Presented by Hasbro at New York Toy Fair were three Stranger Things games coming to retail at the beginning of May.

Stranger Things Back to the 80s Trivial Pursuit ($20) includes questions about the show and 1980s pop culture. It also features a board that flips to an alternative movement track representing the Upside Down. When a player’s piece lands on a portal, they’re all sent to the Upside Down, where it’s possible to lose a wedge.

A Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set ($25) includes essential rules, dice, two Demogorgon plastic figures (one painted, one not), an adventure book, and character sheets representing those played in the show.

The Stranger Things Palace Arcade console ($30) is a working miniaturized arcade-style video game system with 20 classic titles (such as Pac-Man and Galaga) and 16 more based on the show.

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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:

• Principal Game Designer, requiring significant experience and a passion for Magic, The Gathering.
• Creative Lead to help grow the company’s digital business (Magic, D&D, and Avalon Hill).
• Director of Communications and Publicity, skilled at both corporate and brand-level communications.
• Product Marketing Manager, supporting regional development and localization for MtG.
• Principal Game Designer for digital publishing, requiring at least 8 years of AAA experience.

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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Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have announced a major new esports initiative for Magic: The Gathering, one that seeks to more closely integrate the game’s tabletop and digital competitive scenes. The companies are launching a Magic Pro League (MPL) with 32 people being offered play and streaming contracts totaling $75,000. Another part of the initiative is a new series of flagship competitions, Mythic Championships, for both tabletop and electronic play.

Mythic Championships will feature Magic Pro League players facing challengers qualified through play on Magic: The Gathering Arena. Details on how the ranking system will work are promised for January.

The first of the new tournaments, a $1 Million Mythic Invitational, will be held at PAX East in Boston (March, 2019). For the whole of 2019, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast are more than doubling the overall prize pool to $10 million across digital and tabletop platforms.

Pro Tour events previously scheduled for Dallas and Sydney are being cancelled, while those in Cleveland, London, Barcelona, and Richmond will become part of the Mythic Championship series with prize pools of $500,000 each.

Nationals, World Magic Cup, and Team Series events are also being eliminated. However, the 2019 World Championship will bring together players from both MtG Arena and tabletop. And partner-organized tournaments, such as the Grand Prix circuit run by ChannelFireball will continue with increased prize support.

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Wizards of the Coast’s Waterdeep Dragon Heist adventure for Dungeons & Dragons is something very different and I’m of two minds about it. Meant for characters levels 1-5, it’s no dungeon crawl, MacGuffin quest, or wilderness expedition, rather an investigative style adventure set in one of the Forgotten Realms’ most famous urban locales. Supplementing that part of the book is a 25 page visitor’s guide to Waterdeep written from the perspective of an iconic Realms character.

On the positive side, Dragon Heist provides a distinctive fun adventure for low-level characters, one that combines interesting combat encounters with a variety of roleplaying opportunities, engaging story, and intrigue-filled backdrop. Part of the way through, the players’ characters may end up owning their own city property to use as a base of operations.

I love how Dragon Heist brings the city of Waterdeep to life with social and political factions, historic and mundane locations, and oh so many characters! The complex life of the city is even reflected in the art, which features a number of normal looking street scenes.

On the negative side are difficult to accept plot devices and confusing superfluous content. Now perhaps I should be more willing to suspend disbelief—players in the games I run tend to be a lot more forgiving—but some of these are very weak or poorly constructed. There’s the sentient artifact that resists revealing its secret to anyone but the player characters, the search for a creature that comes down to borrowing someone’s already-made custom detector device, bad guys that bungle their schemes just enough to attract the characters’ attention, and chase scenes rigged for a certain result.

What bothers me the most, though, is not the adventure but the structure of the product. The book takes 60 pages to describe lairs that, if the story unfolds as intended, the players should never visit. And, while the ultimate prize offered the characters is the same, the book presents four alternate antagonists, each with their own extended encounter sequence. The situations faced in these alternate encounters are different but they’re set in many of the same locations. Except, in a way, the secret location of the ultimate prize. That depends, for no apparent reason, on whom the DM has chosen to oppose the characters.

Why this convoluted setup? More than unnecessary, it creates major characters with inspiring motivations for the story line but then asks you to ignore most of them. I suggest two possible explanations. One, it fills out the page count. The essential part of the adventure is just not enough for a $50 hardcover. Or two, it’s designed to support streaming. Four alternatives to a significant part of the story means more variety among the groups streaming their games, as well as improving the possibility of groups playing at home without the whole story being spoilered by a favorite stream.

