Welcome New Editions of Nexus Ops, Kraftwagen, Ponzi Scheme, Dragon’s Gold, Mine Out, and More

by W. Eric Martin

Another week, another round-up of new editions of old games being announced by publishers far and wide.

I know some folks view this as a bad thing, presumably because they would prefer effort by spent on original designs, but (A) that’s not how a market works and (B) reprints put a title in front of a mostly new audience that might have heard of the game, but never got their hands on it. I mean, sheesh, how many editions of Frankenstein exist? (At least these forty.) Ideally games end up in the right players’ hands, and everyone has a great time.

• Renegade Game Studios has already released a number of Hasbro titles in new editions — Acquire, Diplomacy, Robo Rally, Axis & Allies: 1941 — and now Renegade has announced four new Hasbro titles that will be “refreshed” and released in 2024: Nexus Ops, Vegas Showdown, Risk 2210 A.D., and Risk: Godstorm, all of which debuted between 2001 and 2005.

As with its other Hasbro releases, Renegade notes that it’s not altering the gameplay of any of these designs: “Renegade plans to implement minor quality-of-life upgrades to provide a modern, high-quality gaming experience for fans, plus a complete visual refresh for Avalon Hill titles Nexus Ops and Vegas Showdown.”

• Spanish publisher Samaruc Games plans to debut with two new editions of older designs.

First, Matthias Cramer‘s Kraftwagen — which debuted in 2015, then was updated to the Kraftwagen: V6 Edition in 2016 — will be re-issued as Kraftwagen: Age of Engineering “with improvements and simplifications that lessen the luck factor”.

Second, Samaruc Games will publish a new edition of Dragon’s Gold, a Bruno Faidutti design from 2001.

A warning for sensitive eyes: This new edition will feature anthropomorphic animals, as seen in this image of the green knight:

• UK publisher Bright Eye Games plans to bring Jesse Li‘s Ponzi Scheme back to the market in 2024, with new art, new graphic design, some component changes, and no changes to the rules other than “the exception of Luxury Goods becoming part of the main game rules”.

• Muneyuki Yokouchi, who has designed the trick-taking games Cat in the Box and 7 Symbols, and 7 Nations, plans to release a new edition of 2008’s Mine Out at the Tokyo Game Market taking place at the end of 2023.

The original edition of this release from Ayatsurare Ningyoukan was available in SPIEL through Japon Brand. Will this version be available outside of Japan? Wait and see…