The News Shed : 13/07/2023

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.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:35 News Stories
• 15:43 BGG Hotness
• 16:59 Crowdfunding News
• 20:37 Outro

Transcript

INTRO

The music...?

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Yeah, it's Mongolian Rock...

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Well no, I don't speak Mongolian...

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Sometimes mate it's not about the understanding, it's about the feeling you get from listening...

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Do you like it though...?

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That's all that matters chap... They're actually Throat Singing, which is a way of producing 2 different notes at once, which is why it sounds quite gravelly sometimes...

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You should check out the instruments they play...

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You go watch them on YouTube and I'll get the news done if you like...?

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Yeah they are called the Hu, and I don't mean the Roger Daltrey Who...

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Roger Daltrey, Never mind, its spelt H... U... Can you press the button before you go please... cheers...

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NEWS HEADLINES

C'mon, it's been a while since Gloomhaven or its frosty counterpart Frosthaven have made the news, so don't be surprised when we do mention it  a few times  this week.

Yes it's back and surprisingly not in a box you have trouble fitting in the car. The latest offering from publisher Cephalofair sees Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs fit its solo strategic experience in a box that reportedly weighs less than a single pound.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs was announced by the publisher via a July 5th update to the ongoing Gloomhaven Grand Festival on Backerkit.

What initially seemed like a convenient way to handle pre-orders for an upcoming second printing of Frosthaven, along with its colossal miniature offering, has instead become a platform for the team to unveil several new projects.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is a strictly single-player board game that claims it will distil the series’ trademark tactical combat into a compact and portable form that relies on a grand total of just 100 cards, along with tiny character boards to track nearly every bit of game information. Scenarios are contained on a single card, which uses tiny miniatures and coloured cubes to track positioning on a hexagonal grid.

Players can choose amongst the six core Gloomhaven classes, and all of their abilities are contained within four double-sided cards. Like the original, the top and bottom offer different strategic choices along with a flat movement and attack option. Unlike the original, full-sized game, ability cards are used twice before they are discarded from the player’s hand.

Enemies move according to simple AI commands listed on their card and all attacks - player and enemy - use a single six-sided modifier die to determine the result. The number of components have been intentionally slimmed down, relative to its massive predecessor, so that the solo player doesn’t have 14 different cards, miniature, modifier tokens and trackers to keep in their head at all times.

Over the course of 20 included scenarios, characters will level up in ways that should feel very familiar to Gloomhaven veterans. Modifier cards can be upgraded to offer a more favourable spread, and new, stronger ability cards can be added to their deck. Gear and items also return, printed on the flipside of scenario cards - Buttons & Bugs wastes no extra space.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is based on the award-winning Gloomholdin’, the independent creation of Joe Klipfel that recreated the flow of combat encounters using a mere 18 cards. Klipfel has returned, alongside co-designer Nikki Valens to expand that initial design into a fully fledged game that plays through a full session in about 20 minutes. Valens previously worked on cosmic horror board game Mountains of Madness 2nd Edition and Artisans of Splendent Vale.

Those interested in pre-ordering the game can do so for $15 through the ongoing Gloomhaven Backerkit crowdfunding campaign, where you can also check out some new information on the upcoming Gloomhaven RPG. 

Tigris & Euphrates is a classic euro game about building ancient civilisations and is set to make a return this October.

Considered, by some, to be one of the best board game ever made, Tigris & Euphrates sees two to four players constructing their own civilisations in Ancient Mesopotamia. 

Loosely part of a trilogy of tile-laying games designed by Reiner Knizia, alongside Samurai and Through the Desert, Tigris & Euphrates has players attempting to score victory points in one of four major sectors of civilisation: farming, religion, trading and government.

Throughout the game, players place tiles representing one of the four major sections on the board, scoring points through those tiles via the associated leader. However, players score points on the sector that’s weakest in their civilisation, meaning players will need to develop all of aspects of their civilisation well if they want to succeed. Should opposing players’ tiles ever come into contact with one another, then a conflict occurs, with only one of each type of leader able to survive in every civilisation. Leaders can also be replaced through internalised conflict as well.

Originally, Tigris & Euphrates was set to be published via Z-Man Games - the studio responsible for releasing co-op board game Pandemic – as part of the company’s Euro Classics line sometime last year. However, support for the brand was discontinued at the beginning of 2021 due to various factors including the fact that Z-Man Games was “no longer an indie publisher,” and the need for certain members of the board game industry to take notice of its remakes in order for them to find success.

In a recent interview with Knizia, the designer confirmed that Tigris & Euphrates is set to be republished at this year’s Essen Spiel convention, which will take place from 5th to the 8th of October in Essen, Germany. Further details about the upcoming release are yet to be revealed, with Knizia admitting that he is yet to see any updated graphics or indeed anything.

