Tag Archives: idw games

Allison Baker Joins IDW Publishing

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allison bakerIDW Publishing has announced that Allison Baker will be joining the publisher as Director of Operations. Allison’s primary role will be coordinating and expediting the operation of IDW Publishing’s ever-increasing production schedule, working directly with the Editorial and Production departments, as well as the newly formed IDW Games division.

Allison is the co-publisher and co-founder of Monkeybrain, Inc., originally founded as a traditional print independent book publisher specializing in science fiction & fantasy and nonfiction genre studies. In 2012, Monkeybrain launched a new creator-owned digital comics line, Monkeybrain Comics, which has garnered several Eisner Award nominations, including an Eisner Award win for Best Digital Series in 2013.

The most important qualities in an ideal Director of Operations are flexibility and a wide range of expertise. Allison’s experience in both the publishing and entertainment industry certainly fit the bill. She held the position of Director of Operations for Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios from 2002 to 2005, and for the last eight years served as Director of Production at Joe Slade White and Co., an award-winning political media consultancy firm that produces radio and television spots for political campaigns, initiatives, and corporations on city, state, and national levels. Most recently, Allison has become well known for writing the column “Allison Types” for Comic Book Resources.

Machi Koro Expansion Announced!

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machi koro expansionToday, IDW Games announced asmall-box expansion for the hotly anticipated Machi Koro card game. Machi Koro: The Harbor Expansion will include 10 new establishments, one new starting establishment, two new landmarks (82 cards total), and the ability to play Machi Koro with up to five players. Machi Koro will hit shelves this July, and the expansion will follow before Christmas.

This is the second major announcement from IDW Games this month regarding Machi Koro. At the beginning of May, it was announced that five copies of an exclusive pre-order card would be included in each game headed to the Hobby Market. With today’s expansion announcement, it becomes clear that the exclusive pre-order card will be compatible with the new Machi Koro: Harbor Expansion. The expansion will offer players new game mechanics and a variant play option that changes which resources are available for purchase at the start of each game.

This first expansion not only adds the ability to bring a fifth player to the table for your Machi Korosessions, there’s also big changes to the strategy as players will be working to complete six landmarks instead of the four required to win the base game.  Further changing the landscape ofMachi Koro, the expansion changes how each game begins, as only 10 types of establishments will hit the table for any one game. This move should add variety to an already incredibly re-playable game.

The pre-order exclusive card offer ends on May 28th, so fans are encouraged to head to their friendly local game shop and put their order in today!

CHEW Comes to IDW Games

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chew gameAt the Diamond Retailer Summit, IDW Games announced a deal with John Layman and Rob Guillory that will create a new line of CHEW tabletop games for fans to sink their teeth into. The smash-hit comic series is already on its way to an animated adaptation, and starting in early 2015 fans hungry for more CHEW will have yet another way to devour their favorite title.

The CHEW game line will feature a smorgasbord of play options from board to card to dice games, each title being a stand-alone experience designed to whet fans’ appetites, whether they be a gaming novice or a connoisseur. IDW Games will be tapping top game designing talent to develop each game in the series, and Layman and Guillory will stay involved on the creative side to ensure the look and feel of each game is in line with the highly stylized, quirky world they’ve created.

Look for Chew to hit stores in early 2015, and in the meantime IDW Games will dole out bite-sized teasers on www.idwgames.com.

IDW Entertainment and Entertainment One Sign First-Look Development and Production Deal

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idw entertainmententertainment eoneIDW is going full steam ahead expanding its entertainment reach even further. IDW Entertainment, the newly launched division of comic book powerhouse IDW Publishing, and Entertainment One Television, have entered into a partnership to co-develop, co-fund and co-produce television series based on IDW’s extensive library of over 300 original properties. The announcement was made today by David Ozer, President of IDW Entertainment and John Morayniss, CEO, eOne Television in a release.

eOne and IDW will fully fund development of each project with the intent of securing direct-to-series commitments for network and cable television. IDW Publishing CEO Ted Adams and Ozer will serve as Executive Producers on the projects, as will Morayniss and Benedict Carver, eOne’s SVP of Filmed Entertainment, who will oversee the deal on behalf of eOne.

