OgreCave

Fresh from last month’s release of Cash ‘n Guns: Yakuza (which we mentioned in our GTS ‘08 wrap-up podcast recently), Asmodée is preparing to ship the strategic diplomacy boardgame Senji this July. I just looked over the game at KublaCon today - it was one of the few titles I failed to get a closer look at in Vegas - and liked what I saw. As a Daimyo in feudal Japan, each player attempts to reach 60 honor points and become Shogun. Alliances will be crucial for survival, as players must rely on neighbors to defend their borders. With tricky bits like that, diplomatic negotiations could take quite a while, if it weren’t for the hourglass that limits your pleading time - something I’ve wished for in Settlers games, at times. Expect Senji to clock in at a price of about $70.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the other bit of Asmodée news I missed at GTS: the return of Formula De in time for Essen in October. This version will have rules for street racing while avoiding police pursuers. The game will also have prepainted figures and as few rules changes as possible. In all, great news for folks like me, who only just tried the previous sold-out version for the first time a few weeks ago.

Other tantalizing Asmodée news:

• Dungeon Twister may see an enhanced edition with larger boards and prepainted character miniatures. This would be next year, though, well after the Mercenaries and Fire & Water expansions (the former being at the show in limited supply).
• The card game Hero: Immortal King should be along next month, for 1-2 players right out of the box.
• Bringing back the murder-mystery-in-a-box, Death Wears White has been scheduled for later this year. The one-shot party game will sell for $29.99.

It was great to catch up with Asmodée at KublaCon, and get some time to make up for the hectic nature of GTS.