Welcome back to Gaming Shelf, Gizmodo’s column all about board games and tabletop roleplaying games. This time around, we’ve got some interesting news about the future of Star Wars miniature games, as well as a first look at Modiphius’ official Dune roleplaying game. Plus, a few Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to look out for.
News and Releases
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium Art Reveal
Modiphius has revealed the first piece of art from its upcoming Dune tabletop roleplaying game, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium. It’s not much on its own, but considering how long we’re going to be waiting for Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation to come out, I’ll take anything we can get. The company also announced that pre-orders will open in the second week of December.
Star Wars Miniatures Games Move to Atomic Mass
In a stunning, albeit not super surprising move, Asmodee announced that its three Star Wars miniatures games are moving from original developer Fantasy Flight Games to its dedicated miniatures games studio, Atomic Mass Games. This means Star Wars X-Wing, Star Wars Legion, and Star Wars Armada will no longer be under Fantasy Flight’s umbrella. In addition, all current and future miniatures games will be handled by Atomic Mass. It’s unclear what this means for the future of Fantasy Flight Games, which still runs popular ongoing games like Marvel Champions, Arkham Horror, and Legend of the Five Rings.
Power Rangers Deck-Building Game Pre-Order
Renegade Game Studios (along with Crowd Ox) has opened up pre-orders for the Power Rangers Deck-Building Game. The 2-4 player asymmetrical game lets players take on the role of Rangers or baddies, working to build their decks over the course of the game to generate the shards and energy they need to get more powerful cards, battle enemies, and seize the day. Power Rangers Deck-Building Game costs about $60 and is set to come out in April 2021 — but keep in mind that pre-orders are only available until December 8.
The Ratcatcher
I always love profiling unique solitary games — especially during (cough cough) the times we’re living in — and Matthew Aslin’s The Ratcatcher sounds like something worth checking out. As reported by the Gaming Gang, The Ratcatcher has one player taking on the role of a Ratcatcher trying to save the kingdom from a plague of rats hunting for the Magic Cheese. Players get to explore a randomly generated city, fighting against an AI-controlled rat horde and its powerful leaders called “Nemesis rats.” The Ratcatcher is set to come out in early 2021 and will cost around $60.
Labyrinth: Ready, Steady, Worm!
In the world of Labyrinth, all we knew about the worm was that he liked tea and knew his way around the maze like a pro, but it turns out there’s a lot more to him than that. For instance: Worm Racing. River Horse Games announced Ready, Steady, Worm, a new board game set in the world of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in which a bunch of worms race around a circular map trying to find their way to the centre. Players can use Goblin tricks to get an advantage but have to watch out for the Goblin King…who can change the entire board on a whim. Ready, Steady, Worm is set to come out sometime in 2021.
Black Friday Fun
Note: Instead of the normal crowdfunding section, this week we’re going to profile some Black Friday sales from game publishers and companies. We’re prioritising online sales and promotions because, duh, we’re in the middle of a pandemic and shouldn’t be crowding stores. But please be sure to check your nearby game shops and sellers for what they’re doing, as it’s great to support local businesses, and many are doing curbside dropoffs.
itch.io
In addition to some sales, the video game and tabletop roleplaying game sharing service is doing a special promotion where a portion of each sale goes to game developers — meaning that for 24 hours on November 27, the developers won’t have to pay a revenue sharing fee to itch.io. This means more money for the folks making the games, which is a great thing. It’s a kind gesture from a company that’s done its share of kind gestures in 2020, including the colossal Black Lives Matter collection earlier this year.
Modiphius
Modiphius has a bunch of sales for some of its biggest tabletop roleplaying games and miniatures games, up to 50% off between Friday and Monday. They include games and accessories for John Carter of Mars, Star Trek Adventures, Vampire: The Masquerade, The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms, and Fallout Wasteland Warfare. There’s also a special 80% discount being offered for Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish: Commander’s Set. The sales will be made available here later on this week.
Dungeons & Dragons
Amazon is having a big sale on Dungeons & Dragons games, guides, and sets for Black Friday. They include the introductory board game Dungeons & Dragons: Adventure Begins (which we have a review of here) and the Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebooks Gift Set — as well as a 50% discount on Heroes’ Feast: The Official D&D Cookbook, for those who might want to add a few new recipes to their holiday repertoire. Head here for more information.
Asmodee
Several board games from Fantasy Flight Games, CMON, Mayfair Games, and Z-Man Games are on sale between now and Cyber Monday in the Asmodee store, including A Game of Thrones: The Card Game and many of its expansions, Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game and many of its expansions, Bastion, Comanauts, and Monster My Neighbour. You can head here for more information.