Circle of Confusion will take the lead in driving the creative development and production of all projects with the company’s Rick Jacobs and David Alpert serving as Executive Producers. Circle of Confusion formed a partnership with IDW Entertainment in October 2013 to assist in the development and Executive Produce the projects of the newly launched entertainment division of IDW Publishing.  Circle of Confusion is the Executive Producer of the hit AMC series The Walking Dead, for which eOne handles international distribution.

IDW Entertainment and eOne will jointly represent the U.S. network sales, and eOne will be responsible for the international distribution of programming.

In a release, Ozer said:

eOne has a proven track record of developing, producing and distributing premier television programming, and they are the perfect co-development, production and distribution partner for IDW Entertainment as we grow our television business. We look forward to collaborating with eOne and Circle of Confusion to bring our properties to life and anticipate announcing very shortly our first project under the deal.

In the same release Morayniss said:

The IDW team brings with them not only an expansive catalog of captivating titles, but the creative sensibility and instinct for developing their properties into successful franchises. Working with Circle of Confusion further cements this collaborative powerhouse and we look forward to the impressive slate of projects to come.

On top of a push into movies and television, IDW also announced IDW Games this year, a new division to take their popular titles and adapt them for games.

IDW Games and Pandasaurus Games Brings Machi Koro to the US

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Today IDW Games announced the publication of Machi Koro, the first of many small box games to be released in partnership with Pandasaurus Games. This July, gamers can look forward to adding the international hit card game Machi Koro to their weekly game sessions.

This will be the first North American printing of the fast-paced, dice-rolling city builder, Machi Koro. In the game, players compete to be the first person to build up their simple village into a sprawling metropolis. Originally designed and released in Japan, Machi Koro has developed a dedicated fan-base around the world. Excited fans have been eagerly anticipating an English translation, and the game has already garnered a “seal of excellence” from The Dice Tower among many other accolades.

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments and build public works, and steal from your neighbors coffers. Just make sure they aren’t doing the same to you! Machi Koro is a fast-paced light-hearted game for you and up to 3 friends. They say you can’t build Rome in a day, but Machi Koro will can be built in under 30 minutes!

Machi Koro is on display at the GAMA trade show March 17-21, 2014. The first 100 attendees to participate in a demo at the IDW Games booth will walk away with a promo copy of Machi Koro. The game will retail for $29.99 and an expansion is already being planned for release for this holiday season.

Follow IDW Games on Facebook and Twitter @IDWGames for breaking news, random fun, and the opportunity to play more games!

About Pandasaurus Games
Pandasaurus Games is an award winning hobby board and card game publisher hailing from Austin, TX, known for such hit games as Tammany Hall, Yedo, Firenze, Great Fire of London and Lost Valley.

IDW Games to Release The X-Files Big Box Board Game

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This summer, fans of The X-Files will have a brand-new way to search for the truth, with the release of a brand-new big box board game! Players will get the chance to take on the role of Mulder, Scully, and the X-Files team as they work to uncover global conspiracies and threats while going up against various members of the Syndicate.

The X-Files board game will focus heavily on material from the first three seasons of the television series, giving fans a chance to start from the beginning of the phenomenon. IDW Games has enlisted top-notch designer, Kevin Wilson to bring The X-Files to the strategy board game community. Acclaimed gallery and comic book artist, menton3 brings his talents to the board gaming world by providing art direction for this project as well as the stunning box art. Designed for a playtime of between sixty and ninety minutes, two to five players will face off against one friend who will control the Smoking Man and his nefarious network.

IDW Games will release The X-Files  game in July with a suggested retail price of $59.99. Get ready to find the truth on your tabletop!

IDW Hires Veteran Gaming Talent

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IDW Games has announced that gaming industry veteran Kurt Nelson will be joining as Sales Manager. Kurt’s primary role will be sales management for IDW Games as well as for mass-market initiatives such as IDW’s Micro-Comic Fun Pack brand.

In a release, Jerry Bennington, the Director of Business Development said:

We are very excited to have Kurt join our growing team at IDW. Having previously worked with Kurt, he has a strong understanding of the gaming and collectibles category and will be a significant asset to our growth and stability.

