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Recent Board, Card, and Role-Playing Game Releases: June 4, 2015

The following is a list of board, card, and role-playing games that appear to have been released over the last few weeks (from approximately May 12 to June 4, 2015). Game release dates tend to be pretty hard to pin down so some of these games may not yet be available in all stores (especially brick and mortar ones), may not actually be released yet (sometimes games appear to have been released or had a date set but weren’t actually released), or may have come out much earlier without me knowing.

This list is in alphabetical order. If you notice I am missing a game or incorrectly have a game listed as released that hasn’t been released yet, please let me know in the comments section and I will update the post. Clicking the box art will bring you to the game’s Amazon.com page (we do make a small percentage that helps keep this blog running if you purchase something from our links and it doesn’t cost you any extra cash).

We here at Geeky Hobbies are always looking to try and review new board, card, and role-playing games so if you are involved in the production of any of these games (or any other games) and would like to see it reviewed on this blog, contact us and we’ll most likely be willing to review it.

Highlights for the last couple weeks include Elysium, Nations: The Dice Game, Penny Press, Ophir, Specter Ops, Transylvania: Curses & Traitors, Lift Off! Get Me Off This Planet!, Abracada..What?, Cacao, Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards II, Munchkin: Adventure Time 2: It’s a Dungeon Crawl!, as well as new expansions for Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, BattleLore, and Star Trek Attack Wing.

1914, Serbien Muss Sterbien (GMT Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Abracada…What? (Z-Man Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Abracada…What? is a family deduction game where players cast a spell in front of them…which only the other players can see. Using some logic and luck, players must determine which spells to use against their opponents and avoid saying the wrong magic words too many times. The game currently has a solid 6.7 on Board Game Geek and sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Android: Netrunner LCG – Chrome City Data Pack (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The third data pack in the SanSan Cycle of Android: Netrunner, Chrome City as usual adds twenty new cards (three copies of each for sixty total cards) to the game. The main focus of the data pack is a community of chromeheads who have begun turning cybernetics into fashion that could make you smarter, stronger, and more resilient…or give you irreparable brain damage.

BattleLore Second Edition: Hernfar Guardians Army Pack (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Hernfar Guardians adds 25 new figures to your BattleLore game, each representing one of four new unit types (Greyhaven Battlemages, Citadel Lancers, Ironbound Automatons, and giant Siege Golems). This army pack also comes with nine additional Citadel Guard figures, new terrain tiles and scenario cards, and everything else needed to use these units in battle.

BattleLore Second Edition: Warband of Scorn Army Pack (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Like the Hernfar Guardians army pack, Warband of Scorn does pretty much the same for the Uthuk Y’llan army. Adding 28 figures of four new unit types (Barbaric Berserkers, Grotesque, Blood Sisters, and Doombringers) as well as nine additional Blood Harvester figures, this is the first expansion for the Uthuk Y’llan army.

Beyond the Rhine: The Campaign for Northwest Europe, September 1944-April 1945 (Multi-Man Publishing) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-Focusing on the World War II campaign in Northwest Europe, Beyond the Rhine is definitely one of those big, extremely long wargames. Board Game Geek has the playing time listed as 3000 minutes (50 hours) and I can see why with 3.5 day turns, a 44×66-inch map, and over 1,000 combat units. Beyond the Rhine does offer some shorter scenarios (like a 9-turn Bulge campaign) and some random events to help spice up the game though.

But Wait, There’s More!: 6th Player Expansion Pack (Toy Vault) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

But Wait, There’s More!: That’s the Best Part Expansion (Toy Vault) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The party game of improvised pitching is back with its first expansion which allows players to play cards that say things like “What happens if Grandma can’t lift it?” after the pitching player finishes their pitch. That player will have to respond with “That’s the best part!” and quickly improvise something that turns it from a negative to a positive. The expansion only comes with 40 cards but it is very cheap (just a $4.99 retail price). I haven’t played the original game but this sounds right up my alley.

