Hasbro is partnering with Epic Games to produce Fortnite-based toys and games. Of course, there’s to be a Fortnite Monopoly (due this fall) but also other unspecified games.

Shinobi 7 announced acquisition of the Conan license for tabletop games. Two products are planned. The first, a miniatures game via Kickstarter project. The second, a direct-to-retail card game.

With a license from Sony Interactive, Steamforged Games is pursuing plans for a miniatures-heavy Horizon Zero Dawn board game via Kickstarter. Pledges already total more than $1 million, though Steamforged estimates delivery not until March 2020.

Things from the Flood is a just-launched Kickstarter RPG project that’s a sequel to Tales from the Loop and based on another of Simon Stålenhag’s art books. The new one from Free League Publishing is more grim and bleak than its predecessor.

Coming to Kickstarter on the 1st of October is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay from River Horse.

Then scheduled for November 13th is Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice from Triton Noir. The company promises a cooperative miniatures game focused on stealth mechanisms.

WizKids recently announced a licensing arrangement with WWE. The company will add WWE wrestling personalities to HeroClix and Dice Masters and create WWE board games.

Available now from WizKids is Star Trek Galactic Enterprises, a game in which you play as Ferengi.

Also available now at retail is Munchkin Starfinder. It’s the Munchkin grab-the-loot card game from Steve Jackson Games, based on the Starfinder sci-fi RPG from Paizo Publishing.

Next up for Munchkin is Munchkin Warhammer 40,000 based on the property from Games Workshop. I love the meta of this previewed card, Unpainted.

But Steve Jackson isn’t the only company with a new Warhammer 40,000 license. Devir has made a racing game, Gretchinz, out of the property. WizKids has adapted Warhammer 40K to Dice Masters in Battle for Ultramar. Ulisses did Wrath & Glory, a Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game. And USAopoly has made Warhammer 40,000 Monopoly.

Based on Warhammer Age of Sigmar, PlayFusion recently launched Champions, a collectible card game with an online play option. A non-collectible card game, Warhammer Doomseeker is available from Ninja Division.

EN Publishing, under license from Rebellion, is launching a Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD roleplaying game on Kickstarter.

IDW will ship to retail this coming February Nickelodeon Splat Attack!, as well as an expansion, Reptar Rampage. The game represents a food fight between teams of characters from various Nickelodeon shows, including Spongebob Squarepants, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and Invader Zim.

IDW also signed on with Toei Animation for a series of Dragon Ball games. The first two are due in stores this holiday season. Dragon Ball Super: Heroic Battle has players flicking tokens at each other, while Dragon Ball Z: Over 9000 is supposed to provide a more strategic gameplay experience. In 2019 (after a planned Kickstarter campaign), IDW will release a Dragon Ball Z miniatures game.

Coming this fall from USAopoly is the Dragon Ball Z Power Up Board Game in 3D. Also scheduled to deliver soon is a new Disney Chess Set celebrating 90 years of Mickey Mouse. Available now is one celebrating 25 years of Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas. The company’s latest Monopoly games include Five Nights at Freddy’s Monopoly, Ren & Stimpy Monopoly, and BoJack Horseman Monopoly.

Looney Labs recently released Mary Engelbreit Loonacy, a matching card game with the artwork of Mary Engelbreit.

Dog Might Games is now making officially licensed Vampire: The Masquerade dice trays, storyteller screens, and storage boxes, each with a choice of clan symbol. Orders ship with exclusive V5 loresheets tied to the new Geek & Sundry show, LA by Night.

Elderwood Academy is taking preorders for a Vampire: The Masquerade Spellbook gaming box made from walnut and leather. It also ships with LA by Night loresheets.

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While Dice Masters has been around for quite some time I had never actually played it until recently. My interest in the game increased dramatically when I saw the TMNT and Heroes in a Half Shell boxed sets. Figuring now was the time to get in on the DM action I emailed WizKids to see if they’d send over a set. They were kind enough to shoot me over a Heroes in a Half Shell boxed set and I was off to the races.

Dice Masters feels very much like a Deck Builder, except you’re rolling dice to earn resources to buy new dice, activate cards, and put out combat units. Dice move through various pools as you spend resources, attack the other players, and block incoming attacks. It’s a great game and I’m sorry I didn’t start playing it sooner.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters: Heroes in a Half Shell boxed set comes with enough dice, cards, boards, and bags for 4 people to play the game. For $35 it’s a great way to get into the game, especially if you’re a TMNT fan. This set, unlike the previous TMNT set that focuses mostly on the new cartoon, has 8 different characters with artwork from the original cartoon. Being a Dice Masters game, this set can be combined with any other Dice Masters sets.

For an in-depth look about how to play the game, check here.