With all of this in mind, Waterdeep Dragon Heist presents a fine adventure that is particularly well-suited for new players or others who might be looking for more mystery and more role-playing than dungeon-raiding. New Dungeon Masters, however, might find the details, complexities, and difficult plot issues a bit much to handle. Otherwise, it is a fantastic resource for an urban campaign in the Forgotten Realms. There is so much more than the one story in this product to inspire a DM, hints, hooks, locations, legends, and complex characters.

A complimentary copy of Waterdeep Dragon Heist was provided by Wizards of the Coast for review.

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One of the most anticipated titles of the year, Avalon Hill’s new Betrayal Legacy retains the spooky theme of its predecessor, Betrayal at House on the Hill, but is customized over multiple games. Players explore the house’s murderous origins in the year 1666 and the obsession of successive generations of residents through 2004. After 13 chapters, they have a replayable game and a haunted house with a unique history.

Betrayal Legacy was designed by Rob Daviau (Pandemic Legacy, Risk Legacy, Seafall). Suggested retail price is $75.

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While the Transformers TCG doesn’t officially launch for 2 weeks, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have announced its first expansion, the Metroplex Deck. Of course it’ll include new battle cards but also a Transformers Metroplex character card nearly 8 inches tall!

Metroplex flips between bot and city mode, tapping and damage each enemy.

The Transformers TCG Metroplex Deck is scheduled for release November 21st.

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At Gen Con, I had the opportunity to sit down with WOTC Brand Manager Drew Nolosco for some background on the Transformers TCG. We didn’t discuss so much rules of play, mind you, but more design philosophy for the game. I’m impressed by the thought process that went in to it and expect that fans of the property will find that the game delivers a solid Transformers experience. The Transformers TCG is a head-to-head battle game, for sure, but the focus is clearly on characters. Every Transformer character card is oversized, foiled, and two-sided, one for bot mode and one for alt mode. The remaining battle cards provide tactics and upgrades for a player’s chosen Transformers team.

In the first wave, the 40 character cards total do include some of the rarer Transformers. And despite their unusual size for CCG packaging, every booster will have one character card.

Another WOTC goal with the Transformers TCG was to create a game for intergenerational play. The basic rules and goals—to KO all an opponent’s characters—were developed for children as young as 8, while still supporting more complex card-playing strategies for older players. The game allows for strategic play in defense as well as offense. And the rarity system was not only designed to make it easier to collect a broader range of characters, it also features a type of graduated complexity. That is, the more complex game rules only come in to play on rarer cards, thus easing people in to more advanced play.

WOTC is planning for some Transformers TCG events but not for much of a tournament scene.

While limited sales took place at Gen Con and San Diego Comic Con, full retail release is scheduled for September 28th. Starter Sets will come with four character cards and 40 battle cards for $15, boosters one character and seven battle cards for $4. There will also be a mobile companion app to assist with building teams and tracking damage.

I’m told also that putting the characters on oversized cards allows for experimentation. So look out for some possibly even larger or unusually shaped cards in future releases.

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Gamers near Plano, Texas have an opportunity to practice their crafting skills with Goliath Games. The company is looking for a part-time Prototype Maker.

The U.S. Chess Federation is searching for an experienced Director of Development. A new position with the organization, the Director of Development’s role will be to “create and implement a comprehensive development plan for short- and long-term revenue growth in support of the US Chess mission.”

WizKids is looking for an experienced Product Manager in Hillside, New Jersey to develop long term plans, develop packaging, and interface with operations on the company’s unpainted miniatures line.

Ludo Fact needs Machine Operators and Assemblers for board game manufacturing in Lafayette, Indiana.

For production of miniatures, Privateer Press needs a Metal Caster in Bellevue, Washington.

Topps has multiple openings at its locations in New York City and Scranton, Pennsylvania, among them a New Product Development Associate with drawing and modeling skills and a Brand Manager for non-sports entertainment properties.

Hasbro’s 100+ openings include:

• Games Brand Writer to write copy for games packaging and to “produce accessible, friendly, and accurate rules.”
• Product Design Manager for the kids gaming category, which includes Jenga, Simon, Bop It, Connect 4, and Twister.
• At Wizards of the Coast, Manager of Global Brand Marketing for Dungeons & Dragons.
• Also at WOTC, Technical Product Manager to focus on the company’s product development process.

TCGplayer has numerous openings in Syracuse, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. Lots for Software Engineers and Product Engineers. Also for finance and data analytics and shipping. Two individual positions are worth highlighting, though. There’s one for a Digital Marketing Manager to be responsible for online marketing campaigns. And the company is looking for a General Manager of Seller Services, who will be a member of the executive leadership team and responsible for the company’s line of business supplying software tools to retailers.

ACD Distribution has several warehouse opportunities in Middleton, Wisconsin and Fresno, California. Also sales positions in Wisconsin.

