Bitbox is a game storage system for taking the components for your game — boards, rulebooks, and all those little pieces — and storing them, cutting down on the space required for all those game boxes. A unit fits within an IKEA Kallax cube space, and the video shows fourteen different games (Stone Age, Concept, Reverse Charades, Splendor, Power Grid, Telestrations, Machi Koro, Survive, The Lord of the Rings TCG base set, Ticket to Ride, RoboRally, Codenames, 7 Wonders, and Kingdom Builder were shown) stored in that single Bitbox. $50 gets you a Bitbox and a carry-to-game-night box. If we knew about this thing before it launched, you could have had that for $30.

The Prince Valiant RPG just came on Kickstarter last week. This game, set in the time of King Arthur and designed by Greg Stafford, is a storytelling game designed to be accessible to younger players. If you’ve wanted to tell stories about noble knights, you can get a physical copy of the game book filled with gorgeous full-color artwork from Hal Foster’s comic strip for just $30.

Well, after our last look at Crowdfunding Highlights, I think we’ve covered all the modular-board scenario-based standalone miniature battle games up on Kickstarter and — are you kidding me? There’s The Warriors: Turf War, based on the 1979 movie where a gang is set up for murder and all the gangs in New York City are hunting them down. Included in the base game are several miniatures, including the comical Baseball Furies (just called “Furies” here). Let’s do the rundown from last time: “early bird stretch goals not completely sold out (hurry!), more than three dozen miniatures (46!), second-ever KS from the company, $105 normal price tag. Come out to play.

Jackson Robinson does cards. You’ve got less than 19 hours to get some awesome currency-inspired playing cards. The cards are based on American and Chinese currency. (I’ve got one of his Wasteland decks and they’re really fantastic.) $14 gets you one of these decks, $28 gets you two. Stop reading and go now! There’s just *gasp* 18 hours left now! Go! Go! Go!

Honestly, I can’t wait for the US Presidential election to be over. There are soooo many Kickstarters that are trying to capitalize on Trump or Hillary that we just know aren’t going to fund or, god forbid they actually do fund, won’t be fulfilled any time before the election. Case in point: What the Drumpf, which is Apples to Apples with questions and Trump-like quotes “and the debate leader picks the funniest, most racist or most insane answer”. They want 3500 GBP for this thing.

Last week: People Vs. Politics, the “CAH with uncomfortable political discussion” game — how did it do? Unsuccessful, with just under half of the $4800 goal made.

• 1 Comment

Pressman Games is releasing The Oregon Trail Card Game as a Target exclusive next week, but like Codenames Deep Undercover, Ticket to Ride First Journey, and Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City, the game has been showing up on shelves in some stores. The Oregon Trail, based on the video game, contains a laminated card where you can list the names of the members of your party and a card where you can transfer them to the tombstones when they invariably die on the journey. Fix a broken wagon wheel, obtain 200 pounds of rabbit meat, and try to ford a river by discarding sorely-needed supply cards or hope you roll well on a die or everyone in the party will DIE.

Codenames Deep Undercover is described as an “Adults-only” version of Codenames, geared towards the Cards Against Humanity crowd (with agent names like “Motorboat”, “Keg”, and “Commando”). Ticket to Ride First Journey appears to be a kids-friendly version of the popular rummy variant.

According to images posted on imgur, Codenames Deep Undercover retails for $19.99 and the new Machi Koro retails for $29.99.

Image from reddit user dwboso. Full gallery of The Oregon Trail images can be found on imgur.

• 2 Comments

Outdoor games! Kubb is a lawn game that dates back to the age of Vikings, where you toss batons and blocks to knock over other blocks. Wait, no! Don’t leave! It’s actually a cool game that Downtime Manufacturing Co. is making: Beautiful, solid, hand-crafted wood, with several different designs. Check out the video at the campaign page. They’re just under two thousand dollars away from funding and have a few days left!

Daniel Solis makes small games, and Pod-X is his latest game to hit Kickstarter. The seventeen-card game features a doomed spaceship and a frantic search for the last escape pod. The dealer knows the location, but can she misdirect the other players into giving her the win? A deductive game, this is one of the Button Shy Games’ Wallet Games. Already funded, you can get a copy for a $3 pledge.

Interested in a five-minute cooperative real time fantasy adventure game? Sure, how about Dungeon Time by Ares Games? Gear up, go on a quest, and when the timer runs out, go through the deck to see if you’ve actually completed the goal. This card game seems like a fantasy version of Space Alert (without the soundtrack) or Ticket to Ride: The Card Game (but fun). A $25 pledge gets you a copy.

Maybe something bigger. Far East 1592 is a strategic war game depicting the Seven Year War, where Japan invaded the Korean peninsula. Your troops are modified by thirty different generals. Far East 1592 looks beautiful and, with just four days to go, needs a push to get to the funding mark! The game is available to those that pledge at least $60.

