Around the Table Q3 2022

Q3 2022 Safe MakeSpacesMoreMoney Inclusivity is more than just a moral imperative, so let’s be better together. Value-Added Tax A Beginner’s Guide

Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 3

When people hear “deck-building game,” more often than not their minds jump to Legendary games by Upper Deck. Established in 2012, we are proud that the popularity of the deck-building game genre was, in part, spurred by our legacy. Ten years ago, we worked with designer Devin Low to bring the world Legendary®: A Marvel Deck Building Game, and what’s followed since then has been amazing, fantastic, incredible, spectacular, uncanny; and all kinds of other “Marvel”ous adjectives.It’snotjust the world of comics that Legendary has ventured into either. Offshoots like platformsgameeventhefilmbringinguniqueseparateforadaptingLegendarycoremaintainEncountersLegendary:thesystemsofwhilethemacompletelyandexperience,classicfranchisestotable.We’veadaptedthefordigitalvia

ofDecadeBuilding

A

by Richard Berg, Community Coordinator – Board Games, Upper Deck

sheerpridesUniverseMarvelonlyLegendaryofillustriouswithareofworldworththecooperativeelementscompetitivewhileupaccommodatesortofiveplayers,alsoofferingwithinitscore.Theappealoflicenseisalsonoting.InawhereplentypublishersworkingMarvel’scatalogcharacters,notpredatestheCinematicsurgebutitselfontheamountof characters represented across its 10-year history – almost all of them via unique, illustrated art. Whether they’re Heroes, Villains, Masterminds, or something else; Legendary more likely than not has your favorites available. Over 30 expansions and thousands upon thousands of cards will do that, and by that we mean effectively infinite possibilities! There’s no sign of stopping either. Multiple expansions are on the way and actively in development. Legendary: Black Panther is our most recent release. With its multiple denizens of Wakanda coming to the game, this expansion offers fresh keywords with unique twists on familiar Legendary concepts like Ambush effects and Wounds. Coming soon will be the espionage-flavored Legendary: Black Widow and our next dive into the MCU with Legendary: Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga. Beyond Marvel, a new franchise made its Legendary: Encounters debut at this year’s Gen Con! It’s our sincere joy to continue supporting and developing Legendary, and we thank everyone who’s ever come out on top in Victory Points or succumbed to an ill-timed Scheme Twist. We hope you’re looking forward to what’s on the way during this 10th anniversary year and more to come.

Legendary DXP, letting longtime fans build their decks anywhere they go and anytime they want. So what’s allowed Legendary to excel as an evergreen deck builder for an entire decade? Mechanically, the game is highly accessible, taking very few games to “learn” while still remaining a satisfying challenge depending on your setup or player count. That flexibility is another known and loved strength –the game works as a solo experience

Legendary 4 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 upperdeck.com

Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 5 Around the Table © 2022 The Game Manufacturers Association Fahy-Williams Publishing 171 Reed Street, Geneva, NY 14456 P 800-344-0559 F To315-789-4263advertise,contact Amy Colburn at 315-789-6431 or email amy@fwpi.com. Chris Materni DEPUTY chris.materni@gama.orgDIRECTOR Paul McGraw EVENTS paul.mcgraw@gama.orgMANAGER Cynthia Tuck cynthia.tuck@gama.orgCOORDINATOREVENTSBoisbelaudGregoire greg.boisbelaud@gama.orgCOMMUNICATIONSCOORDINATOR Adam Ziegler TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVE adam.ziegler@gama.orgMANAGER John Stacy EXECUTIVEjohn.stacy@gama.orgDIRECTOR Q3 2022A Publication by the Game Manufacturers Association AROUND THE ® THE GAME MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION 258 East Campus View Blvd Columbus, OH 43235

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Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 7 Adverstories Tips and tricks to help retail stores sell games, written by the following companies Q3 2022 FeaturesDepartments 5 GAMA Board and Staff 8 Letter from the Executive Director 10 Contributors 39, 48, 58, 59 New Products 62 GAMA News 68 Index of Advertisers Safe Spaces Make More Money Inclusivity is more than just a moral imperative, so let’s be better together. A Beginner’s Guide to VAT What you need to know about value-added tax3414 Arcane Tinmen ApS 44 Arcane Wonders 66 Ares Games SRL 12 Bezier Games 18 Bloomsbury Publishing 40 Corvus Belli SL 46 Czech Games Edition 60 D-Verse Publishing LLC 32 Elf Creek Games 20 ENHANCE Gaming 3 Floodgate Games 42 Indie Game Studios 16 Japanime Games 28 Lucky Duck Games 70 Magpie Games 38 Mid Level Meeple 50 Pine Box Entertainment 30 Raybox Games 56 Smirk & Dagger Games 54 Steve Jackson Games 24 Tomb Guardians Miniatures 26 Turbo Dork, LLC 52 Upper Deck 4

• Education Advisory Committee – Work with GAMA staff to identify educational topics and opportunities to create a robust training program to assistretail stores, distributors, manufacturers, and designers in effectively operating in the hobby games industry. For more information on these committees or to volunteer, please email john.stacy@gama.org

• Market Expansion Committee – Researches the most effective and efficient marketing and outreach methods to (A) promote the play of tabletop games and (B) increase the number of people who regularly play games.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Diversity Committee – Investigates how best to reach out to underrepresented communities within the game industry and to create pathways of success within the organization.

One of the best ways to be engaged with the association and our industry is to volunteer for a committee or workgroup. GAMA is currently looking for members to serve on the following committees:

• Advocacy Committee – Helps direct association government relations, advocacy, and lobbying efforts to support the hobby games industry. Potential issues the committee is tasked with include tariffs, customs/exportation, product labeling laws, Intellectual Property Rights, counterfeit product sales, etc.

• Academy, Origins Awards, and Hall of Fame Review and Restructure Committee – Charged with exploring ways to increase the relevancy and representation of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design including the Origins Awards nominations, review and award ceremony and the Hall of Fame.

As always thank you for being a member of GAMA. We welcome suggestions on programs or services you would like to see from your trade association. Please email your thoughts and idea to my attention at: john.stacy@gama.org B e well and happy gaming!

John GameExecutiveStacyDirectorManufacturers Association

In this issue we have two featured articles by GAMA board members Frank West and Matt Fantastic. In the first Frank discussed the basics of value-added taxes for those doing business in Europe, while Matt looks at how creating safe spaces can improve your bottom line.

8 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 FROM THE executive director Dear friends, Welcome to the Summer 2022 issue of Around the Table. I amazed at how fast this year is flying by with GAMA EXPO in the Spring and Origins Game Fair kicking off the summer convention season. We were delighted that nearly 12,000 people attended the convention and participated in nearly 6,000 games, events and tournaments while shopping the 300+ exhibitors at the show. We received a lot of positive feedback from attendees and exhibitors and are looking forward to planning for 2023, when the theme will be “Games Around the World”. As GAMA continues to spread internationally, we are excited to tie the theme to highlight our new international members. Speaking of which we will be hosting a reception at Essen Spiel on Saturday October 8 and another during Spielwarenmesse, Nuremberg Toy Fair, next February. These initiatives are important to build ties with game publishers, manufacturers, distributors, media, and retailers around the world. Look for more details in our weekly member update newsletter, as well as on our Industry Calendar on our website.

TheOp.games/DSA ©Disney ©Disney/Pixar 13+2or435+Min.AvailableNow! THE ULTIMATE DISNEY & PIXAR TABLETOP BATTLE ROYALE! @theopgames

OUR contributors

Thank you to the following industry professionals for contributing their time and expertise to Around the Table! Please enjoy their articles throughout this issue. If you would like to contribute to future issues of Around the Table by suggesting a topic or writing your own article, please email media@gama.org.

Frank West is a game designer based in Bristol, England, and self publishes through The City of Games. In 2015 he started working on The City of Kings which turned into his first published board game, launched via Kickstarter in 2017. Over the next few years Frank continued to enhance The City of Kings universe through expansions for The City of Kings board game, and new games including Vadoran Gardens and The Isle of Cats.

Matt Fantastic does freelance game design, development, and art direction for publishers around the world as the Creative Director of Forever Stoked, the studio they founded over a decade ago. They also co-own a game shop/library (Elm City Games), are sometimes an adjunct instructor of game design, publish indie games, books, zines, vinyl records, and other creative weirdness with killjoy and Prettiest Princess, founded the New Haven Game Makers Guild, are on the board of the Tabletop Mentorship Program and GameDev CT, organize Fantasticon and the Connecticut Festival of Indie Games, and do consulting/ fixing across the game industry as well as for corporate, NGO, and institutional clients like Netflix and Yale. Growing up in a family of gamers, educators, artists, and community organizers along with an adolescence filled with basement shows and political protests, Matt’s professional life is rooted in collectivism, art, nerdery, social justice, and DIY punk rock.

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Nowadays Frank continues to design, develop, and publish games while mentoring new publishers looking to start their careers. You will find him at many conventions around the world including the UK Games Expo, Gen Con, and Essen, and he’s always happy to have a chat so don’t be afraid to say hello.

VAN RYDER GAMES AND BYRON JORJORIAN A BEAUTIFUL GAME FOR CLEVER PEOPLE Keepers is an interactive card game where players will try to outwit their opponents by playing a card from their hand after hearing only a single word. Players all vote on which card aligns the most (or the least!) with the word and whichever card gets the most votes is a KeepersKEEPER!features the amazing photography of VRG Sales Director, Byron Jorjorian. Byron has been a professional nature photographer for over 40 years and has sold thousands of his pictures. You can find out more about Byron’s photography at byronjorjorian.com msrp: $34.99 sku: VRG011 15-30 min 3-8 players ages 8+ www.VanRyderGames.com

The War of the Ring game line, by Ares Games, is soon going to be expanded with a new game: War of the Ring – The Card Game, a multiplayer game designed by Ian Brody, the creator of the Quartermaster General series. Based on “The Lord of the Rings” book trilogy, War of the Ring – The Card Game was developed to give players emotions similar to the acclaimed War of the Ring board game, while being more portable, faster to play, and easier to access – aimed to provide a new way to experience J.R.R. Tolkien’s creation to existing War of the Ring players and to new players as well. War of the Ring – The Card Game is for 2-4 players, to be expanded to up to 6 players with an expansion due for release in 2023. Players compete in two teams, the Shadow against the Free Peoples, with each player using a specific and different card deck representing the strengths and weaknesses of the different factions involved in the war. The game offers both a competitive and a cooperative experience, and also may please card and strategy game players for the card interplay and tactical nuances of the epic Thbattles.eFree Peoples desperately try to complete their quest to destroy the One Ring, while at the same time defend their homelands from the encroaching hordes of Sauron and from his evil allies. The Shadow players must strike quickly and decisively before the Ring-bearers can complete their quest; or try to slowly corrupt Frodo, burdening him with wounds, toil, and the sorrow for the loss of hisDCompanions.uringthegame, players take turns playing cards representing the characters, armies, items, and events of the War of the Ring. Each card they play will help or hinder the journey of the Fellowship as it progresses on its Path; or be used to defend or conquer the strongholds of Middle-earth, as they fight to control the new Battleground cards activated in each round.War of the Ring – The Card Game is a complete “card game in a box,” providing everything up to 4 players need to play. Each player uses a specific pre-constructed, asymmetrical deck of 30 cards, including cards from one or more different Cultures: Mordor, Isengard, Southrons, Monstrous, for the Shadow; Dúnedain, Elves, Wizards, Rohan, Hobbits, Dwarves for the Free Peoples. The game features more than 100 original illustrations from the greatest Tolkienian artists in the world, including an amazing gallery of landscapes from The Shire to Mordor by John and Fataneh Howe.As an epic-size for a card game, it takes about 90-120 minutes for a full game with 4 players (or 2 players playing two-handed), or 60-90 minutes in 2 players ‘duel mode” – shorter than a War of the Ring board game which has over 120 of playing time. It has almost no setup time – with preconstructed decks, it’s just shuffle and play. With its fast-paced gameplay and simple rules, it’s also more affordable, with a suggested retail price of $44.90.To support the game release, Ares Games will organize in-store launch events, which will allow retailers to get the coveted promo cards. They will be promoted through the retailers newsletter. To receive it and keep updated, contact Olivia Long at events@aresgames.eu. The struggle for Middle Earth in a multi-player game!

