Open New Editions of Haggis, Dutch InterCity, Medici and TRICKTAKERs

by W. Eric Martin

New PGC editionsI’ve been focusing on SPIEL Essen 23 non-stop for the past several weeks…so what have I missed along the way? Let’s start with a round-up of new editions of older titles:

• Just before the show opened in Essen, publisher Portland Game Collective closed a Kickstarter for new editions of Sean Ross‘ ladder-climbing card game Haggis and Hiroken‘s TRICKTAKERs, a trick-taking game for 2-5 players in which each player takes one of eight special powered roles. To win the game, you must win the most tricks in two out of three rounds OR if no one does that, win zero tricks across three rounds OR if no one does that, have the most points.

• At Tokyo Game Market in December 2023, Korean publisher Mandoo Games will release a new edition of Takashi Saito‘s OPEN, first published in 2022 by BrainBrainGames.

In this 2-4 player climbing and shedding game, each person plays with four of their six cards face up on the table. At the start of each hand, players make a secret bet on which player they think will play all of their cards first. Points are awarded to all players but the last to go out. Points are also awarded to players who accurately predicted who would go out first.

Rounds are played until one player reaches a given score, then the player with the most points wins.

• In Q4 2023, Rio Grande Games will release new editions of two titles that debuted from Winsome Games: Han Heidema‘s Dutch InterCity, first released in 1999, and John Bohrer‘s Chicago & NorthWestern.

• German publisher dlp games released Arve D. Fühler‘s Monasterium in 2020 — my overview — and new publisher Emerald Games is trying to fund a new edition of the game for release in North America. (KS link)

• I’ve already covered Allplay‘s forthcoming new edition of Reiner Knizia‘s Through the Desert, and now the publisher has launched a preview of its crowdfunding campaign, which will include a Bazaar expansion, the modules of which let you buy additional camels, use nomad cards with new scoring conditions, avoid a crocodile(?), and play a pick-up-and-deliver game.

Is any of this necessary given how good Through the Desert is? Probably not given that the game is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2023, but it’s coming anyway.

• To end with a SPIEL Essen 23 connection that ties into the previous item, in Q1 2024 UK publisher Steamforged Games will release a new edition of Knizia’s auction game Medici — and that’s not a title I would have expected from Steamforged Games, but here we are.

Mock-up at SPIEL Essen 23

The image below was included in a press release about the edition, and I’m puzzled as to why the publisher would use the same blue boat for all the players. I mean, yes, each boat includes colored decals that match the players colors, but even so — why wouldn’t you have boats in six colors?!