Alliance Game Distributors is looking to hire a Sales Specialist in Roseville, Minnesota, specifically to work with Asmodee North America. The company also has openings for a Sales Trainee and an Administrative Assistant at its home offices in Maryland.

Asmodee North America, itself, is recruiting for a Trade Marketing Manager to support the sales team with PR, media relations, trade shows, and merchandising.

Games Workshop has many openings for retail work at various locations worldwide, also for a variety positions at headquarters in Nottingham, UK, including:

• Middle Earth Product Manager to coordinate production, promotion, and consistency with the source material.
• ‘Eavy Metal Painter for Forge World products including Horus Heresy and Middle Earth miniatures.
• Managing Editor for White Dwarf magazine.
• Games Developer for Warhammer Age of Sigmar products.
• Games Developer for Warhammer 40,000 products.
• Armies and Battlefields Painter for products to be showcased in Codexes, Battletomes, and other publications.
• Games Developer for specialist brands, such as Blood Bowl and Necromunda.
• Model Designer for specialist brands. Experience preferred but the position may be offered at a trainee level.
• Concept Artist to be part of the Citadel Miniatures conceptualiser team.

Gamerati in DuPont, Washington is looking to hire a full-time Social Content Creator/Community Manager for the company’s services to game publishers.

Board game-related freelance jobs posted on Upwork include:

• Design and production for an employee-training game ($3,000 fixed price).
• Rulebook-writing for a historical board game.
• Production of an animated instructional video for an adult card game.
• Social media management for an upcoming Kickstarter project: Facebook and Twitter.
• Graphic design for a game’s box, cards, and tokens.

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Hasbro’s new Transformers Trading Card Game is scheduled for release in September. Though little else has been revealed publicly about this WOTC-developed game, I did get a look at some prototype product in Hasbro’s New York Toy Fair showroom. No photos but here’s what I learned…

In the game, Transformers are represented by oversized cards with bot versions on one side and vehicle versions on the other.

While not active yet, the official website will be TransformersTCG.com.

The contents of 2-player starter sets will include:

• 4 foil Transformers cards
• a 40 card battle deck
• damage counters
• turn order card

So, one battle deck for two players. Does that mean opposing players share a battle deck?

Also at Toy Fair, Ultra Pro said it is working with Hasbro to ship accessories (such as card folios and deck boxes) in time for the game’s launch.

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Retailing giant Target has an opening for a Merchandise Planner of Games and Trading Cards at its headquarters in Minneapolis. For Target, the position of Merchandise Planner serves as the interface between Merchandising and Supply Chain, is responsible for strategic thinking about sales, and involves a lot of detailed data analysis. But also…

In the Games and Trading Cards role, you will partner with the largest vendors in the Toy industry such as Hasbro and Mattel to drive sales on iconic board game brands and large franchises such as Pokémon. You’ll also have the opportunity to be entrepreneurial and help launch games from indie game designers from Kickstarter and other sources for new ideas.

Publisher All Things Equal needs a Marketing and Office Manager at its offices in Miami Beach. Responsibilities will include a mix of drafting marketing material and administrative functions. Some experience with Adobe Creative Suite applications would be helpful, as would being a fan of The Big Lebowski, for which the company is developing two new games in the coming year.

At Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington, two openings of note include Design Manager in R&D and Senior Content Designer. The former is a game development position for Magic: The Gathering that involves leading a team of designers. The latter involves building digital services and interactive content for Magic, D&D, and Avalon Hill games.

Don’t have the professional experience to qualify for one of these positions but still a fan of Magic? WOTC has launched the Great Designer Search 3 contest with essay questions, a multiple-choice test, and a series of game design challenges. The winner will be invited to a 6 month Magic: The Gathering design internship.

Goliath Games is recruiting for a Global Quality Assurance Manager and a Graphics Designer, both to be located in Plano, Texas. Applicants for the Global Quality Assurance Manager position should have at least 5 years of quality control experience, be familiar in detail with safety testing regulations, social compliance audits, and certifications, and be willing to travel 75 percent or more. Applicants for the Graphics Designer position should also have 5 or more years experience and be able to help with packaging, instruction manuals, game boards, display graphics, POP, and other assignments.

Games for Change is looking for a Communications Intern. The position is unpaid, can be in Boston or New York, starts in February, runs a minimum of 10 weeks, and will take 20-30 hours per week.

National Defense University, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, has an opening for a Wargaming Assistant in Washington, D.C. The role includes supporting the development and execution of national security exercises.

The UK’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory has similar openings, one for a Tactical/Operational Wargamer and two for Wargame Designer & Analyst. The announcement of the former position lists “experience of developing scenarios and vignettes” as a qualification. The announcement of the latter lists “hobby wargaming”. For both, knowledge of military history and excellent quantitative analytical skills are required.

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