12 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 aresgames.eu

WOTR101•WAROFTHERING—THECARDGAME•SRP$44.90 FOUR EXCLUSIVE PROMO CARDS AVAILABLE FOR PARTICIPATING STORES CONTACT events@aresgames.eu FOR INFORMATION JOIN LAUNCHOUREVENT 2022 MEE SG AG After a battleground combat including this card non-Wizard Free Peoples character in that combat instead of eliminating them. Any wielded items are eliminated. P1 DÚNEDAIN CHARA d, you may cycle it and one other non-Wizard eliminated.2022MEE • AG P2Andrea Piparo “I am great headman, Ghân-buri-Ghân.I count many things: stars in sky, leaves on trees,men in the dark.” ROHAN GHÂN-BURI-GHÂNCHARACTERWhile in reserve, Rohan cards may beplayed or moved to Minas Tirith. © MEE SG It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and MONSTROUS ITEM: Balrog WHIP OF MANY THONGS When played cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. MONSTROUS ITEM: Balr © 2022 MEE • SG John Howe MORDOR • GOTHMOGCHARACTERWhen played, remove The Witch-kingfrom the game.While in reserve, draw 1 additional cardeach Draw step Subscribe to our Newsletter Visit our Website Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The War of the Ring, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees. War of the Ring – The Card Game © 2022 Ares Games Srl. © 2022 Sophisticated Games Ltd.

• If you wish to sell into the UK, you will need to register for VAT in the UK.

VAT stands for value-added tax and is sometimes referred to as a goods and services tax. In the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe Union (EU), VAT is included in the label price of items meaning the price a customer sees on a label is how much they will pay at the till. This differs to the US where many taxes are added at the checkout. If you plan to sell into the UK and/or EU, then you will want to register for VAT and charge it in your pricing. Registering for VAT There are up to 3 different registrations that you will need to do:

• If you wish to sell into the EU, you will need to register in 1 country in the EU and then additionally register for the One Stop Shop (known as OSS). While the country you register for in the EU can be any country, I personally choose to register in Germany because this is where I store my stock. This works well for me as it’s a big market in the EU and where Essen takes place (one of the with your VAT accountant if there are any other considerations for your situation. It is also worth noting if you are based in the EU then there may be additional rules for your country of residence which you will need to ask your accountant about. Finding an accountant There are plenty of options for accountants and you may wish to use different accountants for each type of VAT, you should do your research and work out who is best for you. I personally work with SimplyVAT for my Germany and OSS VAT requirements and TMT Accounting for my UK VAT requirements.However, I choose to work with TMT Accounting as they also manage my other tax requirements as I am a UK company. If I was not based in the UK, I would likely just work with SimplyVAT on all 3 returns as they offer a good service and it’s a lot easier to manage everything through one company.Frequency of returns and costs

For example: • January: £35,000 // $42,000 (Kickstarter money)

you an idea of what you need to do but you should always seek out a professional opinion. What is VAT?

The frequency of my VAT returns is as

• February: £0 • March: £0 • April £5,000 // $6,000 (Pledge manager money)

• May: £0 • June: £0 and so on… As this happens, you realize you’re paying £350 // $450 a month to file a £0 report, and this can feel bad. I recommend using the mindset of: It costs me £4,000 // $5,000 a year in order to be able to sell into the UK and EU and I am required to pay that in monthly instalments. While it doesn’t change how much

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•follows:UKVAT – Quarterly • German VAT – Monthly • OSS VAT – Quarterly This means once a month and twice every quarter I must provide the relevant n addition, there were some onetime registration fees which cost around £500 // $600, but please note I did register a long time ago and they may now have changed. A healthy mindset B efore I go any further, I’d like to talk about keeping a healthy mindset as there is a very common question that comes up when it comes to VAT. Let’s say you register and start filing monthly returns, your Kickstarter sales will all come through in one return and from then on you may be filling reports of £0/month.

Charging VAT With everything setup, we now need to focus on charging VAT to our customers so we can afford to pay our VAT bills. In your VAT return you will declare every sale you have made into the region (UK/EU) and will then be asked to pay VAT on those sales.

Meaning 20% of all the money you make in the UK will go to the tax man and you must account for this in your pricing. The value of VAT is currently 20% in the UK but it does change from country to country in the EU, some countries charge a little less and some charge slightly more. These values do change so I won’t list them all here, but you can find the current % online and your accountant will also be able to supply them.

EORI numbers n’t want to get too distracted from VAT, but as I mentioned about reclaiming the import fees I do want to touch on EORI numbers. An EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification number) number is what is required for you to import goods into the UK and EU and to be able to reclaim the VAT. When you register for VAT in the UK and EU, you must tell your accountant you also want a UK and EU EORI number (so you’ll get two of them). You will then provide this number to your shipping partners when they arrange to import your goods.

• When you import into the UK/EU make sure you do so under your own EORI number.

• When you sell products to a country make sure you include the required amount of VAT.

• When you purchase something in the UK/EU, make sure you include it in your VAT return so you can reclaim VAT spent. Your accountant will always be there to help answer any questions and don’t be afraid to ask a lot up front, it’s better to start prepared than find out you did something wrong when it is too late. I hope this article has proved helpful to you. Good luck! About Frank West Frank West is a game designer based in Bristol, England, and self publishes through The City of Games. In 2015 he started working on The City of Kings which turned into his first published board game, launched via Kickstarter in 2017. Over the next few years Frank continued to enhance The City of Kings universe through expansions for The City of Kings board game, and new games including Vadoran Gardens and The Isle of Cats. Nowadays Frank continues to design, develop, and publish games while mentoring new publishers looking to start their careers. You will find him at many conventions around the world including the UK Games Expo, Gen Con, and Essen, and he’s always happy to have a chat so don’t be afraid to say hello.

Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 15

the UK or EU afterwards, you may want to look into cancelling once fulfilment has completed. However, if you plan to continue selling products and running other campaigns then you will want to stay registered. The benefits of being VAT registered At this point many people start to worry and that’s understandable, you’ve got a whole bunch of accounts to file each year and a big outgoing bill. But don’t worry, while being VAT registered is a legal requirement and that’s a good enough reason to do it, there are also otherWbenefits!henyou ship goods from outside of the UK/EU into those regions, you will be charged customs fees at import based on the manufacturing value. For example, if you have a container coming from China to the UK and the contents of that container cost you £20,000 // $24,000 to print, then you will be charged £4,000 // $5,000 when it enters the UK. This £4,000 // $5,000 would have to be paid regardless of you being registered or not, but as you are registered you will be able to reclaim this money in your next tax return. Meaning, while you do pay the £4,000 // $5,000, you will get it back and effectively have just saved yourself £4,000 // $5,000.Thisis a huge benefit for being registered as it saves you losing the import dditionally, remember I mentioned that VAT applies to both products and services? Well, this means any UK and EU companies you work with will likely charge you VAT on their services. If your UK fulfilment company charges you £10,000 // $12,000, they may add another £2,000 // $1,200 in VAT which you will need to pay. This works just like the importing, where any VAT you pay as a business you will be able to claim back o summarise, while paying £4,000 // $5,000 a year to file returns may seem like a lot, there are also a lot of savings you’ll be getting at the same time.

For example, if you have sold 10 games into the UK for £60 // $75 each, your total sales will be £600 // $750. If this was your VAT return, you would then be asked to pay £120 / $150 as your VAT bill (VAT in the UK is currently 20%).

Final thoughts

VAT may seem scary at first but don’t let it overwhelm you as it’s very easy to manage once you are aware of it. Simply:

• Get both VAT and EORI numbers for the UK and EU.

• Find an accountant and register when you need to.

As a quick overview, here is how to play: each person will get a secret character, either a hero serving King Arthur, or a villain aligned with Mordred. Players close their eyes, and the team loyal to Mordred reveal themselves by looking up. Next, their eyes close again, and then Merlin looks up to determine the villains, as indicated by a thumbs up. All players awaken and take turns playing group leader to select teams for quests. Everyone votes to approve or reject the team, and the majority vote moves forward. Then, that team votes a fail or success on the mission. Even one fail means the mission was thwarted. These steps are repeated until either one side, or the other can claim three successes or failures. With a variety of characters and other specialized rules, this game has plenty of re-playability.

The first time I played Avalon was at Origins Game Convention 10 years ago. I remember convincing the other players I was Merlin, fighting for the side of Arthur. In truth, my secret role was Morgana, so I won the game for the villains. My wicked laughter rang out after we thwarted our third mission. For those not in the know, Avalon is a social deduction game for 5 to 10 players which plays in about 30 minutes. Play well, and your fellow gamers will never know with which side you share loyalty.

Avalon just a reprinting; there are new roles and modules as well, such as the Messengers, Lunatic Brute, and Trickster. Not only that, this one box comes with stunning new art for everything. For the newcomer, this beloved hidden role game is now a one-stop shop for a collector who was fearful they would not find all the expansions. For any fan of hidden role games, the Avalon Big Box has near limitless gameplay at the reasonable cost of $39.99. It’s a wonderful collector’s item and hours of gameplay for any gathering. How to Demo Avalon absolutely benefits from in-store game play. Having one dedicated person to run this game is a draw for players and spectators alike. You will need space for players, but a table is not required. A benefit of this is that the game still works with social distancing. While watching social deduction games at the most recent conventions I attended, it struck me that the demographic of players was much younger. It made sense, you have social action with structure, little reading (which widens the accessibility for earlier ages), and lots of tension figuring out your team. All this adds up to a new demographic of players who are new to this game. In my family, hidden role games come in second only to card games for whole-family interaction. From my parents in their 70s to my youngest niece who just turned eight, we can all play Avalon at home, and you can too!

What is New

What’s exciting for established fans is that the Avalon Bix Box Edition includes the 23 distinct characters and numerous optional modules like Lancelot and Excalibur that were released as expansions for Avalon and The Resistance. In fact, the entire new packaging contains all Resistance and Avalon content. But it isn’t

How to Play

Big EditionBox

16 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

One of the founding members of Greenbrier Games, Julie Ahern has worked as a project manager, designer, developer, writer, and editor. Her first game design was Zpocalypse and most recently was for Final Girl for Van Ryder Games. In addition to writing stories, rules, and copy, Julie has contributed to GTM Magazine and Meeple Monthly. by Julie Ahern indieboardsandcards.com

The Dream of Camelot

To add to the challenge, once per game a unique twist is added, such as swimmers passing their cards to the left after they put down any, or only the team captain being able to speak.

beziergames.com

SALES@ELFCREEKGAMES.COM

A GameCooperativeModernby Ted Alspach, founder & CEO, Bezier Games

Synchronized Swimming is one of the great under-appreciated sports. The effort, training, and practice that goes into a routine is never seen by most viewers of the sport. Instead, you watch as a group of swimmers glides seemingly effortlessly through the water, doing all sorts of coollooking moves, with every team member in perfect synchronization. To get to that point, it takes years and years of incredibly hard work and even more importantly, teamwork. Sync or Swim captures the essence of that kind of teamwork in an easy-to-learn card game for 3-6 players (swimmers).Eachswimmer has a five-sided Swimmer Platform that corresponds to a center platform. Around the Center Platform are five element cards, one of which will be revealed each time the team completes a round successfully. Swimmers have to match the tasks on the element cards using cards they are dealt at the beginning of each round. For instance, the first element might be that all swimmers have to play one card that’s the same color as the card played by all the other swimmers. While the swimmers each start with two cards, it’s unlikely they’ll have the same color at the start, so they’ll have to trade cards, and possibly even dive into the deck to find matching cards. Oh, and there’s a timer running while this allThhappens.egoodnews is that swimmers can say anything they want during the game. They can tell other swimmers what cards they have (the only limitation is that they can’t show their cards to anyone else), they can ask other swimmers for specific cards, and they can give any cards to other swimmers as needed. After successful completion of the first round, another element card is turned over, the swimmers are dealt new cards, and they go again. This time they need to complete two element cards. This continues until they have successfully completed all five elements, at which time the free app provides the swimmers with their score (out of 100), with all sorts of criteria measured.

