Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Expansions!

As you may not remember, I really like Dice Town. I learned recently that an expansion is due in December.

THIS December!

And next year there are TWO MORE expansions due for Amodee-distributed games.

Cyclades (Gamethyme's Game of the Year for last year) will be expanded at some point next year, as will Claustrophobia. As I like both of these games, I'm excited.

Still no word on an official new expansion for Dungeon Twister, but the League is working on a new set of minis for more of the promo pieces. And - according to Chris - the video game is due on the PS3 in January and the XBox 360 "shortly thereafter."

Given my earlier discussion of expansions, what do I think of this timing?

Remember: I'm not the expert. I don't run any game companies. I don't know what all is discussed and what goes into their decision-making process.

Dice Town - at a year and a half or so, it feels a little late. The lateness of this expansion could spark sales of the basic game, however. My group still digs this one out for play (the game has held their interest much better than a lot of games have).

Cyclades - feels about right, at a year (or just shy of one). The game isn't played out, yet, but at the same time, players are starting to move to the new hotness, whatever that may be. I still get requests for this one all the time - and I'm more than willing to grant these requests.

Claustrophobia - it's on the same cycle as Cyclades to me. Claustrophobia has a small advantage, too - there have been a long series of web-released scenarios to keep the game fresh and active. And (if it's not up yet), there's ALSO a web-published campaign for the game due out soon. And this game is in the Top 100 at BoardGameGeek, which is never a bad thing (but there is debate on what your BGG rating actually does for sales).

Time will tell on these, of course.

4 comments:

  1. What's your feeling on the timing of the Dungeon Twister expansions? It feels a little late to me, but hopefully it will garner some excitement for Prison -- especially if the league does their part with some goodies that have been long awaited in the US.

    Geoff

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  2. It feels late to me, too - but DT also has an active community trying to keep it going.

    We'll see long-term.

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  3. That brings up an interesting question...

    How many games have an active tournament/league community that is independent of the publisher? Obviously, I know about the LIDT because I'm a big Dungeon Twister fan, but does this happen for other games?

    I know that DoW tried to start Memoir'44 tournaments, but I don't think that ever took off.

    Geoff

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  4. I think any of the "dead" games being played by the WBC qualify as having an active tournament/league community.

    The LIDT is unique in my experience - we're a fan-created and fan-driven organization which has the approval of the publisher.

    I have an M44 Tournament Medal. Unfortunately, M44 tourneys never really took off.

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