Alderac Entertainment Group

I am still livin' with your... ghost...

Wait, wrong Santa Monica. This is a new card game coming from AEG. Players are ownders of a bit of beachfront property and must build up their beach amenities. Add in tourist attractions and give the locals a nice place to hang out. This new game will be hitting stores this April.

From the website:

A new game from Josh Wood, designer of Cat Lady! In Santa Monica you are developing a beachfront community in sunny southern California! You’ll need to attract tourists, provide interesting things for them to do, build up your boardwalk and your oceanfront attractions and keep the locals happy.

By special arrangement, Santa Monica will be available exclusively in brick & mortar retail stores hosting the Board Game Expo 2020 (BGX) events this spring.

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You're just going about your day, thinking everything's just fine, when suddenly you hear a rumbling and grumbling coming from the sewer grates. What could it be? Where's your little brother and his toy paper boat? You may not want to find out the answers to those questions, but in Thunderstone Quest: What Lies Beneath, you will. It's the new expansion for the popular deck-building game and it's available now.

About the expansion:

This Quest first appeared in the Back to the Dungeon Kickstarter. It is a stand-alone quest and not tied to any story arc.

The people of Thunderstone Keep have become aware that something is … not right … in the sewers and caverns beneath. Someone is going to have to go down there and find out what is happening and put a stop to it!

What Lies Beneath, the sixth quest for Thunderstone Quest, which presents a story-driven scenario for the attack on the village, can be played in normal competitive mode as well as in Barricade mode. This expansion includes more than 240 cards, six dungeon tiles, and a rulebook.

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The lifecycle of the Monarch Butterfly is pretty amazing. They start in Mexico, then fly all the way up to Canada before flying all the way back again. However, desipte this migration has been happening for thousands of years, not a single butterfly has made the entire journey. How can that be? Because it takes multiple generations to make each full migration. And it's recreating that epic journey that you'll be doing in Mariposas, a new board game coming from AEG.

From the announcement:

AEG is honored to announce the next release from award-winning designer Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan) will be Mariposas.  Mariposas will release as part of our 2020 Big Game Night promotion at Gen Con and in retail stores!

Every spring, millions of monarch butterflies leave Mexico to spread out across eastern North America. Every fall, millions fly back to Mexico. However, no single butterfly ever makes the round trip.

Mariposas is a game of movement and set collection that lets players be part of this amazing journey.

Mariposas is played in three seasons. In general, your butterflies try to head north in spring, spread out in summer, and return south in fall. The end of each season brings a scoring round, and at the end of fall, the player with the most successful family of butterflies — i.e., the most victory points — wins the game.

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In Smash Up, players crash together two factions and create something strong out of the team-up. Well, the game is now a representation of real life because AEG and The Op Games (aka - USAopoly) are teaming up and they will be releasing new factions for the wild card game.

From the announcement:

Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), publishers of hit games like Tiny Towns™ and Ecos: First Continent™ along with The Op Games | usaopoly, the Carlsbad board game and puzzle publisher behind best-selling party games Telestrations® and Blank Slate™, are thrilled to announce their new partnership to bring officially licensed Factions to AEG's flagship card game Smash Up in 2020 and beyond.

The award-winning "shufflebuilding" game allows fans to draft decks of fictitious dream teams and pit them against other campy collections in a battle to dominate targeted bases. Through ongoing play, players familiarize with and combine mechanics unique to each of their Factions to best their opponents' point values.

In joining forces with The Op, who celebrates 25 years of co-branded products and partnerships this year, Smash Up designer Paul Peterson is confident that fans will embrace what is to come of the collaboration. "The Op has consistently put out some of the highest quality games in the industry,” says Peterson, known best for his work on Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. “By pairing with the design team from AEG, the Smash Up game we are building together is going knock the fans’ socks off!"

This will be the first time both California board game companies have worked together to develop content for Smash Up. More will be revealed come AEG's 2020 March Smashness and future events. Learn about AEG's current offerings at alderac.com, learn about The Op's current offerings by visiting TheOp.games, and join the conversation on the Smash Up Smashposting Facebook group to share your thoughts!

