In 2018, the two player game Fox in the Forest brought back Trick Taking games in a big way. Magicians everywhere hated it. They have since breathed a sigh of relief as the game faded from BGG’s hotness.
But this reprieve is short lived.
Foxtrot Games and Renegade Games
Foxtrot Games and Renegade Games are following the Codenames blueprint and releasing a cooperative version of the game called Fox in the Forrest Duet. This time players are working together to collect gems, use character powers, and wander the depths of the forest.
Keeping with Renegade Games, Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne should be in FLGS stores now. This is the next game from Paul Dennen, the creator of Clank! And is described as a combination of deck building and strategy card battlers. Which means there’ll be magic missiles aplenty, and hopefully the gameplay to back it up.
Plan B Games
Prior to 2018, I’d say the award for the most unlikely franchise would have had to go to Sharknado. However, come 2019 there’s now a third game in the Azul series. I think we can call this a franchise.
Introducing Azul: Summer Pavilion.
While not straying too far from its predecessors, Summer Pavilion adds a few new twists to the drafting, and scoring. I’m on the fence as to whether this takes the game to new heights, or if one Azul is already enough for a collection.
Pandasaurus Games
Wayfinders is a new route building game from Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, the brilliant mind behind Decrypto. Being published from Pandasaurus Games, there isn’t much more to go on, however, my juices are already flowing.
Stonemaier Games
Lastly, before we hit Kickstarter, Tapestry from Stonemaier Games is now open for pre-orders. The review embargo has lifted and Rahdo’s claiming it’s one of his top 10 of all time. That’s high praise! I’m excited!
Richard Garfield
After 13 years of intensive labour, Richard Garfield, the papa of Magic the Gathering, has given birth to a new card game.
Only this time it’s trivia?
Unlike other trivia games, Half Truth provides multiple answers for each question. And it’s up to you to guess which is right, and which is wrong. It’s an exciting concept, as the worst thing about trivia is staring like a stunned mullet when you don’t know the answer. In the same situation Half Truth allows you a 50/50 guess at being right.
Game Brewer & Tasty Minstrel
In another stunning announcement, Gugong has been deluxified and republished on Kickstarter as well as a package of four expansion modules called Pànjūn. Unfortunately, the price has been deluxified as well, and a big box copy to land into my Australian hands costs a cool $213. And not even a mini in sight!
Next election I’m running a campaign for board game related tax breaks.
IV Studios
This week we’re ending with a deck builder from IV Studios: Moonrakers. A lot of work has gone into the art, the video, and the Kickstarter page. And it all looks fantastic. If that isn’t enough to swing you over, one of the designers has four boxes of Dominion expansions. I say that tongue in cheek, but it was a nice genuine moment in their video.
Anyway, Moonrakers sets itself apart with how it integrates alliances and negotiation into the deckbuilding mechanics we all know and love.