I’ve become an instant fan and am now ready to pull the trigger on the other TMNT boxed set. Maybe even some Marvel or Yu-Gi-Oh boosters…or dice lots on eBay.

I may have a problem.

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WizKids has just announce that Marvel’s Iron Man and War Machine will be joining Dice Masters in February.

The Iron Man and War Machine Starter Set will be the first annual starter set that will not be linked to a larger release.  The set will contain characters like Iron Man, War Machine, Howard Stark, and Rescue. It will also has versions of Iron Man’s armor never seen before in Dice Masters along with new takes on 8 Marvel Dice Masters heroes!

The Starter Set includes:

• 44  dice
• 38 cards
• Two dice bags
• Dice Masters rulebook

Marvel Dice Masters: Iron Man and War Machine Starter Set will retail for $19.99.

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At the world’s largest Scrabble tournament, the King’s Cup in Bangkok, the favorite going in was Pichai Limprasert, who had won all six previous tournaments in Thailand this year. Scrabble powerhouse Nigel Richards, too, was down in seventh place, so after 24 rounds, Pichai’s chances were still looking good. But never bet against Nigel in Scrabble. He managed to claw his way back to a spot opposite Pichai in the final, where he won with scores of 445-403, 397-491, and 469-356.

Though leading the Grand Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen has withdrawn to begin preparing for the World Chess Championship in November against Sergey Karjakin.

The winner of the 22nd World Computer Chess Championship was Komodo, a program out of the United States running on a 48-core Intel i7 platform. The previous champion was Jonny, a German program running on a 2,400-core AMD x86-64 platform. After Komodo and Jonny tyed for first at scores of 7.5/10 in the main part of the tournament, it took five drawn games of increasingly tighter time limits before Komodo won in the sixth.

Guillermo Rodriguez of Spain took home the trophy at WizKids Dice Masters World Championship by going with a Mask Ring team but substituting in a Half-Elf Bard from Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters: Battle for Faerûn.

Feliks Zemdegs has set another Rubik’s Cube world record, a 6.45 second average in the standard 3×3.

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The winners of the 2016 Origins Awards, as given out by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design at the Origins Game Fair, are:

• Game of the Year—Codenames from Czech Games
• Best Board Game—Star Wars: Imperial Assault from Fantasy Flight Games
• Best Card Game—7 Wonders Duel from Repos Productions
• Best Collectible Game—DC Comics Dice Masters: War of Light from WizKids
• Best Family Game—Codenames from Czech Games
• Best Game Accessory—Terrain Tiles from Lost Battalion Games
• Best Miniature Game—Star Wars Armada from Fantasy Flight Games
• Best Roleplaying Game—Star Wars: Force and Destiny from Fantasy Flight Games

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The TMNT Dice Masters set is coming in May, and I have to say I’m more excited about this release than any other I’ve seen yet. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Box Set contains everything 2-4 players need to play:

• 44 Custom Dice
• 38 Cards
• Two Dice Bags
• Complete Dice Masters Core Rulebook

The set will be $34.99, and is compatible with all other Dice Masters releases. I have to say that I love that Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie are all rocking their original red masks on the box art. It’s a bit strange, though, since the (excellent) Nickelodeon cartoon is still so popular. Either way I’d be happy, as long as it wasn’t the new movie versions.

Along with the Boxed Set you’ll also be able to snag a playmat and dice bags for $19.99 and $14.99 respectively.

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Marvel’s newest super hero team-up movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, is now in theaters. A week from now, WizKids’ Marvel Dice Masters: Age of Ultron will be on store shelves. So, grab some popcorn and head to your local theater to get caught up on all of the action so that when the Dice Masters game launches, you’ll be ready.

Marvel Dice Masters: Age of Ultron is the third Marvel-related Dice Masters game and will include new characters, such as Rocket Raccoon, Captain Marvel, and Daredevil. Plus, old characters like Iron Mad, Hulk, and Captain America, will get a refresh.

Dice Masters is a dice-building game created by the same team that designed Quarriors. Players take control of a super hero team composed of 15 dice. The goal is to reduce your opponent’s team’s life points to zero by battling head-to-head using character dice and their special abilities.

The starter set, which includes 44 dice, 38 cards, two dice bags and a rulebook, will cost $19.99. Booster packs with two character cards and matching dice will also be available for $0.99 each. Marvel Dice Masters: Age of Ultron will be in stores May 6.

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Late but not lost, WizKids plans to begin shipping next month Battle for Faerun, the first set of the Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters line. Starter Sets will retail for $20 and include 44 dice, 38 cards, and two dice bags. There will also be $1 Foil Packs, with two dice and two cards each.

Battle for Faerun will include such iconic D&D monsters as dragons, beholders, stirges, and gelatinous cubes, plus of course, character dice in various classes, and even NPC dice (which have no levels or special powers).

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