This week in the “we can make a Cards Against Humanity knockoff” category is Pick Your Poison, which just looks like CAH, but isn’t as awful or mean-spirited. It’s more of a Would You Rather… game where you choose one thing that’s cool, but are saddled with something that sucks. You’ll get combinations like “Win the lottery, twice, but never be trusted again” or “Go anywhere in the world for 3 weeks, all expenses paid, but never eat another slice of bacon again.” The judge chooses the one he or she would rather. It’s surprisingly refreshing in a field of CAH-“inspired” games. We’re actually looking forward to this one succeeding! If you want a potty-mouth version, there’s also a Toxic NSFW expansion.

Previously, on… Did Drawing Without Dignity, the potty-mouth Pictionary, make it? Nope, they cancelled the project with 37% funded. They’re going to relaunch the campaign with a slightly more sane funding goal ($5k instead of $10k) and trying to market the game.

• Comments Off on Crowdfunding Highlights

A new version of Ticket to Ride is on the way, one with ships as well as trains. Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails maintains the same style of game-play as the original but challenges players with an additional layer of strategy that trades off between steamships and locomotives. Each route on the board—the world on one side and the Great Lakes region on the other—requires one or the other. There’s a deck of ship cards for claiming routes separate from the train cards. And players decide how they intend to balance between the two travel options by selecting a number of trains and ships to work with at the beginning of the game.

Other new features of Rails & Sails include harbors, which players can build for additional points in port cities they’ve already connected, and tour tickets, which award bonus points for connecting multiple cities (more than just the two found on normal tickets).

Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails will debut at Gen Con and should hit retail outlets shortly thereafter. MSRP is $80 or €70.

• Comments Off on Ticket to Ride Off the Rails

Barnes & Noble will be running a Tabletop Gaming Meet Up event at all 640 stores on Saturday, April 30th, starting at 4 pm. This follows last month’s weekly “game gatherings” that were held at 57 of the chain’s stores. “Barnes & Noble is already a place to meet up, socialize and spend quality time together. Our Tabletop Gaming Meet Up is designed to do all that and more,” said Kathleen Campisano, Vice President, Toys & Games at Barnes & Noble.

The event will feature five games available to play at 4 pm: Machi Koro, Munchkin, Qwirkle, Superfight, and Ticket to Ride. Prizes to participants will be awarded, including promotional cards for Machi Koro and Superfight, and a Qwirkle brainteaser book. Additional prize support varies by store.

• Comments Off on Barnes & Noble Hosts Game Day in All Stores Nationwide

Digital versions of Ticket to Ride have undergone a major upgrade. Most importantly, all now support cross-platform multiplayer mode, so even us Android players can pick up live games with you iPad people. Also supported now are vertically-oriented maps. The first, of India, provides bonus points for looped routes. Digital Ticket to Ride is available on Android, iOS, and Steam.

Dominion, the original deck-building card game, has finally hit mobile. Both iOS and Android versions are free-to-play with the base set of cards. Expansion card sets are available as in-app purchases ($90 for everything). Beware though, even single-player mode requires a live internet connection.

Cogwind’s Revenge is an iPad app version of True Dungeon, complete with puzzles, combat, and even token-collecting.

Linkee, the trivia-ish party game of identifying commonalities, now has an Apple TV version. Instead of hitting a buzzer, the first to figure out a link is supposed to grab the remote and shake it over their head.

Defiant Development is in the process of releasing four separate new scenarios (three are out so far, one more will be before the end of the year) for the Steam version of its deck-building, action RPG, Hand of Fate.

Dragon+, Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons mobile-app-magazine, is now also available via the web, so it can be read via desktop browser.

A Macau Challenge Pack has been added to digital Splendor. The twist with this one is that it requires players to capture specific cards.

Magic: The Gathering Puzzle Quest is now a thing and available for both Android and iOS (free-to-play but with in-app purchases). In the game, it’s match-3 puzzle play that produces mana.

• Comments Off on Boards to Bytes

Releasing at Esssen in October, the fifth addition to the Ticket to Ride Map Collection will be the United Kingdom. This set includes:

• Map of United Kingdom (2-4 players)
• Map of Pennsylvania (2-5 players)
• New Train cards & Tech Cards (United Kingdom)
• New Stock Share Cards (Pennsylvania)
• Tickets & Rules for each Map

Both maps include unique rules, including technology upgrades for the UK map and stocks/investing for the Pennsylvania one. Price for the map pack is listed at $40.

• Comments Off on Ticket to Ride United Kingdom

At the Fantasy Flight Games In-Flight Report (which I’ll cover separately), Christian Petersen talked about Asmodee’s grand plans. The company, he said, sees the possibility of achieving a scale similar to the largest international toy companies but doing so by building on the best type of toy, games.

Asmodee’s presence at Gen Con was certainly consistent with that attitude. The booth and demo space was again even larger than last year, the number and variety of games more than I could cover.

