The News Shed 4 09/03/2023

Welcome Back to the News shed, 

On this weeks episode, our News man Paul brings you all of this weeks juicy Table Top Gaming news & Crowdfunding campaigns we think you need to know about & of course the all important update on the BGG hotness so you are always in the loop of what is the hottest game on the market.

Transcript

QQQ...

What do mean you won something...

QQQ...

Don't you mean I won something...

QQQ...

Ahhh... So now it's we... So what did We win...

QQQ...

Wow, We won the Cake of Doom giveaway... Well blow me down with a feather...!

QQQ...

We mentioned it a few weeks ago, but Cake of Doom is an upcoming Kickstarter launching on the 10th March... Got that plug in...  By a couple designers we met down at Paradice Board Game Convention a couple of weeks ago. They had a little giveaway planned for the project and asked followers on their Facebook page to describe their favourite cake, tag a friend and like the post...

QQQ...

Well we know exactly what our fav cake is don't we...

QQQ...

That's right... Warm Chocolate Fudge Cake... 

QQQ...

And some Ice Cream, but not just any Ice Cream, gotta be Hocking's Clotted Cream Ice Cream...

QQQ...

I know it's been a while hasn't it, the ice cream doesn't travel well from the North Devon Coast does it... Sure Jason will allow us out at some point soon...

Are you dribbling...

QQQ...

I'm sure we can have the cake part, you go and put the oven on and get the ingredients out before your dribbling shorts out the recording equipment. Right, hit the button and I'll get the news done... 

QQQ...

NEWS HEADLINES

The latest game to jump from our screens to table is exciting fans as Sea of Thieves goes analogue. Steamforged Games has confirmed that they are developing a board game based on the pirate-themed game in collaboration with with the video game publisher Rare.

The announcement came in the form of a tweet from Steamforged Games, in which they confirmed the long-standing rumors that they were indeed working on a Sea of Thieves board game.

The tweet read, 'C'mon best put on my best pirate accent': “As many of you sharp-witted scallywags guessed – we’re making a Sea of Thieves board game in collaboration with Rare! Hoist the mainsail, raise anchor, and take to the waves with our new board game, launching later this year!”

QQQ...

Suppose your right, seemed more Devonian than pirate, 

The news was met with a little more excitement than my accent and indeed anticipation from fans of both the video game and tabletop gaming. The Sea of Thieves video game, which was developed by Rare and released in 2018, has amassed a dedicated following thanks to its immersive world, exciting gameplay, and unique pirate-themed setting.

The upcoming board game promises to capture the same sense of adventure and exploration that has made the video game so popular. Players will take on the roles of pirates and navigate the high seas, battling rival crews, discovering treasure, and facing off against terrifying sea monsters.

Yet another game making the jump is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Boardgame. Announced by Awaken Realms this week, fans of the popular PC FPS franchise from Ukraine can now experience the game in a new format.

The tabletop edition promises to bring the same amount of excitement and immersion that the video game series is known for. Now players will be able to experience the Exclusion Zone and its unique atmosphere in a completely new way.

The game has its preview page visible over on Gamefound now, with anybody following the project before it starts eligible for a free gift if they back the project.

It features 1-4 players, where each player controls one Stalker. The game is a cooperative “zone-crawling” story-driven experience based on stories from the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Each story will consist of 2-4 scenarios to play through, and players should expect to spend approx. 2 hours per scenario.

The scenarios in the game will vary, and players will be able to take part in stealth missions, tactical gunfights, retrieval missions, artifact hunting, navigating through dangerous anomalies, fighting mutants, and much more. Each Stalker will be a unique character that players can upgrade their gear and skills between different scenarios.

The game promises to be an exciting and challenging experience, and it is perfect for fans of the video game series and board game enthusiasts alike. With the option to play alone or with friends, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Board Game offers a unique and thrilling cooperative gaming experience.

We're jumping abouth a bit today as we take a step back and join Steamforged Games as they also announce the acquisition of the Kinghill IP and board game. 

Kinghill, rated 8.5 on BoardGameGeek, is a worker placement game fused with the drama and tension of a deck-building card battler, set in a world where two rival kingdoms are locked in a deadly battle for survival and ownership of the moonstones, sources of incredible power.

The game ran on Kickstarter from October through to November in 2021 and is the brainchild of Petr Marek and Czech studio Violet Dragon. Steamforged Games intends to develop the Kinghill title, in conjunction with Violet Dragon, with plans for a variety of expansions, including a four-player option.

We know Steamforged Games has a significant experience in successfully crowdfunding, publishing, and delivering tabletop games, and by acquiring the Kinghill IP, they can launch the title to a wider audience.

