to Gen Con, badge registration is now live. Fewer tickets than normal will be sold, so hurry up if you want to go.
- It’s Summertime, the classic hit from DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince from the beloved Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is coming to tabletops this, well, summer, with the WizKids release of Summertime, a “quick and clever card game” inspired by the song.
- Roll-and-write train game Railroad Ink Challenge, which had a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this month, now has a digital edition available on the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Steam for those who are waiting for their pledged copies or those who missed the campaign and want to check out the game before it becomes available.
- Exploding Minions is the first licensed edition of the popular Exploding Kittens franchise and features the same basic gameplay, but now, instead of blowing up cats, you get to blow up Minions.
- Friedemann Friese, the designer of Power Grid, is back with a new game. The billionth or so board game based on trains (it’s the second just in this week’s Re-Roll…), Free Ride will be published by 2F-Spiele and Rio Grande Games. In the game, players will be in “charge of building railway lines, connecting the cities in Europe, and carrying passengers to those cities.” The 2F-Spiele edition will be on shelves in Europe in August, with the English Rio Grande version on shelves in the US sometime later.
- 25th Century games will be releasing the classic Reiner Knizia title Tutankhamun this summer. The game will be published both in a standard edition and a Pharoah edition, the latter of which will include “all wooden tiles, wooden Anubis guardian statues, screen print on the boats and scoring jars, as well as a neoprene mat for the Underworld board.” Also included are the Pharaoh’s Gift promo and an embroidered tile bag. Both editions feature the original gameplay with “new Egyptian god powers and implementing a modified scoring system.”
- Islands in the Mist is an upcoming title from Stronghold Games that lets players travel in a hot air balloon and explore the world below. The game should be in retail outlets in July.
- Christmas Tree Second Edition is now available from Clevergreen Games soon. The updated game includes new artwork, new player boards, new objective card symbols, and “more Christmas spirit.”
- The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged is now available for pre-order from Brotherwise Games. The miniatures game based on the Netflix series can be ordered through July 26.
GeekDad Reviews
Here’s what we reviewed this week:
- Jonathan Liu reviewed KROMA.
- I reviewed Aldabas: The Doors of Cartagena.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
- Paul Benson played Distilled, Dune: Imperium, and D&D Tomb of Annihilation.
- Jonathan Liu played Crash Octopus, Gravwell 2nd Edition, Kitchen Rush, The 7th Continent, Show and Tile, The Snallygaster Situation, and Steam Up.
- Will James played Boss Monster and Sushi Go.
- Michael Pistiolas played Cribbage, Santorini, Scythe, Sword & Sorcery, and Citadels.
- Michael Knight played Tiny Epic Pirates, Company of Heroes Board Game, Evacuate, and Thunderstone Quest.
- Robin Brooks played Godtear, Soul Raiders, Tumble Tree, and Quiddler.
- Z. played Dungeons & Dragons: Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
- I played Fast & Furious: Highway Heist (our featured image this week), JELL-O Jiggle Slap Game, HEINZ Ketchup Dice Game, and Aldabas: The Doors of Cartegena.