Cacao (Z-Man Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Currently getting a very good 7.2 on Board Game Geek, Cacao is a tile-placement game about the cultivation and trade of cacao beans. Players play as the chief of their tribe and use their worker tiles to harvest the cacao beans on jungle tiles, sell their beans at the market, or receive water (depending on which tile they are placed next to). Once all players have used all of their worker tiles, the game ends and the player with the most gold wins.

Cardfight!! Vanguard ~ Soaring Ascent of Gale & Blossom (Bushiroad) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Chaosmos (Mirror Box Games) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-In Chaosmos, you are playing as an alien on a quest to find the most important object in the history of the Biocosm, The Ovoid. To do so, you will traverse the galaxy, explore planets, and battle your opponents to build up your hand of cards. Eventually you will find equipment that will help you locate and control The Ovoid, which you will have to protect until the moment the universe collapses (whoever holds it survives while the rest are plunged into chaos).

Clue: Doctor Who (USAopoly) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-I’m surprised a Doctor Who version of Clue didn’t already exist since they’ve done properties like The Office (why?), The Big Bang Theory (oh God, why?), and even Supernatural (okay, that one might be somewhat interesting). In Clue: Doctor Who, players are searching the Universe to rescue The Doctor and figure out which character the Daleks mind-controlled to mislead him.

Crab Stack (Blue Orange Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A wooden game where players attempt to immobilize their opponents’ crabs by landing on top of them or wash them away using the waves. Each turn, players move one of their crabs (their large crabs can move one space, medium can go two spaces, and small ones can move three) and if it lands on another crab, that crab is pinned until the crab on top of it moves away. If a player can’t move one of their crabs on their turn (they’re all pinned), they are out of the game (even if one gets uncovered later on). The last player that can actually make a move wins. Crab Stack sounds pretty simplistic (it’s obviously meant for kids) but I think it would be fun to try.

Descent Second Edition: Visions of Dawn – Hero and Monster Collection (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This collection includes ten figures that were previously only available in the first edition of Descent: Journeys in the Dark, reimagined with new sculpts and artwork. Two brand new quests are also included.

Dohdles! (Kosmos) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A reworking of the 1988 Spiel des Jahres-winning Barbarossa; Dohdles! (a portmanteau of “dough puzzle”) has players use clay to create objects (like a duck, mountain, etc.) then take turns asking each other questions about their objects or for a letter in the name of the object to try to figure out what they built. If a player gives the correct answer to a puzzle, both the creator and guesser score points. However, if everybody guesses the object or nobody does, the creator gets nothing.

Doomtown: Reloaded – Frontier Justice Saddlebag Expansion (Alderac Entertainment Group aka AEG) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Frontier Justice adds twenty one new cards (four copies of each) to Doomtown: Reloaded, a Wild West set card game where you use poker hands and card pulls to perform gunfights, cast spells, etc. in an attempt to thwart your opposition.

The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game Volume 3: The Paranet Papers (Evil Hat Productions) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A 372-page sourcebook about the Paranet organization and their war against the Red Court and the Denarians.

Dungeons & Dragons Attack Wing Releases (Wizkids Games):

Elysium (Asmodee) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-In Elysium (which is currently getting a 7.6 on Board Game Geek and ranked #729 on the site), players play as demigods trying to claim a place on Mount Olympus. To earn the favor of the Gods they must recruit heroes, acquire artifacts, and undertake quests. Elysium is a strategy game with set collecting and card drafting elements which sounds like a must-play.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards II: Rumble at Castle Tentakill (Cryptozoic Entertainment) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards II is a stand-alone game which is also 100% compatible with the original. Rumble at Castle Tentakill adds new features like creatures (delivery cards can become your pet if you roll well enough and can help you in battle), blood (slaying your opponents gives you blood points you can use to make some spells even more powerful), and reactions (certain spells now resolve even if you die before it is completed). Also, for once a Cryptozoic standee actually matters since the spells of the player holding it can increase in strength. I’ve only seen the original game played on Tabletop but it seemed fun enough.

Firefly The Game: Base Game Customizable Ship Models (Gale Force Nine) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This set includes all of the models from the base game, which have been re-mastered and produced in high detail resin. They look so cool but unfortunately I am way too cheap to add them to my game.

