Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! The 2017 Toy Hall of Fame inductees announced, WizKids developing Magic: The Gathering licensed products, Talisman returns to Asmodee (sort of), Cards Against Humanity gets political, industry business news, and more!
The National Museum of Play announced their 2017 inductees for the Toy Hall of Fame. Clue (or Cluedo in the UK), the classic mystery board game, was the only game inducted this year. The other two inductees were the paper airplane and the Wiffle Ball. The games Risk and Uno were nominated but not inducted, along with My Little Pony, Transformers, PEZ Candy Dispenser, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox Cars, play food, and sand. The announcement had this to say about Clue:
WizKids announced an expansion of their license with Wizards of the Coast to include Magic: The Gathering. The license includes board games and miniatures, similar to the current license for Dungeons & Dragons. As part of the announcement, WizKids stated they will launch a new line of pre-painted miniatures for use as tokens. A board game was also announced, but few details provided: “Players will play as Planeswalkers, exploring the landscape of Dominaria as they establish connections to their mana sources, gathering power before their opponents do and building their hand of spell cards.” WizKids did not announce a release date for the board game, but did state that the first of the miniature line will be available in Fall of 2018.
A deal has been signed between Nomad Games and Asmodee Digital to continue development on Talisman: Digital Edition. While the board game version from Fantasy Flight (an Asmodee subsidiary) has been out of print since the end of the license with Games Workshop, the video game version of the game has still been available and this deal with the new video game development arm of Asmodee will continue previous development efforts since the game launched in 2013. In anticipation of the new deal, Nomad Games launched a season pass offering for the Talisman: Digital Edition which includes the ten previous expansions to the game as well as future expansions including The Woodland, The Harbinger, The Cataclysm, and new characters including the Samurai.
Cards Against Humanity announced and quickly sold out of this year’s holiday promotion, Cards Against Humanity Saves America. This is the latest in a long line of special promotions for Cards Against Humanity where a limited number could make a purchase blind and receive separate packages with exclusive expansions to Cards Against Humanity, collectible items, or just random junk. Usually included with these promotions was one big surprise that came later, including a portion of a private island, a timeshare where purchasers gained ownership (with included title) of a castle for a few minutes each, and an entire week’s paid vacation for the workers of the factory that prints Cards Against Humanity (as they did not have “paid vacations”, CAH just paid for the entire factor’s production time for a week to do nothing so everyone could receive their normal wages but didn’t have to work). This year’s stunt is the purchase of a portion of land on the border between the United States and Mexico and the retainer of a lawyer specializing in eminent domain in order to prevent the border wall between the two countries from being built. The promotion sold out in about a day.
Wizard World, one of the largest commercial convention organizers in the United States, isn’t looking very good shape. Last year, they received an influx of $2.5 million in capital, but it seems they’ve blown through that funding and have an operating loss just for the first three quarters of this year of $4.45 million. According to ICv2, the quarterly report included a disclosure that "...there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern through November 2018." At the moment, Wizard World still has a total of 17 conventions announced for 2018, but that number may plunge as shows are canceled in order to lower overall costs.
In other financial news, I’ve previously reported how Mattel has been hit hard financially. According to ICv2 and the Wall Street Journal, Hasbro issued a bid to purchase Mattel. ICv2 states in their article that this purchase would “create a toy behemoth with a substantial share of the U.S. and world toy business, especially in certain categories.” Many, including Mad Money’s host Jim Cramer, report that the Toys R Us bankruptcy is the key culprit in Mattel’s situation, though others in the industry have credited Mattel not changing with the market and their loss of the Disney license to Hasbro. This deal would most likely face many regulatory hurdles, similar to a previous attempt by Mattel to buy Hasbro in 1996 which had “insurmountable” anti-trust obstacles according to Hasbro at the time.
