Card games are any types of games played primarily with cards, excluding collectible card games, but including Poker, Rummy, Bridge, and games with specialized card decks.


Breaking Games’s catalog is diverse, with abstracts, Euros, and party games. For me, the highlight of the bunch at NY Toy Fair was We’re Doomed ($35, March), a game that combines resource collection with a kind-of social bluffing or auction mechanism. The idea is that the players must work together to build a rocket to escape a doomed planet. They must cooperate and contribute the necessary resources to get a functioning rocket but at the same time, they compete with influence to claim available seats. Also factors in the game are a 15 minute time limit and unique abilities for each player, representing a certain type of government.

Another title, It Dies With Me ($25) has one player writing a personal secret on a slip of rice paper. Then on every turn, each player chooses a number on a die and hides it under a coffin. When all are revealed, the player with the highest unique number gets to move their token one space up the board and the player with the lowest number draws a card. The first to claim four cards or move to the end of the board claims the secret, which they get to read but then have to eat.

Trellis ($25), a more casual game. has players laying hexagonal tiles, and for each pair of matching-colored vines, one of their own flower tokens. The first to put out all of their flowers is the winner.

Hypo Thetically Fun ($20) is mostly a deck of conversation-starter cards in five categories: ponder, silly, story, imagination, and you.

Carl Spies ($15) is a set of cards with pre-set I Spy game conditions.

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Licensing Roundup

Cardinal Games (a Spin Master subsidiary) and Looney Labs are partnering in the production of licensed card games. The first two, summer 2019 releases, will be Marvel Fluxx and Jumanji Fluxx. Both companies will produce versions of the games. Cardinal’s will be priced at $15 MSRP for the mass-market outlets. Looney Labs’ will be priced at $20 for hobby and specialty retail, and will come with seven bonus cards.

 

Mattel has signed a 3 year licensing deal covering the Despicable Me franchise. The company will produce a range of toys and games in time for the theatrical premier of the Minions sequel in 2020.

Far Out Toys has signed on kid-reviewer Ryan ToysReview for two licensed action games Splash Out and Head Splat. Both are due at retail in March.

University Games has acquired a license for games based on the Mog Man series of youth books by Dav Pilkey.

USAopoly has signed an agreement with Games Workshop to produce licensed versions of the latter’s Talisman board game. The agreement grants USAopoly international distribution rights for co-branded games. Two are planned for this year, though the specific properties have not yet been revealed.

Weta Workshop announced plans for a District 9 board game via Kickstarter project launching in late March.

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According to market data firm The NPD Group, annual retail sales of toys in the United States declined 2 percent from 2017 to 2018. For games, that decline was 1 percent.

Against that backdrop, Hasbro has reported that 2018 net revenue fell 12% compared to 2017, mostly due to the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy. The retailer was Hasbro’s third largest customer in the United States, second in Europe and Asia. Additional earnings pressure resulted from other retailers moving to leaner inventories and from political-economic events in Europe (particularly the U.K.).

The failure of Toys “R” Us meant not only the loss of a major retail outlet for Hasbro but also competition from a large amount of inventory being liquidated at significant discount. Excluding Toys “R” Us, however, sales at existing U.S. and Canadian retailers were up slightly, “mid-single digits” for the games category.

While Hasbro recorded an overall year-to-year drop in revenue of 9 percent in its franchise brands category and 12 percent in its gaming category, Beyblade, Dungeons & Dragons, Monopoly, and Magic: The Gathering all grew in 2018. Also on the upside among games were Jenga and Don’t Step in It, offset by downturns to Pie Face and Speak Out. When viewed as a broader category (MtG and Monopoly are normally counted in franchise brands), games were only down 4 percent to $1.4 billion compared to 2017.

Again, 2018 was a record year for Dungeons & Dragons. Regarding the future, CEO Brian Goldner said, “Our plans for an expanded universe of gaming behind D&D is taking shape in analog and digital game play.”

Noting that Magic: The Gathering Arena is still in the beta-testing phase, Goldner also revealed that the so-far-PC-only platform saw 350 million games played in the 4th quarter. Viewership on Twitch doubled. And Arena users are averaging 8 hours played per week.

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Game Bandit - Scouring the net to find the cheapest discount boardgames and best free boardgame prizesAmazon deals:

Emily Reviews is giving away Are You Dumber Than a Box of Rocks? from University Games.

OSR-style roleplaying games are featured in DriveThruRPG’s Good Ol’ Games Sale.

Current offers at Bundle of Holding include Mutants & Masterminds Earth-Prime, with the Basic Hero Handbook in the Starter Collection and full core rulebook in the Bonus Collection, Shadowrun 5E Essentials, with the rulebook and key supplements, and Shadowrun 5E Runs & Guns, with additional supplements.

Zatu Games (U.K.) is giving away Duelosaur Island from Pandasaurus Games. Enter with a picture of game night-date night.