TO ORDER VISIT ELFCREEKGAMES.COM

There are 10 sets of elements in the main campaign of the game, which includes 50 unique element cards. These range from simple requirements like all swimmers playing odd blue cards to more challenging ones, such as playing sequential cards of the same color. Cards are numbered from 1-10 in six different colors, and each card has either hands or feet on them, so an element might be that all swimmers must play four cards; two of which must have hands and two must have feet. After completing the campaign of 10 sets, swimmers can play with random sets of element cards, with a random twist thrown in each round. Games take about 30 minutes to play, and the free app walks swimmers through setup and the rules in just a few minutes, so swimmers of all kinds can quickly start playing.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPIES

But maybe the most critical of your new tasks is getting the hive decorated to celebrate, well, not just me, but all the retiree bees! All of the old bees will be making our way over the festival hall as the days get cooler, so you young whippersnappers might have to work even harder. But that’s what you love, isn’t it?

by Caleb Wilson, Resident Storyteller, Elf Creek Games

Ah, but you’d like some guidance on how to impress the Queen? That I can offer. I’ve been around the hive a few times.

I would so love to see the whole hive festooned with my favorite-color leaves, all while my beloved colleagues are offering up a toast in my honor!

Caleb Wilson’s fiction has appeared in places like Weird Tales and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, as well as in text-based computer games such as Lime Ergot and The Northnorth Passage. When he’s not writing, you might find him working at his local public library.

20 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

Another thing that’s very important is getting the hive ready for the cold. We don’t want our supplies of honey to spoil over winter, so someone needs to cap the nectar cells. Don’t worry, it’s not too hard, and I’m sure you’ll be great at it. You just might want to do it sooner rather than later … the Queen appreciates workers who stay busy!

Well, I’d better not keep you any longer. Rattle your wings and be on your way. And long live the Queen!

me, I won’t get in your way. I’m retiring this year, and I’m ready to relax. I’ve never been more ready for a big, beautiful festival to celebrate all the hard work me and my colleagues put in for the hive.

Oh, hello! Where are you flying off to so fast? Ah, you must be the Queen’s newest accountant. I can tell by your energy that you must have just hatched this last year. Such a strong buzz about you!

Fall Flavors the first expansion to the hit worker-bee placement game, Honey Buzz

One thing your team might notice when they’re foraging out in the field is fruit! Delicious fruit, just lying there on the ground! Well, it turns out that our woodland friends have a taste for more than just honey. That’s money, out there amongst the flowers. A good entrepreneur will find a market for the windfall fruit, even at the same time as they’re scouting for flowers.

Hey, and as long as we’re talking, I’d like to give you a few pointers on exactly how I most want to see the hive decorated. My favorite colors are yellow, purple, and red. So, maybe your team can keep their eyes peeled for any nice leaves in those colors when they’re out in the field?

Do you feel that touch of cool in the air? It means fall is coming. Soon after that we’ll all need to crowd into the hive for winter. And there’s so much still to do around Sweetwater Grove! I know you’re rushing about doing all of your normal duties, coordinating the foraging, making honey, and delivering orders to the market, but if you want to really impress the Queen, you’re going to need to take on some new duties as well. Thank you so much for being such a good multitasker!Don’tmind

EMAILPRE-ORDERSALES@ELFCREEKGAMES.COM

• AROUND THE PRE-ORDER YOUR COPIES SALES@ELFCREEKGAMES.COM TO ORDER VISIT ELFCREEKGAMES.COM

COPIESELFCREEKGAMES.COMNOW!FORMOREINFO

Will Schoonover has been making games for over 15 years, most recently as the Munchkin Line Editor at Steve Jackson Games. He spends his free time trying not to think about how many unpainted miniatures are hiding in his office. by Will Schoonover sjgames.com

When it comes to more obscure jokes, there’s no need to look further than the Battering Ram. Sure, we could have added a big robot goat that specialized in knocking down doors, but that would have been a bit too ordinary. So instead, this card leans into the evergreen joke of halfling appetites while also sticking to the expectation that there will be a few groanworthy puns in each Munchkin set. And it wouldn’t be a proper dungeon crawl without some loot! This new release keeps the goat-related jokes coming with some engaging Items and miscellaneous cards. The Goat Float offers a stacking piece of armor that could go on any trip to the beach, and the Go Up A Level card, Go On A Ram Page, was a joke we couldn’t pass up.

Our other summer release is Munchkin Turtle Carnage. It greatly expands the number of turtle-related cards in your games of Munchkin, which might be something you never knew you Thneeded!emonsters in this expansion rely on standard turtle jokes – but push the boundaries in ways you would expect from a Munchkin title. For example, the smallest monster in the set is the Level 1 Slow Poke. It’s not much of a threat … but you certainly don’t want it to catch you, Weither.ealso took advantage of a couple of turtle-related words to inspire two undead monsters. The Rigor Tortoise is a mediumthreat monster looking for a friend, and the Terrorpin is one of the most massive turtle monsters you’ll ever face. The turtle references keep on coming in the Treasure deck, with cards such as Testudo Shield and the Read A Hard Back Go Up A Level card. Grab both these sets and add more thematic fun to your next game of Munchkin!

Munchkin Releases

24 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

SUMMER

The Munchkin Goats expansion is full of cards that bring these strange-eyed creatures to the table. (A few sheep snuck in, too.) Part of the fun of writing Munchkin cards is putting in the most obvious jokes and references while adding some that are a bit more obscure. The monstersfirst we created for the set were the Gruff Brothers. These three cards play on the classic theme that each goat gets a little bigger. (We also made sure there was some uncertainty about whether or not another one would show up to help if you were facing one of its brothers.)

Two new Munchkin expansions are due this summer that follow in the footsteps of popular sets like Munchkin Kittens and Munchkin Puppies. These new 30-card mini-expansions focus on the themes of goats and turtles, adding plenty of monsters to your silly dungeon crawls.

Or perhaps you seek to roam south, through Ardhos, the land of the halflings, and partake of the many wonders and comforts of that land?

Or maybe you’ll hazard a journey even further south … into the untamed wilds where the lost mines of Shjekhel are rumored to reside.

The Curse of The usurper

Traverse regions of wonder and magic, seeking to put a stop to the curse spread from the mines of Shjekhel. Explore the detailed port city of Havdhir: search for clues, engage in animated-tentacle arm wrestling in the Sunken Dream bar, fight opponents in Morvin’s Sorrow Pit, delve into the prison city of Still-Echo, traverse the Wizard’s tower, and much, much more.

Do you dare travel north to the freezing Darklands of Vlaskhell, where the sun does not rise for half the year, and negotiate with the vampires of Mornhaven?

26 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 tombguardians.com

Battle fascinating foes; search for clues and interact with factions in your quest to seek an end to the curse; encounter unique monsters, villains, and magic items as you venture through this rich and complex world, delving at last into the mines of Shjekhel to dethrone the Usurper of old! In this 400-page tome you will find everything you need to engage your players in a story of mystery, danger, and wonder, with fantastic art, accompanying

Long ago, in the ancient dwarven mines of Shjekhel, a horrid despot came to power. Driven by a malevolent voice from the dark nihidium stone buried beneath the mines, the Usurper sought to extend his reach far across the realms. But the Usurper failed in his quest, and a wicked curse befell the dwarves of Shjekhel and all their descendants, their spirits haunting the halls of the now lost kingdom forevermore. This curse was thought by many to be little more than a rumor, but history is often hard to bury, and its curses more so.

Coming 9.13.22 on KiCKstarter! experienCe our new 5e adventure/Campaign/world the Curse of the usurper

RISE OF THE ONES!OLD

Kamigami Battles: Rise of the Old Ones takes this same formula … and adds a Lovecraftian flare! Adapting the Old Ones and Elder Gods of HP Lovecraft’s famous Cthulhu Mythos to the epic god-battling deckbuilder formula of Kamigami Battles was easy. Gods, disciples, and cultist warriors are a staple of the game already! The art offered a unique challenge, however. How do you turn an incomprehensible, eldritch abomination like Cthulhu into a cute anime girl? Easy! You just hire some extremely talented artists! Kamigami Battles thrives on its vibrant anime art style, with classic mythic pantheons populated by cute, anime-ified versions of Thor, Zeus, Vishnu, and more – and Kamigami Battles: Rise of the Old Ones is no different! And while that may not be a surprise to longtime fans of the Kamigami Battles series, what will be a shock is the new mechanics at play. Rise of the Old Ones introduces Artifact cards – a new card type (so far) unique to this set, bringing ancient and powerful relics like the Necronomicon, Ring of Eibon, Green Stone Idol, and more – illustrated by legendary artist Brian Snoddy! Artifact cards bring new elements to play – powerful new abilities that can chain to your existing Warrior cards and change the game in strange new ways! Artifacts are added to the Hall of Heroes just like Disciples and Warriors; effectively another row of cards you can buy during your turn. There are 12 new Artifact cards in the base Rise of the Old Ones game, while the expansions The Stars Are Right and Into the Dreamlands add five more Artifacts, each in addition to their exciting assortment of new gods, temples, disciples, and warriors! Lovecraftian aficionados will recognize some of their favorite entities from the mythos such as Nyarlathotep, Father Dagon, Hastur, and of course Cthulhu himself. While Temple cards, a staple of Kamigami Battles’ gameplay, feature iconic locations like Innsmouth, R’lyeh, and Lost Carcossa. There’s even a special card of HP Lovecraft himself! These new editions fit smoothly into the formula of Kamigami Battles, making Rise of the Old Ones and the expansions perfectly compatible with all past Kamigami Battles sets – both River of Souls and Battle of the Nine Realms base games, and the past expansions Warriors of the Dawn, Children of Danu, Court of the Emperor, and Avatars of Cosmic Fire. Longtime Kamigami Battles players can add the new sets to their favorite deckbuilder and play without needing to re-learn the rules. This was a big component of designing the new sets. Finding interesting new mechanics was essential, but ensuring everything stayed compatible and balanced with existing rules provided a unique challenge for Japanime Games. Japanime Games plans to continue Kamigami Battles in the future with even more new sets. After all, the current offerings only cover Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Babylonian, Japanese, Chinese, Celtic, Hindu, and now Lovecraftian mythologies. There are plenty of other pantheons that can be explored! As one of the company’s most popular deckbuilder series, Kamigami Battles takes the traditional formula and adds a much more aggressive, pvp spin on things that’s made it a staple of game stores, conventions, and tournament play. And Japanime Games shows no signs of that stopping any time soon!