A Game of Thrones LCG: The Blue Is Calling Chapter Pack (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The final chapter pack in the Wardens cycle for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, The Blue Is Calling focuses on House Arryn, rulers of the Vale.

Geek Out! TableTop Limited Edition (PlayRoom Entertainment) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This limited edition version of Geek Out! bundles the original game with a mini deck of cards focusing on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop series (most likely the same ones given out on International Tabletop Day 2015).

Give Me the Brain!: Super Deluxe Edition (Cheapass Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-After a short stint with Steve Jackson Games, Give Me the Brain! is back to being published by Cheapass Games. This new super deluxe edition includes new cover art, “a slightly updated deck,” and high-quality playing cards. Give Me the Brain! was first published in 1996 as the first game in a series of fast-food zombie games. The goal of the game is to finish your work at Friedey’s for the day by emptying your hand. However, to do so you will need to have control of the one brain you and your zombie friends have to pass around.

Guardians’ Chronicles: Night Squad Expansion (IELLO) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The first of three Guardians’ Chronicles expansions released recently, Night Squad adds a new superhero team to the game. The expansion includes four new figures (Lieutenant Bigfoot, Armor, Quickshot, and Night Vigilante), cards, two double-sided trap tiles, five headlines, and five new scenarios.

Guardians’ Chronicles: Terror Trio Expansion (IELLO) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-On the other hand, this expansion introduces three new supervillain figures (Voltage, Nuke, and Iron Turtle).

Guardians’ Chronicles: True King of Atlantis Expansion (IELLO) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Finally, the last Guardians’ Chronicles expansion recently released adds some more foes to fight; Aquarion and ten of his elite troops.

Heavy Steam: Armament Pack (GreenBrier Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This armament pack comes with two pairs (right and left versions) of each weapon in the base game so you can swap your steam titan’s detachable arms to match the actual weapons you use.

Heavy Steam: Pilot Expansion (GreenBrier Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Includes 24 custom pilot cards.

HoldFast: Korea 1950-1951 (Worthington Games) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)

Lift Off! Get Me Off This Planet! (Pencil First Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A semi-cooperative “gateway” game where your goal is to save your aliens before your planet explodes. Some of the space vehicles you use to save your aliens require multiple different players to work together to get it to take off so in the early stages players are forced to work together. However, towards the end of the game it’s every man for themselves since the first player to get all their aliens to safety (or the one who saves the most aliens before the planet explodes) is the winner.

Magic the Gathering Modern Masters 2015 (Wizards of the Coast) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Modern Masters 2015 brings 249 of Magic the Gathering’s past iconic cards back into play. Many of the cards have new artwork and each pack contains a premium card, making this set perfect for draft play.

Marvel HeroClix: Ant-Man Box Set (Wizkids Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Marvel HeroClix: The Avengers Quick-Start Kit (Wizkids Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A cheap (retails for just $4.99), quick introduction to HeroClix with two specially designed characters (Captain America and Iron Man), quick rules, and map game board.

Metal Adventures (Asmodee) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-In Metal Adventures, players play as space pirates exploring the universe, negotiating alliances, and battling using their cards.

Modern War 18: Green Beret – Vietnam (Decision Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Green Beret: Vietnam is a four-to-six hour solitaire game that gives you command of a Green Beret team in the Central Highlands before and during the Vietnam War. Your job is to lead your men on a series of randomly generated missions, selecting the weapons and equipment best suited for each mission, plan their approach, etc. without causing your team to be exposed.

Monopoly: A Game of Thrones Collector’s Edition (USAopoly) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The custom tokens in this release are a White Walker, dragon egg, the three-eyed raven, the iron throne, a crown, and a direwolf.

Monopoly: Jurassic World (USAopoly) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Munchkin: Adventure Time 2: It’s a Dungeon Crawl! (USAopoly) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-90 more cards (53 door cards and 37 treasure cards) for your Adventure Time-themed Munchkin adventures. I know Munchkin is a game you either love or hate (some people hate it with a passion while for other people it’s one of their favorite games). I personally love it and Adventure Time is a cartoon I know I will love when I find some time to catch up on it.