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The Earth's a pretty sweet place, right? Vast plains. Majestic forests. Soaring mountains. Deep oceans. Ah, just wonderful...

But... like... what if those mountains were over there? Or maybe those plains swapped with that ocean? Or... you know what, we should just start from scratch. And that's what you'll be doing in Ecos: First Continent, a new world-building game available now from AEG.

From the website:

What if the formation of Earth had gone differently?

This game designed by John D Clair, with the art of Sabrina Miramon, and graphic design by Matt Paquette explores that “what if?”

In Ecos players are forces of nature molding the planet, but with competing visions of its grandeur. You will have the chance to create a part of the world, similar but different to the one we know.  Which landscapes, habitats, and species thrive will be up to you.

Game play in Ecos is simultaneous and caters to 2-6 players.  Each round one player will reveal Element tokens from the Element Bag, giving all players the opportunity to complete a card from their tableau and shape the continent to their own purpose. Elements that cannot be used can be converted into Energy cubes or additional cards in hand or added to your tableau, to give you greater options as the game evolves.

Mountain ranges, jungle, rivers, seas, islands and savannah, each with their own fauna, all lie within the scope of the players’ options.

AEG is headed to kickstarter to get you a new expansion for Edge of Darkness, the card-building, deckbuilding, worker-placement game (it's got a little bit of everything). This expansion is called Cliffs of Coldharbor and it adds in 12 more locations, along with the contacts and threats that such a new set of places would include. This is a quick campaign, so if you want in, don't dawdle.

From the campaign:

Edge of Darkness designed by John D Clair is a card crafting, deckbuilding, worker placement game of defense against the Blight.

We successfully Kickstarted Edge of Darkness in the spring of 2018 and delivered it in the summer of 2019. 

Cliffs of Coldharbor

As the danger of the Blight grows ever stronger the citizens of Aegis have made common cause with the people of Coldharbor. Can Aegis, Dunestar and Coldharbor survive at the Edge of Darkness?

Back the campaign TODAY to begin or continue to resist the Blight!

The Expansion features 12 new Locations + Associated Contacts & Threats. All Expansion content can be used in both Solo and Competitive game modes.

Guildmaster Upgrade Pack: Any Reward including the Cliffs of Coldharbor expansion will also include a special Upgrade Pack to add more plastic & cardboard Influence/Goodwill tokens and a replacement cloth Threat Bag to the Guildmaster Base Game. You can read more about our plans for the Guildmaster Upgrade Pack via a link in the first entry in this project's FAQ.

The campaign's more than 3x funded, but it's a quick one, with only 9 days left to go.

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A new expansion for Edge of Darkness is coming soon from AEG. It's the Cliffs of Insanity! *re-reads notes*
Wait, no, no, it's The Cliffs of Coldharbor. My bad. This new set will be coming to Kickstarter in just under 2 weeks (September 23rd).

From the post:

John D Clair's Edge of Darkness – The Cliffs of Coldharbor launches on Kickstarter September 23rd! With the launch, comes the opportunity to acquire the Edge of Darkness base game. Watch this space for more updates!

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Did you know that Gen Con is just next week? Yeah. Crazy, right? Well, for those that'll be going to the show (and I know there's a bunch of you out there), AEG is no taking pre-orders for their upcoming releases that they'll have there. And you can save on shipping because you can just pick up your games while in Indy.

From the announcement:

We are just a few days away from the start of Gen Con 2019 in Indianapolis and we've got some exciting information to share!

This year we will be offering a special Gen Con Show Pick Up option for orders placed via our Online Store. You can buy selected products from our catalog and pick them up at our booth in the Exhibit Hall Thursday through Sunday.

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For you deckbuilder and adventure game fans out there, there's Thunderstone Quest. Build your deck. Delve into the dungeon. Grab the loot. All the good stuff. AEG is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for two new adventure expansions for the game as well as a new group of heroes you can take on the role of. Go have a look-see.

From the campaign:

Thunderstone designed by Mike Elliott is a deckbuilding game of heroic adventure. 

We successfully Kickstarted Thunderstone Quest in the spring of 2017 and delivered it in the spring of 2018. In the spring of 2018 we Kickstarted To The Barricades!, adding solo and CoOp play and two additional Quests, which were delivered in the spring of 2019.

