Gale Force Nine’s booth was a science fiction geek’s dream, with products for Star Trek, Dr. Who, and Firefly.
For Star Trek Ascendancy, the Ferengi Alliance and Cardassian Union expansions were delayed shipping from the manufacturer but should hit retail soon at $35 each. Both add new civilizations to substitute for one of the original three or to accommodate an extra player. Gale Force Nine was also previewing a third expansion, which works a little differently than the player expansion sets. Borg Assimilation (due in June) provides a universal enemy and substitutes Borg for discovered planets. However, the first player to be assimilated by the Collective then takes over playing the Borg.
Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks (April, $75) is a 2-6 player cooperative game where each person plays a different incarnation of the Doctor visiting planets and solving dilemmas. The game looks grand, has some beautifully-detailed miniatures, and includes all the Doctors and companions from the whole series but is supposed to play in just 90 minutes. Look for a special K9 miniature in the first print run.
Separate from Gale Force Nine’s existing Firefly series, Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats is an RPG-style adventure game due in September. Essentially a dungeon-crawl, the game comes with six double-sided map tiles, 15 bad-guy miniatures, and two versions each of five crew figures. The two of those are there to represent the development of additional skills that each character can go through during the game.
The joke has already been made about how this 3D printed Doctor Who game is bigger on the inside, so I’ll refrain from making it again.
Tardis Run is a Doctor Who board game that comes wrapped in a Tardis. The iconic time travel device unfolds to create the board on which 2 players will play. One player takes control of a team of 4 of the Doctor’s incarnations, of which there are 12 to choose from. The other player plays a team of 4 classic villains. There are 11 to choose from here, including a Dalek, a Cyberman, a Silurian, a Silence, and a Weeping Angel.
The game is described as a cross between Backgammon, Parcheesi, and Senet. Players take turns rolling paddles and trying to move their pieces around the board and to the exit.
You can purchase the game pre-printed from designer Joseph Larson’s Etsy shop for $35, or you can snag the plans from YouMagine if you have your own 3D printer.
The whole concept of the game folding up into a Tardis is enough to get me on board, but I’m actually interested to see how it plays out.