New Game Round-up: Morus Mundus Novus, Escaping Level 7 & Eclipse: Rise of the Fans' Hopes

New Game Round-up: Morus Mundus Novus, Escaping Level 7 & Eclipse: Rise of the Fans' Hopes
Board Game: Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients
• I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but some details have dropped for Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients, the "first full-sized expansion" for Touko Tahkokallio's Eclipse, the second printing of which was just released in the U.S. and which (as noted on Game Salute) was sold out once again to preorders with no copies for general distribution. (What this means is that all copies of Eclipse ordered by U.S. distributors have already been claimed by orders from stores, so if your store hasn't ordered any, it won't be able to get the game until the third printing ships in October 2012.) Here's the thematic overview for the expansion:

Quote:
While the galactic conflict escalates and several new factions are trying to get a foothold on the galaxy, the adversaries suddenly need to find allies among themselves to face the rising threat. The systems previously thought to be empty are suddenly swarming with Ancients – whole worlds of them, with ship capabilities way beyond anything seen before.

They are not willing to negotiate.

The expansion introduces several new additions to the base game, such as Rare Technologies, Developments, Alliances, Ancient Homeworlds and Warp Portals. There are also three new player boards with four new different alien species to choose from. New components allow up to nine players in one session.

Due to the modular design, you can use all of these additions or just some of them in any game of Eclipse, according to your preferences and play style.

The Ancients are rising. Will your civilization rise to the occasion and emerge victorious?
BGG user Dave Chandler has added many still vague details to this information, and French game news site TricTrac.net has announced the French version of the expansion from Ystari. One note of conflict: The TricTrac announcement says that Ystari plans to have the expansion at Spiel in October, but Toni Niittymaki of lead publisher Lautapelit.fi has written on BGG that "Our original plan was to have the expansion available for Essen, but now it seems we will most likely miss it. We may have a 'close to Christmas' release for this one too, just like we had with the base game last year." In any case, rest assured that more details will be available long before the game hits store shelves.

Board Game: Small World: Realms
• As of June 15, 2012, Small World Realms is available for purchase in Europe. The expansion's U.S. street date is July 3, 2012.

• U.S. publisher Koplow Games is releasing the Left Center Right Card Game in the near future. What's new with this release? Very very little according to this description:

Quote:
L–C–R has been extremely popular for years, delighting fans of all ages. Now this great dice game is available as a card game! Each player starts with three chips. On your turn, flip over cards to see where your chips go. The last player with chips wins the pot! Includes 110 specially-designed game cards.
So dice out, cards in. That is all.

Board Game: Mundus Novus
Asmodee has released a print-and-play expansion for Cathala and Laget's Mundus Novus titled Vers de Nouveaux Horizons ("Towards New Horizons"). As you might guess from the title, this expansion is currently available only in French. For rules and downloadable cards, click on the link above. (Then translate everything and submit a new game entry in the BGG database!)

Board Game: Level 7 [Escape]
• I had mentioned just the other day that semi-cooperative games – those with everybody losing or one player winning – seemed to be on the rise, and now U.S. publisher Privateer Press has announced LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] for release in September 2012. Here's a game overview:

Quote:
Deep underground, in the middle of nowhere, lies Subterra Bravo – a top-secret military installation filled with the unspeakable horrors of science gone wrong. Within its impenetrable depths, the masters of this fortified facility conduct gruesome experiments on innocent prisoners cruelly abducted from their otherwise ordinary lives.

You are a captive of Subterra Bravo, imprisoned in the facility's deepest laboratory, the hall of nightmares known as LEVEL 7. Your singular goal is to escape, but to do that you will have to evade the human and inhuman denizens of this subterranean labyrinth before the entire base is locked down, sealing you in for the rest of your short, tormented life. Will you work together with your fellow prisoners to overcome Subterra Bravo's endless perils, or will you use them to secure your own escape? Ultimately, your chances of survival will depend on how well you manage your greatest weapon, which is also your greatest threat: fear itself.

LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] is a semi-cooperative, story-driven survival-horror board game for 1–4 players with nerves of steel and a willingness to confront the impossible.

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