New Horizons

After the climactic battle in Quest 4: At the Foundations of the World, the Champions are dispersed by the forces of wild magic. One awakens in a far realm of endless sands. Another discovers himself in a strange new city where he may learn the fate of his people.

The world of Thunderstone Quest is even larger than we could ever imagine. It's time to explore these New Horizons.

Back the campaign TODAY to begin or continue your Thunderstone Quest adventure!

The game's more than 5x funded with only 8 days left to go.

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Mystic Vale, the card-building game from AEG where players slide semi-transparent pieces into their cards to build them as they play, has a new expansion. It's called Harmony, and it adds plenty of new elements to the game, especially for those who love updating cards to more-powerful levels.

From the announcement:

The Vale’s allies keep on coming to fend off the corruption! Don’t wait to join your fellow druids in this battle!
Pick up #MysticVale: Harmony at your FLGS and save the vale today!

Harmony adds new advancement and vale cards to the base Mystic Vale game, giving players more card crafting options and exciting new possibilities for combos. Amulets feature unique effects and greater variety over regular mana tokens. Leader cards grant abilities that can be upgraded to become even more powerful!

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You might have the previous version of Valley of the Kings. You might even have all 3 games in the series. But AEG's still bringing you something new with their Premium Edition Kickstarter. There's new elements, a new box ready to hold everything in one, a special price, and the chance to get it several months before the expected general release (and we all know how much gamers love to be the first ones on the block with the latest and greatest games).

From the campaign:

Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) is proud to bring you the Kickstarter for Valley of the Kings Premium Edition. This version of Valley of the Kings consolidates the three previously released games in the line, upgrades the components, and adds new content.

Valley of the Kings is designed by Tom Cleaver. The first game in the series was released in 2014, Afterlife was released in 2015 and Last Rites was released in 2016.

This product is in a fast turnaround with our production facilities in China, and we intend to deliver these Rewards four months from now in August 2019. The retail release of Valley of the Kings Premium will be in October, and the suggested retail price for the retail release will be $65.

The campaign's more than 4x funded with still 13 days left to go.

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Mystic Vale is an interesting take on the deck-building genre, as you actually change your cards in your deck, instead of changing the overall count of cards in the deck itself. In the physical world, this relies on sleeved cards that you'll insert transparent other cards into. However, in the Digital version that's available now, it is as simple as changing the cards for "real." You can download and play this version now.

From the announcement:

Mystic Vale is a deck-building card game, in which 1 to 4 players take on the role of druidic clans trying to cleanse the curse upon the land. Each turn, you play cards into your field to gain powerful advancements and useful vale cards.

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Someday, I hope to make it out to Essen. I would really love that. I've been to Gen Con, but from what I hear Essen is all that and then some. But the drive from Atlanta is kinda rough. But if you are headed to Essen, and you're a retailer, you'll want to check out the ESSENtial Retailer Summit while you're there. If you really want to know what companies will be coming out with that you will want to stock in your store, it's the place to be.

From WizKids:

Well-known game publishers, Alderac Entertainment Group, CMON, Games Workshop, Renegade Game Studios, Stronghold Games and Wizkids have joined forces and today announced their plan to host the second annual ESSENtial Retailer Summit, set to take place during SPIEL 2018 on October 26 in Essen, Germany.

The ESSENtial Retail Summit is a great opportunity to connect with retailers and provide new product demos and overviews, sneak peeks and reveal upcoming announcements

The inaugural Summit was a wonderful success, and we’re excited to partner with new publishers this year to create another great event for participating retailers.

Retailers won’t want to miss this great opportunity to hear it first from top game publishers at this year’s 2018 ESSENtial Retailer Summit!

The 2018 ESSENtial Retailer Summit will take place Friday, October 26, 4-7 p.m. (GMT+2) in Room M in Congress Center South.

Retailers are encouraged to RSVP here by Monday, October 22.

