Board Game News

If you haven't been filled in, look up "golden bell studios" on our search bar where you'll find a lot of the news we've covered about them in the past.

Long story short, GBS is a publisher that has a history of disastrous Kickstarter campaigns with numerous lawsuits under their belt, where the owner was even on "The People's Court" with a first time creator they had worked with. One of the most recent cases was #Unbroken, and you can find more info on that here. I also interviewed the designer of the game here.

Well, after getting booted from Kickstarter several months ago, looks like GBS is now starting their own crowdfunding website with some questionable terms. Here's one of the clauses a creator would be agreeing to so that GBS can avoid any defamation:

3.9. You agree not to make any statements, written or verbal, or cause or encourage others to make any statements, written or verbal, that defame, disparage or in any way criticize the personal or business reputation, practices, or conduct of Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. its assigns, employees, directors, officers, licensors, licensees, services, products, or any other affiliated or third party related in some way to the Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. You acknowledge and agree that this prohibition extends to statements, written or verbal, made to anyone, including but not limited to, the news media, investors, potential investors, assigns, any board of directors or advisory board or directors, industry analysts, competitors, strategic partners, vendors, employees (past and present), and you understand and agree that this paragraph is a material provision of this agreement and that any breach of this paragraph or otherwise herein this agreement shall be a material breach of this agreement and will justify legal and/or equitable relief by Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. due to the understanding that one of the parties would be irreparably harmed by violation of this provision. This clause shall survive the expiration and/or termination of this agreement. Furthermore, you shall aid Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. and supply Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. with any potential damaging, disparaging, or negative information about Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. that you have access to, know exists, or discover, by request of Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC., and agree to pay any and all attorney fees incurred by Golden Bell Studios, LLC, Golden Bell Entertainment, LLC., and/or Growing Tree, LLC. relating to this agreement.

https://www.thegrowingtreehouse.com/tos

Here's the last game in the Century: Golem Edition trilogy which is a retheme of #Century: A New World. Sure is amazing how a simple retheme can make a game so much more popular!

Does anyone have experience with the Century games that have more complexity than the original #Century: Golem Edition? I believe this new game involves worker placement.

Here's the link to the announcement on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/planbgames.info/photos/a.1784804978510251/2694684930855580/?type=1&theater

https://stonemaiergames.com/games/pendulum

"Pendulum is a competitive, turnless, asymmetric worker placement, time-optimization game for 1-5 players."

There is more detail at the above site, and I'm sure @jameystegmaier will discuss it further in his livestream.

Designer Isaac Childres just announced on #Frosthaven's Kickstarter page that with the high demand for scenario books in lieu of map tiles, they will be making the following decision:

• To respect those who backed Frosthaven having been promised map tiles (and for those who prefer this over a scenario book), map tiles will still be included in the box.
• To accommodate those who want a scenario book instead, they will be developing the books for Gloomhaven and Frosthaven that can be purchased separately.

Here's the link to the update where Isaac also runs through the pros and cons of a scenario book.

Now here's a question: For those who have been hesitant to get Gloomhaven or Frosthaven, will this push you over the edge?

See our original announcement here: https://www.boardgameatlas.com/forum/ZGVqJTq5d7/support-black-lives-matter-with-us-on-june-17

Today's the day! Please help spread the news and let us know here if you end up buying anything! I'm curious to see what sort of games you're all going after too.

Thanks everyone :)

Any Reiner Knizia fans here? (#The Quest for El Dorado, #Tigris & Euphrates, #Ra, #Lost Cities, etc)

I haven't played any of his games yet, but I wanted to share this upcoming Kickstarter that's a reimplementation of #Tutankhamen. It'll be a family friendly tile game and it's quite a looker!

It's a bit of an old news from 3 months ago, but after successfully getting their Kickstarter for #Batman: The Animated Series Adventures funded at close to $1.7M, IDW Games posted an update that teases their next project:

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER THE BOARD GAME

What do you think? As for me, I was a huge fan of the animated series. The Last Airbender was my favorite by far because of the endearing characters. Having an appa mini sounds awesome!

For those who held back on getting Terraforming Mars all these years, is this finally your time?

I.... still don't think this will convince me, I'm sticking to my budget and I'm done for 2020 lol

Ok, I can't remember, have I shared this before?

I saw this on twitter a while back but I might have never gotten to share it: https://twitter.com/Capstone_Games/status/1236990979787415552

There's a link on there to Capstone's newsletter that shows an image of the player board too. I will include a picture of this in the comments below.

Here's a quick summary of the details though:

• You are designing an animal park where you will build animal attractions, introduce new animals to your zoo, and raise their offspring. Gameplay is straightforward as you have only two options on your turn: build a new enclosure in your zoo, or populate your zoo with more animals. But be sure to time your actions well since you want your zoo to benefit from as many animal breedings as possible. The first player to cover all the construction spaces on their zoo board with enclosures and attractions wins the game!
  
• 1 - 5 Players
• 30 - 60 Minutes
• Ages 10+
• SRP $39.95
  
• Retail Release: August 5, 2020 

Who's interested? Looks like it could be a great option for the family :D

On their last Kickstarter update for the #Pax Pamir (Second Edition) reprint, the Werhle brothers announced they would be holding a AMA on the r/boardgames community on reddit. This is happening today 11am-1pm cst. 

Interesting read from @jameystegmaier. One thing that stood out to me is that his reprint schedule might be on a more cautious footing. It might be a good time to get those Stonemaier games you've been wanting, but don't have yet. 

Of course this is one man, one company who is saying this. But I do wonder how other companies are responding. 

So I posted about out of print board games a while back. Well, looks like at least one of them, #Ginkgopolis, is making a return!

So, in light that I will soon be getting and trying out my own copy of #Root solo.... I was looking at the BGG forums about it... And found this. I thought some of you might be interested.