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!

Apr 122013
 

Begin the snapping because it’s about to get all West Side Story up in here!

But you can throw technicolor and musical numbers out the window, because this gang warfare is in the dystopian city of Gatorum.  Two to four players take on the role of futuristic gang leaders attempting to overrun the city in a power play.  Hire up local toughs, collect some heavy artillery, and build up your home turf.  But beware because your rivals will be ready and waiting to nab anything you do build up.  City of Remnants is basically Agricola or Kingsburg but filthier.

Throw dem bones!

Adding a component long missing from the slew of Vegas themed games out there, Las Vegas is a new dice game where players roll to win it all!  With six different casinos littering the Las Vegas landscape, each player must carefully choose which casino they roll in so that they maximize their rewards.  A fast-paced, easy to learn family game of interactive dice play, Las Vegas will bring lady luck to your house tonight!

The band’s getting back together!  That’s right, you’ve got the gargoyle, the ogre, the prince, the warrior, the ghoul, the enchantress, the centaur, and, above all, the dragon maiden.  Each of these eight new characters appears in the first expansion set for Chaosatle, the Melee Expansion.  Each of these characters adds a new ability to the game, including the ability to ride the centaur or the dragon maiden’s power to call to her aid the mighty red dragon.  The expansion also includes a special conversion for a solo version of the game where clips reconnect the board in different ways.

Why travel the world to see each of the seven wonders when you can pick up the 7 Wonders:  Wonder Pack?

This expansion to the base 7 Wonders drafting game packs in four special wonder boards and their matching wonder card along with a rule book on how to use them.  These wonders include the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, Abu Simbel, and Manneken Pis.  These brand new wonders can be incorporated into the game easily, adding entirely new abilities to the process.

You’ve made it to the surface, you’ve found a raft, you’ve got a broken sword to defend yourself with, but can you Escape from Atlantis?  Survive:  Escape from Atlantis receives a expansion reprinting and a new release this week in the form of The Giant Squid and Dolphins and Dive Dice.  The Giant Squad has been in print before, but it is no less vicious.  Guard your boat carefully, because the five giant squid tokens included within are always ready to attack.  Luckily, if you get the Dolphins and Dive Dice the friendly creatures kept within will help you back to your boat if you fall out.  However, the Dive Dice give a new benefit to the monsters surrounding Atlantis, that of diving below the surface.

 

Same great Zombie Dice flavor, but now with  more dinosaurs!

That’s Dino Hunt Dice, the most recent addition to Steve Jackson’s line of fun, family-friendly, easy-to-learn games.  Exactly like Zombie Dice, players roll three dice at a time in an attempt to nab as many dinosaurs as they can (unlike Zombie Dice, there are multiple types, like T-Rex, Triceratops, and more) without getting stomped three times by a giant dino foot.  If you get a leaf you’re able to reroll that die, but if three feet do appear you lose all the dinosaurs you’ve collected that round.  It’s that simple.  For two or more players, Dino Hunt Dice is a portable, easily learned dice game for the whole family.

The Force is growing stronger for the Star Wars Living Card Game with the release of the first Force Pack.  The Desolation of Hoth, like Fantasy Flight‘s other LCG expansions, contains sixty new cards for inclusion in the Star Wars LCG base game.  These cards expand the experience of the game, structuring a new adventure on the ice planet of Hoth.

If you’re tired of staring at your boring family during that holiday dinner, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  If you can’t get your brain to come up with any ideas for that novel you’ve been whittling away at, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  If your child keeps begging for a new bedtime story and you don’t have any on to tell, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  A simple solo or multi-player storytelling game, Rory’s Story Cubes are sets of nine dice, adorned with various pictures used to spur narrative forward in a group environment.  Each of the three existing sets is themed to focus on Actions, Voyages, and basic story elements.

The draft is on!

The Blood Bowl Team Manager Card Game is expanding its ranks by three in with the Sudden Death expansion set.  Each of these three new teams incorporate new abilities, like the Champions of Death who raise zombified players from underneath the field whenever the chips are down.  The Dark Sorcery Syndicate (magic, magic, magic!) and the Black Fangs (they want to suck away your victory) round out the options.  But some other Hail Mary additions have been included, too, like enchanted ball cards, contract payouts, and much, much more.  HIKE!

Always a yearly highlight for Magic the Gathering players, the newest Duel Deck has hit shelves.  Considering the pairing this time is Sorin vs. Tibalt, they are not likely to remain on shelves for much longer.  For those looking for money cards, the cost of the Duel Deck is recuperated by the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad card alone.  If you’re just looking to play with a buddy, these sets are the perfect starting point for new Magic players or anyone looking to have a quick throwdown.  Each deck, Sorin and Tibalt, are constructed to pose a threat to their opponent, leading to a fair match between players and reliable decks to learn the game off of.

Jan 112013
 

A fool and his money are soon parted, as they say, however you’re no fool if you pick up a copy of A Fool’s Fortune.

In the tradition of Rummy and other set-building card games, A Fool’s Fortune from Rio Grande Games elicits a tarot vibe as it has players deciding the fate of their opponents and themselves.  As you and up to two friends select and play cards, attempting  to build a perfect set, you’ll run across special fortune and character cards with special abilities.  Play them right, and you may just win A Fool’s Fortune.

Monkeys combined with just about anything usually results in both comedy and destruction.  Taking advantage of that equation is the new Spin Monkeys board game from Rio Grande.  A slew of bumper cars have been dropped into the jungle, only to be found by a pack(?) of simians.  With that in place, players attempt to spin their monkeys around the board, using rotation cards, trying to gather fruit and attack other monkeys.  If you hit another monkey, then you get to choose where they spin next.  As you might imagine, humor and destruction follow.