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When the Scorpius system was first colonized 100 years ago, those that came to the new system thought that they would be the start of a new and free society, better than any that had come before. However, the government has decided that only they know best, and so control every aspect of people's lives. However, rebellion is growing from within. That's where you find yourself in Scorpius Freighter, a new game coming from AEG. Pre-orders are being taken now for those that want to pick up the game at Essen.

From the website:

It’s been almost 100 years since the Scorpius system was settled. Sentients came from everywhere to start a new life, following their dreams of prosperity and adventure. The truth was less idyllic.

The Government controls almost everything. They control wages. They control prices. They control entertainment. They control information. They have transformed an idealistic colonization project into a systemwide serfdom. Tens of billions of sentients live in Scorpius with no hope of advancement, no hope of escape.

Except that not everyone in the Government toes the line; some still believe in freedom. Operating from within the massive Government motherships, a few bold freighter pilots use the system against itself. They still handle their sanctioned job duties… as well as a lot of extracurricular activities like smuggling restricted medicines, passing censored information, and facilitating transactions below the Government radar. They are fueling the revolution.

And the revolution is coming.

In war, it's not just the actions of troops out on the battlefield that matter. There's a whole network of reserve units and supplies that must also be taken into account. In War Chest from AEG, players must manage their hand of Unit Coins, playing them at the right time in order to place their Control Markers. The first one to place all 3 is the winner. You can pick up your copy now.

From the website:

To succeed you must successfully manage not only your armies on the battlefield, but those that are waiting to be deployed. Each round you will draw 3 Unit Coins from your bag and then take turns using them to perform actions. Each coin shows a military unit on one side and can be used for one of several actions. The game ends when one player, or one team in the case of a four-player game, has placed all of their control markers. That player or team is the winner!

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AEG is running another Kickstarter for their popular Thunderstone Quest deck-building game. It's called Back to the Dungeon, and it includes their previous material, along with all-new items. It's a bit more of everything, and includes rules for solo and co-op play.


From the campaign:

Thunderstone designed by Mike Elliott is a deckbuilding game of heroic adventure. We successfully Kickstarted Thunderstone Quest in the spring of 2017 and delivered it in the spring of 2018. This Kickstarter features Barricades Mode designed by Bryan Reese - rules and components for Solo & CoOp play, plus Quest 6: What Lies Beneath.

You have three options to back this Kickstarter - Champion which consists of the Champion Reward from the 1st Kickstarter (but no new content), To The Barricades! which consists of just the new content in this campaign, and Champion + Barricades! which combines both into one Reward.

The Kickstarter is already more than 8x funded with still 29 days left to go.

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Thunderstone was one of the first deckbuilding games I ever played. I love the building aspect, along with the dungeon delving bits. Well, AEG is bringing us Thunderstone Quest, the new evolution of the game. It's coming to Kickstarter next month, hitting the site on July 17th.


From the website:

Thunderstone Quest returns to Kickstarter on July 17th – Thunderstone Quest Back to the Dungeon will feature the Champion Reward and a new 6th Quest: What Lies Beneath as well as Solo & Co-Op rules, plus more surprises! Be sure you are subscribed to the Thunderstone Newsletter to get all the important announcements and insider info about the upcoming campaign!

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Well, it would seem as though someone has some mail. Z-Man Games has acquired Love Letter, the quick social deduction card game, from AEG. Along with the original version, this acquisition also includes some of the other versions of the game that also are out there.
That's quite a piece of mail.


From the announcement:

Will you be able to win the Princess’s affection? We are pleased to announce that the essential card game Love Letter will join our catalog! Along with distributing remaining inventory from Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), we will also reprint current versions of the game that players know and love already.

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Man, I wish I could go out into space. You know, head to distant planets. Take control of huge space stations. Build fleets of ships to help get and trade resources. That kind of thing. Sadly, at the moment, you can only get to space if you're an astronaut or ridiculously wealthy. Being neither of those things, if I want to do all that stuff listed at the top, I'll just have to live vicariously through Space Base, a new dice game available now from AEG.


About the game:

An intergalactic dice game of fleet management for 2-5 Space Base Commodores

As the commodore of a Space Base, your job is to draft new ships into your fleet to work and patrol the 12 sectors under your watch. Use cargo vessels, mining ships, and deploy carriers to earn profits and expand your influence. Only one Space Base commodore will be promoted to U.E.S. Admiral of the Fleet!