Munchkin: Dopple Spyke Vinyl Figure (Steve Jackson Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Obviously not a game but I love both Munchkin and Funko and I know a lot of other people do as well. Now you can get a Dopply Spyke vinyl figure for your Funko collection.

My Very First Games: Bubble Bath Bunny (HABA) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Also known as Badehase, Bubble Bath Bunny is a children’s game for kids two and up which tests their ability to recognize colors and symbols in an effort to help the bunny find all his bath toys.

My Very First Games: Hungry As a Bear (HABA) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Also for ages two and up, Hungry As a Bear includes three different games your children can play. One is a memory game, another is a guessing game (where players try to guess their opponent’s favorite dish), and the final one is a dexterity game where children try to feed the bear.

Nations: The Dice Game (Asmodee) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-For those who don’t want to spend $100 or up to three hours of their time on the main Nations game, there’s now a dice game that’s half the price and can be played in about thirty minutes. Just like the original game, Nations: The Dice Game tasks each player with building the mightiest and most successful civilization they can on their respective game board. Civilian and military buildings, advisers, colonies, and wonders are all included but the buildings available to a player depend on the player’s dice rolls and resources they produced. While obviously lower rated than the original game, the dice game has a very solid 7.05 on Board Game Geek as of this post’s publication.

Noir: Black Box Edition (Level 99 Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The Black Box Edition of Noir doubles the number of suspect and innocent cards (from 25 to 50), now accommodates up to nine players, and features six game modes you can play. The original game has a pretty solid 6.8 on Board Game Geek (and is ranked just outside the top 2000).

Ophir (Terra Nova Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Players have just one goal in Ophir, to complete construction of the Temple. The Temple is built layer by layer with players’ contributions of silver and gold. However, to get these precious building materials, players must navigate the seas to collect goods that can be exchanged for coins at the market or for the favor of the Temple. Once construction of the Temple is complete, the game ends immediately.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous Base Set (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-Wrath of the Righteous adds over 500 cards and the first ever d20 to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Cards include a new set of boons for your characters to collect, new monsters and barriers, seven character classes (including the all-new arcanist, cavalier, inquisitor, and summoner classes), and a 110-card adventure deck.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous Add-On Deck (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-If the base set isn’t enough for you, this add-on deck adds 110 more cards including three new classes (bloodrager, hunter, and shaman) and allows you to play with five or six players instead of just one to four.

Pathfinder Adventure Path 93: Giantslayer Chapter 3 – Forge of the Giant God (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Forge of the Giant God is a 96-page adventure for your 7th-level Pathfinder characters which gives heroes the chance to explore the tomb of a legendary giantslayer and venture into the Mindspin Mountains while confronting multiple giants along the way.

Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Box Set III (Wizkids Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The third box set of Pathfinder miniatures includes Alahazra, Damiel, Alain, Imrijka, Balazar, and Padrig as well as six new boon cards you can use in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Andoran, Birthplace of Freedom (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Pathfinder Cards: Pathfinder Society Face Cards (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)

Pathfinder Player Companion: Cohorts & Companions (Paizo Publishing) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Penny Press (Asmadi Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The theme of Penny Press is not surprisingly the newspaper industry. Players take on the roles of newspaper barons in New York City as they try to become the dominate paper in the city, sending out reporters to the top news stories of the day and laying out their front pages. The players with the best front pages score more points which increases their circulation. This looks like a really interesting game to me, the concept is unique (at least as far as I know) and the art looks great.

Pokemon TCG: Rayquaza EX Box (Pokemon USA) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This set includes a new holographic foil Rayquaza-EX card, an oversized card featuring the same Pokemon, a code that allows the card to be played online, and four booster packs.

Relic: Halls of Terra Expansion (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This expansion to Relic, a top 1000 game on Board Game Geek, adds a side board, deck of orange threat cards, affiliation tokens, three new characters, a new nemesis, and additional scenarios, missions, threat, corruption, and relic cards.

Scopa!: Gamer’s Edition (The Spiel) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Scopa! is a 400-year-old classic Italian card game played with a special 40-card deck (which removes three cards from each suit). Many games can be played using a Scopa deck but the most well-known game involves capturing cards on the table by using the cards in your hand (if the sum of the cards captured equals the value of the card played).