When it comes to trading card games it seems that the men-folk tend to outnumber the lady-folk at quite a high ratio. That hasn't stopped one certain young lady who has managed to pull off a win at this years European tournament for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game to be crowned the game’s first female European champion.

The European Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Qualifier was held in the Dutch city of Utrecht from June 30th to July 2nd, the finale to the European Yu-Gi-Oh! National Championships series of events held across the continent.

9,935 players participated in 20 national tournaments during the championships, setting a new attendance record for the TCG’s competitive scene in Europe.

The finals were ultimately won by UK player Jessica Robinson, who piloted her Rikka Sunavalon Therion deck to victory against Germany’s Christian Thomas, using the Kashtira deck. Kashtira was the most popular deck of the tournament, with almost a third of the Top 64 and three of the Top 8 using the build; Thomas had previously used it to best British duelist Oliver Newton in the semi-finals. 

Robinson, meanwhile, saw off Thomas’ fellow German player and 2019 World Championship competitor Jonas Koschel during the quarter finals, before seeing off the Labrynth deck of another German hopeful, Joo Ho Ahn, in the semis.

Robinson’s victory earned her a place at this year’s Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships, which will be held in the card game’s home of Japan next month. Robinson and Thomas will be joined by Newton, Koschel, Ahn, France’s Gabriel Soussi and Germany’s Dinh-Kha Bui, along with another 25 top-ranking duelists in qualifying for the world tournament.

Robinson became the second Brit in a row to claim victory at the European Nationals, following the 2022 success of Marcus Patel using his unbeaten Sunavalon Rikka deck. The win also makes her the first woman to win the European tournament, as well as one of very few female duelists to top a major Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship.

The match, if you fancied watching it is over on YouTube for your perusal with proper sports commentary too, it was a pretty great D, D, D, D, D, Duel...

This year’s Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship will be its first held since 2019, the result of multiple cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be held in Tokyo’s International Exhibition Center from August 5th to 6th, with the physical Trading Card Game’s tournament joined by those for digital games Duel Links and Master Duel.

Ravensburger have been in the news recently with the whole Lorcana business still to be resolved but it continues to churn out expansions for its other lines, an namely Villainous, or more accuratley Str Wars Villainous. 

The publisher of the much loved and highly collectible series have announced Star Wars Villainous: Scum and Villainy. This new stand-alone expansion introduces three new treacherous do-badders from both the live action universe, as well as from the animated series Rebels and The Clone Wars.

The expansion will see much loved/feared fan favourite Bounty Hunter Boba Fett taking centre stage on the box. The remaining characters joining Fett will be the Seventh Sister from Star Wars: Rebels, and Cad Bane from The Clone Wars, and The Book of Boba Fett.

Between these three characters, there is a wide range of the Galaxy’s best-loved lore, and so there should be something to love for most Star Wars fans out there to enjoy straight out of the box or indeed combine with the other Star Wars Villainous sets,

With the release date scheduled for early August, it won’t be long before fans can sink their teeth into these treacherous villains!

Time for a trip back to the cutesy cuddly woodland critter world of Everdell as publishers Starling Games move towards the shoreline in it's latest game, Everdell Farshore.

Aiming to dock with retailers shelves this Autumn, the worker-placement, tableau-building board game will seemingly feel very familiar to all Everdell veterans.

While the new title is standalone and not an expansion on the base Everdell experience, players will still be managing resources, collecting a range of anthropomorphic animal workers and labouring through the changing seasons to hit their goals.

James and Clarissa Wilson, creators of Everdell who also had a hand in that board game’s many offshoots and expansions, will be handling design, which might attribute to the shared DNA between it and this newest Farshore box. Players will encounter four new species of animals - crabs, beavers, ducks and puffins - and sail into the open waters beyond the North Shore in search of maps that will guide them to treasure and riches.

How this new system fits into the mechanical core borrowed from Everdell isn’t yet clear - the little information we know at the moment is pulled from a pre-order page on publisher Starling Games’ website. The board is immediately reminiscent of the forest from the original, though the big cut-out tree has been swapped for a lighthouse. 

Farshore will again support one to four players in sessions that last anywhere from 40 to 80 minutes. That does mean the board game will support solo play, with rules designed by Chrissy and Tom Peske, and will come with all the extra components necessary to play this board game on your own. Illustrator Jacqui Davis has returned to once again ply her signature style to another corner of Everdell’s world.

Everdell Farshore is currently accepting pre-orders on Starling Game’s website for $75 per box and says that batch should begin shipping on August 31st. There is currently no word on when to expect Farshore to show up in retail, nor what the off-the-shelf cost will be.

Revisit one of horror cinema’s seminal works of familial cannibalism and hitchhiking gone wrong, reimagined as an asymmetrical upcoming one vs all board game.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Slaughterhouse adapts the events of the original film with one player tormenting and sequentially murdering all the rest.

