Board Games I'm Looking Forward To

Well, some of them anyway. This could easily get very, very long so I'll try to shorten it down to the stuff I'm looking forward to the most. There might be a few games in here that have actually already been released in that case they should still be fairly new at least.

The plan is to make similar articles for miniature games, roleplaying games and perhaps even video games. However, I found board games the easiest to get started with so here we are! There are lots of them being released these days and many of them look like a lot of fun. This list (or entire post!) is fairly FFG heavy. Sorry for that, but they just keep churning out stuff that I want to play. Anyway, let's get going...

Merchant of Venus (2012 reprint) - Now we know the fate of this reprint that was announced by Stronghold Games and Fantasy Flight Games within a day of eachother. Luckily it seems like they've managed to come up with the perfect compromise; FFG will publish the game but will have input from the guys at Stronghold Games to try and keep the feel of the original game. Good stuff! This is a classic space trading game that I've been considering making my own copy of, so I'm just happy seeing a reprint!

Dark Darker Darkest - An upcoming game from David Ausloos who recently made Panic Station. It's a zombie game... but seems distinctly different from games like Zombies!!! and Last Night on Earth. Apparently this is a much meatier game with some similarities to Mansions of Madness (exploring a house) but with more emphasis on teamwork and tactical gameplay. I'm always interested in semi-RPG experiences and what I've seen of this so far it might very well fit the bill.

CO₂ - A game about stopping pollution and coming up with environmentally friendly technology! It might almost sound too preachy, but there's no denying that this is vitaly important for the humanity as a race. This game caught my eye through its unique theme and its beautiful aquarelle visuals. Basically you're trying to (semi-cooperatively) stop pollution and global warming, and failing that trying to make the best of a deteriorating situation. Apparently the game is considered "controversial" because of its theme of global warming. Urgh... wake up people! Even if the current situation isn't man made it's still a problem that needs to be solved.

Rogue Agent - Cyberpunk is on its way back with videogames like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Syndicate as well as FFG's new board/card game releases. And of course Rogue Agent - another game by David Ausloos (busy man!). There seems to be a lot going on in this game as your agent is moving through Rain City aqcuiring resources, encountering crime bosses and outsmarting the police. There's also a traitor element as some of the agents can be androids, secretly planning a revolt. 

Descent, 2nd Edition - I have never been a great fan of the first edition of Descent. While I like it fine and think it can be a fun romp now and again, there's something about it that prevents it from being the kind of dungeon crawler I want it to be. Just read Frontline Gamer's review of the game as it's similar to my own thoughts. However, reading the previews of the 2nd edition has made me all kinds of giddy as it seems to be a lot closer to my "ideal dungeon crawler"! A lot of things have been streamlined and there's much more emphasis on narrative and campaign play which is something I felt was sorely lacking in the original. Scenarios are connected in a campaign and what happens in one scenario will have ramifications in the next. The new hero archetypes and classes also look more fun and engaging, not to mention the updated artwork. I have high hopes for this!

Edo - Medieval Japan is a fascinating setting so when I came across Edo I was intrigued. In the game you take the role of a daimyo trying to impress the shogun by building markets and castles in the area around Edo (Tokyo). It's based on simultaneous action selection like Shogun (or RoboRally for that matter) and you use your actions to command samurai around the board. The gameplay sounds interesting, the graphic design is appealing and the setting speaks to me. 

Infiltration - As you might already know I really liked the world Kevin Wilson created for Android, although I didn't like the actual game. So I was really happy to see FFG not giving up on it and using it for more games. First up we have Infiltration by Donald X. Vaccarino, the brains behind Dominon. It's a push your luck-kind of card game where you play as operatives trying to infiltrate CyberSolutions Inc. to gather valuable data. The interactions between different rooms, different items and different operators seems to make for a interesting game with many possibilities. Quick playing as well is a plus in my book.

Android: Netrunner - Not satisfied with just releasing a regular card game set in the Android universe FFG also announced their reprint/reboot of the classic Netrunner CCG by Richard Garfield! This time it will be set in the Android universe instead of Shadowrun Cyberpunk (Thanks Tomasz!) and it will (naturally) be a living card game. I actually missed the original game when it was released but have heard so many good things about it that I'm ready to get excited nonetheless! The assymetrical nature of the game intrigues me; one player takes the role of the hacker trying to break into the second player's corporate databanks. I've been looking forward to a sci-fi LCG. Star Wars is on the way, but for some reason it doesn't excite me as much as Netrunner.

Zombicide - Could this be THE zombie board game? A zombie game finally done right? Maybe... it certainly looks the part! From what I can tell it plays a bit like the video game Left 4 Dead; you play as a small group of survivors trying to make their way through an urban zone. There are stores to loot (or barricade!), cars to drive and zombies to kill. Besides the regular walkers there are some special zombies (just like L4D) who are stronger, faster more nasty etc. There's also an experience and hand management system that seems interesting. Also the miniatures, being from Cool Mini or Not, are absolutely gorgeous!

Samurai Battles - More samurai! Weee! I actually don't know very much about this game, apart from it being a part of the Command and Colours series, but recently I've become more interested in painting historical miniatures. I don't want to get into an entire historical miniature wargame, but a board/miniature hybrid like this might be just the right thing. The miniatures look great and... well that's enough for me at this juncture. :)

1969 - I just came across this the other day. It's about the 1960's space race for 2-5 players and I'm over the moon (excuse the pun) about seeing this game! I've been wanting to see exactly this game, and here it is. The Manhattan Project piqued my interest as it has a similar theme but now I'm glad I waited since 1969 suddenly showed up. There's not much known about the gameplay yet. The main mechanism seem to be how to alocate your scientists and how to use your intelligence (slow down your neighbours or speed up your own research). As you play you need to complete a number of missions to prove your research works and it all culminates in the actual mission to the moon. Exciting stuff!

There are more games out there that I want to play of course, but these are some of the ones I'm most excited about! I'm always looking for more stuff though so please, if you know of some awesome new board game being released in the near(ish) future let me know in the comments! As you probably know I'm partial to anything cyberpunk or space related...