Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending June 10, 2022.
Gaming News
- Some unfortunate news: our Gaming with GeekDad event at Gen Con has been canceled. The event sold out almost immediately, and I want to thank those who signed up. However, I have just started a new job and will not have enough time off by August. Two of our other writers have decided that while Gen Con has, at last, come out with what seems like a definitive statement that masks and vaccines will be required, the reality is that there will still be a significant amount of time when they have to be in places without mask mandates, including their flights to and from Indianapolis, the ride to and from the airport, the hotel, restaurants, and many more, and since the pandemic is most definitely not over, the risk is just too great. And so, we aren’t going to have enough writers there to adequately staff the event. We very much hope to see the return of the event at Gen Con 2023 and look forward to getting to meet everyone then.
- Just in time for the release of the next Jurassic Park movie, Monopoly is getting rid of the T-Rex token (TIL there’s a T-Rex token in the current version of Monopoly) and replacing it with the “Throwback Token” vote winner: the thimble. Anyone who has been holding out on buying a copy of the classic game and loves dinosaurs should probably go get their copy now before it’s too late.
- CATAN – Dawn of Humankind is coming later this year. The latest title in the Catan universe, this version of the game “returns to the prehistoric era.” Very few details, apart from a teaser trailer, are currently available, but it does appear to be a redesign of Settlers of the Stone Age.
- If you’re already invested in the 3D version of Catan, you’ll be happy to know that you can soon add the Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions to your game. Your bank account will likely be less happy, though, as the expansions, which will ship together in a box that includes 363 individual pieces, will retail for $400.
- Lucky Duck Games is sponsoring a Destinies scenario writing competition. Running through October 1, “any uploaded community crafted scenario” will be automatically entered into the competition, with a top prize of $2500 and the scenario being featured on the game’s application for a week.
- The Op had released the Disney Sorcerer’s Arena: Epic Alliances Core Set. The “Disney-themed strategic battle arena game” has players recruiting Disney and Pixar characters to “battle in the Sorcerer’s Arena” based on the popular mobile game.
- I reported last time that the Great British Baking Show was getting the board game (or, more accurately, a card game) treatment. Now Dicebreaker is reporting that the game, somewhat oddly, will not be released in Britain, of all places. The reason is, as almost always the case in these situations, licensing. UK fans will already know that the show is called The Great British Bake-Off over there, and Ravensburger doesn’t have the rights to use that name. In the US and Canada, Pillsbury owns the trademark to “Bake-Off,” so the show airs on this side of the Atlantic with the “Baking Show” name, and Ravensburger’s license is that for name, not the British one. I’m sure the lawyers will eventually work things out, money will change hands, and our British friends will get to try their hands at the game eventually.
- Deck-building word game Paperback has gotten a new digital treatment. With Paperback Vol 2, players can compete against each other or a more advanced AI to find the best word combinations from the letters in their hands. The game is available for purchase on both Android and Apple devices. The analog version of the game is our featured image this week.
GeekDad & GeekMom Reviews
Here’s what we reviewed since our last Re-Roll:
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Jonathan Liu reviewed The Gig, Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition, GeekDad Approved Downtown Farmers Market, and The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land.
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Robin Brooks reviewed The Horus Heresy and wrote about his new gaming-related podcast, Agents of Sigmar.
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Michael Knight reviewed Quirky Circuits: Penny and Gizmo’s Snow Day and Methodologie: Murder on the Links.
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Paul Benson reviewed Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Batman: Everybody Lies, and Tenpenny Parks.
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Aaron Spurlock reviewed Dragonwake.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads and GeekMoms played:
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Jonathan Liu played 7 Wonders: Architects, Cartaventura: Vinland, Kabuto Sumo, Catch the Moon, Dead Reckoning, Disney’s Sorceror’s Arena: Epic Alliances, The Gig, Pocket Detective: Season 1, Small Islands, The Comic Book Bubble, Catch the Moon, The Initiative; Oltréé, The One Hundred Torii, So, You’ve Been Eaten, Word Heist, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Light-Years from Home, The Gig, Heckadeck, Mystic Market, Shamans, Suspects, burncycle, Cartaventura: Vinland, and Mystic Market.
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Michael Pistiolas played Marvel Champions, Ticket to Ride, Switch & Signal, Can’t Stop, 6nimmt!, King of Tokyo, and Feed the Woozle.
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Aaron Spurlock played Hues and Cues, Dragonwake, Welcome To, and Vandermist Dossier.
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Michael Knight played Quirky Circuits: Penny and Gizmo’s Snow Day, Star Wars: Outer Rim, Reload, Tiny Epic Dungeons, and RELOAD.
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Paul Benson played Tenpenny Parks, The Warriors: Come Out to Play, and Dungeons & Dragons Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
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Robin Brooks played Lord of the Rings LCG and Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game.
- I played Ticket to Ride: San Francisco.
