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River Horse unleash a new licence, Roll and Writes continue their comeback, and both zombies and Android are back from the dead.
Zombie Kidz Evolution: Legacy for Kids
If you want to bring legacy gaming to your kids, we have the answer. Well, technically Le Scorpion Masqué have the answer as they’re releasing a version of their Zombie Kidz game specifically to create a legacy experience for ages seven and up. Okay, it’s still zombies, but players compete in 15-minute games to defend their school and carry through the consequences to later games. The colour scheme is bright, the treatment breezy, and it’s out in French next month and English next year.
Genesys gets an Android Sourcebook
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) might have had to close down Android: Netrunner, but the world very much lives on. FFG’s Genesys RPG system is getting the first of a series of expansions using Android and it’s called Shadow of the Beanstalk. A follow up volume, ‘The Worlds of Android’, provides detailed fluff for you. The titular world is fully cyberpunk with clones, augmentations, and corporations, but the twists include the ability for your PC to start the game in debt to a faction. Yunno, like Wonga.
Brikks: Tetris on your Table
Roll and Writes are experiencing a renaissance at the moment and the next one to catch our eye is Brikks. The child of Wolfgang Warsch, aka the brain behind The Mind, it’s essentially Tetris on paper. Dice determine characteristics of shapes you then have to slot onto your game pad by writing, and if you’re cunning you can fill this in to trigger bombs, energy and other gaming aspects. The goal is, of course, to make complete horizontal lines. Then you can rub it off and try again. You can play with 1-4 players, and a 2018 release is planned.
RIP Bruce Seifried
Miniatures pioneer Bruce Seifried has sadly died after a long period of illness. His impact on the early miniatures gaming scene can’t be overrated, and it’s only fair he’s a member of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Origins Award Hall of Fame seeing as he invented the term Adventure Gaming! He worked with D&D, created early tabletop figurines, and was Executive VP of TSR among other things.
Trajan Reprint Coming
Stefen Feld (perhaps best known here for Castles of Burgundy) produced a Roman game called Trajan that made fun use of mancalas and rondels. The good news is a reprint is coming out in December, with new box art but the game we know and love left the same inside. Can you gain the most victory points by manipulating trade, military and other aspects of Ancient Rome?
Testament is going to kill you
LionWing are publishing a Yasushi Kuroda creation that’s influenced by Final Fantasy and MMORPG. On the one hand it promises “deep character customisation, tactical battles, tough boss fights and high replay-ability,” with a system that sees you play hour long levels after which you upgrade your character.
On the other hand, you will die. You will die a lot. Here’s the Testament team explaining: “It’s so challenging that less than 20% of players will clear the game on their first attempt, with many failing on the very first stage. So, to say that it’s not for the faint of heart would be an understatement.” Sounds fun. A Kickstarter for the English edition is coming later this year.
Hong Kong in the Dark
Alexander Pfister has a new design coming from Eggertspiele and the theme is dark. Err, literally dark, as Blackout: Hong Kong sees you as vigilantes / survivors trying to maintain life and order in the titular city after the power goes out for a long, long time. It’s 1 – 4 players, can last two and a half hours and sounds a relative bargain at 45 euros. Release is Essen.
The Boldest Smashes those Genres
Noria designer Sophia Wagner has a true genre masher coming at Essen in The Boldest. We’re going to quote the summary so you can see the full glory:
“The forgotten creatures of the forest awoke from their slumber and nobody knows for sure what is lurking in the Iron Valley. You followed the call of your king. Now it is time for heroic deeds in The Boldest! Defeat mechanical monsters, retrieve enigmatic artefacts, use helpful items, and lead your faction to glory. Can you read your opponents well enough and forestall them? Are you worthy of the title "The Boldest"?”
What’s Steampunk when it’s set in a forest?
Railroad Ink
Speaking of Roll and Writes, Railroad Ink tasks you and your wipe clean board with using dice and your own cunning to map out a railway system. So far, so straightforward but Horrible Games are putting out two versions, Red and Blue, with different expansions inside, one of which puts a volcano in the middle of your chart and throws lava everywhere. We are sold. It’ll be at Essen.
Lead a Rebellion in the Hunger Games
River Horse have launched their latest licence on Kickstarter: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – The Board Game. Two to four players lead a rebellion or crush it as you struggle for control over districts in the city of Panem. Each district has a special power, and River Horse do too as this is cleared with the movie and you have miniatures based on the two faction leads, including a 28mm Katniss. The bulk of the figures are 15mm in scale. It’s funded.
Z-Man get co-operative in Narabi
Z-Man Games have announced a co-op card game for small groups (3-5). It’s all about working together to put cards in order while trying to work out the hidden rules preventing such. Here’s the official description:
“In Narabi, numbered stone cards will be randomly sleeved together with restriction cards that control how a stone moves. Players must exchange stones, working toward the correct arrangement one move at a time while still following the rules on each stone.”
The stones are cards with stones drawn on them. It’ll be out early next year.
Scythe Encounters the Fans
Scythe is getting a new deck of Encounter cards, which will cost £15 and be officially released in December. What’s interesting is they’re all based on fan designs after a call for players to riff on the game’s artwork. There’s new rules (err, “a number of innovations,”) and the packaging looks a sensible size.