Batman has been in some tough situations throughout his existence, but, as everyone knows, he always manages to get out of them.  Now it’s your turn to try and create an inescapable trap for the caped crusader in Arkham City: Escape.  An epic two-player game that pits The Dark Knight against his greatest foes (all in the Arkham City game design) inside the titular prison city.  What makes the game interesting is that each assortment of villains is chosen randomly, making every game a new experience.  One player tries to kill the Batman while the other tries to punch baddies in the teeth.

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In the deep, dark reaches of the jungle exists hidden resources of the best coffee beans in the world.  It’s your job to venture forth and find them.  VIVA JAVA!  In this Coffee Game, players compete against each other as they travel across the globe searching for the finest beans the world has to offer.  If the going gets tough, however, you can choose whether or not you will team up with the other players so that you both come out caffeinated.  For all the coffee lovers out there, here’s a fresh cup o’ Viva Java!

In the fourth-quel to the ever more popular Quarriors! dice game series, Quartifacts, a new set of dice known as Quest Dice.  In this expansion, all the mystical relics of the previous Quarriors! games have disappeared, leaving you, the questor, to venture after them.  Quest cards will allow you to unleash your creatures in order to find them.  In addition, five new creatures, two new spells, The Squire basic, and six Quest cards and dice are also included.  Quet quor Quarriors! quon!

A resource management game with a new spin, Saint Malo blends dice games, resource management, and…drawing?  Players roll dice to decide what villagers, buildings, and so forth that they are allotted, then draw them onto the erasable grid board in front of  them.  But be quick about how you arrange your resources because they’re going to need to protect you from the pirates that are invading the city.

The Conquest of Planet Earth continues.  But now it’s the Apocalypse.

The first expansion to the original Flying Frog Productions game that pits Earth against a horde of invading martians kicks the total number of players up to six.  This increase of playablity comes in addition to an entirely new alien faction, including new miniatures like The Cube!  As much of this expansion’s action takes place over the ocean, a Coastal Resistance Deck is included to boost Earth’s defenses.  The invasion has begun, fight to stop the conquest!

Achieving a huge amount of positive response from their initial reprintings of the Dungeons and Dragons Advanced hardcovers, Wizards decided to reprint the 3.5 edition core books.  Now, it’s 2nd edition’s turn, as the three core books, the Player’s Guide, DM’s Guide, and Monster Manual are all reprinted in beautiful embossed hardcover editions, complete with their original artwork and errata-ed material.  Pick them up to collect the classic versions of D&D in total!

 

Tonight’s New Game Stuff will start in traditional card game territory but slowly descend into madness.

You’ve been warned.

For players of traditional card games like Spades and Hearts, Clubs makes an appearance at the store this weekend.  For those who’ve never played these classic card games or are looking for a simple game for the whole family to play, here’s brief, brief, short, limited, minimal, tiny rundown.  Clubs is all about getting rid of cards as fast as possible.  Like how you’d want to get rid of a bag of wet weasels dosed on speed.  This must be balanced with a trick taking (but only on clubs) in order to score points before the end of the game.  It’s simple as simple does.

As Wizards of the Coast continues to reprint its entire library of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 hardcovers, they have made it to the tome of all wizardry might, the Spell Compendium.  Say you wish to melt off the face of your guild’s resident Baird.  SPELL COMPENDIUM!  Or maybe turn an owl-bear into a poodle.  SPELL COMPENDIUM!  Or maybe just warm up a pot of tea.  Probably use a fire pit for that last one, but otherwise SPELL COMPENDIUM!!  Ultimately, the point here is that the Spell Compendium has every important magic whatzamahoozit in all of D&D, now wrapped in an errata’d hardcover edition.

All seemed peaceful in the world of Vigil.  The villains were dispersed.  War had ended.  And crystals rained from the sky.  But it was only when it was too late that these seemingly ordained gifts turned out to be omens of danger.  Such is the state of Ascension‘s newest edition, Rise of Vigil.  Continuing to make it easy for new players to get into the popular deck building card game designed by Magic the Gathering players, Rise of Vigil is another standalone version of the game.  If you do have any of the previous editions, however, you can combine them with Rise of Vigil for up to six player combat.  This new edition includes nearly 260 cards, a fair portion of which are new heroes and constructs.

Now for the insanity.

First off, look at the picture to the right.  Apologies for the racier content, but that’s seriously the art for the game.  And, yes, the, um, “proportions” are bit unrealistic.