JapanimeGamesDebuts

by Emma Recher, Sales Manager japanimegames.com

28 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

Kamigami Battles is Japanime Games’ long-running deck-builder series, first released in China as Kanzume Goddess before Japanime Games redesigned the concept from the ground up into the deckbuilder we know today. Take control as a god from mythological pantheons around the world, recruiting followers and sending warriors to do battle with your opponent’s god in a free-for-all for 2 to 6 players. Early sets included Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Babylonian, Hindu, Celtic, Japanese and Chinese gods, giving players an incredible range to choose from – each depicted with gorgeous anime-style artwork from some of the industry’s top talent.

We expanded the design team and began work in earnest on 7th Sea: City of Five Sails. As the design team presented iteration after iteration, the marriage of lore and mechanics became tighter. We knew we had something special. As we approach the Kickstarter in 2022’s third quarter, we are demoing the game at conventions and see 7th Sea fans as enthusiastic about the project as we are. We hope you’ll join us in the world of Théah when 7th Sea: City of Five Sails hits Kickstarter later this year.

Coming to Port in the

City of five SailS 30 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 pineboxentertainment.com

Case had honed in on a particular aspect of 7th Sea that created engaging gameplay. Swashbuckling! Players control one of five factions as they fight to influence, control, and explore the independent and unruly city of Five Sails in this expandable card game. Every turn they select a scheme, which represents their leaders’ ambitions. As they attempt to achieve these lofty goals it will inevitably clash with their opponent’s goals. These conflicts are played out in duels – as players slash, parry and riposte their way to victory with panache!

by Alex Wirges, Co-Founder and Creative Director Pine Box Entertainment

We at Pine Box Entertainment are gamers and fanboys, unashamedly. We make Doomtown because we are Deadlands fans. So we felt it was appropriate that our first original game be set in a universe beloved by not only our team, but by gamers everywhere. We discussed and deliberated, and found that we all had a connection to 7th Sea in one way or another, whether it was through the roleplaying game or AEG’s card game. We were (and still are) courting a few designers to test the waters, pun intended, and Case Lopez had told us about a rough prototype he had. We printed it off and played a few games.

Here at D-Verse Publishing, LLC, we have spent the last five years building up our fan base at conventions like Origins, Gen Con, Adepticon and PAXU. Over that course of time, we have discovered something that a lot of publishers don’t seem to be catering to. While some people love to paint, a large majority of gamers would love for their games to come prepainted. So, why aren’t more publishers doing it? It’s simple: pre-painted miniatures are an expensive addition to their manufacturing costs. The Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game is one success story to be sure, and there have been other experiments with pre-painted miniatures on crowdfunding sites, where publishers offer exclusive pre-painted sets at a very expensive premium price. And in some cases, they

Publishing,

Bringing Pre-Painted Miniature Board Games to Retail Stores with the NEXUS: Arena Combat System

by J. Scott Rumptz, Co-Founder, D-Verse Publishing when you realize that these crowdfunding sites, and many of the publishers that use them, heavily cater to the miniature painting hobbyist. From our conversations with retail consumers at tabletop gaming conventions, the majority of whom don’t use crowdfunding sites, there is a good reason for this. They are sick of unpainted minis.Many of your customers would be much more willing to purchase and enjoy miniature-heavy board games if publishers would simply complete the manufacturing process. What do I mean by that? Well, having spent a good portion of my life as a child, and being the parent of three myself, I have been around a lot of children’s toys. Something I don’t see much are unpainted toys. As a matter of fact, I don’t ever see that. As adults, why is there less effort being put into the manufacturing of our “toys”? I really think it’s time we change the way we look at miniature board games. I think we can all agree, not every tabletop gamer is, or cares to be, a painting hobbyist. Why exclusively cater to them? So how is D-Verse Publishing dealing with that manufacturing cost issue? Well, with the NEXUS: Arena Combat System, D-Verse Publishing, LLC has decided to remove their markup on the cost of prepainted production and treat that cost as a marketing expense. We are trying to put our money where our mouth is. D-Verse Publishing, LLC is confident in this pricing model and hopes to bring more prepainted games into the retail space using this strategy. If this makes sense to you, why not join our little experiment?

Seriously, put it on your shelf and D-Verse LLC d-verse.com

contact: orders@bridgefulfillmentusa.com MSRP $150

together.besoimperative,justisInclusivitymorethanamorallet’sbetter

Don’t Tell People How They Feel

Just because you don’t care about something or think it’s not a big deal, doesn’t mean everyone else feels that way. You might not think that anyone should care if a couple of teenage gamers are talking trash to each other using homophobic slurs, but for someone else, it could mean the world. If someone is upset, they’re upset. Full stop. It really sucks to be told you’ve hurt someone, but that’s on us. Accept their experiences as valid, and work together for a way to make things better for everyone.

The real crux of a code of conduct is in actually enforcing it and holding people to it. If you have an amazing code but let people get away with breaking it all the time, it’s not only a meaningless document, but even worse, it shows that you are aware of problem behaviors you’ve identified but actively don’t care about it.

If You See Something, Say Something

Safe Spaces Make More Money

It’s really easy to throw someone out for dropping a C-bomb at a female employee, and obviously, we need to be doing that, but it’s a lot harder to let someone know that it’s also not ok to talk about how hot they think that employee is to their buddy in the back of the shop.

34 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

Remember Small Things Are Big Things

As shop owners, we spend the most money trying to get people into the store for the first time, so we want to make sure they are going to come back again and again. The best way to do this is to make them all feel welcome and valued. One of the primary values adds we have as a physical location is a feeling of community and the personal interactions that just aren’t possible outside of brick and mortar retail. It’s easy enough for us to want to make our Magic players feel as important as our boardgamers, but how do we make queer moms feel like we are their place just as much as teenage boys? Hard statistics can be difficult to pin down, but if you take a look around at the industry it’s obvious that the explosive growth we’re experiencing is driven in large part by a massive influx of new gamers from a huge variety of identities and backgrounds. Further, people today more than ever are conscientious values driven consumers. So sure, you may not have a lot of trans customers, but you sure do have a whole lot of customers, or potential customers, who care about trans rights. Plus, if you aren’t presenting yourself as a space that cares, it’s highly likely that people are simply avoiding you and not bothering to make a fuss about it. Besides which, no matter what we may or may not want individually, the industry is moving inexorably towards inclusion and embracing the broadening demographics of gamers. Initiatives like WotC’s Premium requiring a shop code of conduct is just one of the first steps on the path we’re all walking together.Fortunately, it turns out we can do a lot of work towards inclusivity that isn’t actually all that much work. (Though some of it can still be really difficult!) So here are some tips for how to promote a positive vibe of inclusivity while also growing your bottom line: Just Be Cool First and foremost, it doesn’t cost us anything at all to treat people well. Inclusivity at its core is really very simple… treat people with respect, kindness, and a willingness to listen and accept their point of view. Follow that principle and you’re already doing great. Set Clear Expectations

Having a code of conduct and harassment policy, clearly posted both instore and online, is a strong statement that you care about issues of inclusivity and is a huge way to show you are a safe, welcoming space for all. There are a number of great resources online that you can lean on to help you craft one that says what it needs to, but also fits your store and community.

You already call your customers their preferred names (no one but my mother calls me Matthew), and using a preferred pronoun is no different. You may still mess it up, but just say sorry and correct yourself.

At the end of the day, if you create a community of inclusivity and kindness, not only will the world be a better place, but you’ll have more happy customers, and you’ll make more money.

No More “Gamers being Gamers” Gamers/teenagers/werewolves are perfectly capable of behaving in ways that conform to your code of conduct. Toxic players eventually drive away everyone but other toxic players. Remember, your community is only as inclusive as your worst behaving member. Maybe you think you make enough money off of angsty teenage boys, but you can be making a lot more if you keep toxic players in check.

Growing up in a family of gamers, educators, artists, and community organizers along with an adolescence filled with basement shows and political protests, Matt’s professional life is rooted in collectivism, art, nerdery, social justice, and DIY punk rock.

No One is Perfect Remember that this is a journey where we’re all trying to grow and become better, both personally and professionally. It’s inevitable that we all screw up sometimes. What actually makes things better is being able to grow from those mistakes. Plus, today’s cutting edge is tomorrow’s old news, so while the principles and concepts here should remain applicable for a long time, the details will continue to evolve alongside our own awareness. There is SO much more to say about all this, so hopefully this is just the start of a much longer conversation in our industry.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly... Community Culture Comes From the Top Down You set the tone for everyone else whether you like it or not. So, when you’re in the shop, especially when you are just hanging out, make sure you’re setting the standards you expect from everyone else. Create a dynamic where people feel comfortable talking to you about issues they may be experiencing, be they with you, your staff, or other patrons. If people feel heard, they will let you know when something is going on, and you can take action to make it better for everyone.

Use Preferred Pronouns When Asked

Much like if you call someone by the wrong name, it’s on you to fix it. “Free speech” Doesn’t Mean “No Consequences” Sure, people can say whatever they want. But you have an unquestionable right to refuse service, tell people to leave, or otherwise restrict what they can say (and do) in your space. Don’t be shy about showing toxic people the door.

Being welcoming to queer non-binary people of color, doesn’t mean you’re pushing out straight white men. Inclusivity is about building a bigger tent, where everyone feels just as welcome as anyone else (within reason, Nazis, bigots, and their ilk can still hit the bricks since they are expressly about hate, exclusion, and hurting others). We focus a lot on how to bring in marginalized and oppressed groups because they are the ones who have been historically left out and are even now struggling for equal treatment, so they are the ones who need us to help improve things. That said, if we truly embrace inclusivity we also want to make sure we aren’t pushing away those people who already feel welcome and comfortable, or are still working through how to be better allies in an ever changing social dynamic.

About Matt Fantastic Matt primarily does freelance game design, development, and art direction for publishers around the world as the Creative Director of Forever Stoked, the studio they founded over a decade ago. They also co-own a game shop/library (Elm City Games), are sometimes an adjunct instructor of game design, publish indie games, books, zines, vinyl records, and other creative weirdness with killjoy and Prettiest Princess, founded the New Haven Game Makers Guild, are on the board of the Tabletop Mentorship Program and GameDev CT, organize Fantasticon and the Connecticut Festival of Indie Games, and do consulting/fixing across the game industry as well as for corporate, NGO, and institutional clients like Netflix and Yale.

Don’t Give Free Passes Problem behavior can’t be left to fester. If everyone knows that player is a jerk, then why are they still allowed to be around? Give people the opportunity to correct their behavior, but letting people continually get away with terrible behavior because “that’s who they are” isn’t acceptable. (Check out “missing stair” theory for a lot more about this sort of thing.)

Sexism is Still a Problem in our Industry This isn’t up for debate. If you don’t think it’s much of an issue, you just aren’t seeing it and/or women aren’t comfortable sharing their experiences with you. Put a stop to a “boys will be boys” atmosphere. If you don’t have many women in your community, that’s not because there aren’t women playing games in your area, they just aren’t comfortable at your shop. Take a hard look at what you might be doing, even inadvertently, to discourage women from spending time and money at your shop. Few things can do more to hurt your reputation as an ally than to downplay the severity of issues women still consistently face or tell them things “aren’t a big deal.” (Obviously, other bigotry is a major problem as well, but sexism in gaming is currently on a whole different level of insidiousness.)

Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 35

This Isn’t A Zero Sum Game

land Might & Right board

Leder Games, Root:

A

for

and

powers

them. Based

and officially licensed

your RPG table! Now Available! Root art and logo © 2022 Leder Games. All Rights Reserved. magpiegames.com Available for wholesale through ACD, GTS, PSI, Universal Distribution; and direct to retailers. For inquiries, email info@magpiegames.com

Root: the Roleplaying Game is a game of woodland creatures, acting as vagabonds and outcasts, who fight money, justice, freedom from far greater than on the Root: Game of Woodgame by The RPG brings tales of Woodland to

the

the

In 2019, Magpie Games launched on Kickstarter Root: The Roleplaying Game – an officially licensed tabletop RPG based on the award-winning board game by Leder Games. The project raised more than $750,000 in crowdfunding, including postKickstarter preorders. After the success of the Core Rulebook and the supplement, Travelers & Outsiders, we are pleased to announce the release of Root: The RPG Deluxe Edition and the Clearing Booklet for the first time for retailers on September 14th! Root: The RPG Deluxe Edition contains special variants of the Core Rulebook and the first supplement, Travelers and Outsiders, wrapped in a hard slipcase featuring the amazing art of original Root artist Kyle Ferrin. Complete with foil-stamped covers and silk bookmarks, these deluxe versions of both books contain everything you need to bring the tales of the Woodland to your table!The Clearing Booklet is a supplement for Root: The RPG featuring four clearings: Hookfoot Bog, Sixtoe Stand, Limmery Post, and Coolclaw Mine. Each clearing contains interesting conflicts, important residents (with stats), unique locations, and special rules. You can use theclearingstheseassettingfor a one-shot or as part of a longer campaign in the Woodland!broaderTheteam at Magpie Games was overwhelmed by the positive response Root: The RPG has received. When we released the product line for direct online consumer preorders, we sold more than $75,000, with an additional $125,000+ in retail and distribution. Some of this success is certainly the result of the strength of the license; Leder Games’ Root: A Woodland Game of Might and Right has a strong following in the tabletop board game community. In addition, Root: The RPG is fully illustrated with brand new pieces by the series’s artist Kyle Ferrin. Beyond that strong foundation, Root: The RPG offers new and unique experiences for independent and traditional players alike. Furthermore, the game is quite easy to learn for both beginners and veteran players sporting mechanics based on the robust Powered by the Apocalypse system – with aesthetics similar to Redwall, Warriors, Wanderhome, or Mouse o see the game in action, check out the Good Time Society YouTube channel featuring a How To Play and an actual play one shot video featuring Becca Scott! e’re so excited to bring players new and old into the Woodlands, and we hope this game finds a way onto your shelves this year! For more information and inquiries about Root: The RPG, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@ magpiegames.com.

Coming in September

Root: The RPG Deluxe Edition and Clearingthe Booklet by Valerie Osbourn, Magpie Games magpiegames.com

MORE NEW PRODUCTS on pages 48, 58 and 59

jonathan@midlevelmeeple.com

With the Simulockrum lockpicking mini-game from Temporal Travels, the lockpicking skill is irrelevant. Only rogues take the skill, they maximize the skill, and no other classes even bother looking at it. Out of combat, assume they rolled a 20. In combat, it’s one pass/fail roll a turn. But imagine engaging all classes … temporaltravels@protonmail.com562-335-2679temporaltravels.com

In Boldly Go from Geoffquest, players are officers in Space Fleet, the exploration force of the Stellar Alliance. Design and take command of your own starship filled with advanced technology and crewed by NPC shipmates that you create. Travel the stars, meet new species, solve ancient mysteries, and experience the wonders the galaxy has to offer! geoff.bottone@gmail.com

In Fortune & Famine by Mid Level Meeple, you’ll play as the ruler of a growing kingdom. You know that a famine is coming and for your kingdom to survive, you’ll need to outbid competing rulers for workers, balance your resources, and even call upon the magic of mighty wizards!

Mystery Dice from 1985 Games are back and better than ever! Each coordinating set has you covered from the humble d4 to the mighty d20. Rest assured there will be no repeats with 100+ designs in rotation. Treat yourself for just $9.99 or power up your party with Buy 6, Get 2 Free! bit.ly/1985Mystery Warcrow Adventures from Corvus Belli is a board game with miniatures. The medieval fantasy dungeon crawler is set in the Warcrow universe, a world of mystery and magic, where brave heroes experience adventures. The heroes come from a variety of backgrounds, which offers a taste of Lindwurm’s different races and nations, their mindset, their culture, and their values. warcrow.com

Q3 2022 • AROUND THE table 39

Behind Enemy Lines with David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin ospreygames.co.uk

Undaunted: Stalingrad is a deep and expansive standalone game that moves the Undaunted series in a whole new direction – an immersive campaign system that plays out like a legacy game but can be replayed for radically different experiences. In Undaunted: Stalingrad, you lead a German or Soviet platoon and battle over a war-torn city in one of the most pivotal battles in history. As you play through the scenarios, your actions and choices will see soldiers fall and be promoted, the city around you will change, and your victories and defeats will shape the course of the campaign. At the beginning of Undaunted: Stalingrad, your platoon consists of squad leaders, scouts, riflemen, and machine gunners. Over the course of the campaign, you will be able to add many new troops to your platoon and outfit your soldiers with new weapons and equipment. Your by Benji Corless infantry won’t be alone either! To win in the streets of Stalingrad, you will need all the support you can muster from tanks and more. As you command your forces in skirmishes, they have the opportunity to be rewarded for their valor, receiving promotions and taking on new roles and responsibilities. Many, however, will fall and will not live to see the fate of the city. Your actions and those of your opponent will reshape the city of Stalingrad as you make your way through the campaign. Buildings will be reduced to rubble by artillery fire and by the destructive might of the German and Soviet air forces. You will have to use the environment to your advantage to be successful in your battles, hiding in the rubble left behind by a destroyed apartment building, navigating secret tunnels, and forcing your opponent’s tanks into your ambushes. Over the course of the campaign, you will play through up to 15 branching scenarios, with each path driven by your successes and failures. With more than 35 different scenarios in the game, every campaign experience will be different from the one before. Each player in Undaunted: Stalingrad has their own mission briefings, providing players with a story tailored to their perspective of the battle. The game includes more than 150 evocative mission briefings written by acclaimed author Robbie MacNiven that will help immerse you in the story. And, of course, the game’s rich narrative will be illustrated by Roland MacDonald, with more than 300 unique pieces of art. With Undaunted: Stalingrad you will determine the fate of one of the most important battles in history in a game that promises to be like nothing you have ever played before.

Floodgate Games’ flagship title Sagrada was released in 2017 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Since its inception, the award-winning game of Dice Drafting and Window Crafting has been translated into more than 20 languages and spawned several expansions. 2022 will see the series of Great Facades expansions come to a close with Sagrada: Glory. With the conclusion of this series of expansions (Passion, Life, & Glory) Floodgate now looks to the future with new ways to explore the Sagrada line of games. Coming September to Kickstarter,

with Sagrada

to reveal how their contents will change the game! Not to mention, each player will have their own family journal where they complete their windows and record their family’s legacy. When the final pages of the players’ journals are complete one player’s family will stand above the rest with the mostThprestige.edesign and development team has been working on Sagrada Artisans for several years and it is an ambitious next step for Sagrada. Crowdfunding this labor of love made the most sense for Floodgate to bring this legacy game to Sagrada fans!

Discover a twist on the classic Sagrada gameplay unconstrained by the shape and size of dice. Players will draft dice as usual, but then color in spaces in their windows to meet scoring objectives and window restrictions! In Sagrada Artisans you’ll compete as rival families of stainedglass window artisans, each chronicling your designs of the famous Sagrada Familia’s windows during its construction. Throughout a campaign spanning generations, each window pattern will present new objectives and challenges. Gain powerful new abilities and unlock wondrous new tools that you’ll carry through the campaign … and s one can expect from a legacySagradagame,Artisansincludesnewtwists,unlockablecontent,andplayerupgradestodiscoverthroughoutthecampaign.Playerswillhavetheopportunitytoplaceover100stickers,

“I cannot wait for fans of Sagrada and legacy games alike to discover everything Sagrada Artisans has to offer. It’s been such a challenging, special project to work on and I’m incredibly proud of what the team has crafted.” – Ben Harkins, Owner of Floodgate Games. The Sagrada Artisans Kickstarter will be offered in English only with worldwide delivery. We plan to include special (noncontent) upgrades just for backers, and a retailer pledge level to allow retailers to get their stock ahead of others when the game is released next year! Make sure that you join us this September for the Kickstarter as we expand on the enduring legacy of the Sagrada franchise with Sagrada Artisans – a Game of Dice Drafting and Window Coloring!

by Ian Birdsall, Marketing Manager, Floodgate Games

LegacyaBuildingGaming

42 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 floodgategames.com

Having risen to the top of Sleeve Mountain in the Forgotten Lands of Arcania, the Dragon Shield Inventor’s Guild decided to take a short sojourn to the nearby village of Tabletop, where they now approach Dragon-Eye Gaming, a local shop known for their rare books and mystical dice… Okay, that’s not exactly how Dragon Shield came to the decision to produce tabletop roleplaying products, but it isn’t far off.While we may not have actually climbed a mountain or rolled dice for key decisions, we did have to use considerable intellect, knowledge of history, and the arcane to create the first wave of Dragon Shield roleplaying products (among, The result of more than two years of campaigning – ahem, I mean, developing –led to one of the most exciting new product launches to come from the Dragon Shield lair, probably ever. Now, we couldn’t be more excited to invite you, and players like you from around the world, to participate in a new way to play tabletop roleplaying games, using the Dragon Shield Game Master Companion and Player Companion to level up your game. You walk into Dragon-Eye Gaming and see a stack of dragonskin-bound iron First up, we have the Game Master Companion. Available in iron grey upon release, the GM Companion features an integrated initiative tracker, pockets for notes and bands for phones and pens. The back of the GM screen has pockets on the 3 large panels which fit A4 or letter size papers. Keep reference information handy, such as condition effects, maps, or frequently used random tables. Each GM Companion includes 18 reusable plastic cards, a dry erase marker, four foam trays with varying size slots, two foam trays with small size slots, a Dragon Shield mini adventure, and a carrying strap with handle.ustbeyond the stack of Game Master Companions, you see a stack of slightly thinner items, about the width of two books. These are also wrapped in dragon skin and come in the same shade of grey, as well as a deep red the color of blood… e Dragon Shield Player Companion is a two-in-one storage box and gameplay area. Use the Player Companion to pack dice, miniatures, pens, character sheets and a couple of RPG books. It folds out into a dice tray with a particularly satisfying rolling sound. f you can’t tell, we think you’re going to love these products. And the Player and Game Master Companions are only the beginning! We have a ton more in store for you over the coming year and beyond. or more adventures and information about Dragon Shield Roleplaying, as well as amazing downloadable guides, random tables, and more, check out dragonshield. com/roleplaying. We can’t wait to adventure

Last Time on Dragon Shield Roleplaying Adventures 44 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 arcanetinmen.com

In-universe crossover can be expected. Warcrow Adventures figures will be playable and compatible with Warcrow, the wargame. The Kickstarter campaign will run from October 16th to November 1st, 2022.

