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• Felix Albers' excellent chess-variant Paco Ŝako has been picked up for distribution on the U.S. market by Sullivans Distribution and Brands, a company that I had not heard of previously, but one that appears to function along the lines of Flat River Group, with Sullivans providing assistance with marketing, production, and distribution to get self-published titles greater exposure on the market.
If you're not familiar with Paco Ŝako, the short take is that you play the game similarly to chess, except that "captured" pieces are never removed from the board. Instead capturer and captured are combined into a single piece that each player can move. Your long-term goal is to create a union between one of your pieces and the opponent's king, thereby neutralizing that piece and ending the conflict. You can chain moves together by landing a piece on a union of pieces, thereby dislodging your piece, which must make another move immediately. For more details, check out my written and video overview from 2018.
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Sullivans is also carrying titles such as Kids Against Maturity, which is a PG-rated version of Cards Against Humanity; Joke King, which allows you to create comic strips of a sort using individual comic panel cards; and Nick Seluk's Anxiety Attack!, among other games from the creator of The Awkward Yeti. In that latter game, you're trying to move others into "Anxiety Spiral" at the center of the board, after which they will attempt to burden others with anxiety until only one player remains unafflicted.
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• In one of my first GAMA Expo 2022 round-ups, I mentioned that TOKYO SIDEKICK from designer Yusuke Emi had just launched on the U.S. market from Japanime Games. Here's another pic of that monster design:
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Turns out that a huge backlog of releases from Japanime Games will be hitting the U.S. market throughout 2022, assuming of course that pandemic-related matters don't further thwart manufacturing and shipping. Here's an overview of all that's coming:
— Sailor Moon Crystal: Imposterous, from Richard Garfield and co-publisher Dyskami Publishing Company, with this design reimplementing Hive Mind to challenge players on their knowledge of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime. (out now)
— Momiji from Dario Massarenti, Francesco Testini, and co-publisher Deer Games, with players trying to collect valuable autumn leaves. (out now)
— ZU Tiles: Hime Starter Set 1, a tile-placement game that Joshua Bakken previously self-published through ZU Studios and that Japanime Games will now distribute (Q2 2022)
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— Heiki Strike Alternative, from Afong Lee, Jesse Li, and co-publisher Moaideas Game Design, with players deploying "princesses and anthropomorphized weapons" to occupy battlefields. (Q2 2022)
— Kamigami Battles: Rise of the Old Ones, from Rich Gain, with you playing a god that must defend your realm against others. (Q2 2022)
— Kamigami Battles: The Stars Are Right and Kamigami Battles: Into the Dreamlands, each of which adds six gods to a Kamigami Battles standalone game. (Q3 2022)
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— Latria, a simultaneous bidding game from Y. Ohashi and co-publisher Domina Games. (Q2 2022)
— Night Clan, also from Y. Ohashi and Domina Games, challenges 2-4 players to outguess who will play which cards where while trying to eliminate others. (Q2 2022)
— Margot: La fée, from EINO and Domina Games, with you trying to rescue more of your faerie kin than anyone else. (Q2 2022)
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— CHAINsomnia, a co-operative game from 青山奨 (Shou Aoyama), 下見幸穂 (Yukio Shimami), 田谷由壮 (Yuso Taya), and co-publisher DELiGHTWORKS in which you attempt to escape from a castle and an eternity of sleep (Q3 2022)
— Tokyo Ghoul: Bloody Masquerade, a secret role game from designer Florian Grenier and co-publisher Don't Panic Games in which players pass cards to one another to gain information bit by bit. (Q3 2022)
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