One I was not able to try, Mysterium ($50), was also one of the hottest at the show. A limited supply brought people running to the booth with the opening of the exhibit hall doors. Mysterium is described as a combination of Dixit and Clue. It has a game-master of sorts but is played cooperatively. The goal is to solve a murder mystery with clues provided by art cards.

My favorite was one that Asmodee will be distributing for Queen Games, Treasure Hunter by Richard Garfield. Due at Essen, Treasure Hunter combines an easy card draft with a straightforward process that totals up the players’ cards in each of three color categories and awards the ones with the least and greatest values bonuses or penalties, as the case may be each round. In addition to value cards for each color, players are also drafting the occasional modification card, as well as dog cards used to fight off trolls.

Mafia de Cuba ($30, September) is Asmodee’s entry in to the social deduction category. It also comes with a beautiful cigar box, which is used in the game to hold the godfather’s diamonds, as well as a group of role tokens (faithful henchmen, driver, FBI agent, etc.). After the box is passed around the table, the goal of the godfather is to figure out who stole his diamonds. But say, for example, he accuses someone who turns out to be the agent, well then that agent wins the game instead.

Starfighter ($30) is a two-player card-based spaceship combat game played in columns. The concept is fighter screens making runs at opponents’ cruisers. However, the fewer columns a player takes advantage of one round, the more cards they may draw the next.

Barony ($50) has players trying to elevate their noble characters to the rank of Duke. This is accomplished by recruiting knights, moving them around the board, upgrading them in stages, producing resources, and eliminating opponents.

2015 has been a big year for dinosaur games. In this category, Asmodee will deliver at Essen Raptor. It’s a two-player tactical game in which one person plays the scientists trying to capture baby raptors and the other side plays the dinosaur mother protecting her young. Gameplay involves the simultaneous selection of cards. The person who’s card number is lower gets to play their card’s special ability that turn. The one who’s number is higher, receives the difference in action points.

Another Essen-scheduled game from Asmodee is Doctor Panic. An action party game with a medical theme, Doctor Panic incorporates eight mini-games, every one of which must be completed within the total time limit. The mini-games include such activities as matching the pose on an x-ray card or sewing thread to match a suture pattern. A soundtrack counts down the time limit and sometimes also interrupts normal play with sidetrack tasks, such as running around the table.

For Days of Wonder, Asmodee was showing the prototype of a new Ticket to Ride double-sided map board. One side features the British Isles, comes with a new deck of cards, and adds technology development to the game. For example, at the start, players can only complete length-2 routes. To complete longer routes, they must first upgrade their trains by playing wild-cards. The other side of the board has a map of Pennsylvania and adds company stocks to the game. Each completed route provides shares in certain companies. At the end of the game, the majority shareholder in each company earns a bonus.

• Comments Off on Gen Con 2015—Asmodee

That’s right! Today is International Tabletop Day!

Here’s hoping all of you are getting a ton of gaming in today. We’ve already gotten a few games of Poop: The Game in, and have Smash Up, Qwirkle, Ticket To Ride, and more lined up to play!

What are you playing today? Are you attending an event, holding an event, or just playing at home?

Need some game suggestions? Lory’s recent post Five Great Family-Friendly Games to play on Easter Sunday is a good place to start, or just take a look through our Second Look archives!

If you need to buy a game last minute, local Target and Barnes & Nobles stores usually have some great games. If you’ve got a local brick-and-mortar game store then all the better!

• Comments Off on Happy International Tabletop Day!

This Sunday, families will be gathering to celebrate Easter. If you dread family time, maybe you just need a good game to entertain the horde. We’ve got a list of non-classic board games we think will win you over with Uncle Fred, but won’t make cousin Cindy feel left out.

Ticket to Ride is easy to learn and doesn’t take up too much of your time. Players race against each other to be the first to travel the world in only seven days via railway. It is suitable for ages eight and up, takes between 30 and 60 minutes, and supports up to five players. The light-hearted theme of world travel keeps competition friendly.

Loaded Questions is the perfect game for people you think you know well. One person asks a question like, “What is your favorite super hero?” while the rest of the players write down their answer. The person asking the question then has to guess who belongs to each answer in order to advance on the board.

Zooloretto is fun for family get-togethers. It is a zoo-themed simulation game where players try to generate more visitors by collecting as many animals as possible. Play cardboard tiles within your zoo’s peramiter. Don’t overstock with too much of the same or your visitors will be bored. It plays well with between two and five players and takes about 45 minutes.

Dominion’s base game is perfect for players of all ages. If you build up the game with the expansions, it may get too complicated for those with a short attention span. So, stick to the basics. In this tactical card game, players buy up land and use special cards to earn the most victory points to win the game. It works well with two to four players and takes about 30 minutes to get through one game.

Pandemic is great for a family setting because it is cooperative. Players work together to stop four deadly diseases from spreading across the globe. By selecting different types of characters, the team can spread out the work, the Scientist researches a cure while the Operation Specialist builds research stations. The game is suited for two to four players and takes about an hour to get through.

• Comments Off on Five Great Family-Friendly Games to Play on Easter Sunday