Unfortunately, this website doesn’t allow for international travel just yet, so attendance at Essen this year is off the cards but that doesn’t stop us from talking about the releases that we are looking forward to. With over 800 titles being released, it is definitely a mammoth task to keep ahead of the games, but we have tried to give most of the games the once over. So here are the games that I am looking forward to:

Welcome to Dino World – From Alley Cat games and in demo format only. This takes a few of my favourite things – Roll and Write and Dinosaurs and adds then together. Look out for our review of this game very soon.

Great Western Trail – Rails to the North – This game has been near the top of my list for a long time now and the expansion that adds more actions, an expanded player board and extra station master tiles can only bring more to the experience. I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on this and helping to get those cattle to further cities and develop the country. Check out our Great Western Trail review here.

Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr – I’m adding this one to my list because the theme just seems so unique and some cool mechanics to go with it. The idea is that you need to put together the pieces of a patients life through the game, a theme that I don’t think that I have seen before.

Gorus Maximus – a cool trick-taking game from Inside Up with great art from Kwanchai Moriya. We previously spoke to Conor, the designer of GM, so we are very much looking forward to the success of this great looking game.

Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra – The original Azul was one of my favourite games of the last year and a great introduction to modern gaming for people who had never experienced it before. I am hoping that Sintra takes after Azul in it’s ease of access and relaxed gameplay, although curiously I have no real interest in Reef, maybe it’s something about the components looking like kids toys.

Architects of the West Kingdom – I’m a big fan of fellow Antipodean Shem Phillips and Garphill Games, along with the art of The Mico. This one focuses more on city building in the Carolingian empire, rather than Vikings, so is a great diversion from the recent North Sea Trilogy.

Pandemic: Fall of Rome – What can I say, I’m a sucker for some more Pandemic. This time the game isn’t about a virus but rather about keeping the Roman Empire healthy in the face of ongoing incursions.

After all of that, what are the releases that you are most looking forward to from Essen this year? Have you ever attended the Spiel?

The post The Essen Anticipation List 2018! appeared first on Next Player.

This is no more apparent than when you sort Tabletop Games by ‘New’ and find that there are numerous Cards Against Humanity copies, political satire games and other games that seems to have been thought through for about 15 seconds before opening the KS account. The issue here is that KS have a pretty low threshold for entry, you pretty much need to have a dream and a few prototype sketches and you pass. This obviously means that the market tends to get a bit bogged down with rubbish, so when something pretty comes along it is even more appealing…

Today, the issue of plagiarism has arisen with Overturn: Rising Sands releasing a rule book that is, in most part, word for word reproduction of the rule book from CMON’s Massive Darkness. The side by side comparison can be found here.

This campaign raised some flags from the start:

• A new publisher with a large scale, miniatures game. These are tough to produce, even for seasoned campaigners;
• No game play videos except from their own people;
• CGI Renders only for products
• Cost vs quantity – we all want a great deal, but sometimes it is just too good;
• Comments section full of people offering critique that were never answered.

We were promised that there would be a rule book for weeks and now that it has arrived, I can see why it has been delayed for so long. I can’t say that this is a scam, but it definitely screams that this team aren’t ready to be producing this game.

At this stage, if you are backing Overturn I would strongly suggest that you cancel your pledge for now, or at least drop it to the lowest level so that you may pledge later, should all issues be resolved (which I wouldn’t be hopeful for).

The post Trouble afoot on Kickstarter.. appeared first on Next Player.

Pre-Order Link 

Garphill Games

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From Stonemaier Games: 

Empires have risen and fallen in the aftermath of the Great War, and Europa stands on the precipice of a new era. The economy is robust, morale is high, and defenses are strong. There are reports from the countryside of strange soldiers with glowing eyes, but they seem distant and harmless.

Scythe: The Rise of Fenris, the conclusion to the Scythe expansion trilogy, enables two different options for any player count (1-5 if you have Scythe; 1-7 players if you have Invaders from Afar):

• Campaign (8 games): The story of Scythe continues and concludes with an 8-episode campaign. While the campaign includes surprises, unlocks, and persistent elements, it is fully resettable and replayable.
• Modular (11 modules): Instead of—or after—the campaign, the new modules in The Rise of Fenris can be used in various combinations to cater to player preferences. These modules are compatible with all Scythe expansions, and they include a fully cooperative module.

While the exact nature of the episodes and modules will remain a mystery (most of these components are in 5 secret tuckboxes and on 6 punchboards), the components in this expansion include a detailed episodic guidebook, 13 plastic miniatures, 62 wooden tokens, 2 custom dice, 25 tiles, and 100+ cardboard tokens.

The retail release of The Rise of Fenris will be the 17th of August, so we should expect them here in Australia around about that time as well.

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From the publisher