Watch Your Back: Week October 23 to 29 (Part 1)
October is a busy month with lots and lots of games coming out; we expect at least 12 new releases in the coming week, so let's take a look.
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First off, we have two games that didn't launch last week as planned and were rescheduled. 20 Strong by Chip Theory Games and Cthulhu Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown by CMON. 20 Strong is launching on October 25 on Gamefound, and Cthulhu goes live on Kickstarter on October 26. Please check last week's preview posts (Part 1 and Part 2) for more details.
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If you are familiar with The Dice Tower YouTube channel, chances are you know who Cora and Dan Hughes are. The father-daughter designer duo launched a family-friendly dungeon crawler last year, and are now coming back with an expansion: CoraQuest: Keep on Questing.
The base game is a 1-4 player cooperative adventure. The expansion allows you to level up your heroes, adds new content, and comes with campaigns and campaign rules you can apply to the base game too. It is launching on Kickstarter on October 24.
Personal opinion: I would definitely purchase this if I had children.
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Moving on to Tabriz: a 1-5 player economic game in which you are a carpet weaver in the city of Tabriz, trying to be the most successful rug merchant in the market.
Over the course of the game you receive commissions, gather resources to make the rugs and money to pay for them, and send your apprentices in the market to perform the tasks. In the solo mode, you play against an AI opponent. It is launching on Kickstarter on October 25.
Personal opinion: Nice table presence (it comes with a playmat) but solo is AI-driven.
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Then we have Aerodome: a 1-8 player hand management game of aerial fighting. Players simultaneously reveal cards for initiative, and then play cards from their hand to move their plane and perform attacks. How does the solo mode work? Who knows. We'll find out on Kickstarter on October 25.
Personal opinion: I don't see why this type of game should have a solo mode, but who am I to judge.
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Cosmoctopus is a 1-4 player hand and resource management game in which players compete in order to win the favour of the Cosmoctopus, the god of the inky realm.
On their turn, players move the octopus across a grid of tiles and take any resources they may find on the tile it lands. They may also play devotee cards which give them special abilities and try to claim octopus powers and gain tentacles. When a player gathers 8 tentacles, they win the game. In the solo mode, you are playing against the private investigator AI. It is launching on Kickstarter on October 25.
Personal opinion: This game is by the creator of PARKS which is in itself reason enough for people to check it out. Sadly, I don't see anything suited to my taste.
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The last game for this post is Destinies: Witchwood: a 1-3 player expansion for the app-driven (scan-and-play) narrative game Destinies.
In Witchwood, players compete to interact with characters and locations in each of the four scenarios included, and fulfill their destinies cards to win. If you play solo, parts of the system are modified to adapt to the experience; for example, NPCs solve their problems by themselves, thereby preventing you from finding a solution, or items you are searching for eventually disappear. It is launching on Gamefound on October 25.
Personal opinion: I never play app-based games, no matter how fun they promise to be.
I'm not interested in any of these so far. I've looked closer into 20 Strong, Cosmoctopus and CoraQuest. For games I might play with my nephew and niece, english is not the best language, so that's a pass. And for the other 2 what I saw from them didn't really fill me with any craving. Cosmoctopus is a resource management game that has an AI you actually compete against, so that's a pass. And 20 Strong still didn't persuade me that it's something I'd like to own. Though it reminded me that I might want the Pencil First Game's pocket editions of Herbaceous, Sunset over Water and soon Floriferous instead.