Kurt will be bringing with him over 16 year of sales management experience in the gaming industry. He has worked directly with some of the largest retailers and distributors both domestically and internationally and managed the distribution of one the most successful trading card games, Yu-Gi-Oh! From Upper Deck to Cryptozoic to GTS, Kurt has been an invaluable asset in the industry.

Nelson added in the release:

I’m very excited to be part of the IDW team and having the opportunity to help build a gaming division that becomes a positive force in the industry. I’m especially looking forward to working closely again with Jerry and Ted Adams. They both played such a big part in my initial experience when I started in this industry 15 years ago.

The first title from IDW Games, Kill Shakespeare is available to distributors now, so retailers can expect to hear from Kurt soon!

IDW Games & Pandasaurus Expand Relationship. Bring Out of Print Games Back.

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IDW Games launched in a big way with recently announced games like Kill Shakespeare and 30 Days of Night. To help bolster a board game line already hotly anticipated by fans around the world, IDW is growing its games division by expanding its partnership with Pandasaurus Games.

This partnership includes bringing Pandasaurus’ vault of popular games into print, many of which are sold out. The first title in this partnership is Tammany Hall, launching in June, in which the players “take power, rule New York.”  Other titles to follow are Rattus Cartus, the sold-out hit that pits players against each other and the Black Plague, and Yedo, Pandasaurus’ first game, which is a samurai-themed worker placement game from the designers of the upcoming Kill Shakespeare game, Wolf Plancke and Thomas Vande Ginste. It also means that moving forward, IDW Games and Pandasaurus will be co-developing engaging board games that will excite existing fans of the genre and surely make new ones.

The future looks very bright for board game fans with the return of some favorites and the release of new and exciting ones!  This year, IDW Games and Pandasaurus invite you to get in the game!

Kickstarter Spotlight: IDW’s Kill Shakespeare…. the Game!

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Today, IDW Games in cooperation with Pandasaurus Games launched a Kickstarter campaign for their first joint venture, Kill Shakespeare. The campaign’s goal is $25,000, and there will be a series of stretch goals in place that will make incremental improvements to the game for each milestone hit. With an amazing creative team in place and two world-class artists delivering the box and game art, this campaign is poised to be a huge success!

The first 250 people to back the Kill Shakespeare campaign will secure copies of the game at the deepest discount available. No matter when fans pledge during the campaign, the game will be offered $10 under suggested retail price, with free or discounted shipping around the globe!

This campaign offers fans the chance to pick up additional content ranging from comics to lithographs to a set of custom dice. Stretch goals are in place to improve the quality of the game components as well as expanding game content to include more characters and quests.

Why I Like It: I’ve loved the Kill Shakespeare comics, so to be able to play a game in that world is more than fine with me. Here’s hoping we get even more… can you say RPG?

Best Pledge: $40 gets you a copy of the game at a deep discount for the first 250 people. I pledged at this amount and kicked in some extra money for the dice game too.

Risk: LOW – The artwork for the game is complete and the only things left to do are the Kickstarter specific items. Add that on top of the fact that an established company like IDW is behind it, and I’m not too worried. I think at most the issue might be delays in the ship date due to production issues.

IDW Games Announces the Kill Shakespeare Design Team

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IDW Games has selected game designers Thomas Vande Ginste and Wolf Plancke as the creative team that will bring Kill Shakespeare to tabletops in 2014. The design team, best known for the sold-out critically acclaimed Yedo, will deliver a co-operative board game that pits several of the Bard’s most popular characters together in a struggle to protect the land from King Richard and Lady Macbeth.

Designed to be a “semi-cooperative”-style board game, players will unite to battle against evil forces controlled by board mechanics, while still jockeying to come out as the individual leader on the scoreboard. The design and content of the game will pull heavily from source material created by the Kill Shakespeare graphic-novel team. However, those unfamiliar with the works shouldn’t feel left out, as the board game will act as the perfect entry point to those unfamiliar with Kill Shakespeare.

With a 2014 summer release planned, IDW Games looks to be putting their best foot forward with this title. The previously announced art team of Dave Dorman and J.K. Woodward should give Kill Shakespeare a firm advantage in the art department, and this new addition of a high-quality design team loudly delivers the message that the publisher is here not just to play, but to win.

kill shakespeare

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