WARCROW

ADVENTURES

46 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 Warcrow Adventures is a board game with miniatures. A medieval fantasy dungeon crawler set in the Warcrow universe.Inthe game, brave heroes will be involved in strange adventures, finding their way in a world of mystery and magic. These heroes will come from very different parts, giving a small sample of the different races and nations that exist in Lindwurm, plus their mentality, culture, and values. The plot takes place in Hawthorn Point, an area of Lindwurm. Lindwurm is the continent where the Warcrow universe takes place. Warcrow Adventures offers a completely new set of mechanics. This game combines tactical board and action with a deep focus on narrative. Throughout the game it will be possible to interact with other characters, learn their stories, talk to NPCs … and explore different scenarios, fight several different enemies, and thrive in the unfolding story. It is a cooperative game for 4 people. In addition, to play it, you will need to download a mobile app. The dice in the game are 8-sided symbol dice. The Warcrow universe: a little bit of our history You may know our company, Corvus Belli, from the futuristic sci-fi universe we create, Infinity, or from some of our games like Aristeia!, Infinity Deathmatch TAG Raid or Infinity Defiance, or maybe because we have been producing amazing miniatures for more than 20 years! And now we’ve really gotten into fantasy. That’s why we have created Warcrow. You can understand Warcrow as an IP from which different products will be developed.Warcrow is a fantasy universe in which different nations must decide which part they will play in it. Hold on to what they know, fight for what they believe in, unravel the mysteries surrounding them, protect their heritage, or stride towards theirThidestiny.sisa classic fantasy setting but with the special touch of Corvus Belli. In this universe, you will find the favorite fantasy races such as dwarves, elves, and orcs … but also some new cultures created by Corvus Belli, such as the Varank.

The nations of this world, the characters and their stories will become miniatures on the gaming table, opening the way to new and different games. For now, we can talk about two of them: the dungeon crawler and the wargame.Thiswargame will be different from everything we have done so far. A new system of mechanics has been created for the game, and it will be played with 8-sided dice. Our intention is to keep the rulebook to no more than 50 pages. Players will need about 20 miniatures for the battle. These miniatures will be made of injected thermoplastic and will be produced at Corvus Belli headquarters. Although this is a new game, Warcrow will have all the advantages we usually offer at Corvus Belli.

by Belén Moreno Garrido Marketing Director, Corvus Belli warcrow.com

Exile’s Stars from Ad Astra is a new supplement for Squadron Strike! Humanity has fled an AI Emergence, and in their exile, run headlong into an interstellar crisis! Settling worlds leased to them by their Rulomani Patrons, has humanity been set up as a trip-wire defense against the invading Karthian domains?

The NEXUS: Arena Combat System from D-Verse Publishing LLC was built from the ground up for fun – taking our favorite gaming mechanics and working backwards from there to keep the table full of excitement and laughs. Find your favorite elements from boardgames, RPGs, and even casino gambling all-rolled-up into this box of gory chaos! bridgedist.com/preorder-nexus-arena-combat-system/

design@adastragames.com608-232-7872adastragames.com

An all-in-one storage case for RPG players. The ENHANCE Collector’s Edition RPG Organizer is upgraded with the power of Dragon Hide, forged from the spoils of war using techniques from an age longa unique binder tom compartments for character sheets, dice, miniatures, cards, and more. Available in 8 colors!

In Dulce from Indie Games Studio, each player has a deck of cards and a field to plant. Cards have beans on one side, a factory on the other. Players need to plant their fields strategically and use their beans efficiently to make the best confectionaries! Eachearnsconfectioneryonepoint. retailer@pubservinc.com In this 400-page tome you will find everything you need to engage your players in a story of mystery, danger, wonder, with fantastic art, accompanying music, actor voiceover to assist your GM, beautifully rendered maps, new miniatures, and much more to help immerse you and your beloved players in this campaign. com/pages/the-curse-of-the-usurperwww.tombguardians. table Q3 2022

MORE NEW PRODUCTS on pages 39, 58 and 59

Escape from Stalingrad Z from Raybox is a book-based tactical board game set in the zombie infested nightmare city of Stalingrad during WW2. Primarily solo, the game pits a group of survivors against zombies, the cold, enemy troops and more as they attempt to flee the doomed city. rayboxgames.com/efszretailer

© 2022 MARVEL. Copyright 2022 Dice Throne Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. 8+2-630+Min. @theopgames ORDERTODAY

My name is Jonathan, and my wife Jennifer and I love Eurostyle games! We love the balanced mechanics, the hard choices, and the sense of accomplishment when a well-reasoned strategy comes to fruition. But as fond as we are of games of this style, we’re even more fond of the times we’ve spent with good friends around the table. And truth be told, if we want to spend some quality gaming time with these folks, bringing out a heavyweight Euro can be a “dicey” proposition. Sure, two or three of them are down to play, but we’ve got two or three more who aren’t up for something so complex and time consuming. Alas, game night is looking to be another split affair, but we want to play with everybody! What to do?

Design a new game, of course! But design it with the express intention of bringing these two groups of gamers together. We already had a theme (medieval fantasy). We just needed to think through the parts of a good Euro game that we could tweak a little to fit our purpose. We started with … Bigger player counts!

Why limit the fun to four or five when we could share the experience with a group as big as six? Sounded great in theory, but more players usually mean more play time, and we knew that was going to be a no-go. We wanted this game to be 90 minutes maximum, even with six players. The time limit lent itself to a round-limited game, with clearly delineated actions and phases to keep everyone moving. But we knew that this wasn’t enough unless we also had … An easy “on ramp” We needed simple, stylish cards that told players what they need to know, set in an elegant reference board to make learning a breeze. No wall-of-symbols displays that new players would have to look up in a rule book over and over again. The mechanics of the game were shaping up nicely, but mechanics are only part of a good game. It also needs … Bright, eye-popping color and art with a unique visual flair. It’s just human nature that if we’re going to be looking at something over and over again for long periods of time (like a great game), we’d like it to look great, too! We found an artist who was perfect, and her special style was the final touch we needed on our new game. But would it bring everyone together as we hoped? It did! Since it first hit tables, Fortune & Famine has been a popular choice for game nights, satisfying the strategy itch of veteran gamers and enticing novice gamers alike. We are thrilled to be able to bring this kind of simple joy to everyone, and feel confident that Fortune & Famine will be a resounding success at your next game night!

50 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 midlevelmeeple.com

displayRetailersjonathan@midlevelmeeple.commidlevelmeeple.comreceiveFREEcopywithorder! You are the Ruler of a growing kingdom. Your prophets have warned that famine will sweep the entire land over the next few years. To save your people, you’ll need to hire the right workers, balanace your resources, and even call upon the magic of mighty wizards! Can you finish the third year with more grain than competing rulers and secure prosperity for your kingdom?

Make Your Gray World COLORFUL

intenseMetallics,iconicofconsistingnewcolors.upbringingaboutExpansionand5istodrop,thelineto80TenpaintsfourthreeTurboshifts, and three insane Zenishifts are coming this October. An often requested bright green will make its debut in Appleseed. The Turboshifts reach out to the cosmos with all new blue and purple combinations in Cyberia and Galaxia. We’ve also expanded our Zenishift line with some wild new colors. Top among them is Hemogoblin, an orange to green combo that promises to make the most out of your putrid and rotting fallen armies. Heading into our fifth year, Greg and Turbo Dork have learned a lot about as we go along, adding better freeze protection and brushability. Research and development is ever ongoing in the Turbo Dork lab. Rest assured that many more colorful concepts, accessories, and hobby innovations will be coming down the line. For more information on our paints and upcoming products, head on over to turbodork.com. Check out our Instagram @TurboDork, or the hashtag #turbodork to see how our customers have been using our paints. There are literally thousands

by Meredith Placko, CEO, Turbo Dork turbodork.com

In 2018, photographer Greg De Stefano had a radical idea: a metallic purple paint for his heretic marine army. As a commercial and fashion photographer, dealing in color was his mainstay. For paint, like in his photographs, he wanted colors that popped. Something that would make a miniature stand out on the gaming table. He set about a year of researching and formulation, digging deep into color theory and polymer chemistry. During this quest to make the perfect metallic purple, Greg developed 15 other core paints that would become the foundation of Turbo Dork. Greg wanted to share these colors he created with his local gaming community. At best, he hoped for a little extra cash to fund his gray horde. One hopeful August day, he put those 16 colors online and announced them to the world with a Tweet. What happened next was nothing short of a paint revolution. He didn’t anticipate how many mini painters across the world were craving vivid metallics. Within hours of launching on social media, Turbo Dork paints were picked up for distribution. An entire new and Turbo Dork was happy to provide. Cut to four years later

uscrisisglobalusUS,hereourproducingpaintsinthehashelpedweathertheshippingbetterthanmost.Weweremakingandshippingpainteverydayofthepandemic.Ithasalsolettweakourformula

EXPANSION 5 turbodork.com LAUNCHING OCTOBER4ICONICMETALLICS 3 INSANE ZENISHIFTS Seafood and Hot Commodity have been SicknessHowever!discontinued.SummoningandOrangeYouGladwilltaketheirplace.Askyourfavorite distributor, or head to your retailer account on turbodork.com to pre-order the all-new Expansion 5! Racks come pre-assembled, stocked with 3 or 6 bottles of paint. Additional restocks are available in half or full case counts. Full Rack TDK0506 Half Rack TDK0503

54 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

How it’s played One player controls all the Black stones and the other White. The object is simply to push all your opponent’s stones off any ONE of the game boards to win. On your turn, you take two moves. The first is a passive, or setup, move. You can slide your stone across the board one or two unblocked spaces in any direction, including diagonally. Your second move, the aggressive move, must exactly match the direction and number of spaces of your passive move – AND must be on the opposite color board. Only the Aggressive move has the opportunity to push an opponent’s stone into another space or off the board completely. The only condition is that you can’t push more than one stone, HOBU has just come back into stock, so call your sales rep today. SND 1005, $34.99

boop

Boop will be coming to retail in October. SND 1009, $34.99

SHOBU

How it’s played Each player begins the game with eight Kittens of their color. On your turn, you place a kitten onto any open space on the board, with the goal of lining up three kittens in a row, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Once you and bouncing other cats out of it. It has a quilted fabric game board resting on the box to form a bed – with 32 adorable wooden cat meeples. Meowples. Booples? Whether they are cat lovers, families or just gift buyers, it is a slam dunk. But, hiding underneath the cute trappings is an amazingly challenging abstract, worthy of the most die-hard strategy game player who will discover its merits within a handful of moves and walk away shocked that they bought a “cute cat game.”

A 19-year industry veteran and the inventor of Cutthroat Caverns, Hex Hex, and Nevermore (to name a few), Curt Covert’s recent line, Smirk & Laughter, has expanded their reach to a broader audience than ever with games intended to connect with players on an emotional level. smirkanddagger.com

Are Miniatures Games Dying?

The British invasion of the ’80s and ’90s with its insidious indoctrination process drew players into a vortex of spending and tournament play to the exclusion of all else. Alienated retailers and fan burnout due to power creep and large armies seemed to herald the doom of miniature gaming. Certainly, concerns of this problem persist up to the present. The rise of skirmish style games, with smaller gameboard surfaces, lower model counts, and out of box playability are a direct consequence.TheCCG explosion, sucking retailer cashflow dry and shaking up contemporary distribution was a close call to the survival of RPGs, and board and miniatures games in general. The ’90s lead lawsuits only compounded the problem for miniatures games. Interactive, story-driven video games isolationimposedpandemic-ultimatelyandtheofa hobby based on human opponents have all been called portents of the end times. But the evolution has continued. Hybrid miniatures/boardgames are an evolutionary adaptation. Classics Heroquest, Battletech, and Space Hulk are past hybrid games, easy to set up and start, good gateway games into the larger hobby. More modern games such as Zombicide, Descent, Imperial Assault, Gloomhaven and Warhammer Quest, with their soloplay mode, further this evolution, offering a mix of markers and standees to support or supplant miniatures. Clearly tabletop miniatures games are healthy and evolving, with much to offer everyone, even a grognard…

56 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

Well, we’ve all heard that question before. In the late ’70s, I can remember the historical gamer grognards at the local hobby/train shop bemoaning the oncoming extinction of “proper gaming” at the hands of these new roleplaying gamers and their need for a few fantasy miniatures. I snickered quietly to myself as I carted my polybagged unlicensed Balrog and skeletons to the till. Even then I wondered how the demon and its minions would fare against the diecast Tiger tanks in the counter display. I wondered how one could create that fight on the gaming table.

