In game terms Quarantine is a tile-laying game with each player having an entrance and lobby. More than fifty other tiles are available, with two each of 14 different "special room" tiles, and players acquire these tiles and others via "price-drafting". Players set a price for the tiles they want to draft, but other players get the chance to buy them first, so you'll need to price your services accurately in order to supply your hospital while not overpaying. With dozens of tiles available, no two hospitals will be set up the same way...
One other neat element, according to Klassen: "The dual patient/currency system is interesting and elegant. Once cured, patients serve as currency!" I suppose you could imagine this in a boring way – people paying you money, then you turning around and spending that money – but I'd like to think that you actually transmogrify those people into cash. "Why, yes, this is our MRI equipment – our Monetary Reimaginator-Inator!"
In a press release announcing the birth of Mercury Games, Nesbitt writes, "It's an honor to be returning to the board game industry along with a trusted team of professionals. My core focus has never wavered over the years – delivering the best possible game designs at a fair price. I am excited to share Quarantine with our customers as the first game in what we intend to be a long and happy relationship with our fans."
• Mafia Casino is a new title from designers Éric Raymond and Simon Duquette and new Canadian publisher Boîte de Jeux. Info about the gameplay is scant so far, although the designers have been scoring nice write-ups in their local newspapers, but here's what I do know:
• On the Portal Publishing website, designer Ignacy Trzewiczek notes that his Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island is sold out at the publisher level and not due for a new printing until March 2013. All of you that already own the game? You're on your own. Isolated, living out Crusoe's story.