The card game Uno, along with pinball and the Magic 8 Ball, were Thursday inducted in to the National Toy Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Selection for the Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have “inspired creative play and enjoyed popularity over a sustained period.”

Uno was invented in 1971 by an Ohio father as a variation on Crazy Eights to play with his family. He financed the initial print run of 5,000 games himself but later sold the rights to International Games, which itself was acquired by Mattel in 1992. Gameplay involves getting rid of one’s cards by matching color, number, or symbol, as well as playing wild cards or cards that affect turn order.

Other toys in the Hall of Fame include Etch A Sketch, jigsaw puzzles, marbles, and last year’s inductees, Clue, the Wiffle Balle, and paper airplanes.

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TCGplayer has received a $10 million equity investment from Radian Capital. The company says the money will allow it grow staff while it expands its collectible market portal and retail support service from CCGs to board games, roleplaying games, comic books, sports cards, and video games.

Mayfair Games is closing up shop and has sold all its remaining game assets, as well as its majority stake in Lookout Games of Germany, to Asmodee North America. Lookout will continue to operate as a design studio of Asmodee.

Spin Master has signed a distribution deal with Toysmith for a variety of toy brands, including games and puzzles from Spin Master’s Cardinal subsidiary. The arrangement, which takes affect in June, will see Toysmith as exclusive distributor to the specialty market for the covered ranges.

North Star Games has instituted a minimum advertised pricing (MAP) policy, which is “non-negotiable for all North Star Games’ resellers and will be strictly enforced to ensure the continued value of its brand.” The company also issued a statement saying that, effective immediately, except for two unnamed parties, all sellers will be restricted from participating in Amazon’s Third-Party Marketplace. North Star promises to monitor product listings and suspend or terminate the accounts of those sellers that do not comply.

Hasbro has signed on as the master toy licensee for Power Rangers (Saban Brands), UglyDolls (STX Entertainment), Super Monsters (Netflix), and Top Wing (Nickelodeon), though only the announcement for Power Rangers specifically mentions games.

According to NPD, Mattel’s UNO card game was the top selling game in the United States in 2017.

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Pathfinder enters the mobile CCG market with Pathfinder Duels, a new head-to-head battling game with simultaneous turns and cards decks built around the iconic characters of the Pathfinder RPG. Available now for Android and iOS.

Dire Wolf Digital has added a solo scenario for Clank! In Space! to its Renegade Game Studios Companion App (Android, iOS).

Hasbro has launched a game-show style version of Trivial Pursuit played with Amazon Echo Buttons.

Metro, Queen Games’ tile-laying title about Paris rail-lines, has arrived on iOS and Android, with AI opponents and online play.

The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game materialized recently on Steam. Evil Hat and developer Hidden Achievement say that mobile versions will follow on the 7th.

Asmodee Digital put out a new version of Carcassonne with a 3D look to Steam and Android.

There’s also a new version of Catan in the electronic game space. Catan Universe is available for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android and allows cross-platform play. Previous mobile versions of Catan have been renamed Catan Classic and owners of those versions are eligible to receive certain content in Catan Universe for free.

Set in the “Catan universe” but not the traditional board game, Catan Stories is a new scenario-based text adventure game from Asmodee Digital (Android and iOS).

APBA Go, the online version of APBA Baseball, has added solitaire play.

Referring to it as “everybody’s favourite board game,” Ubisoft announced the release of Hasbro’s Monopoly on Nintendo Switch. The game includes three themed boards (Classic City, Amusement Park, Haunted) and dice rolls that players can feel with the Switch’s HD Rumble.

Also now on Nintendo Switch from Ubisoft is the card game Uno, with themes derived from video games, Rabbids, Just Dance, and Rayman.

Kinkajoo, which already produces a Rummikub game app, now has out a free Rummikub score tracker and timer (Android and iOS).

Other cardboard-to-computer ports:

• 7 Wonders to Android and iOS by Repos Productions.
• Renegade Game Studios’ Lotus to Android and iOS by Dire Wolf Digital.
• Tokaido to Steam (Windows & Mac) by Funforge.
• Hasbro’s Battleship to Facebook Messenger by CoolGames.
• Fowers Games’ Burgle Bros. and Paperback to Windows/Steam.

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Disney Pixar’s Coco movie opens in a couple of weeks. Two Coco card games are available now.

There’s Coco Remember Me from USAopoly, which is a traditional Lotería game illustrated with images from the movie. Lotería, common in Mexico, is pretty much the same as Bingo but with pictures instead of numbers, and cards instead of balls or other drawing lots.

From Mattel there’s Coco Uno. Gameplay is mostly unchanged. However, the deck does include a Remember Me card. Throwing that down forces the next person to draw three cards unless they can identify from memory the previous two cards played.

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The National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong National Museum of Play has announced 12 finalists for potential induction in the class of 2016. The finalists are:

• Bubble Wrap
• Care Bears
• Coloring Book
• Clue
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Fisher Price Little-People
• Nerf
• Pinball
• Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
• Swing
• Transformers
• Uno

Final selection of inductees will be made by a national advisory committee and the results announced November 10th. Usually 2-3 are chosen. Criteria include:

• Icon-status—the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered.
• Longevity—the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations.
• Discovery—the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play.
• Innovation—the toy profoundly changed play or toy design.

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Out now in Japan is Super Mario Uno from Mattel (¥1,064). “Includes special Mario rule,” whatever that means. Also available delivered to the United States for $62, shipping included.

[via Nintendo News]

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A new Disney Pixar movie means of course lots of opportunities to play along with licensed games at home.

Closest to its inspiration is the Finding Dory See Search Game from Spin Master ($25). The board in this one represents the ocean floor but in order to see what’s there players will have to look through diving goggles with special lenses. After drawing a card, players all at the same time search with their goggles to find the matching symbol.

Spin Master subsidiary Cardinal Industries has a Finding Dory Floor Memory Match Game ($16) and a Finding Dory Pop-Up Game ($15). Also the Finding Dory Shell Collecting Game ($17) in which players use Dory fishing poles to try and grab shells as they snap open and closed while spinning around the pool.

Hasbro has Finding Dory Guess Who ($15) and Finding Dory Operation ($20). On its way is a Finding Dory Monopoly Junior ($15).

Also shipping soon is Finding Dory Spot It ($13) from Asmodee.

From Mattel there’s Finding Dory Uno ($6).

Outside the U.S., Ravensburger’s put out Finding Dory Surprise Slides (£12), a spin-and-move game in which sections of the occasionally flip to vary the path. Ravensburger also has a Finding Dory Memory game (£4).

Finding Dory Don’t Wake Hank (£20) from Bandai is a kind-of balance game. The goal is to place pieces on Hank’s tentacles until they collapse.

More matching games, but appropriately waterproof, are available from Cartamundi, Finding Dory Pairs (£11), and Jumbo, Finding Dory Bath Memo Game.

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