Space Base is a dice game where players draft ships into their Space Base. Every turn, no matter whose turn, players harvest rewards from their Space Base, whether those rewards are an increase in your baseline income, credits for the next turn, influence or some other powerful effect that will lead you to victory. Space Base has you involved and engaged on every player’s turn, from the first roll of the dice to the last!

Dice Game where players build their own chart of rewards
Fantastic Artwork by Chris Walton set in a hopeful and humorous world
Easily taught with rich depth of play
All players engaged on every turn and every roll of the dice!

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AEG has launched a Kickstarter campaign for what they're calling their most ambitious board game ever. Edge of Darkness involves deck building and card modification (like in Mystic Vale) along with worker placement, area control, and threat elements, all rolled into one. Take control of one of the four guilds and fight to keep the land of Aegis alive.


About the game:

We come now to the start of the story.

A city, Aegis, struggles to survive. The Blight draws near.

Four Guilds hold its fate in their hands. For Aegis to live, three must fall and one must rise.

From John D. Clair, designer of the ORIGINS Award Winning Mystic Vale comes a new look at the world first glimpsed in the contest between the Druids and the corruption of the Vale.

The most ambitious tabletop game Alderac Entertainment Group has ever published is now live on Kickstarter.

Featuring:
• The double-sided evolution of the Card Crafting System
• An innovative shared deckbuilding mechanic
• Variable Location boards for incredible repeat play value
• The Threat Tower, an imposing plastic randomizer and source of the Blight
• Card-driven worker placement ensuring every choice has consequences

Edge of Darkness is a midweight Euro-style game for 2-4 Players (with solo play unlocked at the first Stretch Goal), that plays in about 90-120 minutes.

Will you provide a stout defense on the walls? Or will you fight corruption within the Capital Hall? Will you ensure the Forge will never falter? Or will you summon heroes and send them against the Blight or will you seek to increase your influence and expand your forces in the city?

There are many paths to victory but only one Guild will triumph.

Save the city. Save the world.

The campaign is already more than 3x funded with still 30 days to jump in on the action.

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The thing about Smash Up is that AEG can pull in references from pretty much everywhere in order to make new factions. In this case, they're hitting the wayback machine to the time of disco, bell bottoms, platform shoes, and polyester leisure suits. Yes, it's the 70s.


From the post:

Can you dig it? We’ve put Smash Up into the not-so-wayback machine and set the controls for “GROOVY!”

That 70s Expansion celebrates all the greatest pop-culture memories from the Age of Aquarius! Put on your mood rings, bust out your leisure suits, spin that disco ball and put the pedal to the metal good buddy! The streets are mean, there’s a bear in the air, but the music is fantastic and everyone is Kung Fu Fighting!

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Mystic Vale lets players actually customize their cards as they play. Using the clear sleeves, players will insert clear upgrades to their cards, building their deck in an entirely new way. The game already has several expansions, but more is on the way. In this case, it's Conclave, and it will be available in April.
Plus, the box will be able to hold all your current sets.


From the post:

The Ultimate Mystic Vale Storage System, Expands Game to 6 Players & Adds More Expansion Content

As the struggle to restore the Valley of Life intensifies, the ranks of those combating the curse continues to swell. Druidic clans from across the land heed the call, including the Frostcaster and Nightvale clan.

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Along with all the Kickstarter that are launching this week, there's also several that we're excited to tell you about that are coming up. In this case, it's AEG. They're going all out for this one. They're saying that it's their most ambitious board game project ever. It's got a bit of everything. If you like worker placement, it's got that. If you like deck-building, it's got that. If you like card crafting, it's got that. It's called Edge of Darkness.


From the announcement:

On February 20th at noon (EST) Alderac Entertainment Group will launch the Kickstarter for the most ambitious tabletop game it has ever published.

That game is titled Edge of Darkness. It is designed by John D. Clair, designer of the ORIGINS Award Winning Mystic Vale. Graphic design and primary illustrations by Alayna Lemmer-Danner.

