Legacy Betrayal

WOTC has announced a Legacy version of Betrayal at House on the Hill. Interesting idea but the Legacy fad seems to have tapered off. Risk Legacy did really well as the first title in the category and the first "season" of Pandemic did well. Seafall, however, the first Legacy game without a tie-in to another franchise, pretty much crashed and burned. FFG sold it off at a pretty seep discount on the company website last Christmas.

Charterstone has done OK, although it did not call itself a Legacy game; nor did Gloomhaven, though Gloomhaven is selling on other points, such as its sheer size and difficulty to get. If Gloomhaven was readily available, I don't think we would see nearly the demand for the game that we currently see.

Marketing Concept

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at the marketing concept and how it has broadened over time.

Asmodee for Sale

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at who I think are the most likely purchasers of Asmodee, given that the owners, a private equity form, have announced the are looking at selling the company

Love Letter Sold

AEG's popular Love Letter card game recently sold to Z-man Games, part of the Asmodee group. Here are some of Scott's thoughts on the matter in this week's Rolling for Initiative column. 

Origins Awards Announced

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design announced the nominees for the 2017 Origins Awards, honoring the best games and supplements in the game industry:

The purpose of the Origins Awards is to acknowledge excellence in game design. The Origins Awards are the oldest and only peer-based award system for the hobby games market.

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design presents these awards to companies for outstanding games in the hobby games industry. This year, the Awards have eight categories:

Board Games (12 Nominees)

• The Captain is Dead by Alderac Entertainment Group (designed by Joe Price and JT Smith)
• Dice Forge by Asmodee Editions (designed by Régis Bonnessée)
• Gloomhaven by Cephalofair Games (designed by Isaac Childres)
• The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire by CMON (designed by Eric Lang)
• Great Western Trail by Eggertspiele (designed by Alexander Pfister)
• Lorenzo il Magnifico by CMON (designed by Virginio Gigli, Flaminia Brasini, Simone Luciani)
• Near and Far by Red Raven Games (designed by Ryan Laukat)
• Pandemic Legacy Season 2 by Z-Man Games (designed by Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau)
• Raiders of the North Sea by Renegade Games Studios (designed by Shem Phillips)
• Tak: A Beautiful Game by Cheapass Games (designed by James Ernest and Patrick Rothfuss)
• Sagrada by Floodgate Games (designed by Daryl Andrews and Adrian Adamescu)
• Santorini by Spinmaster (designed by Dr. Gordon Hamilton)

Card Games (10 Nominees)

• 5-Minute Dungeon by Spin Master (designed by Connor Reid)
• Aeon’s End by Indie Board & Cards (designed by Kevin Riley)
• Custom Heroes by Alderac Entertainment Group (designed by John D. Clair)
• Ex Libris by Renegade Games Studios (designed by Adam P. McIver)
• The Fox in the Forest by Renegade Games Studios (designed by Joshua Buergel)
• Hero Realms by White Wizards Games (designed by Darwin Kastle)
• Honshu by Renegade Games Studios (designed by Kalle Malmioja)
• Jump Drive by Rio Grande Games (designed by Thomas Lehmann)
• The Lost Expedition by Osprey Publishing (designed by Peer Sylvester)
• One Deck Dungeon by Asmadi Games (designed by Chris Cieslik)

Collectible Games (10 Nominees)

• Cardfight Vanguard Demonic Advent Booster by Bushiroad
• Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Icons of the Realms: Monster Menagerie II by WizKids
• DC Comics Dice Masters: Batman Foil Packs by WizKids
• Dragon Ball Super Galactic Battle Booster by Bandai
• Final Fantasy TCG: Opus I Collection Booster by Square Enix
• Marvel HeroClix: The Mighty Thor by WizKids
• MTG Ixalan Booster by Wizards of the Coast (designed by Mark Rosewater and Ken Nagle)
• Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon Booster by The Pokémon Company International
• Star Wars Destiny: Awakenings Booster by Fantasy Flight Games
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 2017 Mega Tin by Konami

Family Games (10 Nominees with Foreman)

• Azul by Plan B Games (designed by Michael Kiesling)
• Bunny Kingdom by IELLO (designed by Richard Garfield)
• Codenames: Disney by USAopoly (designed by Vlaada Chvátil)
• Codenames: Duet by Czech Games Edition (designed by Vlaada Chvátil and Scott Eaton)
• Downforce by Restoration Games (designed by Wolfgang Kramer)
• Dropmix by Hasbro Gaming (designed by Harmonix)
• Hotshots by Fireside Games (designed by Justin De Witt)
• Mountains of Madness by IELLO (designed by Rob Daviau)
• Sagrada by Floodgate Games (designed Daryl Andrews and Adrian Adamescu)
• Viral by Arcane Wonders (designed by Gil d'Orey and Antonio Sousa Lara)

Miniatures (4 Nominees)

• Blood & Plunder by Firelock Games (designed by Michael Tuñez)
• Runewars Miniatures Game by Fantasy Flight Games (designed by Andrew Fischer)
• The Walking Dead Miniatures Game by Mantic Games (designed by Mark Latham)
• Warhammer 40,000 8^th Edition by Games Workshop

Roleplaying Game (12 Nominees)

