Board Game News Brief: May 17, 2017

Posted Wednesday, 17-May-2017

It’s the Kickstarter edition of the News Brief! Major publishers launch new games + a whole raft of exciting projects!

Prepared by Calvin Wong

Manhattan Project: 2 Minutes to Midnight

Countdown to Doomsday with the latest Manhattan Project game, 2 Minutes to Midnight. The Kickstarter launch (geddit, launch) has just gotten underway, so send your bombers, nuclear subs, spies, and politicians to your enemies in this worker placement game.

Heavier and deeper than previous entries in the Manhattan Project series, 2 Minutes to Midnight includes loads of mechanics and systems, including political influence, building markets, and nuclear proliferation and defense.

However at the core, the game is still an economic worker placement game with not too much take-that destruction. Gorgeous and interesting; get your spies on the case!

IUNU

From designer Todd Sanders (They Who Were 8) comes IUNU (uh-wah-noo), a game about the rise and fall of dynasties in Ancient Egypt.

True to Sander’s signature minimalist style, the game comes in regular and minimalist versions, with the latter only being ten dollars. Raise taxes, feed your people, make art, and go to war in this tiny box game for two to four pharaohs.

Card City XL is a card game city builder

SimCity zoning meets positional puzzle meets engine building eurogame, Card City XL bills itself on its looks, replayability, and customizable ruleset. Speaking of looks:

Easy to play, zero setup, and gorgeous illustrations. What more could you want? For more city building games, try Dice City, Between Two Cities, or the modern classic Suburbia.

(More) Quick Kickstarters

AEGIS: Super Combining Robot Tactics needs no further introduction, honestly.

Field (and combine!) your Assault, Evasive, Guard, Intel, and Support bots on the battlefield – merge them into bigger bots, and crush your enemies! With over 80 robots and adorable techno-anime art, let AEGIS into your heart (and cockpit).

Ursa Miner is a game about mining bears. The pun is adorable; the art moreso.

Played on a 3D landscape with bears mining out Mt Honeycomb, Ursa Miner looks like a fun, fast playing game for (nearly) all ages.

And last up we have Zombie Tsunami, a party game where you roll zombies down a city as you try to negotiate with the other brain-eaters and deduce who might be the traitor among you.

Innovative in its combination of mechanics, suitable for families and absolutely gorgeous, Zombie Tsunami looks like a real winner for those who’re looking for something light and fun in the player range.

Community Centerpiece

This week actor Becca Scott teaches us how to play Roll for the Galaxy. Warning for NSFW language.

Anyone who’s ever taught a difficult game can completely empathize with Scott’s frustrations, and the video is well produced with great moments throughout!

And that’s the News Brief! (Roll for the Galaxy is actually a good game, we promise.) For more space-themed games that are really good, check out our recommendations for Top Space Board Games in Space!

Published by BoardGamePrices.com

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