Board Game News Roundup : Vengeance is Close at Hand!
The Vengeful five look like they’re spoiling for a fight (Image via Greater Than Games)
- Sentinels of the Multiverse: Vengeance was the surprise Kickstarter goal for the Shattered Timelines expansion. This is a mini-standalone box for the game that will contain 5 heroes, 5 villains and one environment. However, the twist is that the villains can all be played at the same time as a sort of super villain team. These villains make up the Vengeful Five! The $150k goal has been hit and even more stretch rewards are announced. The campaign is nearly done and details can be found here.
- I don’t think I’ve mentioned this but Greater Than Games has slowly been releasing the Freedom Four comic book that was sent to all Kickstarter backers. Check it out here!
- Up Front, a card game that simulates squad combat, has been out of print for a good many years. Enter a great KS campaign to bring back the game and reprint it. However, I’ve been following BGG this week and much controversy has erupted over it. Without getting too far into the details (you can read a thread here on the subject), the controversy surrounds the fact that the KS listed company has switched from Valley Games to a new US firm known as Radiant Gaming. Coupled with a recent judgment against Valley Games for failure to pay back a loan, this has led to much discussion over if these events lead to some shadiness. Personally, I stood on the fence all week about this game. But ultimately, I felt like the company (Radiant Gaming or Valley Games) delivered well on D-Day Dice and so I’ve backed this game after hearing about how it’s a classic.
- Here’s a really interesting article about one retailer’s thoughts on Kickstarter hurting retailers. It’s an interesting read and I do see why his argument has merit. There’s not a lot of margin on KS games for the retailer, and they cannot always keep up with the volume of the games (it’s difficult to separate the good from the bad). Another strong point the article makes is that their are fewer customers left for the retailers. It’s simply, “whomever did not see the KS campaign” that might be interested. There’s definitely interesting points on both sides of this article and this is worth a read (and the comments below it too
).
