This week, there are 9 new projects hitting crowdfunding platforms. Two of my favourite games have expansions now live, and that will make this week an expensive one. Both Merchants of Magick & The Night Cage have my seal of approval and have become important parts of our family collection; the new expansions look amazing and add a whole lot more to already outstanding games.
As always, remember, back with your head, not your heart and most importantly, love your games.
The townsfolk are restless and fearful of diabolical creatures threatening the realm. Which means demand for enchanted items, weapons, and armor is at an all time high in the kingdom! A perfect time for a shrewd Merchant to open up a shop and profit off of the frightened townsfolk and mighty warriors arriving to fend off monsters at the Queen’s behest.
Dangerous Business is the first expansion to Merchants of Magick, the acclaimed crunchy roll and write game of magical item crafting set in the fantasy world of Set a Watch. Dangerous Business includes a variety of new expansion modules to add new elements to the game. Choose from a variety of new Sponsored Adventurers and equip them to slay monsters or square off against a new Traveling Merchant solo mode.
"You awake in the dark with nothing but a candle and… have you done this before? The déjà vu is less troubling than the change it implies. Was the ground always this unstable around you? When the tunnels crumbled into pits, did they always scream? And why does it feel like those screams are getting closer?"
The Shrieking Hollow is an expansion that adds a new threat and a new space to explore within The Night Cage. A copy of The Night Cage base game is required to play. Pits now connect Prisoners to the Hollow, where The Other lies in wait. Over the course of play, The Other will rise up out of the Hollow and attack the Prisoners, destroying any part of the maze it encounters.
If the Prisoners are brave, they can leap into a Pit and fall to the bottom of the Hollow where the dim light of their candles will hold its advance, temporarily. However, they can’t hold it back forever, and Prisoners that stay too close to The Other will be attacked when it lurches toward the flickering light it despises.
If you are looking to increase the dread and horror of the original game, The Shrieking Hollow is for you.
Freyja, the Norse goddess of fertility, joins Thor in Asgaard for a wedding along with all the proven warriors from Grimheim. You’re not one of them. Loki, the trickster god, sees his chance to destroy Freyja’s sacred well in Grimheim. Soon, monsters appear from all directions, advancing towards the small village where you are now the only defenders left. The fate of Grimheim is in your hands.
Fate is a cooperative game for 1-4 players who take the roles of talented but unexperienced heroes. Together, they defend Freyja’s well against trolls, the dead, and the fire horde monsters approaching from all sides of the game board. Kill monsters to gain experience and upgrade your hero, solve quests to discover weapons and equipment, and stand shoulder to shoulder with your friends against the mighty monsters of Norse mythology.
Gnomes and Wizards is a fantasy-themed skirmish game where players assume the role of a unique tribe of either gnomes or wizards. The object of the game is for a player or team to have the most points at the end of 10 rounds. These points are mostly gained by defeating enemy units. Each tribe has multiple units that can be summoned onto the board to be used in combat. These units have unique abilities that can be charged and cast with the use of the resource called Power Crystals. As more units come out onto the field, players will roll additional dice to increase their base stats and other core actions. Half-way through the game, the ground becomes unstable and starts to collapse in on itself. At this point, players will start their turn by flipping two tiles from the outside of the board, forcing battle into the Crystal Mines in the centre of the board. Gnomes and Wizards is a game that is easy to learn but is hard to master and can be played with a wide variety of skill levels.
Legends of Signum II: Warseer is both a continuation of the old story, and a new game offering both new and reworked miniatures, a completely revamped economy, and a new battle mechanics system based on a hexagonal grid. Change the landscape and stun your opponent with brilliant tactics. Unleash new devastating magic upon the enemy’s forces. Empower your economy to overwhelm your foe and strangle your opponent for resources. Be clever, deceitful, and predict your foe.
One of the fundamental changes implemented in Legends of Signum II: Warseer is the introduction of the Hexagon Grid.
In the previous versions of Signum players had to use various in-game rulers to measure distances. Now all units are placed in special hexagon tiles with each tile having its own landscape feature and effects. Aside from the undisputed fact that the hexagon is the bestagon, this immensely simplifies measuring movement and shooting range, and gives the game a much more organic and intuitive feel.
Combat mechanics have been simplified and made more straightforward.
All units are now available in your camp at the start of the game and can be brought out into the battlefield as needed. While in past, players would get their cards at random, you can now properly plan out your strategy and move to counter the enemy. In addition, only the attacking player has to roll dice now. This has removed an element many considered redundant, simplifying gameplay considerably.
The economy has been completely revamped, changing the way profit is accumulated and making tactic cards free.
Whereas in the previous versions of Signum, profit per turn was always a fixed amount, now your destroyed and used cards increase your income, making the game even more dynamic and intense as it progresses. Your tactic cards are now free, and the enemy won’t be able to find out what you’ve prepared, adding an additional layer of tension to the gameplay.
Win or Die stands as a fantastical multiplayer strategic board game; its core mechanic akin to the classic game of Stratego. Players engage in battles with a fog of war, attacking and deploying skills without prior knowledge of their opponent's forces. Through this dynamic, they unveil the opposing army's formations and lay them to ruin.
Forged by the fires of Roman oppression, young Locusta of Gaul becomes a master poisoner, hellbent on revenge. When the conniving Roman elite offer Locusta a chance to kill Emperor Claudius, they unwittingly let loose a force that could bring down the foundations of the Empire itself. From the shadows rises a sisterhood of deadly assassins: the House of Poison.
99 Ninja is a two player competitive tile laying game, where players use transparent cards depicting ninja from 3 different clans to surround (and assassinate) daimyo. Like other games from Prometheus Game Labs there is a lot of tactical play – you will have to time your placement and outmanoeuvre, but also out think, your opponent! And yes, there are 99 ninja on the cards. We counted.
One Card Maze is a maze that twists and turns around a single card. Travel through the maze by rotating and flipping the card to unlock doors. As you do the maze will continue to look different in changing orientations. Getting lost is all part of the game!