The Inside Voices group is giving away a package of board game accessories, including a game tracker from Daft Concepts, a Quiver card case, and a game bag from Board Game Tables.

Handelabra’s digital board games, including Bottom of the 9th and Sentinels of the Multiverse, are on-sale for $1.

The Call of Cthulhu video game is 25% off on Steam.

Brawlin’ Brothers is giving away The Big Score from Van Ryder Games.

GJJGames is giving away five copies of The Board Game Designer’s Guide audio book.

Mayday Games’ Winter Sale runs through the 15th with buy-one-get-one on Poetry Slam and Bad Doctor, and other games up to 60% off.

Making Time for Memories is giving away two Harry Potter games from Pressman: Triwizard Board Game and Magical Beasts Game.

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Troy University in Alabama is looking for adjunct faculty with tabletop experience to teach online Game Design and Development classes.

Along with several sales and distribution positions, Learning Resources has an opening for a Marketing Coordinator to handle social media and influencer campaigns and support trade shows.

At Educational Insights in Gardena, California, there are opportunities for an Associate Marketing Manager, to manage PR, social media, and the company’s customer loyalty program, and a Product Manager, to lead conceptualization, manage vendor relationships, and collaborate with functional teams as required in the development of new products.

ThinkFun in Alexandria, Virginia has an opening for a Human Resources Manager.

Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington is recruiting for:

Tabletop Tycoon in Londonderry, New Hampshire needs an Accounting & Bookkeeping Lead. Responsibilities include developing budgets, reviewing invoices, and managing workflows.

Games Workshop has many openings in sales and retail, also one for a Trainee Citadel Miniatures Designer and a one for a Visual Merchandising Manager. The former will sculpt minis. The latter will create product displays.

An unnamed United States board game manufacturer is looking for a UK Marketing Director, among who’s responsibilities will be managing two PR companies and an advertising agency.

Bezier Games is in need of an experienced, full-time Social Media Manager to generate buzz. The position is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Renegade Game Studios is seeking a Development Coordinator to manage the playtesting process from its San Diego office. The company is also looking for a Video Editor to help with 1-2 projects per month.

Atlas Games has an opening for a Marketing Coordinator in Duluth, Minnesota. The successful candidate must have industry knowledge, as well as skills in writing, editing, analytics, and task management.

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Game Bandit

Game Bandit - Scouring the net to find the cheapest discount boardgames and best free boardgame prizesThrough February, Osprey Publishing is discounting books, ebooks, and games up to 70%.

Nearly 30 of Monte Cook Games’ Numenera books, adventures, maps, and more are available at Humble Bundle all together for just $15.

Decision Games’ Deal of the Month (February) is discounts on Axis Empires series titles, 34% if you buy both Totaler Krieg and Dai Sensou.

Evil Hat Productions, to clear out inventory, has priced 30 items at $10 or less.

Gayme Master is giving away The Ultimate RPG Character Background Guide by James D’amato.

Tilted Table is giving away two copies of Nosh from Crafty Games, one live on Wednesday and one by drawing on Friday.

Emily is giving away three sets of dice, two to random retweeters, one to the person who correctly guesses the number of dice in the cup.

Mail4Rosey is giving away The Wimpy Kid 10-Second Challenge from Pressman.

Amazon-hosted giveaways:

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Game Bandit

Game Bandit - Scouring the net to find the cheapest discount boardgames and best free boardgame prizesGet a free Bones Black Owlbear figure for every $40 of order from Reaper Miniatures. Similar deals will apply through 2019 with a different figure each month.

Hasbro games are on-sale at Target.

Modiphius Entertainment’s January Sale includes deals such as the Star Trek Adventures Gamemaster Bundle with a 15% discount on the rule book, map, GM screen, player reference sheets, dice, and tokens.

Game tables are 20% off in Geeknson’s Winter Sale.

In 18 days, Meeple Gamers will give away North Star Games’ Evolution on Android or iOS to 25 winners.

Follow and retweet, today, Pandasaurus Games for a chance to win Machi Koro 5th Anniversary Edition.

To celebrate 3 million podcast downloads, HappyJacks RPG is giving away a set of Ancient Dragon Dice from Easy Roller Dice.

Mister Tarrasque has arranged for a 10% discount on anything from Kobold Press.

At Bundle of Holding, the Oone Dungeons offer features a generic dungeon maps.

Get free promo cards with preorders of Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth from Osprey Games.

Get a set of alternate ship cards with any Blood & Plunder ship order from Firelock Games.

Miniature Market has instituted a new daily deal system, where the price of the item on-special is dropped each day by 5% until it sells out.

Erica Ever After is giving away Mastermind from Pressman Toy.

Super Samar is giving away two game bundles, one for the United States and one for the United Kingdom.