The annual Worldbuilders fundraiser launched this week benefitting Heifer International. For every $10 donated, you’re given one entry into a raffle for a wide range of prizes from science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and more with drawings daily as well as at the end of the fundraiser. Auctions with special collectibles will also run at various points during the fundraiser with current auctions including Jim Butcher’s personal Harry Dresden Force Ring (autographed), a replica of Caesura from Wise Man’s Fear, shields from both the Stark and Lannister armies from Game of Thrones, and more. In previous years, there have also been special auctions for those looking to break into the industry such as editing services and feedback meetings with big names in the publishing industry. In addition, several teams are running special fundraisers with additional prizes and benefits as well. While not all prizes have been announced yet, it should be easy to get an idea looking at the sponsor list which includes Wizards of the Coast, Monte Cook Games, Fantasy Flight Games, Lone Shark Games, Humble Bundle, Iello, Cards Against Humanity, Mayfair Games, Paizo, Roll20, and a lot more. Also, as typical with every fundraiser, Pat will stream frequently from his Twitch channel doing Q&As and playing video games over the course of the fundraiser (disclosure: I’m a moderator for Pat’s Twitch chatroom). The fundraiser runs through December 8.
Steve Jackson Games has a second set of miniatures for Ogre, all unpainted plastic ready to play with Ogre 6th Edition and Ogre Designer’s Edition. Each set includes an Ogre Mark IV, 1 Paneuropean Fencer (with an extra turret for the Fencer-B), 6 Superheavy Tanks, 4 Mobile Howitzers, 6 GEV-PCs with three infantry each (compatible with the ones from Set 1), 12 Light Tanks, and 12 Light GEVs. A $40 pledge gets you the Ogre in red and the other units in blue (note that stretch goal unlocks are not added to this level), a $75 pledge adds on the same units in reverse color and another set all in green, and a $140 pledge gets you two of each set color. This Kickstarter is fully funded with several stretch goals (and additional miniatures) unlocked and runs until Monday, November 27.
Pinheads is crowdfunding a line of lapel pins in the shape of polyhedral dice. These 2D pins come in two backing options (traditional pin and magnet) and multiple colors (red, black, blue, pink, purple, and green) with the additional option of “rainbow” (a multicolor set). While they aren’t usable as dice themselves since they’re flat images, they’re a neat way to customize your bag or jacket. Each set mimics the full set of dice, getting you a D4, D6, D8, 2D10, D12, and D20. A pledge of $25 gets you one set in your color of choice and backing, $50 gets two sets, $75 for three, $100 for five, and $125 for all seven (one in each color plus one multicolor rainbow set). This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Tuesday, December 12. “Pinheads”…now I’ve got a Ramones song stuck in my head.
War Room is a World War II board game for 2-6 players from designer Larry Harris. The game focuses on military control and asset management as you try to build up your army, trade with neutral nations, and stop your enemy from taking over the world. The players are split into two teams, the Axis and the Allies (which may sound familiar as Harris is the designer of Axis & Allies), with each player taking on the role of one country on either side: Germany, Japan, and Italy on the Axis and USSR, United Kingdom, United States, and China on the Allied side. The game is available for a $149 pledge and other pledge levels are available for add-ons and other components (the core game itself advertises over 1000 individual components alone). This Kickstarter has almost doubled its $150,000 goal and is still unlocking more stretch goals until it funds on Friday, December 8.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse I’ve been complaining that Dragon Age Origins tried to melt my processor and I don’t know how it’s a nine-year-old game and I can run Fallout 4 in 4K why is this game so processor-intensive?!, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and Let’s Plays, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon, Humble Store, Humble Bundle, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
The National Museum of Play announced their 2017 inductees for the Toy Hall of Fame. Clue (or Cluedo in the UK), the classic mystery board game, was the only game inducted this year. The other two inductees were the paper airplane and the Wiffle Ball. The games Risk and Uno were nominated but not inducted, along with My Little Pony, Transformers, PEZ Candy Dispenser, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox Cars, play food, and sand. The announcement had this to say about Clue:
A British couple designed Clue during World War II and based it on the murder-mystery dinner parties popular around that time. They patented the game in 1944 and successfully pitched it to Waddington Games, but material shortages kept it out of production for several years. Then, in 1949, Waddingtons released it under the name “Cluedo.” Gaming giant Parker Brothers purchased the rights and released it in America under the name “Clue” shortly thereafter. The game—in which players must deduce with available evidence the murderer of the luckless Mr. Boddy—became a quick success. It remains one of the top 10 best-selling games of all time.