Oh, by the way, the game is called Kanzume Goddess.  Created by the Japanese, in the fashion of every awkward anime you’ve ever seen, Kanzume Goddess is a tin can containing all the most famous Greek and Norse gods.  As you might imagine, having that many gods stuck in a cramped space leads to some fisticuffs.  That’s where you come in.  Each player takes on a specific god in order to battle against their legendary opponents, building their decks by calling upon other warriors and disciples to aid in the fight.  So, do as the game suggests and “Release them from the can!”

 

Buckle in, folks, because after a week off because of snow trouble, New Game Stuff is back!  And tonight there is a long, long list of newness to discuss, so it’s just the facts.

FoxMind games delivers one of the most inventive train games in a long while with String Railway.  Using bendable pieces of plastic rope, players both build the board and connect train depots.  Two to five players take turns drawing depot tokens, placing them, and attempting to link them with the pieces of string at their disposal.  Easy to learn and very tactile, String Railway is perfect for families or friends.

A tile laying game of the most serene nature, Zen Garden will put your soul at ease.

Mayfair Games, makers of fine family games, adds some enticing dimensions to the standard tile laying scenario.  Up to four players compete against each other by constructing their zen gardens using tiles of trees, mountains, and streams.  Each player, however, has a special pattern they must try and complete by moving their tiles around the board with special lantern tokens.  The game also comes with various levels of play to increase the difficult the more you play.

The front says Gentlemen Thieves, but the back says Arsene Lupin.  And, no, that is not an indication that this game has anything to do with mullets.  Borrowing the world’s most famous thief, Lupin, Gentlemen Thieves has players taking on the role of a thief and joining forces with other thieves (as long as it serves them) to heist valuable items (represented by tokens) from famous locations across Paris.  Just remember to put on your black gloves.

In Ground Floor the building is already built, now you’ve just got to populate it, employee it, advertise your product, cut down on costs, challenge your rivals, and grow your business.  Then, maybe, you get to rest.  Detailed in its level of strategy, Ground Floor involves bartering, resource management, organization, and any number of other mechanics.  If you’re an Agricola or Puerto Rico fan, get in on the Ground Floor.

The game is a foot, Watson!

Lady Alice is a recently released Sherlock Holmes themed board game allowing players to take on the rolls of kids studying under the tutelage of Holmes himself.  During the game players make deductions about evidence, placing their guesses in a folder.  When the round is over, each guess is revealed to either be true or false, with every player marking down the results in order to solve the mystery.  If you picked up the recently released Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, this game is a perfect companion piece.

The reprint steamroller continues to roll from Dungeons & Dragons with the brand new hardcover edition of Dungeons of Dread.  This classic AD&D tome collects the original “S” series of adventure models, three of which were written by Gary Gygax himself.  For those out there who know the history, these are some of the most well known dungeons in D&D history, perfect for players learning the system by playing these reprint copies.  As usual all the original material is reprinted in its original format.

It’s going to be Easter soon and that means bunnies.  And bunnies mean violent murder of bunnies.

Wait, what?!!  Steve Jackson changes the meaning of Easter with the newest Munchkin booster pack, Easter Eggs.  Evil rabbits are running around all over the place and its your duty to smack’em down while wearing a Sundae Dress and Bunny Slippers.  But watch out for Peter Cottonmouth and Little Bunny ‘Thulhu.

There are four doors, but no exits.

That’s the premise of Room-25.  One to six players are locked in rooms, running from room to room, trying to find the one and only door which leads to rumored exit that is Room-25.  In gaming formats ranging from solo to group cooperative, players attempt to coordinate actions in order to find the mythic room and escape.  But beware, because some students may turn out to be undercover guards, ready to stop the players at the most inopportune moment.

Me matey, there be Pirate Dice off the coast of Pulp Fiction Isle!

By rolling and strategically placing customized D6′s, players sail the seven seas, doing battle with their rivals and searching for sunken and lost treasure.  Each die controls attacks and movement as players sail across the provided map.  Control the direction and speed of your ship carefully, though, as you don’t want to overshoot or undershoot that last hooray!

The recently released Archipelago pirate game receives a rare Solo Player Expansion this week.  Unlike any other expansion, this one allows players to convert the game into a one-player mode.  The pack contains 27 scenarios, each with a different time limit and win condition.  You are also allowed to choose whatever character you wish in order to play.

A game of ancient Egypt, Kemet has players competing over a succession of rounds, divided into categories of night and day.  Within the day phase, players enact their magical abilities in order to defeat your opponent, while at night your regroup and build up your mystical energies.  Wizards can even spend special Prayer Points to bring additional creatures into their armies.