This goes along with Steamforged Games other acquisitions over the last 12 months of  Euthia and Rivet Wars, demonstrating the business’s ability to spot exciting opportunities that offer scope for creative product development.

With the Kinghill Kickstarter fulfillment due any moment now, Steamforged Games will then be offering the remaining copies from the initial Kickstarter production run on its website.

Right a few distribution and publishing updates for those that like keeping track of these things.

Funko Games has signed distribution deals with Big Wheel Toys and Let's Play Games to make its games more readily available in Australia and New Zealand.

Local company Big Potato Games and Buffalo Games have signed a deal to distribute one another's titles, so Big Potato titles will now be handled in the U.S. by Buffalo Games, except from Blockbuster, which is still contracted to Spin Master and alternatively Buffalo Games titles, which include the brands Gamewright and Chuckle & Roar will now be available in the UK through Big Potato Games. 

Diddy game publisher Oink Games will now distributed throughout the UK through Hachette Boardgames UK who currently distribute for many an indie publisher like Sorry We're French, GiGamic, Studio H and Blck Rock Games.

Flat River Group will now distribute titles from Pendragon Game Studio, which was previously distributed in North America by Ares Games. 

Hanabi publisher Cocktail Games who had been distributed by ABACUSSPIELE for some 10 years has made the shift over to Asmodee Germany for the foreseeable future, but don't fret as Asmodee Germany has also started distributing titles from ABACUSSPIELE anyway, win, win.

We've been banging on about it but after the rumours were circulating last week and little bits on info here and there was creeping out we finally have some concrete details on Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze as it heads towards it's March 23rd Kickstarter launch date with eventual fulfilment AND retail release in July this year.

QQQ...

Unusual plan to say the least there ol' chap...

Anyhoo, it is infact a co-operative game for 1-4 players from designers Darren Reckner and Jason Hager, who work together as Durdle Games. 

In Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze, which is themed around the pulp adventures, tall tales, and local legends of the mid-20th century, players work together to defeat just one of two villains: Mothman or the Martian Invader. Each villain however is aided by a number of possible minions, Jersey Devil, Ant Queen, Loveland Frog, The Blob, Tarantula, or Skunk Ape.

As well as their minions each villain has a unique battlefield and unique objectives. If the villain completes their objective (or defeats the heroes), the players lose. The enemies use special action cards and a simple targeting scheme to control their movement and attacks.

The set comes with four new heroes: Nikola Tesla discharges his electrified coils to power up his effects; Annie Christmas gets stronger when she's fighting from behind;

QQQ... Stop it...!

The Golden Bat, the world's very first superhero who has a variety of powerful effects; and Dr. Jill Trent, Science Sleuth who calls on a collection of gizmos. 

As we mentioned, or gleaned from the sneaky trailers and staying true to the Unmatched brand, Restoration Games maintains it's promise that you can use heroes from any other Unmatched set in Unmatched Adventures, and vice versa in normal Unmatched Matches, so you can also have, say, Squirrel Girl face off against The Golden Bat for the title of "Master Mammal".

September 2023 will see the release of two titles from Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich, the design team behind Flatout Games, which partners with AEG for distribution.

First up is Point City which is very reminiscent of 2019's Point Salad. On each turn, you draft two adjacent cards from the city grid, then add them to your expanding city. By using resource cards and bonuses on erected buildings, you can complete building cards that provide points, resources, and other benefits.

Deep Dive however is a press-your-luck game for 1-6 players that reminds us a little of Oink Games Deep Sea Adventure.

As Penguins each turn you flip over an ocean tile, and see what you reveal. You can take what you reveal in the shallows or dive deeper, hoping for a larger catch — but the deeper you go, the more plentiful the predators become. As you surface with food, you build sets of three colors. Target the colors you need to complete sets and score the maximum number of points.

Gonna stick with AEG for a moment as a game still in prototype stages and currently has no official images comes to light. Going under the codename Undergrove, a 2-4 player game from our favourite feathered designer Elizabeth Hargrave co designing alongside Mark Wooton on a game about trading between the flora of our planet.

For over 300 million years, trees have traded nutrients with fungi in a vast underground network. Scientists continue to make new discoveries about this hidden world — including the fact that some of these nutrients seem to find their way from mature parent trees through the fungal network to the trees' seedlings. 

Undergrove is a medium-weight 3X game in which you play a Douglas-fir tree that is building symbiotic relationships with fungi and using them to establish your seedlings. 

Players explore by adding new mushrooms to a shared forest area, expand by playing new seedlings and roots on those mushrooms, and exploit their relationships with the mushrooms to gain resources.

Players then help their seedlings grow into trees by transferring resources through the fungi. At the end of the game, the player who has grown the best set of seedlings with the most valuable symbiotic relationships wins. 