Designed and developed by the grab and IP and slap it on a game publisher, Prospero Hall, Texas Chainsaw Massacre Slaughterhouse is the latest in a long history of films and television from the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s that the Funko-owned studio has brought to the tabletop.

Disney: Villainous’ continued success might pay the bills, but Prospero’s treatment of titles such as Jaws and Rear Window prove these translations are more than just opportunistic cash grabs.

Horror board game Slaughterhouse positions one player as the Sawyer family, controlling the iconic chainsaw-wielding Leatherface as well as older brother Nubbins and patriarch Drayton Sawyer within the family’s decrepit home. Everyone else is stuck as potential victims stranded miles from civilisation who can only rely on each other to escape and survive.

How that actually works in the rules of the game isn’t exactly clear. The Sawyer player moves the three members around the house, setting traps, cornering other players and systematically capturing, killing and butchering them for meat. The players sneak through rooms and hallways, evading the Sawyer family as they hunt for spare car parts (of course the one vehicle is broken), collect evidence of the family’s murderous nature and scrounge for anything that might keep them alive for one more round. 

Most of the mechanics seem to revolve around balancing actions and managing resource cards drawn from multiple decks. Achievements earned during sessions - which run between 45 minutes and an hour - can unlock new cards that are added to the next game, changing the stakes and putting new pieces on the board for both sides to use against the other.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Slaughterhouse is currently slated for mid 2023 release, but Prospero Hall didn’t provide a more concrete date. The box will be available in retail online and at local hobby shops in the US first, no surprise there, though no information is currently available for when the rest of us may see it.


BGG TOP 5 HOTNESS

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.

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

In 5. Still fighting the fight against creatures in the dark is our ever faithful Monster Slayer in The Witcher: Old World.

In 4. Fancy yourself as the most influential clan Japan, well then you'll have to pull your kimono up and get to it in The White Castle

In 3. We've mentioned it already in the news and producing its own waves is the original Gloomholdin'

In 2. Also making waves, literally, are those adorable critters from Everdell in Everdell Farshore.

In. 1. With Gloomhavin' in the top 5 and not to mention the story regarding the latest addition to the franchise, its no surprise Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs takes the top spot this week.

CROWDFUNDING

On the Underground: Paris/New York
LudiCreations
Players 2 to 5
60mins
14+

The project this week sees not only the latest standalone release of LudiCreations 'On the Underground: Paris and New York City' but will also let you pick up the previously published  On the Underground: London and Berlin'

On the Underground is a game for players who love to create, players compete to build the most valuable and convenient transportation network. Each player controls 2-4 different lines, depending on the number of players.

The game is over after all Destination cards have been drawn and all players have taken the same number of turns. The player that has earned the most points is the winner, having built the most valuable network On the Underground!

While seemingly a mechanically simple game, the strategic depth takes you beyond other network-building games such as Ticket to Ride, Thurn & Taxis and Through the Desert.

Besides each game being different due to the on-board objectives, the Passenger introduces a singular challenge to each turn of the game, inviting you to participate (and earn points) even when it is not your turn.

Featuring the same minimalist-yet-rich aesthetic introduced in the London / Berlin production, we have found that the game consistently delivers a pleasing experience in both appearance and gameplay.

Each map has its own special characteristics, offering variety and contrast in its gameplay, including game duration, rules complexity and interactivity between players.

The Paris Map for example, is a thoughtful map offering many options. To win, you need to strike the right balance between collecting sets of tokens, managing secret destinations to which you need to connect, blocking other players while not being blocked yourself and, of course, carrying the Passenger. The refined elder sibling of the London map, it is recommended for experienced players.

The New York Map though is a fast paced map reflecting the hectic pace of life in the big Apple. It encourages players to mirror real life by creating lines through Manhattan using bridges and tunnels that are more challenging to build, connecting sets of significant neighbourhoods and anticipating destinations that appear multiple times in the deck. You still have to build quickly to keep up with the always-moving Passenger. The brash younger sibling of the London map - focused and fun even for beginners.

The Deluxe edition of the game elevates both, with the inclusion of upgraded components and the solo Underground Challenge expansion.

Finally, the Underground Challenge solo expansion is now also included in the Deluxe edition. It will be available as a post-campaign add-on and will be separately for sale after the campaign for basic edition backers and retail purchasers.

Pledge Levels

Right unfortunately the project wasn't live at time of recording and as such prices for the pledges weren't available although the pledge levels were so your gonna have to go take a peak for yourselves.

First pledge level is for the Base Game,

Second Level was the deluxe version with upgraded components to pimp it out.

Lastly you can grab the deluxe version of both Paris/New York and the London/ Berlin games as the third pledge.

There were a few Add Ons mentioned in the blurb but I'll let you find out those.

OUTRO

What did you think...?

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Good aren't they... Those instruments are pretty impressive aren't they...

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Oh you want to have a go at throat singing do you, go on then...

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Yeah, think you need a bit of practice, but good start... Right say goodbye to everyone...

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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...