Escape from New York along the John Muir Trail on the Way to a Lunar Outpost

• Ravensburger has announced a June 2022 release date for Lunar Outpost, a 2-4 player co-operative game from Mike Mulvihill that was "inspired by the PBS science series NOVA and developed with NASA astronaut Dani Tani", according to the press release.

Here's an overview of what you'll face:

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In Lunar Outpost, players work together to mine lunar elements and build a circular base on the moon. Players can choose to build a starter base, habitat colony, research center, or manufacturing facility. Each type of base is comprised of different "modules", such as a solar monitor or a machine shop, some of which allow the players to do more as the game goes on. The game also comes with a "training mission" to get new players up to speed.

Throughout the game, players need to contend with events ranging from oxygen leaks to meteorite strikes. A newly created Alexa skill serves as Mission Control, keeping track of the team's progress and announcing the special events for each round; players can also play offline using a deck of event cards.

• Italian publisher Pendragon Game Studio, which released The Thing: The Boardgame in early 2022, plans to bring another John Carpenter film to your tabletop with Kevin Wilson's Escape from New York. A crowdfunding project for this game is scheduled for the end of 2022, and you can sign up for notices here.

• Jonathan Ying's G.I. JOE Mission Critical from Renegade Game Studios is live on Kickstarter until May 12, 2022, and this co-operative miniatures-based board game uses the Guardian System game engine from Ying's 2019 Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid, which means that all the kids who used to play with Power Rangers and G.I. JOE toys in the 1990s can now relive those childhood obsessions on the tabletop today — well, not today since G.I. JOE Mission Critical isn't due out until near the end of 2022, but you know what I mean.

• Trailblazer: The John Muir Trail is the first title from designer Dan R Rice III of Mariposa Games, and this design that will hit Kickstarter sometime in 2022 looks like it's learned a few lessons from PARKS and Wingspan in terms of surrounding players with natural beauty.

Board Game: Trailblazer: The John Muir Trail

As for the gameplay, this description touches on that while pouring on the setting:

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Embark on a journey of exploration and discovery along the historic John Muir Trail through the High Sierras of California. Explore the majestic mountains and lush meadows, the picturesque waterfalls and alpine lakes. Scale the heights of Yosemite's iconic Half Dome or Sequouia's Mt. Whitney! Enjoy meandering through Evolution Valley or Tuolumne Meadows, pausing to take in the beauty of Thousand Islands Lake or cooling your feet in the Kings River. Be humbled beneath a giant and ancient Sequoia, or catch (and release) a Golden Trout, listen to the song of an Ouzel, watch Marmots at play, or spot the rare Snow Plant. Happy trails!

Trailblazer: The John Muir Trail takes place over the course of twelve days/rounds of hiking and backpacking along the John Muir Trail. You will experience daily trail encounters, choose to explore destinations along the trail, acquire and manage natural and personal resources, discover and observe the sights and sounds of your environment, adapt to ever-changing weather conditions, and move along the entire trail, all while wisely using the items in your backpack to maximize your experience.

You can earn trail points in several ways along the route, such as placing workers on your tracks, collecting sets of field guide cards, scoring instantly with destination cards, and using your backpack gear efficiently.