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The bespoke board games the CIA use in training have gone public thanks to Freedom of Information requests, so get ready to play like a spy. Also Han Solo, Nanty Narking and GW’s undersea army are approaching.
City of Kings gets second Kickstarter and spin-off
Having successfully Kickstarted into creation, City of Kings is going back to Kickstarter to fund a second run of the RPG-Board hybrid game for everyone that neither backed the KS nor got the sold out retail copies. That in itself would be news, but there’s a twist: do you want to go to the Vadoran Gardens?
If City is a long, huge campaign, then Vadoran Gardens is the game you play when you’ve not got time for big sibling: using tile placement mechanics and cards, it’s set in the same universe and is the first of many spin offs and expansions we’ve been promised. Vadoran Gardens is available to fund during the Kickstarter, which begins April 17.
FOI Request Garners CIA Board Game
When the news came out that the CIA had been using board games to train operatives, the reaction of the gaming world was "we want a go too!" Unfortunately, the games weren’t publicly available, so step forward Doug Palmer, who submitted a perfect Freedom of Information request to the CIA and received the rules and PnP materials for ‘Collection’ and ‘Kingpin: The Hunt for El Chapo’.
Now you too can play like your career depended on it. Of course, the rules are in the finest tradition of many games and need some clarity.
Ninja Division quits Kickstarter amid cloud of complaints
The people producing Super Dungeon Explore, Relic Knights and more – Ninja Division – have announced they are quitting Kickstarter, claiming the platform is filled with toxicity towards creators. But in the interest of balance we have to add the anger aimed at Ninja Division is, in part, the result of chronic failures to deliver on those funded projects.
Co-Owner of Ninja Division John Cadice is quoted as saying:
"The way that it's swung online has made us shy away from wanting to even be a part of it… I don't think that it's responsible for any of our external business partners to have to be exposed to that. It's not responsible for me to expose my employees to that. It's not responsible for me to expose my brands to that.” Indeed, Kickstarter “is a poisonous ecosystem that cuts both ways.”
More details on Ankh-Morpork remake
Martin Wallace, aka Mr Brass, was partway through a Discworld trilogy of games when author Terry Pratchett died. In the aftermath the IP ended, and the first game in the series, Ankh-Morpork, became a collector’s item with no hope of a reprint. However, we’ve known for a while now that Wallace was working on revamping it into a new game, and we’ve got further details.
Ankh-Morkpork is now Nanty Narking, a game set in a fantasy Victorian London which merges Terry Pratchett’s work, a love of the era, history and the literature around it. It’s not officially Terry, but it’s done in his spirit, and well be Kickstarted by Phalanx. The core gameplay is intact but tweaked.
Rising Sun’s First Retail Expansion
Rising Sun can’t half fill a table, and now there’s going to be more of it for non-backers with the first expansion for the game coming to retail: Dynasty Invasion. There’s two new clans, including the high honour Sun, and the low honour (but extra force) Moon, new season cards and new gods. In a world where Kickstarter exclusivity seems to be increasing, Rising Sun is going to retail as promised.
Spy Club!
Fox in the Forest’s Foxtrot Games and Renegade invite you to join the Spy Club, their new deduction game. It’s a co-op for two to four players who aim to collect enough clue cards to solve aspects of the mystery and then bag the suspect. A campaign is also included, as are plenty of mysteries so you don’t run out after a few games! It’s coming July 2018.
Girl Genius: The Works on Kickstarter
If you’ve never heard of Girl Genius, set aside an evening to work through the webcomic of the same name and enjoy the fantastic adventures of steampunk heroine Agatha Heterodyne. Once you’ve done that you might want spinoff ‘The Works’, the card game being Kickstarted by Cheapass, which tasks you with running a giant machine: full of cogs naturally.
It’s not a new game, and the original release in 2001 featured many characters who hadn’t been in the comic yet, and amazingly some still haven’t! It’s now revamped.
Games Workshop unveil the sea people
Many years ago I spent some times browsing the web for nautical figures for a potential Warhammer proxy… now, in 2018, Warhammer’s Age of Sigmar edition is producing an entire official army. The Idoneth Deepkin have elves riding sharks and many, many more water based beauties coming out of the depths and onto your battlefield. Yes, there is a flying giant turtle!
Viticulture Visitors…we’ve run out of v words
There’s a new expansion for Viticulture, and it’s called Visit from the Rhine Valley: An Alternative Set of Visitor Cards for Viticulture. Well that’s kind of done my job hasn’t it, but to clarify, you’ll be getting 80 new cards, 40 with new summer visitors and 40 with winter, and the retail price is $20. On sale June 1.
Aporta makes things bigger
Aporta have strongly hinted there’s a forthcoming expansion for Santa Maria, and the picture they tweeted included a meeple and… well how do you make a game involving dice bigger and better? A much bigger dice! More details soon, if they’re not blocked by the size.
Harry Potter licensing continues
USAopoly have a Harry Potter licence and they intend to use it… with some existing systems. Yes, there’s going to be Codenames: Harry Potter (using the Duet approach), and a Munchkin Harry Potter where the artwork is actual photos of the movie stars.
Han Solo promised for Legion
Fantasy Flight are keeping the buzz around Star Wars: Legion by announcing a major character, but let’s be serious, they can do that regularly for years given the rich IP. This time we’re promised Han Solo and a bunch of Rebel Commandos in an autumn release, and yes, this time he can shoot first, and often, until a Scout Walker stands on him. Maybe.
This week’s Asmodee acquisition is…
Coiledspring have become the latest purchase of Asmodee, who buy gaming companies like we buy games. Coiled have Sushi Go, Biblios and much more in their catalogue, and will retain their identity.