Quinns: We’ve got a very special Games News for you today. Paul is quite literally in the Yukon, but coming to us live from a satellite phone!
Can you hear us, Paul?
Paul: Quinns? This isn’t a great time. I’m up a tree at 63.9946° N, 135.4902° W. There’s a bear after me, or I THINK it’s a bear–
Quinns: Paul, the first images have come through for Pandemic Legacy!
Paul: Seriously?
Quinns: Yes! There’s a whole video trailer.
Everything about this Pandemic-but-with-the-Risk-Legacy-format excites me. The game’s theme is perfect for a legacy storyline, it’s a co-design between the original designers of both games, and when I spoke to Rob Daviau about it he talked with confidence.
Declaring “I’ll fly to Shanghai” in Pandemic and casting a card down as if it were a company credit card has always been one of my favourite things to do in any game. I can’t wait for the opportunity to do it again. It doesn’t help that I watched Contagion recently. What a brutal film!
I guess the Yukon would be a pretty good place to hang out in case of a plague, eh Paul?
Paul: It can’t be a bear. It’s calling my name. How does it know my name?
You score points for each full rotation of the spinner, assuming you don’t randomly launch the pie into your face! Et voila, harmless family fun, or Russian Roulette for the lactose intolerant.
Here’s the thing. Hasbro has announced that they’ve acquired the rights and are publishing a new edition. Which I thought was bizarre, until I realised the above video has 150,000 views and this page of pie face-related YouTube vids has about 15 million views.
In other words, a lever that pushes whip cream into your face is a bigger deal than anything we will ever achieve on SU&SD. There’s a lesson in that.
Paul: Quinns this person is getting closer, but it doesn’t sound human–
Quinns: Let’s sort this out after the News, eh?
Paul: ARE YOU SERIOUS ok look Fantasy Flight has revealed a new Starter Set for X-Wing based on the upcoming Force Awakens movie
Quinns: Actually, it’s already almost in shops! The whole thing was embargoed as part of some “Force Friday” media blitz, so we’ve got the unusual situation of FFG announcing something and it being available immediately.
Basically it’s incredibly similar to the old core set, but based on the new-fangled X-Wings and TIEs from the new movie. So in game terms they’re more expensive, have new upgrade cards and herald many more ships from the new trilogy.
Paul: FASCINATING OH god he’s getting closer
Quinns: Have you seen that popular shootstravaganza Halo is getting its own space combat game, too? The success of X-Wing seems to have caught the imagination of a few people. And look how generous that starter set is!
Some “start”, eh? Looks like a war to me! It even comes with a campaign book right out of the box.
Shame all the ships in Halo: Fleet Battles the same colour. I feel like half the people I know who are into X-Wing or Armada started because they wanted to have their favourite ship on their desk.
Paul: quinns i have to be quiet, the thing is right here
Oh my god. It’s… beautiful.
Quinns: What, Antarctica? Yeah, it is, isn’t it! This conflict-averse, Euro-style game will debut at Essen’s Spiel convention next month.
Players are all mining Antarctica for profit in a future where the earth is, by the sounds of things, FUBAR. Players can hire scientists, build research stations and develop their mining capacity, but only when the sun thaws your frozen ships, and the sun (of course) travels clockwise around the board.
I’m not a fan of the Charles Chevallier games I’ve played so far, but hey! This sure looks nice.
Paul: I can’t resist. I am going to it, quinns
Quinns: Going to what? You’re in a nosedive, Paul, pull up.
We’re BIG FANS of The Metagame here at SU&SD, and people should definitely go check out my review of this debating / conversation game if you haven’t already.
This week two expansions became available on their official site, catering to two specialist interests. A sci-fi pack full of sci-fi tropes and questions, and a Film 101 pack that does the same for movies.
The former would be a phenomenal filler game to take to conventions, don’t you think?
…Paul?
This instalment of the Games News was brought to you by Episode 7 of Lore.
