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New Discoveries - May 2019

Terraforming Mars: Turmoil

Another Terraforming Mars expansion, this time on Kickstarter! This expansion adds a political element to the game by the way of delegates and parties. The party in charge, which is the one with the most delegates, provides bonuses and alterations to the rules. This looks like it might be the largest expansion yet in terms of altering the base game. As a bonus, dual-layer boards are a stretch goal that has been unlocked for those who haven't yet purchased an aftermarket solution.


Space Base: Command Station

I recently played Space Base, and though it was a middling experience, I see the potential in the game and eagerly picked up the legacy expansion The Emergence of Shy Pluto. Now another expansion has been announced to up the player count and help with storing the game. Sounds like what I need since the game box was getting full!


On Mars

Another big box Vital Lacerda game - what else needs to be said if you are into heavy games? Again on Kickstarter, this one seems to take the Terraforming Mars experience and turns it up a notch. All of his games look fantastic and it's unfortunate that so far the only game I have played is Kanban, which isn't part of this line-up.


Bloodborne: The Board Game

This is the newest Kickstarter release from CMON, based on the Playstation video game of the same name. You can expect the same level of production as past CMON games with a bunch of Kickstarter Exclusives that becomes easy to get lost in. As a side note, and I might elaborate on this more in another post, CMON campaigns start off strong for me, but as the expansions and optional buys start getting released, I get overwhelmed and sometimes back out or at least reduce my pledge to the base. It generally becomes too expensive of a proposition for me.


God of War: The Card Game

And here is another Sony/CMON collaboration where they are bringing the God of War franchise into a card game format. It doesn't look like this one is going on Kickstarter, unless I am mistaken, so it might be a cheaper alternative to Bloodborne. Still, its surprising that they would select Bloodborne for a Kickstarter project over God of War, which is more recognizable but I guess might lack the depth of world-building that they can milk for stretch goals.


Die Macher

This classic game about the political system in Germany that was released over 30 years ago is now getting a reprint that looks very nice indeed. It still ranks just outside the BoardGameGeek Top 200, which is quite a feat in the age of the cult of the new. Definitely on my radar and almost in must-buy territory.


Hostage Negotiator: Career

One game that surprised me last year was Hostage Negotiator. Even though I am quite bad at this solo game, I found it quite fun even though at first glance the mechanics don't seem that inspiring and the theme might throw some people off. However, I found it to be quite the puzzle to solve. Anyway, a legacy implementation of this game has now hit Kickstarter, and even though I probably won't back it as it likely won't reach my thresholds and there are so many offerings on Kickstarter right now, I thought it was worth a mention.


Clinic: Deluxe

I have heard amazing things about this hospital simulation game that came out a few years ago, but copies were severely limited as each game was handmade. Now it is on Kickstarter in a deluxe package and I feel compelled to back it. All expansions are included and I cannot wait to see what all the fuss was about.


Silver/Silver Bullet/CABO

A trio of games by Bezier built off the mechanics created in the game CABO, with the first two  games, Silver and Silver Bullet, obviously set in the werewolf universe. In addition, Silver and Silver Bullet can be combined together. Throw in special powers and I think it should prove to be another popular filler game.



Manhattan Project: Energy Empire: Cold War

An expansion has been put up on Kickstarter for what is arguably the best game in the Manhattan Project series. I have not played Energy Empire yet, but really look forward to it. I also am confident enough in the game that I would have instantly backed the expansion if it were not for the extraordinarily high shipping fees. To Canada, the shipping is half of the cost of the game! That exceeds all thresholds I have and unfortunately I will have to wait until retail.

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