New Releases for 2012: Asmodee Times Three

New Releases for 2012: Asmodee Times Three
Board Game Publisher: Asmodee
Announcing upcoming game releases from Asmodee can be tough because there isn't a single entity titled "Asmodee" from which the games are issuing. Rather Asmodee has multiple divisions around the world, and each of those divisions has its own release schedule. On top of that, Asmodee is both publisher and distributor, so sometimes a publisher is releasing its own titles in one location while Asmodee is distributing them in another.

That said, I have three game release schedules from various Asmodee branches, and looking at them together provides a general idea of what will be where when. Let's start with the North American branch of Asmodee, courtesy of Stefan Brunell, as that list is longer than the others and therefore provides a reference base of game links and titles. The original publisher of each game is included in parentheses after the game title. (Before anyone submits corrections, please note that Asmodee should not be listed as publisher for titles which it does not, in fact, publish.)

As you might expect, these lists are subject to revision as time passes, especially for those titles due out closer to the end of 2012.

February
-----Bonbons (GameWorks)
-----Bugs & Co (Libellud - restock)
-----Cyclades: Hades (Matagot)
-----Dr. Shark (Hurrican)
-----Gosu: Kamakor (Moonster Games)
-----Jaipur (GameWorks - restock)
-----Mundus Novus (Asmodee)
-----Skull & Roses Red (Lui-même)
-----Tschak! (GameWorks)
-----The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (Lui-même - restock)
-----Werewolves: New Moon (Lui-même -restock)

Board Game: Gosu: Kamakor
Board Game: Dr. Shark
Board Game: Cyclades: Hades

March
-----Cyclades (Matagot - restock)
-----Mr. Jack (Hurrican - restock)

April
-----Formula D (Asmodee - restock)
-----Sidibaba (Hurrican)
-----Skull & Roses (Lui-même - restock)
-----Texas Zombies (Moonster Games)

May
-----7 Wonders: Cities (Repos Production)
-----Eclipse (Lautapelit.fi - restock)
-----Monster Chase (Le Scorpion Masqué)

Board Game: Skull
Board Game: Sidibaba
From gallery of 55cards

June
-----Divinare (Asmodee)
-----Méditerranée (Ystari Games)

July
-----Dixit Journey, presumably Dixit 3 although I need to check on this (Libellud)
-----Formula D: Circuits 4 - Redacted & To Be Named Later (Asmodee) – see below
-----Stream (no info about this one)
-----Timeline: Exp. 1, presumably Timeline: Discoveries (Hazgaard)

August
-----City of Horror, a sequel of sorts to Mall of Horror (Repos Production)
-----Seasons (Libellud)

September
-----Kemet (Matagot)
-----Sherlock Holmes (Ystari Games) – see below

Board Game: Seasons
Board Game: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
Board Game: Dixit Jinx

October
-----Dixit Jinx (Libellud)
-----Eclipse expansion (Lautapelit.fi)
-----Masters of Commerce (Asmodee) – see below

A few clarifications on items listed above:

Board Game: Panic on Wall Street!
Masters of Commerce is the title that U.S. publisher Grouper Games debuted with at Spiel 2011. Says Brunell, "In Essen I was with the guys from different French publications, 2:00 in the morning, and everybody was going to sleep except eleven of us. I had this game in my bag, read the rules in a couple of minutes, placed it on the table, major fun. I knew I wanted this game. I don't about the U.S. market, but this game has everything to make it a big success in France." I've played Masters of Commerce a couple of times and while the game isn't for everyone – one guy, playing a merchant, left the table mid-game – it's a crossover blend that seems to hit both gamers and non-gamers equally well, kind of a chaotic version of Chinatown with no time for everyone to dicker over a couple of bucks.

Formula D: Circuits 4 - Redacted & To Be Named Later – Brunell says that the track names are under wraps for now, although he adds this teaser: "This release is made especially for the USA since we are the ones who asked for it." Circuits 4 is scheduled to debut at the World Boardgaming Championships in August.

Sherlock Holmes is indeed an English-language version of the new version that Ystari Games debuted in French at Spiel 2011. Lots of work still to be done on this, says Brunell.