It’s been zero days since an incident at the Monster Factory.  Let’s all try and keep it that way, hmm?

From the creator of Kingdom Builder and Dominion comes Monster Factory.  This family friendly tile laying game of monster creation.  Simple to learn, gameplay revolves around players placing specialized, illustrated tiles, each with a piece of monster body on it, in hopes of completing the largest monster.  However, if your monster is left unfinished by the end of the round, you lose.

Continuing to live up to its name, Innovation: Figures in the Sand is the newest expansion to the popular card game and it continues to advance the gameplay mechanics of the series.  Instead of the cards in this expansion being representations of inventions or concepts, this time around the cards are famous historical figures.  That means Albert Einstein or Napoleon Bonapart could come to your rescue or, if you’re unlucky, to your opponent’s.  Dogma powers here are replaced with Karma, an ability that alters the course of the game by changing rules.  For instance, an instruction to give cards to another player may become an instruction place them in the center of the table.  Decree cards have also been added to the game, accomplishing the same effect as achievements, but with the caveat that they can be stolen.

Let me ease your worries, Village, the new tactical board game from TMG, has absolutely nothing to do with M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.

No, instead players take part in a strategy heavy, turn-based game of tactics that covers the length of the village residents lives.  As you play, you will carefully choose where and how your peasant characters make a living and earn their keep.  Will they be a part of the government?  A clergy member?  A farmer?  It’s up to you, but realize that no matter what profession you choose, they all are accountable to the ticking clock of life.  With time not on your side, you’ll have to strategically balance your time and actions for the most benefit.  Or find yourself in a shallow grave.

Greek gods can never just sit down and have a calm, relaxing cup of tea together.

Since that’s the way of things, Athena and Hades are the two combatants in the new Mythic Battles miniature board game.  Each god controls a sizable army of soldiers, monsters, and demigods, pitting them against each other on a field of battle.  Before the fight commences, though, each player gets to assemble their army however they choose.  Once that’s done, players activate their forces with battle cards, then roll dice to complete the interaction.  This combination of cards, dice, and miniatures creates a new system called Building Battle Board gaming that is exclusive to Mythic Battles.

 

Managing to actually beat the next Star Wars films into the world, the Fantasy Flight Star Wars RPG base set has, shockingly, arrived earlier than expected.  Copying the Pathfinder Beginner Box method of release, Star Wars Edge of the Empire is also released in a beginner box format, coming with all the essentials for play.  Included in the box is a quick-to-learn rule booklet that will teach anyone, even the most uninitiated roleplayer, how to play the game.  Dice, pre-generated character sheets (which are ready-to-play), an adventure book, tokens, and much more are also included.  Create your own galaxy far, far away by picking up this one, catch-all Beginner Box.

Maybe you haven’t heard, but there’s this movie called The Hobbit coming out this weekend.  I don’t know, people are excited.  In a brilliant stroke of cross-marketing, Fantasy Flight has released a new Hobbit trick-taking card game.  A head-to-head battle of good versus evil, The Hobbit card game has players taking on the roles of Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin to take on the forces of Smaug and Bolg.  Each card has its own special abilities as well as associations with good or evil, which will benefit or harm them depending on the items being attached to them.  Trust me, you’re going to need something to keep you and your five friends busy while your sitting in line waiting for tickets.

In an effort to make an RPG system for every corner of the Warhammer 40K universe, the Only War Core Rulebook drops today.  Focusing on the Imperial Guardsmen, Only War allows players to control any of the twelve specialties, whether that’s the powerful Heavy Gunner or the beneficial Medic.  The game also supports all forms of interaction with easy-to-understand rules capable of handling conversations to mass battles.  Also, by the weird possibility that you’re playing a 40K game without knowing anything about the universe, this rulebook comes with complete background details on the Imperial Guard and all their enemies.

The fire is rising, brother.  And you just read that in Bane’s voice.

Though he, technically, has nothing to do with Dominare, Bane’s general revolutionary plan does share some similarities with the gameplay.  It’s all about influencing the citizens of Tempest with secret backdoor dealings, underhanded treachery, and cunning.  Each player controls different agents of the underworld, sending them into eight different city districts to begin spreading rumors of a conspiracy that will upset the city’s balance.  In the end, its all about control and who possesses it.

Ticket to Ride continues to trek across the globe for its most recent map expansion packs, this time landing in Africa.  Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa (beside being a minor reference to Joseph Conrad’s famous short story) features an entirely original map of the country, complete with new terrain cards which specific different track colors for different geographical regions.  Players can multiply their points by using them in conjunction with particular routes.  As Ticket to Ride is one of the best family games on the stands since forever, so keep it fresh and interesting for yours by picking up this new expansion.

Wares!  Fine wares!  Get your fine wares right here!

Continuing from Catan Histories previous releases, Merchants of Europe is the newest stand-alone Catan edition.  This augmentation of the basic Settlers of Catan rules has players controlling merchants and trading posts in various cities in Europe, attempting to expand their mercantile reach ever further.  Ultimately, your goal should be to recruit as many new merchants as you can in an effort to build trading posts further from your original locations and acquire different commodities (i.e. sugar, wood, sheep, etc.) for trade and sale.  Along with this, players must also build trading routes over which they will need to transport their goods, hoping they’ve built them in safe areas or else have their product pillaged from under them.

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