Tabletop

The further evolution of the hybrid system adds more roleplaying and deeper story development. One of the first games to take full advantage of this, as well as addressing age-old complaints about setup time and game footprint, is Escape from Stalingrad Z by Raybox Games. Escape from Stalingrad Z links together elements of RPGs, tactical wargaming and the choosyour-own-adventure style of play for the firstThtime.egame is designed for 1-3 players with a very short setup time and small footprint as the player games directly on the 100-page scenario book. Escape from Stalingrad Z is the first game in the Zombie Tango Oscar series (shipping November 2022). The second release will be Escape from Projekt Riese, slated for an early 2023 launch. Distribution in the US will be by Bridge Distribution, and we have distro already lined up for the UK, EU and Australasia.

rayboxgames.com

Undaunted: Stalingrad from Bloomsbury Publishing is a monumental standalone game that expands the series’ scope and challenge beyond anything that’s come before. Featuring more than briefingsMacDonaldillustrations300byRolandand150missionwrittenbyacclaimedauthorRobbieMacNiven,thatgameallowsyoutoimmerseyourselfinacampaignattheheartofthewar. ospreypublishing.com/undauntedstalingrad

58 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom from Lucky Duck is the standalone solo or two-player follow-up to It’s a Wonderful World. Split, trap, and bluff your way to victory in this high player interaction game of drafting and engine building. a-wonderful-kingdomcom/games/304-it’s-luckyduckgames. Level up your RPG experience with Game 50010CompanionMasterATfrom Arcane Tinmen. Stash and transport hordes of monsters while you conceal devious plans behind your GM screen! The Dragon Shield Game Master Companion is a two-in-one game master screen and storage/transport solution for TTRPG game masters. Bring everything you need for game night in one convenient box. dragonshield.com/roleplaying

Munchkin Babies 2 – Stork Naked from Steve Jackson Games will give you that newborn feeling again, without any labor on your part! Add this 56-card expansion to your Munchkin Babies game – or any fantasy Munchkin game. It’s all Developmentally Appropriate, and after all that fighting, the babies will surely Sleep Through the Night. retailers@sjgames.com

Welcome to Upper Deck’s newest Legendary expansion, Legendary Black Panther! T’Challa, the rightful king of Wakanda and world-famous Avenger is leading the Wakandan royal family and their incredible allies into the world of Legendary. This 100-card expansion includes new Schemes and skill-testing Keywords for a whole new game experience Wakanda Forever! black-panther.htmlupperdeckstore.com/legendary-

Kamigami Battles from Japanime Games is back with a Lovecraft twist! Enjoy the new base game and its 2 expansions of our Kamigami Battles Series, a deck building card game where players take the role of mighty gods from the various mythologies of world cultures, and recruit disciples and warriors to serve and fight for them. With this Lovecraftian block - the base game Kamigami Battles: Rise of the Old Ones and the expansions Kamigami Battles: The Stars are Right and Kamigami Battles: Into the Dreamlands - which add exciting new elements in the form of elder gods, great old ones, lovecraftian cultists and mystic artifacts! MSRPJPG639/640/641$39.95/$19.95

Cat In The Box: Deluxe Edition from Bezier Games is the quintessential quantum trick-taking card game for 2-5 cool cats. Your card’s color isn’t defined until you play it! Hypothesize how many tricks you will win, place your bid, and then play oh-so-carefully to prevent a CATastrophic paradox! the-box-deluxe-editionbeziergames.com/collections/all-games/products/cat-in-

MORE NEW PRODUCTS

Redrum from Turbo Dork is a dark red metallic acrylic paint that will make your gray world colorful. Use it over a red basecoat to make a beautiful cherry red, or use over black to make your paint job deep, dark and evil. info@turbodork.com to order directly; GTS and PHD for distributionHoney Buzz: Fall Flavors from Elf Creek Games is an expansion that introduces five new modules for Honey Buzz. Mix and match to add these modules to the game in any combination. Fall has arrived in Sweetwater Grove and winter is just around the corner. The Queen Bee has given her worker bees new responsibilities to prepare! comanja@elfcreekgames.

In Kites from Floodgate, everyone works together to keep all their kites –represented by colorful sand timers – in the air. Take turns playing cards, flipping the matching sand timers, and hectically coordinating with other the players. If a timer runs out, a kite has crashed! Play all of the kite cards in the deck to win as a Floodgate.Games/Kitesgroup. SalesFloodgateGames.comRich@ on pages 39 and 48

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The SPILL from Smirk & Dagger features a crippled oil rig that threatens the coastline. Can you and your team contain the spill, remove what oil you can from the waters and save the sea life? Featuring a unique 4-way dice tower, 64 dice, 8 asymmetric characters and variable difficulty and win conditions. Street date: 8/31/22. smirkanddagger@gmail.com

Enter the chaotic economic world of modern Orcs! Orconomics from Ares Games is an economic game with a peculiar setting, where players compete to establish companies in 10 industrial sectors. They will create startups and develop them to become proper corporations, or they can get a presence in an industry by winning auctions. aresgames.eu

By Nathan Meunier, North American Marketing

Galaxy Trucker: Keep on Trucking Releases: Gen Con 2022 Link: cge.as/gt2-bgg Do you fancy yourself a hardcore Galaxy Trucker? Have you mastered the basics and crave a wilder experience? Amazing! Keep on Trucking is for you. This expansion adds in loads of content to make your treks even more delightfully chaotic and fun. From shipboards that provide challenging new layouts to explore and harder adventure cards to defend against, and from new cyan aliens with special abilities to new tiles to incorporate into your builds – there’s a lot of modular content here for making your Galaxy Trucker experience even more intense and satisfying.

Deal with the Devil Releases: Essen Spiel 2022 Link: cge.as/dwdbgg Deal with the Devil – from Matúš Kotry, the designer of Alchemists – is a deeply thematic euro-style game for 4 players (yes EXACTLY 4 players), set in a fantasy medieval era. As rival rulers of the realm, players are competing to build the grandest city possible with limited resources. Each has a hidden role, however, which shapes their objectives, capabilities, and scoring strategies on the throne from game to game. To be a successful ruler, you need to gather resources by making smart deals in blind trades, offering the other players things they really need. Beware: one player is secretly the devil and needs to collect pieces of your soul. Selling a portion (or all) of this precious resource can gain you bountiful riches for expanding your kingdom rapidly, but it also puts you at risk of being exposed and punished by the inquisition. All of this makes for a thrillingly unique heavy euro game with dynamic rounds that keeps you guessing who-is-who, right to the climactic ending when all is revealed.

Check out CGE’s wild 2022 release lineup (Oh My!) czechgames.com

Starships, Pipes

AROUND THE

It’s been a busy year behind-the-scenes at CGE as we kick things into high gear with plans for our big summer and fall releases. Being a designer-first company, CGE is well known for iterating, testing, and tuning our games right up until launch to make them as tight and polished as possible. We’re in a unique position to be able to do that since we manufacture all our games right in the Czech Republic. In 2022, we’ve been hard at work prepping two all-new, big-box euro games and an expansion for the recently relaunched Galaxy Trucker. Each of these upcoming releases makes some bold design choices and offers a fun spin on what you’ve come to expect from CGE. So without any further ado, here’s a look at our exciting lineup for 2022!

Starship Captains Releases: Essen Spiel 2022 Link: cge.as/scbgg Settle into the captain’s chair of your very first star cruiser and get ready to embark on an exciting voyage through the depths of space in this euro-style action selection and engine building game for 2-4 players.The vibrant galaxy holds many peculiar mysteries to explore and uncover! Skillfully manage your team of cadets, ensigns, androids, and officers to make the most of their unique abilities – all while balancing essential ship roles, completing unique missions, and upgrading your ship with powerful engine-building alien technology. Do you have what it takes to deftly command your crew and become the best captain in the cosmos?

60 table • Q3 2022

Devils & Sewer

Get ready to embark on a maiden voyage through the cosmos! Explore a galaxy full of dangerous pirates and interplanetary missions, as you manage, train, and promote your crew to improve their diverse skills. Then harness the power of cool alien technology to help your crew tackle goofy missions through the stars and beyond. Do you have what it takes to deftly command your crew and become the best captain in the cosmos? Deal with the Devil is a deeply thematical euro-style game – for 4 players – set in a fantasy medieval era where players are competing to construct grand cities. To be a successful ruler, you need resources. To get resources, you need to make smart deals, o ering the other players things they really need. One of the players is secretly the devil and really needs a piece of your soul. All identities and trades are kept secret, thanks to the simple app, and nobody really knows who is who. WILL YOU SELL YOUR SOUL TO BUILD THE GREATEST CITY EVER KNOWN? HAILING ALL STARSHIP CAPTAINS! cge.as/scbgg cge.as/dwdbgg Time: 120 MINPlayers:4Age: 14+ COMING SOON FROM CGE – Q4 2022 Players:2–4Age: 12+ Time: 25 / MIN

Based on feedback from attendees and exhibitors about EXPO’s schedule, we adjusted the exhibit hall hour to make the show more manageable for everyone. The hall will still be open for same number of hours, but instead of one short day and one long day, we’ve split the program over three days at four hours each. This necessitated some adjustments to our normal seminar schedule as well, but it still allows for nearly 200 hours of seminars and workshops spread over four days.

62 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 GAMA news GAMA EXPO UPDATE Save the date for GAMA EXPO 2023! April 24-27, 2023 @ The Peppermill Reno EXPO Schedule Changes

Our staff are working with the Retail Voting Membership Group Officers and publisher members to create the 2022 Wishlist. Products on the list will be available via both direct avenues and from our Distributor members. The list will be available by the end of September on our website at ordering-guides.https://www.gama.org/page/

• Retailer to Retailer

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Seminar Tracks

The Winter Wishlist is back!

• General Industry We welcome first time presenters, as well as seasoned GAMA EXPO facilitators. EXPO presenters will receive a hotel credit of $99 added to their room account for each presentation they do, up to two credits per person. Please note that the room credit is for those making solo presentations, not group or panel presentations. Sponsored presentations are also not including in this promotion. Presentation hotel credits may be stacked with Retailer’s “Book A Night, Get A Night Promo” for a maximum of four total hotel night credits. Presenters will be recognized in the online and onsite programs, as well as be invited to a reception during the show to thank you for contribution in helping 2023 GAMA EXPO be GAMAsuccessful.hasresources and training sessions planned for presenters to help prepare for speaking at EXPO. Details coming soon! If you have any questions about being part of the seminar tracks, please contact Dawn Studebaker at dstudebaker@gama.org.Presenterapplications can be submitted on our website at: gama.org/page/seminar-applicationhttps://www.

Badge registration for GAMA EXPO 2023 will open on November 1. Each voting company receives two (2) complimentary badges to the show. Additional badges are $100. You must be an active member of GAMA to register and attend EXPO.

One of the best features of GAMA EXPO is the peer led seminars and workshops. Members sharing with others in the industry with the goal of raising everyone up. But to make this happen we need individuals such as yourself to step forward to share your knowledge and experiences or to let us know what type of classes you would like to see at the trade show.Seminars may be offered in a number of formats such as presentations, panel discussions, Ask Me Anything, skill-based hands-on workshops and roundtables. You are welcome to submit a topic in any of these formats that best fits your style and type of class. We are looking for topics and presentations in the following areas that align with GAMA’s membership groups:

• Creator/Designer

• E-commerce Media/Event Organizers

GAMA is very please to be offering this year’s retail ordering guide with products that are “Hot for the Holidays” and those that are “Winter/Holiday Themed”. The list is of new products released after April 30, 2022 and guaranteed delivery before November 30, 2022.

