My inbox is continually flooded with news of IP-based games, so let me run through a handful of them to see whether any tickle your nostalgic taste buds:
• Before the end of 2023, U.S. publisher University Games will release Rocky Horror Show, a board game adaptation meant to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Richard O’Brien’s 1973 musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show. Here’s teaser text about this 2-6 player game from the publisher:
• Publisher Glass Cannon Unplugged plans to open the gates of hell in 2024, specifically by crowdfunding both Diablo: The Board Game and Diablo: The Roleplaying Game for release in 2025. From the publisher:
Diablo: The Board Game, along with its direct companion tabletop RPG (TTRPG) system, will fuel one another with interchangeable game components, shared accessories, and complementary expansions with overarching events in a fully integrated product line.
• In July 2023, Jasco Games rebranded as UVS Games, with its long-lived Universal Fighting System (UFS) CCG being similarly rebranded as the UniVersus CCG, although the nature of the game line will remain the same: a character-driven, multi-IP fighting card game that’s included sets based on My Hero Academia, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Cowboy Bebop.
In 2024, UVS Games will add an Attack on Titan CCG to the UniVersus line-up, with the cards featuring both original and reimagined artwork from the Attack on Titan manga. (The exact name of this card set hasn’t been revealed, so expect an update on the BGG game page in time.)
• In other CCG news, Wizards of the Coast announced in October 2023 that it will release Magic: The Gathering sets in its “Universes Beyond” line-up that feature Marvel heroes, villains, locations, and more.
Other brands featured or announced for “Universes Beyond” sets include The Lord of the Rings, Fallout, Doctor Who, Final Fantasy, and Warhammer 40,000. Some retailers have noted that the recent proliferation of Magic sets is overwhelming the audience’s ability to play (and purchase) everything.
• In still other CCG news, in 2024 Japanime Games will release Oshi Push, a collectible card game from Justin Gary and his Gamer Entertainment team in which you can collect cards and design decks based around your favorite Vtubers — and if like me, you don’t know what a “VTuber” is, I’ll let you know that a VTuber is a content creator who uses virtual avatars to livestream and create content for platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
Japanime Games is partnering with virtual entertainment company Phase Connect to include many of its VTubers in its first set of cards.