 

We’ve trudged through the snow and ice just to bring you, dear readers, the newest installment of New Game Stuff.  Okay, fair enough, it’s not that bad out now and, yes, we could have posted this from home, if need be, HOWEVER, there is new gaming stuff and we are going to tell you about it.

First up, with Magic Game Day arriving on the morrow, it’s time for the Gatecrash Event Decks to show up.  For this set, the decks focus on Boros and Simic, meaning red/white and blue/red/green, respectively.  The Simic Guild deck comes packed with killer green cards, like a Thragtusk and a Wolfir Silverheart, while the Boros deck includes ton of money cards, like Clifftop Retreat, Champion of the Parish, Spark Trooper, Silverblade Paladin, and more.  So, lets do the math, not only can you play these competitive decks in tournaments and do well, but you’ll also make off like a bandit with all the money rares included in them.

Expand your spellcasting playbook with the Forcemaster vs. Warlord expansion set for Mage Wars.  Within this set are all the spell cards, mage cards, spellbooks, markers, and rules that you’ll need to incorporate these powerhouses into your base game of Mage Wars.  And, whoo boy, these two robed wizard-types are packed full of the butt-kicking.  Forcemaster likes to kick other players in the face with her mind and whip them about like a ragdoll with her telekentic prowess.  On the other hand, the Warlord has his minions soldier on for him while he brings the death from above with his brutal war magic.  Either way, you’re going to be challenging your opponent like never before.

If you just can’t wait to see how Peter Jackson ends his Hobbit saga (or you can’t read…but then you’d probably not be looking at this), create your own ending with the second Hobbit saga expansion for the Lord of the Rings LCG game, On the Doorstep.  Within this expansion are three additional scenarios that take two players across the Wilderlands, pitting them against giant spiders, Smaug, and the armies of Bolg on a cooperative journey.  Of course, to topple these challenges, you’re going to need new heroes, treasures, and player cards.  Luckily, you don’t have to venture across the Misty Mountains cold to find them, because they’re all contained within.

But maybe hobbits aren’t your flavor (they do have all that hair).

If not, the newest release for the Dungeon Command miniature game, Blood of Gruumsh, is chock full of Orcs for your battling pleasure.  This boxset contains an entire Orc faction, ready to play directly out of the box.  That means there are twelve prepainted figures depicting an owlbear, an Orc Chieftain, a wereboar, and much, much more.  Or if you’re feeling random, slap your Orc faction together with a bit of Elf and Goblin and have an old fashioned D&D hoedown!

Finally, this evening we’re going to write a lot of words.  But we’re going to do it in an order that turns them into a sentence.  And from those sentences, we’re going to tell you the names of four fresh additions to the Pathfinder universe. First up is the Shattered Star Poster Map Folio which provides detailed maps for Varisia, Magnimar, and Kaer Maga.  Next is the Animal Archive which details the fauna of the Pathfinder universe, including armor-wearing triceratops.  The Snows of Summer begins a new Adventure Path known as Reign of Winter.  And, finally, Pathfinder Online: Thornkeep provides GMs all the information they need to run adventures in and under Thornkeep, as well as details on the upcoming Pathfinder MMORPG.

 

Unearthed Arcana has once again been unearthed.

In line with the previous Dungeons & Dragons reprint editions, this version of the original first edition Unearthed Arcana hardcover comes printed on shiny golden print pages in a lovely embossed version of the original cover.  This special edition, though reprinting the artwork and original text, also comes with the Dungeon Magazine errata.  All proceeds for this edition of the book go towards the Gary Gygax fund, as well.  And best of all, you don’t have to cast any spells to get it.  Though that might help.

You’ve stayed in the mansion too long, now it’s time to venture outside.

Mansions of Madness:  Call of the Wild expansion features eleven new map tiles that allow you to leave the titular mansion and face off against the unspeakable evils lurking outside.  Of course, new tiles wouldn’t do you much good without additional stories to go along with them, thus the game comes with five brand new story paths.  Each story changes the dynamics of the game like never before, with one even allowing the keeper to explore and solve puzzles.  As with previous expansion packs, the game also comes with entirely new monster and investigator miniatures.

The RuneWars are back on!

After being out of print for an extended period of time, the epic miniature battle game, RuneWars is back in print and better than ever.  This new RuneWars Revised Edition comes with all the same materials of the previous game, but at a cheaper price.  Within the world of the game, two to four players utilize their vast armies, which they’ve recruited, to conquer vast stretches of land and their opponents.  But it’s not all brawn in this game.  Players also must utilize diplomatic skill to negotiate with the land’s inhabitants for assistance.  But at the end of the day, whoever has claimed the most sacred dragon runes becomes the ruler of Terrinoth.

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