•

We have a group discounted room block at the Peppermill. The rates are available for April 22 to 29 for those that wish to arrive a little early or stay an extra night to enjoy the resort. The GAMA rate will only be available through the hotel as we do not use any third-party housing services. Any solicitation from these types of companies are scams and should be avoided. The room block will also open on November 1. Once again, we are offering our Book A Night, Get A Night Promo for retailers at GAMA EXPO. For each night booked, GAMA will pay $99 towards a second night stay, with a maximum of two nights paid towards your final hotel bill. Please note that when you reserve your room, your total bill will show that you are paying for all nights booked, but you will not be charged prior to your stay. The two additional nights covered by GAMA will be removed from your total when you check out. Details on how to qualify for this promotion will be listed on our website.Badge registration and hotel information will be available on our website on Tuesday November 1st. Please visit www.gama.org/page/gama-expo for more information.

• Publisher/Manufacturing

Badge Registration and Hotel Block

Welcome GAMA’s New Member Services

64 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 GAMA news temporaltravels.com

Membership Renewal Coming Soon

As a nonprofit trade organization, we could not operate without the support of our members. We want to thank you for your membership in the Game Manufacturers Association! Membership renewals for 2023 will be sent to the designated representative for each member company in early November. We appreciate your prompt renewal for next year so you can be part of all the cool things we have planned at GAMA EXPO, Origins Game Fair, online and regional networking events and lots of webinars and peer learning throughout the year. In addition, we are working on creating new programs for each of the six memberships groups that make up GAMA. They are creators/ designers, media & events, publishers, production, retail, and wholesale.Ifyouhave an idea of a program or service you would like to see from GAMA, please email us at ed@gama.org.

miniatures game called Kaiju Kaos. Afterwards, I partnered with Acheson Creations to manufacture all my metal and resin miniatures for Kaiju Kaos while I served as their Trade Show Manager. These experiences, and countless others, have led me to my new position as Member Services Coordinator for GAMA. From going to my first Origins in 2000 as a gamer, to attending GTS in Vegas in 2004 with Mongoose, to running events and exhibiting at shows annually, I am extremely excited to join the team at GAMA and to work with our members to strengthen the tabletop game industry that I love. I look forward to engaging with GAMA members to help them learn how they can take full advantage of their membership in the Iorganization.canbecontacted at bryan.borgman@gama.org.

Hello. My name is Bryan K. Borgman. As a child of the 80s, I grew up on shows and movies such as Star Wars, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and GI Joe. I remember the excitement of watching the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon as new episodes rolled out weekly in 1983; I proudly owned a few of the action figures from that toy line. I loved to mix and match my toys so that the valiant heroes—whether they be robot, barbarian, or soldier—could assemble to push back the forces of evil in all its forms. My first TTRPG book was the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Player’s Handbook, and it gave me not only hours of entertainment value reading it cover-to-cover numerous times, but it also provided rules and structure for stories like those that I used to produce. Other heavy hitters that I frequently played were the original editions of BattleTech and Star Wars. Little did I know back then that the original stories I was creating were forms of “world building” and that I would spend the better part of my adult life working in industries that did just that for entertainment value for people all around the world. In 2003, as Stratos, I released the OGL CyberNet Official Roleplaying Soundtrack. That album led to additional licensed soundtracks for multiple publishers in various genres. The CyberNet soundtrack also paved the way to several releasedIntheirAberrantinTeam.InfantryAmericanleadingeventuallywithstronglicenseyears;opportunitiesemploymentoverthemysoundtrackledtoapartnershipMongoosethatresultedintheirNorthMongooseDemoIlaterservedasimilarrolewithtopromoteminiaturesgames.2010,Iwroteandmyowntabletop

Coordinator!

IT’S MAGNETS!GOT

“Hey there, welcome to Mortum. I am going to run you through a 15-minute demo. At that point we will stop; likely on a cliffhanger. Are you ok with this?” (Get confirmation.)

For each of these missions, the story your prince tells will determine character count, not the number of players. For this story you need to pick three of them.”

The first two cards lay down the scenario and objective for this deck, model how to use Surveillance, and how to lay out the map of the game as well. When they get to the first choice, they will be able to go to several locations on the map. Lead them to the Farm if possible. This way can resolve in an early Raid. It is not the best option for a full game, but it does have a dramatic moment in the story and feels like a good resolution stopping point. If not, encourage them to dig deeper into the location they choose so that they have a more meaningful interaction than the front of the card. Those “entry” cards will cost time in the game and if you do not delve, you do not find out more of the seedy underbelly of the world. The most important thing is to stop at 15 minutes. They will want to continue … and they can with their new copy at home!

Note that the characters have unique abilities that correspond with tokens. Place the tokens on their cards and tell them you will explain tokens after. Recommend they pick three that have a variety of tokens. Once they have selected, move on. “You have chosen well. Coins are like money everywhere; they are for bribes and beverages. The ax is for fighting if you are attacked – not quite a defense but more along that nature. Then you have Surveillance. Just like a good PI, you are tailing and observing. See how the token matches the deck of cards. Next is Search. It’s not breaking and entering with the prince’s blessing but note that the Thief has this ability. It will usually get you an artifact or two. The last token, Raid, is the only time you are not subtle. Raid is breaking down a door, tying the suspect up and interrogating them. It may get results, but it will also burn bridges and remember: the prince does not want anyone to know who you are, so use sparingly. The story will tell you when you may do these replenishedresources“Theseactions.maybewithsleep or within the story, but there is one resource you will not get back and that is time.” Show the time tracker, how the hourglass token matches the icons in the corner of cards, and that the token must advance every time you see a new instance of that icon. Also show that after 6 p.m. (medieval curfew was rough) you will take damage that will cause penalties the next Iday.fthere is a dramatic individual in the group, have them read the story itself. If not, it is nice to have a more involved narrator and that means you, fair demoer!

Demoing Mortum, a game without a rule book for 1 to 6 players, is more of a challenge than your average game, but it is a game that benefits from having a demo. Here was how I found the most success.

HowtoDemo by Julie Ahern

“Great! Now this game has all the rules baked into the cards, there is no rule book. They are really that easy, but I am going to run you through them even faster.“You are in a medieval realm where civil war devastated the land 12 years ago. The prince, ever fearful of another uprising, knows that the hammer (his army) is not always the solution, so he has created you (the scalpel). Your job is to seek rumors of unrest, find its root and end it quietly.

66 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022

arcanewonders.com

The cards break this down in the setup one at a time. This is great at home, but have the characters, decks and time tracks (up to card 8) laid out to begin. Then the dialogue goes as follows.

68 AROUND THE table • Q3 2022 INDEX OF advertisers Company ......................... website adverstory page ad page To advertise, contact Amy Colburn at 315-789-6431 or amy@fwpi.com Issue Deadline Mailing Date Q4 September 30 November 4 A Publication by the Game Manufacturers Association AROUND THE ®www.adastragames.comAvailablethroughDistributionorDirectFromSabrestoRaptors!AvailableNOW!SellstoYourAviationEnthusiastAudienceTheOnlyJetCombatGameEndorsedbyRobertL.Shaw,authorof“FighterCombat:Tactics&Maneuver” 1985 Games 1985games.com 62 Ad Astra Games........................... adastragames.com ...............................................................68 Arcane Tinmen ApS arcanetinmen.com 44 45 Arcane Wonders arcanewonders.com 66 6, 67 Ares Games SRL .......................... aresgames.eu ....................................... 12 ...........................13 Bezier Games beziergames.com 18 19 Bloomsbury Publishing ospreygames.co.uk 40 41 Corvus Belli SL warcrow.com 46 47 CrowD Games crowdgames.us 69 Czech Games Edition czechgames.com 60 61 D-Verse Publishing LLC d-verse.com 32 33 Elf Creek Games elfcreekgames.com 20 21-23 ENHANCE Gaming enhancegaming.com 3 IFC Floodgate Games floodgategames.com 42 43 Geoffquest ................................... geoffquest.com ......................................................................10 Indie Game Studios indieboardsandcards.com 16 17 Japanime Games japanimegames.com 28 29 Lucky Duck Games luckyduckgames.com 70 BC Magpie Games magpiegames.com...............................38 36-37 Mid Level Meeple midlevelmeeple.com 50 51 MyHealthily myhealthily.com 65 Pegasus North America pegasus-web.com IBC Pine Box Entertainment pineboxentertainment.com 30 31 Raybox Games rayboxgames.com 56 57 Smirk & Dagger Games ............. smirkanddagger.com ........................... 54 ...........................55 Steve Jackson Games sjgames.com 24 25 Temporal Travels Inc c/o Registered Agent Solution ................................................... temporaltravels.com.............................................................64 Tomb Guardians Miniatures tombguardians.com 26 27 Turbo Dork, LLC turbodork.com 52 53 Upper Deck upperdeck.com 4 FC USAopoly Inc. usaopoly.com 9, 49 Van Ryder Games LLC vanrydergames.com 11

It’s easy to get caught up in the engine building in It’s a Wonderful Kingdom, but you can only win by scoring victory points! Make sure to switch gears in the later rounds to start gaining points or you’ll find yourself at the end of the game with lots of resources but very few points.

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is a competitive game of drafting and engine building for 1 or 2 players. It will appeal to fans of engine building and drafting games, highly competitive gamers, solo gamers, and fans of its predecessor, It’s a Wonderful World.

Split & trap Players take turns offering two cards from their hand to the other player. They can be offered together on one side of the board or split to place one card on each side. The other player then chooses one side of the board and takes all the cards on that side, setting them aside until the draft is complete. The second player then makes an offering, potentially adding cards to the ones offered by the first player. This exchange continues until all cards have been offered. High player interaction It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is a high-interaction game with virtually no downtime, where every decision impacts your opponent and all of their decisions affect you.By default, cards are offered face up. However, each player gets two trap tokens to use each round, which allow them to place an offered card face down. Use these strategically to trick your opponent into taking bad cards – or trick them into not taking the cards you want, so you can select them on your next turn! Plan, recycle, and build After all cards have been offered, both players choose which of their drafted cards to build, and which to recycle for immediate resources. Plan carefully; with only four rounds of play you won’t want anything to go to waste! Once you’ve made your choices, production begins. Each resource is produced in the same order every round, so with proper planning you might be able to complete a building early in Production that can then produce resources for you later in the same phase!

by Bree Goldman, Director of Marketing, Lucky Duck Games

It’s a KingdomWonderful High Interaction Drafting and Engine Building

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is the standalone solo and 2-player followup to It’s a Wonderful World. Take turns offering cards to your opponent and drafting what they have offered to you. Split your offering carefully and make strategic selections to trap your opponent. Inspired by the core mechanics of its predecessor, this new game offers more interaction, a bluff mechanism and new challenges.It’saWonderful Kingdom is designed by Frédéric Guérard and published by Lucky Duck Games and La Boîte de Jeu. The game is played using modules,

luckyduckgames.com

Don’t forget to score!

Wealth and opportunity await in space!

Adventurous companies and private investors willing to take the risk for great reward have rocketed upward to revive the mining network on the moon and asteroids. As competitive investors, players will need to choose their actions carefully to try to earn the most CrypCoin. Invest mined resources in companies and spread outposts from the stations across the Moon to increase their value and rake in the profit. Support the research of scientists to boost earnings even further. Featuring a double-sided game board and variable gameplay content, this strategic game for 1-4 players will bring an exciting new challenge to game night!

12+1-4 75-150