Board Gaming on Mars
Visiting other planets has been humanity's dream for a long time. As our first neighbor, Mars has been in the spotlight of various research and science missions. The Martian, a book by Andy Weir and the follow-up movie have increased the influence of Mars to popular culture.
As always, board games were affected too and we now have a bunch of games that are Mars related. Just to name a few: Mission: Red Planet (Second Edition), Super Motherload, Mission to Mars 2049, Project Mars, Martians: A Story of Civilization, Planet Steam and of course Terraforming Mars a huge hit from the last year that is currently #13 overall on BGG.
This year we'll also get some new games, like Surviving Mars: The First Mission and Pocket Mars. A potential hit in making that already raised a lot of hype is First Martian: Adventures on the Red Planet, a reimplementation of Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island.
We'll probably see even more Mars based games in the future. This is a great time for space explorers among us.
News
Our In-Depth Preview of CMON’s A Song Of Ice And Fire
With all of the incredible news coming from the GAMA Trade Show this week, one of the more exciting announcements came from tabletop darlings Cool Mini Or Not. Partnering with Dark Sword Miniatures, CMON is bringing the world of Westeros to the tabletop.
What's Next March 20th through April 2nd 2017
What's Next on your game table? Find out here as we highlight the weeks of March 20th through April 2nd 2017.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a captivating Victorian adventure
This month’s look at the best new board games features Tak, Exit: The Game and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Photograph: Owen Duffy for the Guardian.
Board Games coming to Kickstarter April 2017
Kevin from Tantrum House takes a look at a few board games launching on Kickstarter in April, 2017.
New & Upcoming Board Games in April 2017
Geek Dad and BoardGamePrices share the new and upcoming board games for April 2017.
Renegade Interview with Sara Erickson by Man Vs Meeple
Man Vs Meeple interview with Sara Erickson of Renegade Games about the new and upcoming releases.
Articles and Videos
Top 10 Cooperative board games
Cooperative board games like the ones shown in the top 10 below are the games that connect people. Human players cooperate to fight together against the game itself, not against each other as they usually do in most board games.
Can games be bad?
Can games be bad? Seems like an obvious question. We’ve all had bad experiences with games in the past. Many board gamers like to point to Monopoly and say “that! That is a bad game!” But there are people out there who collect Monopoly games and love them.
Top 10 Variable Player Power Games - with Sam Healey
Sam Healey from The Dice Tower shares his top ten games that utilize the variable player power mechanism.
Travis Hancock, the creator of TORTUGA 1667
Tompet Games continues its series of interviews with Kickstarter creators by interviewing Travis Hancock, the creator of Tortuga 1667 and Salem.
8 Animal-Themed Board Games That Should Be On Your Shelf
BoardGamePrices and GeekDad are writing about animal-themed games that you should have.
5 Great Games for Younger Gamers
Gamers, awesomely, come in all shapes and sizes. However, what is fantastic table-fodder for your crew of game night regulars may not be ideally suited for families with a wunderkind or two.
Crowdfunding
The City of Kings: A Cooperative Adventure for 1 - 4 Heroes by Frank West
You and up to three friends must try to reclaim the realms. Explore, gather, trade and customise your hero to prepare for battle!
The Grimm Forest by Druid City Games
Can you outwit your friends, avoid foul creatures, and build 3 houses before anyone else? 2-4 player board game, 40-60 minutes
Aeon's End: War Eternal by Travis
A cooperative deck-building game of post-apocalyptic fantasy survival.
Infected by Black Forest Studio
A strategic, secret role, semi-cooperative, social tabletop card game with dice and a miniature. Will you be next to become Infected?
878 Vikings - Invasions of England by Academy Games
Gain fame, riches and a new home as the Vikings voyaging to England, or defend your Kingdom and Christendom from the pagan hordes!
Badass Riders by Koti Games
Badass Riders is a card game which recreates ruthless races in a devastated world where the only rule is that, there are no rules!
Reviews and Playthroughs
King of Tokyo - Shut Up & Sit Down Review
Shut Up & Sit Down reviews King of Tokyo, a game in which you play mutant monsters, gigantic robots, and strange aliens - all of whom are destroying Tokyo and whacking each other in order to become the one and only King of Tokyo.
Review: Vast: The Crystal Caverns, A Great Asymmetric Game
Caylie Sadin reviews Vast: The Crystal Caverns, a completely asymmetric dungeon delve game. There are five roles, dragon, knight, cave, goblins and thief, and they are all completely unique.
TableTop: Wil Wheaton Plays HARBOUR w/ Matt Mercer, Nika Harper, and Kyle Newman!
Wil Wheaton invites guests Nika Harper, Matthew Mercer, and Kyle Newman to find out can buy the most valuable buildings in Harbour.
Star Trek: Frontiers (2016)
Michael Heron from Meeple Like Us reviews Star Trek: Frontier, a reimplementation of the Mage Knight in Star Trek universe.
Coal Baron: The Great Card Game Review
Joel reviews Coal Baron: The Card Game, a standalone game based on the very popular board game, Coal Baron, originally published in 2013.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Board Game (2017) Review – Is It Of The Good?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Board Game is a cooperative adventure where you and up to five Scoobies will attempt to defeat the Big Bad while also defending the innocent townsfolk of Sunnydale from vampires, demons and the Monster of the Week.
Week in Review - March 27, 2017
The Dice Tower crew and friends are going through all of the reviews they did the last two weeks.
Influencers
Nick Meenachan
Nick is one of the most well-known and sometimes controversial board game reviewers and a person behind very popular BoardGameBrawl YouTube channel. Beside regular reviews, he also does paid previews for upcoming games, Kickstarter updates, top ten lists, etc. Check out his Top 100 games list.
That's it for this week. I hope you have enjoyed reading this issue. Please share with your friends, subscribe if you have not already and follow BGW on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks for reading and until next week,
Miro
Title image created from the Wikimedia Commons image.