What better way to warm up to a fantastic feast than first going out and facing down magical beasts, well Avalon Hill has been working on a new Dungeons & Dragons family weight board game, The Yawning Portal,, which is available for you to buy right now.. 

The Yawning Portal works with between one and four players and can be played by anyone twelve and up. When you visit The Yawning Portal you'll be faced with a whole host of very hungry adventurers who are all looking to be fed their favourite meals.

During gameplay, you'll be looking to match the food tokens to the different heroes and earn coloured gems. The gems that appear most frequently on the board will have the highest value so you'll want to not only get the right meals to the right heroes but also tip the score in your favor. You can also achieve objective challenges in the middle of the game and work towards endgame bonuses to snag some extra points.

The variety of different heroes that you'll be seeing to serve plus the changing state of the board when it comes to scoring means that it should be fun to come back to The Yawning Portal. 


BGG TOP 5 HOTNESS

On to this weeks top 5 Games making waves over on Board Game Geek, as of recording obviously...

So these games on the list may be already out, due to come out, or crowdfunding at the moment, it tends to be a list based on what people are searching for on Board Game Geek right now.

In 5. First of 4 new games in this weeks BGG Hotness is Age Contrived. It's a new game thats just hit Kickstarter and features in this weeks Crowdfunding slot so more on that shortly.

In 4. is Station Fall by designer Matt Ekland and Ion Game Design sees you deducing who you can and can't trust as your space station meets its demise re-entering earths atmosphere.

In 3. Unmatched Tales to Amaze jumps straight in to the 3rd slot. I mean we've been shouting about it the last couple of weeks and looks like you've all been listening to us.

QQQ...

Nah, sure it was us putting the word out...!!!

In 2. Another game just finishing it's run on Kickstarter and the only game in the top 5 to still be here from last week is Earth from designer Maxime Tardif and Inside Up Games. The unique tableau builder seeing you create your own earth ecosystem.

In. 1. Is the Stars Wars The Deckbuilding Game forces pushes its way straight into the top spot as it hit store shelves this week from Fantasy Flight Games, who else, and designed by Caleb Grace.

CROWDFUNDING

As mentioned just now, our crowdfunding slot this week is taken up with An Age Contrived. Just sneaking into the top 5 is a fantasy euro game of engine building and resource programming brought to us by designer Chris Matthew and the team over at Bellows Intent. 

It's designed for 1 to 5 players and can be played between one and two hours.

You play as a god in the Eldranic pantheon, where you are only as powerful as the mortals of this unstable world believe you are. Your goal is to establish yourself as the pantheon's prevailing god by securing mortal belief, as you advance the mortal realm from its age of darkness into civilization.

Each player receives a character board and a transmutation device, which they use to channel their energy into the mortal realm. Energy is how a god exerts its will, and is used to construct monuments, claim new tiles, and accomplish lasting achievements. Bind your energy for end-game scoring, and unlock new energy to replenish your reserves. The game ends when the last monument is complete, at which point the player with the most points wins.

There are two types of turns, with no rounds or phases. On a player's turn, they must either charge their transmutation device and program it openly, or use its energy to take as many actions as they have already programmed. Information is open, and the only luck is in the shuffling of tiles to set up the game. Player choices determine how the game unfolds.

The game features unlockable unique player powers, a board that players construct differently each game, and 5 ways to build your engine. You will be encouraged to plan ahead, but required to adapt your strategy in order to come away victorious.

The project is live right now and ends on March 23rd.

There are 3 main pledge levels for An Age Contrived starting out with the base core pledge for £55 or $65.

This gets you the game, all applicable stretch goals, the Divine Winds module and the exclusive Worldtree Monument exclusive to Kickstarter backers.

Next up is the Collectors Pledge at £83 or $99. For this you'll be getting the Collectors edition of the game alongside all applicable stretch goals. The divine winds module and Kickstarter exclusive Worldtree Monument plus 5 Mechanical Player Boards together with upgraded Game Trayz insert.

Topping of the pledge levels is the Founders Pledge level at £99 or $119. That gets you everything I've already mentioned with the collectors pledge but adds in 5 Metal divine winds tokens, ink washed miniatures and the Ad Infinitum Expansion.

Estimated delivery of the project is set at Jan 2024.

One more project on Kickstarter I felt of note, especially for fans of the North Sea and West Kingdom Trilogies of games by Shem Philips and Garphill Games, is the second outing for the South Tigris Trilogy in the form of Scholars of the South Tigris. Thats up there until March 16th.

OUTRO



Right say goodbye to everyone and you can go and get the game set up...

QQQ...

and it's a goodbye from me, keep safe Meeples, keep those dice rolling, the cards shuffling and we'll be right here for you next week...