Board Game News – The Gateway Gazette – 29/03/2016

If you’re anything like me and found yourself subjected to numerous disapproving stares on Sunday morning, then this week’s news is for you. Why the stares? Well apparently it’s considered poor form to insert oneself into an Easter Egg hunt when the average participants is four years old. I know, right? Who would have thought ageism was rampant in modern society? But oh well, bygones I reckon. In any event, as good as chocolate is in its many Easter forms, it’s no match for great taste in cardboard!

Since last we spoke, we’ve had Cape Town’s first rAge, the 2016 GAMA Trade Show and a host of new game announcements, so without further ado, let’s get hunting.

GAMA & New Game Announcements

Eric Lang had a pretty amazing 2015, whether we’re talking successful Kickstarters or a host of critically acclaimed releases, so it should surprise no one that arguably the most talked about announcements at GAMA involved two of his new titles – Bloodborne and The Godfather. I know many were surprised that Lang passed up the opportunity to create minis to rival those of Kingdom: Death, but personally I’m excited that Bloodborne is a card game. Not only because Lang proved with the 2nd Edition of Game of Thrones just how adept he is at creating fantastic card game, but also because I’m a little tired of all the mini madness. BGG caught the illustrious Mr Lang at GAMA going into a little more depth about the mechanics of Bloodborne. Praise the Sun.

For those more interested in being made an offer they can’t refuse, here’s few more tidbits about The Godfather.

Captain America: Civil War drops on May 6th and we all know what that means…franchise tie-ins! Yep, Civil War will live on in cardboard form as a new big box expansion for the Legendary system and Dice Masters will also be party to some Cap’ on Tony fisticuffs.

Hot off the press, White Wizard Games will be Kickstarting a fantasy themed version of Star Realms. Details are sparse at this point, but there’s talk of a campaign mode which should be interesting. It’s a telling move, given last year’s release of Epic, though I suppose it’s pure speculation whether Epic’s indifferent reception was a motivating factor.

Jason recently picked up Tides of Time from Portal Games (don’t tell anyone his wife thrashed him in his first game), so he’ll be delighted to know that Tentacles of Time has been announced as Tides’ sequel. The new twist is the introduction of a Madness mechanic. This won’t end well.

Having recently finished up Mad Max and Fallout 4 on PC, Wasteland Express Delivery Service has ALL of my attention.

‘Take on the role of drivers inhabiting a post-apocalyptic wasteland riddled with outrageous, unhinged and otherworldly characters set on unleashing mayhem at every turn. In order to survive in this deranged universe, drivers must deliver food water and guns between the handful of settlements pockmarked through the Wasteland.’

Reiner Knizia’s Ra currently sits at 110 on the BGG rankings, which should be an excellent indication of why news of a reprint has been exciting a number of boardgame acolytes. Windrider Games have been given the job, which should be good news for anyone who knows Samurai or Tigris & Euphrates.

We love Welcome to the Dungeon, so naturally the news that IELLO are bringing a stand-alone expansion is music to our ears. Well, if the screams emanating from a sunless dungeon can be considered ‘music’.

AEG certainly know the deck-builder genre intimately, so who better to attempt an innovative approach to extending the lifespan of the genre (even if it isn’t all that old in the first place)? Mystic Vale promises something called a ‘Card Crafting System’ but I’m far too distracted by the pretty art to explain what that actually means.

Kickstarter

As always, far too many campaigns to keep track of, so here are the ones that managed to attract our attention over the last two weeks.

Yes, NecronomiCards is yet another Cthulhu-themed game, but I bet you’ve never seen Lovecraftian nightmares looking this cute before! Matching symbols, summoning ancient deities – all those things that make for a great Friday night.

Emergence aims to build on the legacy of bluffing titans The Resistance and Werewolf by adding enough depth and complexity to push play time to between 45 and 90 minutes. We’re not only intrigued by the motivation, but the abstract and minimalist art-style is incredibly appealing.

And then sometimes we just want to crush our enemies and hear their lamentations, no subtlety or deception required. Kharnage…Hell Yearghh! is an interesting concept, a card game all about glorified violence that also aims to be something you can play with kids as young as 8. The artwork certainly has that mobile RPG charm going for it and the game is infused with a cheeky sense of humour, and the campaign is already fully funded.

Brand spanking new and already the talk of the town, Santorini is promising great things. Learn it in 30 seconds, a 30 minute 3D strategy game that’s been in development for 30 years? Rahdo has already done a full run through of the game for those curious about making the $65 investment.

Lastly, The Daedalus Sentence: Escape from Space Prison is yet another sci-fi themed co-op, however this time around you’re fleeing a satellite prison and the draw card here is the board. 4 rotating rings of 42 randomized locations, players start in the central location and attempt to work their way out. The game will also come with a ‘one against all’ variant. Eagle-Gryphon are behind this intriguing concept and for those concerned about the Kickstarter waiting game, this is set to ship for October of this year. It’s a hefty asking price at $95 and add another $65 for shipping, but it’ll also be a limited print run so it may prove very difficult to find at a later date.

App News

Renegade Games has partnered with Dire Wolf Digital to bring a number of their titles to the app store, most interesting of which will no doubt be Lanterns: The Harvest Festival. Having experienced this for the first time at rAge, I can see this proving to be very popular.

You can now sign up for the Open Beta for Chronicle Runescape Legends for PC. If you’re a Hearthstone player looking for something different, you may want to check it out.

Miscellaneous

If you thought it was just the digital realm that provided a battlefield for warring opinions on what are and aren’t the cream of the crop, well the release of the 10th Annual Golden Geek Awards proves otherwise. Pandemic Legacy won Board Game of the Year with Codenames and 7 Wonders: Duel being the runner ups. There are lots of gamers who reckon Pandemic is a worthy winner and just as many who reckon it’s an indication of the imminent Fall of Man.

Back on home turf, the CBQ team were all at rAge Cape Town and regardless of whether the rest of the event can be considered a success (although by most accounts, it can be), from a boardgamers perspective there was a fantastic showing of committed veterans and curious potential converts. We saw (and helped out) demos for everything from Gravwell to Medieval Academy to 7 Wonders Duel and it was inspiring to see the world of boardgaming attracting all races, ages and genders. We’re likely some time away from a completely boardgame focused local convention of this size, but I have no doubt that it’s on its way.

The other telling observation was the noticeable difference in how attendees view the value proposition of digital games as opposed to boardgames. On the cardboard side, much of the eager interest fizzled out into a no-sale, and yet Xbox Ones and PS4s were selling like hotcakes. Given that the average console game price is R900, it’s intriguing that the value proposition isn’t even in question and yet so many still seem to think boardgames are too expensive.

What do you think of the Golden Geek Awards? Are they too focused on the Realm of the Casual? Did you make it rAge and if so what were your impressions? Later this week Stuart will reveal his thoughts on Champions of Midgard, and we recently got to play Deception: Murder in Hong Kong – spoilers, it’s really good.