Amigo Spiel's Line-up for Early 2013

The International Toy Fair in Nürnberg, Germany – a.k.a., Spielwarenmesse – takes place January 30-February 4, 2013, and companies are starting to unveil what they'll have on display at this convention. In many cases, the games won't be released until later in 2013 as Spielwarenmesse is a trade fair in which retailers check out what companies plan to produce over the next 6-12 months, thereby providing retailers the chance to budget for the year, make sure they sign up for hot items (or "hot" items) ahead of time, and otherwise find items they think their customers will want.

Seeing as this is a site about board and card games, I'll restrict myself to covering news on those items, but that will still provide plenty of material for the next few weeks and months. To start with, German publisher AMIGO Spiel has shown off its release line-up for the first half of 2013, and it's much like AMIGO's line-up in years past. Here's an overview of what's coming:

• I already covered Crazy Lab, a trick-taking game from Jordi Gené and Gregorio Morales, in an early Dec. 2012 [blogpost=Jordi Gené and Gregorio Morales]BGGN item[/blogpost], and that title turns out to be the only new release that might appeal to an adult gaming audience. Here's the game summary once again:

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In the trick-taking game Crazy Lab, the players are mad scientists mixing colorful liquids to make explosive mixtures. Each card features a vial that contains several liquids – that is, colored and numbered suits – and players will collect these cards if they win the trick. Each player has a randomly-dealt public color that counts as negative points for him, and after checking his dealt cards each player chooses a secret hidden color for which he'll score positive points at game end. Finally, each player chooses two more colors that will be added to the trump deck.

Each round, a card from the trump deck is revealed, then players sequentially play any card from their hand. Whoever plays the card with the highest trump color wins the trick. But beware! Since the vials contain liquids in several colors, even if the trump is blue, you could be getting a lot of red liquid!

After all cards in hand have been played, the game ends, and whoever has the highest score wins.

• Other card games from AMIGO include German versions of the Marsha J. Falco designs Set, Five Crowns, and Xactika, designs that have each been on the market in the U.S. for more than a decade.

• Hugo: Das Schlossgespenst is a new version of Wolfgang Kramer's Midnight Party, which has seen publication in numerous languages and editions since its debut in 1989.

Another ghost-themed reprint in the AMIGO line-up, specifically in its Ö+Koo-Reihe line of ecologically-produced cooperative games, is Heinz Meister's Gespensterturm, in which players must collectively help ghosts return to their rooms in the clock tower before the clock reaches midnight. (The ghosts are apparently color blind, and thus cannot identify which room in the tower is theirs.)

• Two similarly named releases – Alle meine Tiere and Alle meine Entchen – are not related to one another, except that they both involve animals. In Alle meine Tiere, which is reminiscent of Fauna, players lay out animals in a 3x3 grid, then try to identify three animals that match a particular category, such as three animals that are all endangered or three animals that live in packs. Alle meine Entchen has a memory aspect in which players need to find the right token in order to scoot the baby duck at the back of the line up to its mother's side, thereby leaving another duck at the tail end of the fleet.

• Kuddelmuddel from Haim Shafir and Günter Burkhardt has players racing to create a matching row of cards in front of them from the face-down mess of cards on the table so that they can ring the bell first. Given the long-lived success of Halli Galli, I'm surprised that more children's games don't come with bells.

• Finally, with a federal election taking place in Germany in 2013, AMIGO is featuring three traditional cards games – Skat, Doppelkopf and Rummy – with caricatures of the current party leaders. Will Angela Merkel retain her role as the highest card in the decks come September?

Amigo Spiel's Line-up for Early 2013

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Amigo Spiel&#039;s Line-up for Early 2013

Related

New Game Round-up: New Prisoners for Alcatraz, Cows on Skis &amp; 2012 Titles Still in the Pipeline

Links: Small Box Plans, Worthington Gives, Tagmire Advises &amp; Museum Workers Play

New Game Round-up: Lords of Middle-earth Goes Upscale, The Return of Catan Geographies &amp; Catching Fire Three Times

New Game Round-up: A Revolution in Steam Noir, Alcatraz Goes to Spain &amp; Gaming with The Little Prince

Links: Knizia on His Design Philosophy and Recent Releases, Counter Gets New Editors &amp; Myrmes Wins Tric Trac d&#039;Or

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Amigo Spiel's Line-up for Early 2013

New Game Round-up: New Prisoners for Alcatraz, Cows on Skis & 2012 Titles Still in the Pipeline

Links: Small Box Plans, Worthington Gives, Tagmire Advises & Museum Workers Play

New Game Round-up: Lords of Middle-earth Goes Upscale, The Return of Catan Geographies & Catching Fire Three Times

New Game Round-up: A Revolution in Steam Noir, Alcatraz Goes to Spain & Gaming with The Little Prince

Links: Knizia on His Design Philosophy and Recent Releases, Counter Gets New Editors & Myrmes Wins Tric Trac d'Or