The Gateway Gazette – Board Game News – 29/10/2015

Welcome everybody to the latest Gateway Gazette. This week we’ve been talking to one of our local distributors to find out more on the local gaming scene, and Stuart has been touting the start of winter just when Cape Town hit temperatures of 30+ degrees Celsius. There’s been quite a bit happening elsewhere, so let’s jump in.

Kickstarter

Right at the top BoardGameGeek’s “The Hotness” list, is Sword and Sorcery from Ares Games, an “epic Fantasy Co-op board and miniature game”. 1-5 players play the roles of legendary characters who have been resurrected with sorcery, and combine forces to take on all evils (which the game controls). Win battles and complete quests to score Soul Points which can be used to upgrade your character (or resurrect him / her if they have fallen).

Throw in some great miniatures, a modular board, and you have the recipe for another Kickstarter success. Sword & Sorcery managed to reach their funding goal of $75,000 in 90 minutes. They’ve got 15 days left, back the project here.

Blackout: Journey into Darkness is creator Richard T Broadwater’s third attempt to bring this cheerfully-titled project to life on Kickstarter (he cancelled both previous attempts). He listened to feedback from previous backers and the result is a meaner, leaner version which has now been successfully funded. Blackout is a post-apocalyptic dungeon crawler for 1-4 players.

A more modest project with a goal of $8,000, ManaSurge is the latest game from Daily Magic Games, the publishers of Valeria: Card Kingdoms. 3-5 players take on the roles of wizards and spellcasters, all vying to collect 12 shards of the World Crystal and declare themselves the ruler of the world. For as little as $8 you can grab yourself a print and play copy of the game.

Paul has fallen in love with the look of Kodama: The Tree Spirits, and even the bad puns on their KS page (inTREEguing). Game description: “As caretakers for kodama, the tree spirits, you must keep the forest a healthy and lush home for your little friends. Over three growing seasons, you must cultivate trees with the right mix of flowers, insects, and branch arrangements to make your kodama as happy as possible. Whoever cares for their kodama best will be remembered for generations!”. This has also been funded.

New

RELEASE THE KR…… no, we’re having none of that, just krak(en) on with the news already Asmodee has announced an expansion called Abyss: Kraken. It includes new Allies, Lords and Locations. It’s scheduled for release later this year. I’ve been mulling over picking up the Abyss base game because the game does sound intriguing (but also the artwork is amazing and I really want to see it up-close).

The Dead of Winter Crossroads app. FINALLY. Colour me excited, as Plaid Hat Games has finally set a date for its release. What could be more fitting than 31 October, on Halloween? This app replaces the Crossroads deck used in the board game, and changes things up a bit. When you’re presented with your choice of actions to take on a Crossroads card, you will not know what the different outcomes are (just like making decisions in real life. But not in a zombie-filled snowy wasteland. Ahem). Also, the app features voice acting by Eric Summerer, background music and sound effects, and was created by the designer of Specter Ops,  Emerson Matsuuchi.

Pocket Tactics has confirmed a price of $1 for the app.

Gale Force Nine, a company known for their licensed products (think Spartacus, Firefly and Sons of Anarchy) are releasing multiple Dr Who games. Their first release will be Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks in early 2016. Will this finally be the good Dr Who game Whovians have been waiting for? Not much competition in that category.

And lastly, Indie Boards & Games recently completed shipping out their successful Kickstarter sequel to Coup, titled Coup Rebellion G54. It takes the mechanics of the original game, gives you access to 25 characters, with the ability to combine character actions.

And that’s a wrap. Next week we’re showing off our first guest article, and Paul gives us his thoughts on The World of Smog. Enjoy your Halloween weekend.