Queen has revealed to me that this series will encompass games both old and new, and in a June 18, 2020 tweet, it notes that "When placed next to each other, the sides of the 'Stefan Feld City Collection' will form a skyline of famous buildings from all the locations. Here is a silhouette of the first building. Can you guess which city it represents?"
Answer:
• Z-Man Games has released a print-and-play version of Matt Leacock's Pandemic: Hot Zone – North America in twelve languages on the Asmodee website. Click on the flag in the upper-right corner to choose the language best for you.
As Leacock notes in a comment on BGG, "I began working on this game in May 2018 (nearly two years ago) after having a conversation with Z-Man about doing a smaller, regional version of Pandemic that could be demoed in game stores. The game worked so well that later that month we decided to turn it into a full product, and we put together a plan for release in 2020. The existence of the game leaked in February 2020 but we held off on formally announcing it as COVID-19 began to appear and spread, out of consideration to those affected. To be clear: the game was not designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic." Leacock notes that other regional versions of the game might be released in future years depending on the feedback from this title.
Z-Man's owner, Asmodee, has started to release titles once again in North America, and the current release date for Pandemic: Hot Zone – North America is July 31, 2020.
• In the category of game-like accessory, I present Gil Hova's "Check-In Cards", a tool that people can use to check in with one another before playing or between games. Here's his explanation on how you can use them:
Everyone rotates their cards to the Energy side and chooses a card that indicates how much energy they are feeling at this moment. Everyone reveals their cards simultaneously. If someone is low-energy, the table checks in on that person to see if they need a break.
If energy levels are okay, then everyone rotates their cards to the Intensity side and chooses a card that indicates how intensely they want to play the next game. A 1 indicates that a player doesn't really care if they win, and/or they want to play a game with low emotional intensity. A 4 indicates that a player cares about winning exclusively, and/or they want to play a game with high emotional intensity. If players have a difference of 2 or more between the cards they played, they discuss what intensity they would like to adjust to.
Check-In Cards is designed to surface issues that may affect the next game you play. It alone will not solve these issues; it may provoke a discussion. But the end result should be that you will start a game with players who are in good shape to play a game, and are all in agreement on exactly how they should play.