All artwork swiped from their publishers’ websites.
We’re still in the first month of the the new year, so it’s a good time to start looking forward to the games that are coming out in the 1st quarter of 2021. I’m using Board Game Geek’s New Game Release as a reference for this post, and because we’ve been on lockdown here, and I haven’t been out to a game store this month, AND because this last year has taught us all that time is meaningless, I’m counting games that may have come out in the last few weeks as “upcoming” releases.
Faiyum
In Fayium, by Friedmann Friese, you play as advisors to Amenemhet III, tasked with constructing canals and reclaiming the land from the deserts and swamps to create farmland. Now, I’m a sucker for ancient Egyptian-themed games, so this one caught my attention with the box art.
However, I’m even more intrigued by the card-playing system. You play your cards into a discard pile, THEN play those cards again, from the top of that pile. I don’t know if that means they are activating twice, or if the first “play” is more of a programming phase, but regardless, I like the programming aspect of that discard-pile.
Also, crocodile meeples.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Horror in High Gear
We look forward to every Arkham Horror: the Card Game release, and we don’t play the latest campaigns until the scenario packs for each campaign are released, so the packs for The Innsmouth Conspiracy can’t come out fast enough.
Ruination
I think I saw Ruination announced on The Dice Tower a few months ago, and it immediately piqued my interest. It’s a post-apocalyptic area-control game, which in itself is a cool, if overused, theme. What sets Ruination apart from the rest, though, is its Eurasian setting.
The artwork in this game is beautiful and colorful, which is something you don’t see too often in post-apocalyptic settings, and it’s great to see a setting that isn’t dominated by a strictly Western-European idiom. I mean, guessing by the names of the designers, the Eastern parts of the game are a Western imagining of an Eastern aesthetic, but it still feels like a step in the right direction.
It retails at $90, so I probably won’t get to play this one for a while, but I’m sure I’ll eventually get it when I wrack up some rewards at my local game store.
Hallertau
Hallertau. Another Uwe Rosenberg game where you farm, raise animals, and manage your personal player-board. Rosenberg keeps coming back to these themes and mechanisms, and I AM HERE FOR IT.
Polynesia
Polynesia is another game on this list with a non-western theme. You play as islanders who are fleeing their volcanic homeland to the islands of Polynesia. Your tribe gets points for getting to islands safely, opening routes to other islands, and gathering resources.
It’s refreshing to see a game where you settle islands and collect resources without the implication that you are conquering indigenous people. You really are the first settlers to these islands, and you are taking these islands for your survival, rather than just for financial gain.
Plus, the artwork is pretty.
The only downside is that I’ve read that the 2-player game isn’t as good as the 3-and-4-player game. Unfortunately, as Em and I usually play 2-player games, it might be a while until we get a chance to play this one.
A Billion Suns
Finally, a game that I am looking forward to (but that Em is not) is A Billion Suns by Osprey Games. This is a fleet-based starship battle game. Think Star Wars Armada or Star Fleet Battles.
I’ve been interested in this kind of game for a while, but some of them *coughARMADAcough* are WAY out of my price range. A Billion Sons is a book (or PDF) with the rules. You can use models from any company, or you could even just print off any of the number of paper tokens and models that are available for this type of game. It’s a cheap way to get into tactical fleet combat, and it’s by Osprey Games, so I’m confident it’ll be a good, complex experience.
That’s what we’re looking forward to in the next couple of months! What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments, or find us all over the internet!