Watch your Back: Week June 18 to 24
Yet another rainy Sunday in this autumnal June, but at least I have my games to keep me happy. And let's see if there's anything new to add to our collections.
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If you've never played either Gloomhaven or Frosthaven but have been tempted to jump in, here is your chance: both games are coming out again on June 20 on Backerkit.
Gloomhaven is getting a second, upgraded edition with new artwork, scenarios, and minis, while Frosthaven is getting a reprint. Backers will also be able to get the Gloomhaven Role Playing Game, and miniatures compatible with every game in the Gloomhaven universe.
Personal opinion: Nothing for me here. I have played - and enjoyed - one third of the scenarios in Jaws of the Lion but eventually got bored and abandoned it, so there's no reason to dive in the bigger boxes.
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If you prefer a more traditional dungeon crawler, Eldfall Chronicles is getting a standalone expansion called Northern Wind. This is a 1-4 player cooperative adventure game in which a group of heroes is fighting the invasion of Oni in their land.
It is a narrative campaign with a series of quests that you will have to go through, upgrading your characters along the way. Gameplay is based on random event cards and dice rolling. It is launching on Kickstarter on June 20.
Personal opinion: I like the setting and the looks of this game, and wouldn't mind some lightweight dice rolling fun. But let's see how much it costs first.
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Moving on to the New Tricks expansion for Dog Park: the expansion adds new dog breeds, a specialist trainer, and screen-printed tokens.
The base game is a 1-4 player competitive set collection and point-to-point movement game in which you try to get the best reputation as a dog walker. In the solo mode, you have to fulfill specific objectives while playing against two AIs. It is launching on Kickstarter on June 20.
Personal opinion: I like dogs but it seems a bit of a hassle to play solo.
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From dogs to birds: Nestlings is a 1-4 player dice placement and bidding game in which you are birds competing for priority over food in different biomes.
Players roll their dice, place them in the biome spaces along the board, and then receive the resources they managed to gain according to priority placement. The player with the most points at the end, wins. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on June 20.
Personal opinion: Bidding is not really suited to solo.
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T.D.O. Titan Defense Organisation is a 1-5 player cooperative dice placement game in which heroes fight the invasion of titans on Earth.
In each round, the acting character rolls all their dice, while other characters roll one of theirs. Dice are placed on the characters' board to perform the associated action. Then the titan takes its turn according to its action card. Players win if they manage to destroy the titan. It is launching on Gamefound on June 20.
Personal opinion: I don't see anything interesting here, it looks more like a family game.
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And the last one for today is the Bloody Business expansion for Scarface 1920. The base game is a 1-4 player worker placement and area control game in which you are trying to become the most successful mobster in Prohibition-era Chicago. In the solo mode, you are playing against the Enforcers AI.
The expansion adds new mobster characters and it won't be available in retail. The Gamefound campaign is also for the reprint of the base game and is launching on June 21.
Personal opinion: Another game I wouldn't buy for solo but seems great to play with others.
I also played and abandoned Jaws of the Lion solo. I'm now playing Frosthaven together with a friend and enjoy it that way as the setup, maintenance and teardown is involved. The dungeon gameplay is wonderful but I'm not (yet?) convinced of the whole town building part. I understand the term "lifestyle game" as it's easily going us take over a year to get somewhere in the overarching story.
Is the cover image from Eldfall? Personally, I wasn't considering this one, but now that you advertise it, I feel more curious about this game - I will check it for sure. But if it ends up as a mountain of plastic minis (as is likely), that will be an easy pass. The Fantasy setting seems appealing indeed.
By the way, Athena, you often mention an interest of sort for these big minis games (The Thinning Veil, for instance), but, apart from Senjutsu sorts, have you ever backed any in the end?
The only one I'm remotely interested in finding out more is Nestlings. I've had my eyes on it ever since I read about it on one of Zerbique's posts. I agree that bidding is not suited for solo. I'm also not a fan of dice. But this is closest to a game I would look into from the selection, so we'll see how it goes.
Zerbique told me that Escape From Project Riese (standalone sequel to Escape From Stalingrad Z) is launching on Kickstarter on June 19!