Edge of Darkness is a medium-weight game for 2 to 4 players featuring card crafting, worker placement, shared deckbuilding, and a cube tower Threat system. The game is modular to provide extensive replayability.

In Edge of Darkness players take the roles of leaders of powerful Guilds inside a City beset by powerful evil forces determined to destroy it, known collectively as The Threat. The City exists in the same world as Mystic Vale, although in a different region of the world. The players must compete for resources and attempt to exert control over the various critical areas of the City in order to build support within the City while defending against the attacks of The Threat. The game is played in rounds, and ends after a set number of rounds have passed. The winner is the player that has amassed the most Victory Points.

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With just a couple days left in 2017, AEG has updated their website with a look at some recent and upcoming releases. Looking for a way to spend that holiday money or just trying to find a new game to play in the new year? Check these out. There's a little bit of something for everyone.

The legend says that in a time of grave danger, masters of the elemental orders will leave their ancestral retreats and join forces to restore peace of the world. From the once-dormant Tekirin volcano the vengeful Magmaroth has emerged. Born of earth and fire, its goal is to mold the world to its image: primal and ruthless. The time is now for the masters to face their destiny.

In The Master’s Trials: Wrath of Magmaroth, players each represent one of the masters from the orders that have banded together to face the evil elemental.

Build your own character, roll and move dice to use the powerful techniques you have mastered and work in concert with the other players so you can defeat Magmaroth before time expires!

Sakura Arms is a two-player fighting card game, where players control the powers of the “megami.” These megami are channeled through the delicate petals of the Sakura tree. Choose two megami each game to create combinations of powers. Defeat your opponent and prove you are the most powerful fighter!

Sakura Arms is an elegant game from Japan, designed by Bakafire. The game has already become hugely popular in Japan with tournaments and an online game in the works. Featuring stunning art and design, the game is both easy to learn and incredibly challenging. Place the petals on your hands and face your destiny!

The Classic Game of Power, Money, Intrigue and Revolution

POWER! Do you have enough influence and Pesos to become the new President of the República de las Bananas?

Money! Pesos for bribes, Pesos for assassinations. How will you get enough of those nice little bills to pay for your political wheeling and dealing? With the Monarchists on your side, you surely can figure something out …

INTRIGUE! Pay a little money for an assassination to gain a lot more – you need only to guess correctly where the other members of the government are hidden!

REVOLUTION! Your assassins may not have been successful, but a group of misguided students in front of the Presidential Palace convinced you that the current regime is unbearable. Get ready to start a Coup and free the República de las Bananas of its corrupt leaders. Will the rebels choose you as their next President, or will you be sent to the firing squad at dawn?

How many professions starting with the letter M can you name in one minute? Who will give the longest female name starting with W, or the shortest drink starting with R? Think faster or your opponents will run ahead of you!

Be the first to name the right word beginning with the given letter and related to the indicated theme. If you can think up the word faster, the victory is yours!

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AEG's got two new releasing that they've posted up for the month of October. They're even taking pre-orders. One's Mana Storm, a new expansion to Mystic Vale, the deck-building game where you actually alter the cards as you're playing (though not permanently like a Legacy game). The other is Cutthroat Kingdoms (had to keep myself from typing Cutthroat Kitchen there). Here, you're leaders of one of six noble houses looking to take over the throne after the king's death.

The campaign to restore Gaia’s realm rages on and other druidic clans combating the curse have joined the ranks. And it’s not just druids who have heeded the call; other creatures have joined the fight, eager for a day when all are free from the accursed blight

As memory of the slain king Ratimir Dravanof passes, the six great houses vie for control of the land in a neverending dispute of title, territory and birthright.

Now, embroiled in conflict, the lords and ladies lock eyes on the crown, as they fight to contend with the remnants of the Dravanof legacy: the great plague that has now turned upon the people, to ravage the countryside, exacting its cruel revenge.

This is the innovative new social game of contract, duplicity, arranged marriages and tainted food. Every group will create their own rules for how to play and every game will be different. Will yours be high on subterfuge, backstabbing and betrayal, or conducted on a higher plane of rock-solid agreements and unbreakable oaths?

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