Quinns: Hey everyone! Quick bit of business. Next week Matt and I will be flying to Philadelphia for PAX Unplugged, the first table game-focused convention from the Penny Arcade Expo people, and we’ve got all sorts of events where you can catch us.
On Friday I’ll be teaching a room full of people to come and play Flamme Rouge and Mysterium in what’s being called “a game night in a can”. Matt’s got his own event teaching Sheriff of Nottingham and Ethnos. On Saturday we’ve got a live podcast and we’re hosting a big fan meetup, so you should totally come to both of those. Finally, we’ve got an autograph session on the Sunday. We’ll also have a merch booth up and running for the whole con where we’ll be hanging out if we’re at a loose end.
Are you reading this with a frown on your face? Would you have totally bought a ticket if you knew we’d be attending? We’ve got good news! PAX Unplugged has given us 10 three day passes to gift to our audience, so if you want to come join the fun in Philly just email [email protected] with your full name and email address and we’ll hook you up.
All the tickets have been given out. See you guys there!
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Paul: Dear Readers, did you know that Games News is the exact opposite of the Battle of Hastings? It’s true. Rather than fearing the invading Norman (news) hordes, we beckon them onto our beaches, wave them toward us and are delighted when they fire new games right into our eyes.
How else can we find out about such fine titles as A Handful of Stars?
A mere 700 days later and IT’S HERE! Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 is the sequel to our game of 2015, Pandemic Legacy, and it’s even more ambitious than the first game. Not only is this box heavier and more expensive, it tells a far more complicated story.
But what do we think? Has the lightning of genius smote this particular property once again? Or does Season 2 feel like a difficult second album?
If we were you, we’d take a deep breath, click play and find out.
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Quinns: Matt, are you ready to review the Rise of the Empire expansion for Star Wars™: Rebellion? To bring everyone up to speed, Rebellion is a grand 2-4 player game set in the Star Wars universe. I reviewed it and said it was fun, but I couldn’t quite recommend it. The review did have a really nice hologram effect, though. You should check it out.
What does the expansion add? Well, let me just quote the press materials: “Rise of the Empire isn’t just inspired by Rogue One; it follows the movie’s example, adding new depth and story to the Rebellion game experience just as seamlessly as Rogue One provided new insight into the Galactic Civil War presented in the original Star Wars trilogy.”
Matt: I just did a big vomit out of a window. In Real-World Terms™ it’s an expansion that adds quite a bunch of stuff: new leader characters, new cards, a whole new combat system, more unit types and plastic figures, and a brand new planet: EWOK-HOTH, HOME OF THE CHILLYBEARS.
Paul: This week’s Games News speeds toward us with all the speed and power of a hovercraft. You know why a hovercraft is the most powerful of vehicles? Because it can cross both land AND water. Like a frog. But much bigger. A giant frog. Once again HUMANITY TRUMPS NATURE.
Quinns: OK, first off, a hovercraft is just a poor man’s ekranoplan. But speaking of plans, can we talk a bit about Vital Lacerda’s Escape Plan, which has been confirmed as a 2018 release?
Paul: Ooh, ok! Heist games have been doing rather well at Shut Up & Sit Down this year (we’ve all become big fans of Burgle Bros and Blades in the Dark), so it’s easy to see why you’d be so excited about Lacerda’s latest, which is all about a team of bank robbers trying to get out of town. What’s the best way to get out of town? Put the police on someone else’s tail.
Our 66th ever podcast has been removed, hot & crispy, from the aging oven of our minds! In this instalment Matt, Paul and Quinns try and unpick all of the games they played at SHUX 2017. That means chat about Shifty Eyed Spies, Bargain Quest, Hanamikoji, Edge of Darkness, Space Base, When I Dream and Quinns getting a bit aggressive about Meeple Circus (again). We also preview the upcoming expansions for Inis and Lords of Vegas, which we had literally no idea were going to be playable at our own event. Finally, we can’t resist closing the podcast with a tease of the gigantic reviews we’re all working on right now. Quinns is playing Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, Matt’s enjoying Gloomhaven, and Paul’s about to crack open his copy of Charterstone. It’s going to be a fun end to the year, everybody!
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Paul: Matt! Welcome to the Games News Office! I can’t believe it’s your first time here!
Matt: Paul, this is just a bin with a laptop and-
Paul: Uh, what’s that? You’re also excited about the Pandemic Legacy Season 2 trailer? And it’s official release date being so near?
This week’s video is a playthrough of the outrageously silly and frustrating Meeple Circus -a game so hot and squeaky-fresh that it isn’t actually available yet. Sorry. (If you want to read more, Paul recently tried and enjoyed it at SHUX). But if you’ll just put that goat and plank down for a moment – look at who we’ve got with us in this flipping video?
Assembling an incredible sort of UK board game supergroup/cabal, this video features guest appearances from Jon Purkis (aka Actualol) as well as Efka and Elaine! (No Pun Included). For the inititated, we’d love to point you towards Jon’s song about Pandemic Legacy, and NoPunIncluded’s review of Great Western Trail – if only for the shocking revelation that cows are no longer required for fresh milk.
But do go and poke around! Both channels do great stuff, and it’s worth noting that just last month Actualol popped onto Patreon. Finally, special apologies to Efka – Matt got a bit too involved in the game and literally wasn’t a proficient cameraman. Everyone else: enjoy!
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Paul: The aliens are coming. Aggressively advancing, ever encroaching, nothing seems to stop their dreadful descent. The sunlight shines off their silver spacecraft as they pierce the heavens and prepare to bring down so much death and destruction onto the city below.
You and your friends are all that stand in their way. Together, you will use a small flight of fighters and the most precise cardboard-flipping skills the galaxy has ever seen to win the hour. You will flip them round the moons. You will flip them in low orbit. You will flip them in the atmosphere. You will never surrender.
Or you’ll flick a state-of-the-art starfighter straight across the room and lose it behind the sofa. Who’s to say?
Paul: Phew! What a week it’s been, eh? Did you catch those sports? The local news about the animal that did the thing? Gee whiz! Or the town gossip about Ol’ Uncle Bobbins and his brand new motor-car? Life sure moves fast these days!
Me? Oh, I don’t have much to share. Just this lil wee board game called Cosmogenesis, where you get to be a star.