Welcome to Purple Pawn, covering games played around the world by billions of people every day.

News is starting to trickle in from the recent Gama Trade Show (GTS) and we’ve collected some of the most interesting tidbits.battlefoam.jpg

  • Overall attendance at the show was down in the neighborhood of 18% and many people heard rumors that a number of companies are considering skipping the conference next year
  • Wizards of the Coast seemed focused on the “2″ series of D&D (which we’ve talked about a few times ourselves) with some discussion of a Player’s Handbook 3 in 2010 and 4th edition remakes of popular adventures in 2009 (like the classic City of Brass this winter)
  • Looney Labs (creators of the undying game, Fluxx, which will be getting a Martian Fluxx expansion this year) is releasing a new card game: Are You a Traitor which is like the venerable Are You a Werewolf, but for fewer players
  • Evil Hat Productions is releasing Paul Tevis‘ long awaited RPG, Penny for My Thoughts a story game where players control characters with total amnesia, all taking a drug allowing them to access the memories of the other characters
  • Battlefoam continued their marketing onslaught with a strong showing that gained some attention (Battlefoam sells customized foam for transporting miniatures – lots of praise for the product from folks like 40K Radio and the D6 Generation)
  • Out of the Box Publishing (creators of the omnipresent party game, Apples to Apples) showed off their new game, Word on the Street, which seems to be a basic word building game with a “cross the road” mechanic
  • The World of Warcraft miniatures game is doing well enough to warrant a new expansion, Spoils of War, on May 5th featuring 51 new miniatures and rules for equipment  wowminis.jpg
  • Catalyst Game Labs had a bunch of non-Shadowrun/Battletech games to talk about including: Balance of Power, an area control game with a simple combat system and some very nice bits; Leviathan, a naval miniatures game set in a fantastic version of the 19th century (did we need another fantasy naval game after Uncharted Seas?); Merchants, a new card game from Reiner Knizia – no idea on the mechanics on this one yet
  • Atlas Games showed off their new book “Antarctic Express” by Ken Hite – think the beloved classic, “Polar Express,” crossed with HP Lovecraft’s “Mountains of Madness” (yeah…this will be a must-buy for my kids…)

Big hat tips to the Seattle Hobby Games Examiner and Living Dice (and everyone on Twitter who posted updates)!

Zooloretto Exotic

zooloretto-exotic2007 Spiel des Jahres winner Zooloretto receives another expansion with Zooloretto Exotic, now available from Rio Grande Games. With it, you can add to your zoo a jungle path for visitors to see the more unusual animals from around the world.

Neither do you have to leave this favorite game behind, wherever you may go. Soon, Zooloretto on the iPhone.