Says Curator Nicolas Ricketts, “Millions of Clue games are sold each year—including a junior version, as well as travel, advanced, collectors, and themed editions. Clue has also had its own movie, been featured in numerous television and books, and remains an icon of pop culture.”
Says Curator Nicolas Ricketts, “Millions of Clue games are sold each year—including a junior version, as well as travel, advanced, collectors, and themed editions. Clue has also had its own movie, been featured in numerous television and books, and remains an icon of pop culture.”
WizKids announced an expansion of their license with Wizards of the Coast to include Magic: The Gathering. The license includes board games and miniatures, similar to the current license for Dungeons & Dragons. As part of the announcement, WizKids stated they will launch a new line of pre-painted miniatures for use as tokens. A board game was also announced, but few details provided: “Players will play as Planeswalkers, exploring the landscape of Dominaria as they establish connections to their mana sources, gathering power before their opponents do and building their hand of spell cards.” WizKids did not announce a release date for the board game, but did state that the first of the miniature line will be available in Fall of 2018.
A deal has been signed between Nomad Games and Asmodee Digital to continue development on Talisman: Digital Edition. While the board game version from Fantasy Flight (an Asmodee subsidiary) has been out of print since the end of the license with Games Workshop, the video game version of the game has still been available and this deal with the new video game development arm of Asmodee will continue previous development efforts since the game launched in 2013. In anticipation of the new deal, Nomad Games launched a season pass offering for the Talisman: Digital Edition which includes the ten previous expansions to the game as well as future expansions including The Woodland, The Harbinger, The Cataclysm, and new characters including the Samurai.
Cards Against Humanity announced and quickly sold out of this year’s holiday promotion, Cards Against Humanity Saves America. This is the latest in a long line of special promotions for Cards Against Humanity where a limited number could make a purchase blind and receive separate packages with exclusive expansions to Cards Against Humanity, collectible items, or just random junk. Usually included with these promotions was one big surprise that came later, including a portion of a private island, a timeshare where purchasers gained ownership (with included title) of a castle for a few minutes each, and an entire week’s paid vacation for the workers of the factory that prints Cards Against Humanity (as they did not have “paid vacations”, CAH just paid for the entire factor’s production time for a week to do nothing so everyone could receive their normal wages but didn’t have to work). This year’s stunt is the purchase of a portion of land on the border between the United States and Mexico and the retainer of a lawyer specializing in eminent domain in order to prevent the border wall between the two countries from being built. The promotion sold out in about a day.
Wizard World, one of the largest commercial convention organizers in the United States, isn’t looking very good shape. Last year, they received an influx of $2.5 million in capital, but it seems they’ve blown through that funding and have an operating loss just for the first three quarters of this year of $4.45 million. According to ICv2, the quarterly report included a disclosure that "...there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern through November 2018." At the moment, Wizard World still has a total of 17 conventions announced for 2018, but that number may plunge as shows are canceled in order to lower overall costs.
In other financial news, I’ve previously reported how Mattel has been hit hard financially. According to ICv2 and the Wall Street Journal, Hasbro issued a bid to purchase Mattel. ICv2 states in their article that this purchase would “create a toy behemoth with a substantial share of the U.S. and world toy business, especially in certain categories.” Many, including Mad Money’s host Jim Cramer, report that the Toys R Us bankruptcy is the key culprit in Mattel’s situation, though others in the industry have credited Mattel not changing with the market and their loss of the Disney license to Hasbro. This deal would most likely face many regulatory hurdles, similar to a previous attempt by Mattel to buy Hasbro in 1996 which had “insurmountable” anti-trust obstacles according to Hasbro at the time.