Sons of Anarchy: Calaveras Club Expansion (Gale Force Nine) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This expansion adds the Calaveras Club to your Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem game and allows an additional player to play (five or even six if you have the Grim Bastards expansion as well). The game comes with everything needed to add another player to the game, ten plastic figures, a clubhouse card, a player blind, 87 tokens, a custom die, and rules.

Spartacus: The Shadow of Death (Gale Force Nine) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-A new expansion for Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, The Shadow of Death adds new versions of Spartacus, Crixus, and Theokoles to the game, new gladiator models for the three, a new noble house (Magistrate Calavius), and the introduction of festivals which can alter Primus.

Specter Ops (Plaid Hat Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-This sci-fi, stealth ops game is getting some very good early reviews (an 8.01 on Board Game Geek which is good enough for a board game rank of #1224 as of this post’s publication) and is being compared to Scotland Yard (for those that don’t know, it’s one of the better games from the ’80s). I’ve written about quite a few good games I’d love to try in this post already but this might be the best of them all.

Spot It! Numbers & Shapes: Disney’s Frozen (Blue Orange Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Star Trek Attack Wing Releases (Wizkids Games):

Star Wars LCG: Evasive Maneuvers Force Pack (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Strategy and Tactics 293: 1066 – The Year of Three Battles (Decision Games) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-This game features three English battles that occurred when three different men vied for the throne way back in the year 1066.

Sylvion (Z-Man Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Sylvion is the newest Oniverse game, a family that includes top 1000-ranked Onirim and the slightly less received Urbion (which still has a solid 6.97). In this game, Ravage and his fire elementals want to burn down the grand forest of the Oniverse. One or two players play a tower defense-like game to try to stop the attackers. I absolutely love tower defense games (both video game and board game ones) and am glad to see another of them get released.

Tiger Leader (Dan Verssen Games) (Buy It On: CoolStuffInc.com)-Tiger Leader is a solitaire wargame which includes seven historical campaigns as well as a hypothetical one (Operation Sea Lion). The campaigns can be played one by one or linked together to form a huge campaign.

Tigris & Euphrates (2015 Edition) (Fantasy Flight Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Reiner Knizia’s acclaimed tile placement game is now being published by Fantasy Flight Games. This edition doesn’t appear to have anything special about it other than a fresh coat of paint for some of the mechanics, but if you don’t already have this classic, it’s now back in print.

Transylvania: Curses & Traitors (Wibai Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-An adventure and exploration game using a modular board, Transylvania: Curses & Traitors offers three different ways to win the game. You can win by solving the curse of Transylvania by finding the right combination of knowledge cards and returning to the church, becoming a monster by collecting transformation cards and killing at least half the other players, or by killing a monster as an adventurer. Transylvania: Curses & Traitors sounds a lot like Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill to me, a game I haven’t played yet but really want to.

Ukraine ’43: The Soviet Summer Offensive Against Army Group South – 2nd Edition (GMT Games) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Weiss Schwarz TCG: Kancolle Booster Box (Weiss Schwarz) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Welcome to the Dungeon (IELLO) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Welcome to the Dungeon is a micro dungeon crawler with press your luck elements for two to four players. Players basically dare one another to go into the dungeon with less and less equipment while filling the dungeon with monsters. If a player wins two rounds they win the game, if they lose two rounds they are out of the game. Welcome to the Dungeon is yet another game released in the last month that sounds pretty fun.

XenoShyft Onslaught Core Box Game (Cool Mini or Not) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-Despite being made by Cool Mini or Not, XenoShyft Onslaught is not a miniatures game. Instead, this is a card game where one to four players defend their base from aliens.

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Crossed Souls Booster Box (Konami) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)-The latest Yu-Gi-Oh! set adds 100 new cards to the game, including new Zefra monsters which can cross over to five different deck types.

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Dark Legion Starter Deck (Konami) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Saber Force Starter Deck (Konami) (Buy It On: Amazon.com)

Zombicide Releases (Guillotine Games):