New Game Round-up: Neuroshima Hex Has a New/Old Home, Catan Establishes Itself in Egypt & DC Comes to Dice Masters

New Game Round-up: Neuroshima Hex Has a New/Old Home, Catan Establishes Itself in Egypt & DC Comes to Dice Masters
Board Game: Neuroshima Hex! 3.0
• Polish publisher Portal Games has announced that its contract for Neuroshima Hex! with Z-Man Games has expired. From the announcement: "We had a great co-operation for years, but the contract came to the end and rights for English edition of Neuroshima Hex are back to Portal Games."

Thus, Portal Games will now be in charge of publishing and distributing the English-language version of NH — both the base game and all army packs, including the newest two: Mississippi and Uranopolis — for the U.S. and European markets, with those editions being compatible with the Z-Man version and all previous versions. Portal's Ignacy Trzewiczek notes that the company will also distribute worldwide the English-language edition of Imperial Settlers, Theseus, and Legacy, along with its future releases.

• Speaking of new releases from Portal, Theseus: The Dark Orbit – Bots is an expansion for Michał Oracz' Theseus that adds a new Bots faction to the game that can replace any other faction — that is, the upper player count of four has not increased.

Board Game: Catan: Ancient Egypt
Mayfair Games has announced the November 2014 release of Catan: Ancient Egypt (MSRP $75), the latest take on The Settlers of Catan from designer Klaus Teuber. German publisher KOSMOS has already announced this title for release in that country in October 2014 in time for Spiel 2014. A few details about this title:

Quote:
In Catan: Ancient Egypt, players now live in the time of the Pharaohs and use their oxcarts to move resources to build small villages and great temples styled after some of the most interesting buildings of Egyptian antiquity. As always, you must beware of the robber! His chariot can interrupt production at your cattle pastures, papyrus groves and quarries.

After you master the Catan: Ancient Egypt base game, you can try these variants:

Help from the Gods: Ten god cards are now available to player, with their powers adding a variety of options for dynamic gameplay.

The Great Pyramid: Players can now build and move papyrus boats across the Nile to compete for the pharaoh's blessing and the vizier's favor by building blocks onto the great pyramid.
• In other Catan news, Bontom Games (working with Internet Explorer and Catan GmbH) has been working on a free, casual play-by-web variant of The Settlers of Catan titled Catan Anytime. Mayfair Games sent out a press release the other day noting that it's "happy to drop the beta tag from Catan Anytime", but that beta tag is still showing in the logo, so perhaps Mayfair is engaging in delayed gratification.

Board Game: DC Comics Dice Masters: Justice League
• In early 2013, WizKids Games floated an image and a vague description of a Injustice: Gods Among Us Dice Building Game from designers Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang. Spanish publisher and distributor Devir has now published details of what will be called DC Dice Masters: Justice League, which will be sold in starter sets and gravity feed packs in line with the other titles in the Dice Masters series. The release date listed is March 18, 2015, and the image at right is only a temporary promotional image. A short description:

Quote:
The DC Dice Masters: Justice League Starter Set, the fifth starter release for the Dice Masters game, has everything two players need to play and allows players to increase their Dice Masters collection or jump into the game fresh!

DC Dice Masters: Justice League features fan favorite characters from a variety of Justice Leagues, including Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Zatanna, and Martian Manhunter. With gameplay that supports two players in epic dice battles, DC Dice Masters: Justice League lets players build their own version of the Justice League — or even the Legion of Doom!
Board Game: Carnac
Emiliano "Wentu" Venturini's Carnac fills the "pretty abstract with attractive bits" category of HUCH! & friends' offerings for Spiel 2014. Here's an overview of the game, which can be played at Boardspace.net:

Quote:
Carnac is a simple fast abstract strategy game for two players. On your turn, you take a Megalith — a piece formed by two cubes joined together — from the common reserve, and place it on the board in a standing position. The turn passes to your opponent if he is willing to tip over the Megalith or if the Megalith cannot be tipped over.

A player owns a square if it is covered by a Megalith showing his color on the upper face. A Dolmen is a group of at least three adjacent squares belonging to the same player. The game is won by the player with the most Dolmens; in case of a tie, the player with the largest Dolmen wins.
Board Game: Carnac

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