New Game Round-up: Return to a World of Hexahedron Combat, and Find Members of the Order of the Phoenix

New Game Round-up: Return to a World of Hexahedron Combat, and Find Members of the Order of the Phoenix
Board Game: Quarriors! Qultimate Quedition
• In March 2019, U.S. publisher WizKids plans to release Quarriors! Qultimate Quedition, a comprehensive box with a $100 MSRP that contains all of Mike Elliott's and Eric M. Lang's Quarriors! releases: the base game, all expansions, and all promotional cards.

I always find such releases interesting since the audience for them seems to consist of those who are fans of the game who also don't own much or any of the existing titles. I would think it's unlikely that someone would say, "I've heard decent things about this game, but I've yet to play it. Let me drop a C-note and take a chance." Looking at various online game stores, however, I see that all the Quarriors! titles seem to be out of stock everywhere, so perhaps for the publisher this a more efficient way of getting the material back onto the market without needing to maintain stock of a half-dozen SKUs.

• To update previously announced WizKids titles, Ken Shannon's Beyond the Edge, which was announced in January 2018 with an April 2018 release date only to see that date later change to September 2018, now bears a May 2019 release date on the WizKids website.

Similarly, the "Dungeons & Dragons: 2018 Adventure System Board Game" from Kevin Wilson that was first solicited in May 2018 ahead of an August 2018 release date now bears a March 2019 date. I've updated the release dates for various Dice Masters items as well, with many of them hopping forward on the release calendar by a month or two.

Board Game: Chiyo's Secret
• On top of that, WizKids has announced one new release: Chiyo's Secret from J.B. Howell, with this game bearing a January 2019 release date for now. The info from the publisher lacks a player count, and the description of the game suggests a wide range of possibilities:

Quote:
You are a noble ally of the daimyo, perhaps with a secret agenda of your own. The hidden role game Chiyo's Secret has four teams: Loyal Allies, who seek to capture Chiyo and Fusanobu and send them to be executed for their crimes; Usurpers, who seek to lure Fusanobu and the Daimyo into a trap and seize power for themselves; Betrayers, who seek to betray the Daimyo and present Chiyo and Fusanobu to the Shogun instead; and the lone Motonaka who seeks to protect his parents, hiding them until the Shogun arrives.

While Chiyo and Fusanobu hide among the patrons of local establishments, players attempt to gather information and seek them out in order to successfully complete their objectives and win the game. They gain information by moving patrons between establishments and asking Motonaka questions. Motonaka may lie about the whereabouts of his parents once per game. The game ends when a player has met all of the conditions necessary for them to win the game.
Board Game: Codenames: Harry Potter
USAopoly has posted imagery for Codenames: Harry Potter, which features gameplay similar to Codenames Duet from Vlaada Chvátil and Scot Eaton.

In the game, two players (or two teams) want to collectively find all the members of the Order of the Phoenix hiding amongst the double-sided cards on the table. Like USAopoly's other Codenames releases, the cards have an image on one side and a name on the other. Each player sees one side of the double-sided key card that shows which members you must have your partner find. On a turn, the active player gives a single word clue and a number, then the other player guesses one or more times, stopping when they reveal a neutral partner and losing the game should they reveal a hidden Death Eater. Strange that an invisibility cloak could be an agent of the Order of the Phoenix, never mind Crabbe and Goyle, but with two hundred cards to fill, you're going to cover a lot of ground in the HP universe!

Like Codenames Duet, Codenames: Harry Potter, which is due out in October 2018, includes a mission log that allow players to link games together in a campaign, with the individual games becoming more challenging in various ways.

Board Game: Codenames: Harry Potter
Board Game: Codenames: Harry Potter

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