Here is the board game (and board game-related!) news that caught our attention for the week ending December 17, 2021.
Gaming News
- Last week, we discussed Kickstarter’s controversial announcement that they would be moving their platform to blockchain. The fallout from the announcement continued this week, with Dicebreaker reporting that many board game designers and studios have begun actively looking for alternatives to the platform should they move forward with the plan. At least one publisher, Tony Vasinda from One Plus Exp., is quoted in the piece as saying that they will not use Kickstarter anymore even if the company backs down.
- Industry giant Asmodee is set to be acquired by video game group Embracer Group for a reported $3B. Asmodee owns over 22 studios and has a portfolio that includes Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, X-Wing Miniatures game, and much more. Embracer’s subsidiaries include the makers of Borderlands and Saints Row. The combined company will be Europe’s largest gaming group, with “100 studios, more than 500 IPs, and over 11,000 employees.” Obviously, the merger will result in many more of Asmodee’s board games coming to digital and vice-versa. The announcement of the sale, which is expected to be complete in the first half of next year, says that neither the management team nor the day-to-day operations at Asmodee will change.
- Gloomhaven is getting a miniatures collection for every game in the series, according to a YouTube trailer.
- Oink Games’ Deep Sea Adventure and A Fake Artist Goes to New York are now available on the Nintendo Switch. Both games feature online and offline modes and support up to 8 players.
- Ares is celebrating 10 years in business with a giveaway. Five winners will receive a prize bundle that includes War of the Ring 2nd Edition, Sword & Sorcery Immortal Souls, The Hunt for the Ring, Last One Alive, Diabolik – Heists and Investigations, Sails of Glory Starter Set, WW1 Wings of Glory Rules and Accessory Pack, a selection of 12 ship and airplane packs, and a selection of 3 card games. There are multiple ways to enter, and the sweepstakes runs until January 6.
- According to ICv2, Greater Than Games, which was recently acquired by Flat River Group, is set to release The Cube: Area 51 early next year. The tile-placement game has players taking on the roles of department heads at the infamous military base in an attempt to reconstruct the interior of the base.
- The Guild of Merchant Explorers is coming next summer from AEG. The card and cube-based game lets players compete to construct a city.
- Train-building game Shinkansen Zero Kei is coming to US markets soon thanks to Asmodee. The game lets players recreate the construction of the fastest train of the time, which was built in 1959 to facilitate the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The game is due out next year. The company has also announced that they will be releasing Reiner Knizia’s The Siege of Runedar.
- A few months ago, we reported on Asmodee’s Play Pink initiative, in which they sold limited-edition pink trains for Ticket to Ride, with proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Foundation. This week, the company announced that the initiative raised over $184,000 through the sale of over 40,000 pink train sets.
GeekDad Reviews
Here’s what we reviewed this week:
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Robin Brooks reviewed GeekDad-approved Bladeborn.
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Michael Knight reviewed Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain and GeekDad Approved Mantis Falls.
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Paul Benson reviewed Dune: House Secrets.
What We’re Playing
Finally, here’s what the GeekDads played this week:
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Robin Brooks played Battle For Balin’s Tomb, KingDomino, Quiddler, and Pokemon.
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Michael Knight played Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain, Mantis Falls, and Company of Heroes the Board Game.
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Michael Pistiolas played Marvel Champions, Point Salad, Sushi Go (our featured image this week), The Fuzzies, Azul, 6 nimmt!, Wakening Lair: The Dark Forest, and Mice and Mystics.
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Paul Benson played Dune: House Secrets, D&D Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Rolling Heights.
- Jonathan Liu played Whirling Witchcraft and In Too Deep.
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I played Dune: Imperium, Whirling Witchcraft, and In Too Deep.