•••

Now in addition to all of the titles above – or perhaps weaved throughout that schedule – are titles coming from Asmodee France that either won't be released in North America or will be released from another publisher. Those titles and their release dates are:

February
Board Game: PIX
-----PIX, which as previously noted on BGG News won't be available outside France due to the devastatingly expensive production costs (GameWorks)

March
-----Chasse aux Marsupilamis, a kids game featuring the famed comic character that never made its way to North America with any success
-----Dobble Kids, which is being released in the U.S. by Blue Orange Games as Spot It Jr.! Animals
-----Fantômes contre Fantômes, a new version of Alex Randolph's Ghosts! (Asmodee)

April
-----Divinare, which is appearing in June in North America (Asmodee)

May
-----Le cake aux kiwis de Carole, one of two children's games about which I know next to nothing
-----Léa la girafe a perdu ses taches, and the other such game
-----Shrimp is another title to be released in North America by Blue Orange Games, this one under the name Shrimp Cocktail
-----The Island, which appears to be a localized port of Stronghold Games' edition of Survive! (Asmodee)

June
-----Petit Poucet, (aka Tom Thumb) a semi-cooperative memory game (Libellud)
-----Time's Up! 2013, featuring the same game play as ye olde Time's Up! but with a focus on names from the present year (Repos Production)

August
-----• "Pirate game", this being the working title for a Paolo Mori design (Asmodee)
-----String Railway, a new version of the Hisashi Hayashi design to serve as a counterpoint to the new version being released by FoxMind in North America
-----Tetris Link, already available in the U.S. from Techno Source

•••

From gallery of W Eric Martin
Finally, courtesy of the German branch of Tric Tric, we have a rundown of releases in the first half of 2012 from the German branch of Asmodee:

March
-----Dixit Jinx, which is due out much later in North America (Libellud)

April
-----Meisterwerke, a new edition of Identik (Asmodee)
-----The Island (Asmodee)

May
-----Crazy Circus, the latest version of Dominique Ehrhard's MaNiKi (GameWorks)
-----Shrimp, as mentioned in the French section above (Asmodee)

June
-----Divinare, which is on both other release lists (Asmodee)

?
-----Zug um Zug: Deutschland, which as noted in this January 2012 post is essentially a new version of Ticket to Ride: Märklin without passengers that was requested by Asmodee (in its role as Days of Wonder distributor) for the German mainstream market (Days of Wonder)

Related

Links: Ascending to Marriage, Hasbro Gets Money for Nothing & The Return of Le Havre

Links: Ascending to Marriage, Hasbro Gets Money for Nothing & The Return of Le Havre

Feb 09, 2012

• Designer Wolfgang Kramer is interviewed for ZDF tivi, which I believe is a German children's television show, on how he does what he does – i.e., design games that go on to win awards like...

Nürnberg 2012: Friedemann Friese's Fabulous Friday Feat and Cyril Demaegd on Serenissima and Essen Spiel News

Feb 08, 2012

Intrepid reporter Scott Reed was able to capture an update from Friedemann Friese about his Friday (Black Friday & Friday) project - this one sounds very interesting and ambitious! Also, an...

New Game Round-up: Rosenberg on Würfel Bohnanza, Easier Empire Building & No Hoth for the U.S.?

New Game Round-up: Rosenberg on Würfel Bohnanza, Easier Empire Building & No Hoth for the U.S.?

Feb 08, 2012

• Designer Uwe Rosenberg writes about the development of Würfel Bohnanza – just out now in Germany – on the AMIGO Spiel website. (PDF link on the bottom of this page.) Rosenberg talks...

Nürnberg 2012: Lessons Learned

Nürnberg 2012: Lessons Learned

Feb 08, 2012

For my last entry about the 2012 Nürnberg Toy Fair, I was going to post a few more board game pictures, but I've just read the pictorial review by Daniel Danzer (duchamp) here on BGG News and...

Nürnberg 2012 Re-View: 94 Pictures of 36 Games

Nürnberg 2012 Re-View: 94 Pictures of 36 Games

Feb 07, 2012

My Nürnberg 2012 experience was – well – cold (18 degrees below zero Celsius). The days at the fair went by fast: I shot video interviews for SAZ (Spiele-Autoren-Zunft, or the Game...

ads