• Adventures in Middle Earth Player’s Handbook by Cubicle 7 Entertainment (designed by James Brown, Paul Alexander Butler, Walt Ciechanowski, Steve Emmott, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Jon Hodgson, Shane Ivey, Andrew Kenrick, T.S. Luikart, Dominic McDowall, Francesco Nepitello, James Spahn, and Ken Spencer)
• Blades in the Dark by Evil Hat Productions (designed by Stras Acimovic, Vandel J. Arden, Duamn Figueroa, Dylan Green, John Harper, Andrew Shields)
• Blue Rose (2^nd Edition) by Green Ronin Publishing (designed by Steve Kenson, Jack Norris, Richard Bellingham, Jeb Boyt, Crystal Frasier, Steven Jones (III), Shoshana Kessock, Anna Kreider, Kira Magrann, Alejandro Melchor, Andrew Peregrine, F. Wesley Schneider, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, John Snead)
• Cthulhu Confidential by Pelgrane Press (designed by Robin D. Laws, Ruth Tillman, Chris Spivey)
• The Dark Eye Core Rules by Ulisses Spiel (designed by Ulrich Kiesow)
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (3^rd Edition) by Fantasy Flight Games (designed by James Wallis)
• My Little Pony: Tales of Equestria by River Horse Ltd. (designed by Alessio Cavatore, Jack Caesar, Dylan Owen)
• Monsterhearts 2 by Buried Without Ceremony (designed by Avery Adler)
• Puppetland by Arc Dream Publishing (designed by Arnold Cassell, Arinn Dembo, Matt Forbeck, Gareth Hanrahan, Fred Hicks, Kenneth Hite, Jason Morningstar, Ross Payton, John Tynes, James Wallis)
• Starfinder by Paizo (designed by Robert G. McCreary and Owen K.C.)
• Traveller Starter Set by Mongoose Publishing (designed by Martin Dougherty and Matthew Sprange)
• Vurt by Ravendesk Games (designed by Alexander Lepera, Lee Pruit, Pete Stauber)

Roleplaying Supplement (13 Nominees)

• Adventures in Middle Earth – Rhovanian Region Guide by Cubicle 7 Entertainment (designed by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Francesco Nepitello, Jacob Rodgers)
• Adventures in Middle Earth – Loremaster’s Guide by Cubicle 7 Entertainment (designed by Walt Ciechanowski, Steve Emmott, Gareth Hanrahan, Jon Hodgson, T.S. Luikart, Dominic McDowall, Franceso Nepitello, Ken Spencer)
•  Blue Rose – Narrator’s Kit by Green Ronin Publishing (designed by Josh Gutenberg, Jesse Hibbs, Steve Kenson)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Grand Grimore of the Cthulhu Mythos by Chaosium (designed by Mike Mason and Matthew Sanderson)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Two Headed Serpent by Chaosium (designed by Scott Dorward, Paul Fricker, Mike Mason, Matthew Sanderson)
• Castles and Crusades Codex Germania by Troll Lord Games (designed by Brian Young)
• Castles and Crusades Codex Slavorum by Troll Lord Games (designed by Brian Young)
• Cypher System Expanded Worlds by Monte Cook Games (designed by Bruce R. Cordell)
• Cypher System Predation by Monte Cook Games (designed by Shanna Germain)
• Doctor Who RPG: Gamemaster’s Companion by Cubicle 7 Entertainment (designed by Morgan Davie, Gareth Hanrahan, Mark Lawford, Andrew Peregrine, Nathaniel Torson)
• Dungeons & Dragons Xanathar’s Guide to Everything by Wizards of the Coast (designed by Jeremy Crawford and Mike Mearls – Lead Designers)
• Mutants & Masterminds Atlas of Earth-Prime by Green Ronin Publishing (designed by Scott Bennie, Jason Brick, Darren Bulmar
• Shadow of the Demon Lord: Demon Lord’s Companion by Schwalb Entertainment (designed by Robert J. Schwalb)

Game Accessories (7 Nominees)

• Chaosium Call of Cthulhu Coloring Book by Chaosium
• Sword & Sorcery Custom Dice Pack by Ares
• The Broken Token Terraforming Mars Organizer by The Broken Token
• Sails of Glory Series 4 Ship Packs by Ares Games
• Smirking Dragon Tablecloths by Smirking Dragon
• D&D: Icons of the Realms and Pathfinder Battles Pre-Painted Miniatures by WizKids
• Zia Station Organizer by Meeple Realty

Congratulations to this year’s nominees.

The nominees in each category will be voted on by a jury of professionals from the hobby games industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to play the games that have been nominated and vote on the Fan Favorite for each category at Origins Game Fair. Winners will be announced at the Origins Awards Ceremony on Saturday June 16, 2018, during Origins Game Fair.

Additional information regarding the Origins Awards can be found at www.originsawards.net.

Love Letter Moving

Z Man Games announced it has acquired the rights to the Love Letter line of games, including Love Letter Premium and Lovecraft Letter, from AEG. What does this mean to you? If you are a consumer, not much as Z Man plans no changes to the game. Actually, you may see one problem. Z-man is notorious for lengthy out of stocks of its product (The On The Brink expansion for Pandemic has been out of stock since last summer and we don't expect to see it arrive before June) so I can foresee lengthy out of stocks for the game in the future.

A look At Anchor Points

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at the concept of anchor points.

TableTop day

this week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at last weekend's International TableTop Day