As the temperature drops, now becomes the perfect time to start hosting more game nights. Maybe start up that new campaign you’ve been thinking about. Whether you’re a forever DM or have never DM’d before, we’ve got some great games that are sure to challenge you and delight all your players.
Featured Game: Illimat
Trick-taking card game Illimat blends old school tarot imagery with an occult edge; it’s based on the music of the Decememberists and is illustrated by Carson Ellis. It released five years ago, and ever since I have never gone to any board game night without it tucked into my bag.
The second edition has just released, and besides an updated (and backwards-compatical) new edition and a second edition of the first Illimat expansion, the Crane Wife Set, Twogether Studios has also developed the False Baron’s Set, a new expansion with six new Luminary cards, each of which adds new strategies to the base game, and the Syzygy Coin, a bronze challenge coin created by Shire Post Mint. Preorder the second edition and the new set here.
New Releases: CY_BORG, Flabbergasted, Strike Out!, Swamp Troll Witch(es)
“CY_BORG is a game about climate collapse, out-of-control consumerism, the commodification of personal data, late-stage capitalism, transhumanism, and senseless violence. A fever-dream of tech, punk, and fury. Of fighting a failed future. A deck-hacking, brick-throwing upheaval of a game.”
“Flabbergasted is a rules-lite and narrative-driven tabletop RPG set in the roaring ‘20s! Comedic scenarios and light-hearted adventures are at the heart of Flabbergasted, drawing inspiration from the likes of Jeeves and Wooster and Fawlty Towers.”
“Strike Out! is a TTRPG about the Strikers, playing a non-specific sport in a high action sci-fi fantasy setting. It is the distant future. There is no war. There is no poverty or famine. There is only sports.”
“Swamp Troll Witch(es) is a gamemaster-less tabletop roleplaying game for solo journaling, epistolary play, or small group play based on the Motif framework. The game focuses on the daily lives of the troll witches, searching the swamp for potion ingredients, solving problems to collect those ingredients, brewing potions, and relaxing at the end of the day to recover from the work. At the end of the week, visit the strange night market to sell all of the potions from the week.”
Crowdfunding: A Brazen Crown, Troika!, Witch: Fated Souls
“A Brazen Crown is a lightning-fast battle card game with strong drafting options. This project has been in development for years — and we’re really proud of it. Games are incredibly fast and brutal, with dramatic swings in fortune driven by powerful card effects. Minions. Spells. Blood and silver. Straight into the action!”
“TROIKA! is a science-fantasy role-playing game where you and your cosmopolitan group of fellow travellers explore the ends of the multiverse. You will fly on mystic barges, help dying gods, solve confounding crimes, plunder dead worlds, and meet strange and wonderful people.”
“Witch: Fated Souls Second Edition is a modern, dark fantasy game where you play a witch who sold their soul to a demon for power. Your soul might be lost, but there’s still hope for redemption if you can outwit your demon! The game draws its inspiration from TV shows like: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Supernatural, and American Horror Story: Coven.”
In Other News
- Steam Forged Games’ Dark Souls: The Board Game is now available for purchase.
- The Dragonbane RPG preorder is now open.
- Liam Stevens of Toa Tabletop has identified the racist and anti-indigenous elements of a new TTRPG supplement, Mythic Polynesia.
- Sword and Key will be running a two-shot Trophy Dark stream starting December 11th.
- Scanlan Shorthalt Music, Critical Role’s record label, has released Welcome to Wildemount, the second full-length soundtrack album.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.