The annual Worldbuilders fundraiser launched this week benefitting Heifer International. For every $10 donated, you’re given one entry into a raffle for a wide range of prizes from science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and more with drawings daily as well as at the end of the fundraiser. Auctions with special collectibles will also run at various points during the fundraiser with current auctions including Jim Butcher’s personal Harry Dresden Force Ring (autographed), a replica of Caesura from Wise Man’s Fear, shields from both the Stark and Lannister armies from Game of Thrones, and more. In previous years, there have also been special auctions for those looking to break into the industry such as editing services and feedback meetings with big names in the publishing industry. In addition, several teams are running special fundraisers with additional prizes and benefits as well. While not all prizes have been announced yet, it should be easy to get an idea looking at the sponsor list which includes Wizards of the Coast, Monte Cook Games, Fantasy Flight Games, Lone Shark Games, Humble Bundle, Iello, Cards Against Humanity, Mayfair Games, Paizo, Roll20, and a lot more. Also, as typical with every fundraiser, Pat will stream frequently from his Twitch channel doing Q&As and playing video games over the course of the fundraiser (disclosure: I’m a moderator for Pat’s Twitch chatroom). The fundraiser runs through December 8.
Steve Jackson Games has a second set of miniatures for Ogre, all unpainted plastic ready to play with Ogre 6th Edition and Ogre Designer’s Edition. Each set includes an Ogre Mark IV, 1 Paneuropean Fencer (with an extra turret for the Fencer-B), 6 Superheavy Tanks, 4 Mobile Howitzers, 6 GEV-PCs with three infantry each (compatible with the ones from Set 1), 12 Light Tanks, and 12 Light GEVs. A $40 pledge gets you the Ogre in red and the other units in blue (note that stretch goal unlocks are not added to this level), a $75 pledge adds on the same units in reverse color and another set all in green, and a $140 pledge gets you two of each set color. This Kickstarter is fully funded with several stretch goals (and additional miniatures) unlocked and runs until Monday, November 27.
Pinheads is crowdfunding a line of lapel pins in the shape of polyhedral dice. These 2D pins come in two backing options (traditional pin and magnet) and multiple colors (red, black, blue, pink, purple, and green) with the additional option of “rainbow” (a multicolor set). While they aren’t usable as dice themselves since they’re flat images, they’re a neat way to customize your bag or jacket. Each set mimics the full set of dice, getting you a D4, D6, D8, 2D10, D12, and D20. A pledge of $25 gets you one set in your color of choice and backing, $50 gets two sets, $75 for three, $100 for five, and $125 for all seven (one in each color plus one multicolor rainbow set). This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Tuesday, December 12. “Pinheads”…now I’ve got a Ramones song stuck in my head.
War Room is a World War II board game for 2-6 players from designer Larry Harris. The game focuses on military control and asset management as you try to build up your army, trade with neutral nations, and stop your enemy from taking over the world. The players are split into two teams, the Axis and the Allies (which may sound familiar as Harris is the designer of Axis & Allies), with each player taking on the role of one country on either side: Germany, Japan, and Italy on the Axis and USSR, United Kingdom, United States, and China on the Allied side. The game is available for a $149 pledge and other pledge levels are available for add-ons and other components (the core game itself advertises over 1000 individual components alone). This Kickstarter has almost doubled its $150,000 goal and is still unlocking more stretch goals until it funds on Friday, December 8.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse I’ve been complaining that Dragon Age Origins tried to melt my processor and I don’t know how it’s a nine-year-old game and I can run Fallout 4 in 4K why is this game so processor-intensive?!, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and Let’s Plays, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon, Humble Store, Humble Bundle, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