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The St. Louis Chess Club and World Chess Hall of Fame has openings for a Gallery Attendant, a Retail Associate, and a Graphic Designer. The last includes significant management responsibilities, such as assigning tasks to other staff, selecting vendors, and representing the organization to the public.

Modiphius Entertainment has openings in its London office for a Finance Assistant (full or part-time), a Marketing & Communications Manager, and a Logistics Assistant. The Finance Assistant will handle bookkeeping, accounts payable, and account receivable. The Marketing & Communications Manager will promote the company’s products to distributors, reviewers, and customers. The Logistics Assistant (or Manager) will require experience with imports and exports and freight arrangements. The company is also looking for a Freelance Layout Artist to work remotely.

Gen Con is looking for a temporary Administrative Assistant for the Events Team. The job starts in February and lasts until August. Location is Seattle.

Atlas Games is looking for a Marketing Coordinator at its office in Duluth. The position requires knowledge of marketing analytics and the hobby game industry.

American Sign Language Proficient RPG Game Masters are wanted by RPG Therapeutics to run games in Spokane, Washington.

A full-time Chess Coach with at least an International Master rating is wanted by The University of Texas at Dallas. In addition to training the team, the Coach will also be responsible for recruiting students at international tournaments.

PSI is recruiting for a Vendor Account Coordinator to manage relationships with board game publishers “leading to the development of customer delight.”

The Field Museum in Chicago is recruiting for an After School Game Designer. It’s a temporary part-time position for the spring program in which teens will create board and card games about freshwater ecosystems.

Good Games in Indianapolis is planning to expand its e-commerce business and needs an Online Sales Manager.

Galileo Learning runs a summer camp for elementary school-aged children in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, where it needs a Game Design Instructor.

STAR is looking to hire a Dungeons & Dragons Teacher for elementary after-school programs in Culver City, California.

Hasbro is looking to hire a Contract Graphic Designer to work on the Transformers TCG.

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Game Bandit - Scouring the net to find the cheapest discount boardgames and best free boardgame prizesAt Bundle of Holding, the Adventures in Middle Earth offer gets you six products for Middle Earth roleplaying with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition for $30. And the Doctor Who RPG offer includes core rules and six supplements for $32.

At Humble Bundle, the 5E Dragons, Dungeons, Maps & More bundle includes dozens of third-party D&D adventures, supplements, and print-and-play products, everything for $15.

Digital board games from Acram Digital, including Instanbul and Steam: Rails to Riches, are up to 60% off in the company’s Winter Sale.

Save 10% through tomorrow at The Broken Token with code “TREATYOSELF”.

Warlord Games’ Bad Santa Deals means selected Gates of Antares products are 50% off, ebooks are 20% off, and among other deals you get a free plastic box set with the purchase of any core box.

Discounting 12 RPG ebook titles 99% off regular retail price is Skirmisher Publishing’s Holiday Festivity bundle at DriveThruRPG.

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Spin Master has singed a 3 year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products for DC comics properties. The agreement covers games, puzzles, action toys, remote control and robotic vehicles, and water toys beginning in spring 2020.

PlayMonster (5 Second Rule, Yeti in My Spaghetti) is partnering with Audax Private Equity to finance additional expansion through “organic growth and add-on acquisitions.”

Goliath continues to grow, acquiring U.K. based Vivid Toy Group and moving in to the Italian market through a partnership with distributor MacDue. With the acquisition of Vivid, Goliath plans to launch 20 new games in the U.K. market next year.

Drumond Park has signed on with Tomy UK as exclusive distributor for all the former’s games in the U.K. and Ireland.

NSKN Games (Dice Settlers, Teotihuacan) and Board & Dice Games (Beet Empire, Dice Brewing) are merging. The combined company will continue operations under the Board & Dice name.

With the passing of designer Greg Stafford and earlier Stewart Wieck, of the games’ latest publisher, Nocturnal Media, the RPGs King Arthur Pendragon and Prince Valliant have been transferred again to Chaosium.

After a couple of messy PR situations involving insensitive or extremist material in game books, Paradox Interactive is stepping back from the publishing business but not abandoning the World of Darkness altogether. Instead, Paradox is moving to a licensing model and integrating White Wolf’s operations in to the parent company. Modiphius Entertainment, which was already handling distribution, is taking over development and publication for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. This will include production of various supplements (such as The Fall of London Chronicle and Players Guide), as well as oversight of other licensees (Onyx Path Publishing, Elderwood Academy, Dogmight Games, and others).

Impressions Game Distribution Services is being acquired by Flat River Group. The latter is a toy and game distribution company with business in e-commerce and crowdfunding fulfillment. Impressions founder Aldo Ghiozzi will continue with the combined company.

Scientific Games and Hasbro have extended their license agreement through 2025. The agreement covers the use of Hasbro properties, including Monopoly, Battleship, Clue, Yahtzee, and others for lotteries, slot machines, online gaming, and now also table games.

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