Category Archives: Board Games

Legends of the Arena is a Fast-Paced Brawling Board Game inspired by Super Smash Bros.

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Legends of the Arena is an intense brawling board game for 2-6 players inspired by Super Smash Bros. Knock your opponents out of the Arena and claim victory!

In Legends of the Arena each player takes on the role of a unique Legend. Coordinate your unique abilities to develop a strategy and anticipate your opponents’ moves. Players secretly select three action cards, flip them simultaneously to execute their plan, then repeat. Victory is won by knocking opponents out of the Arena!

No matter how far ahead or behind, you can always find a path to victory. Experience the thrill of perfectly executing combos and foiling your opponents’ plans in a fast-paced tabletop game that captures the dynamic excitement of fighting games.

We open up the game and show off what’s inside with this prototype copy!

The game is funding on Kickstarter.

Paverson Games announces Ringyō

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Ringyō

Paverson Games has announced Ringyō (林業), a new game crowdfunding in Q3 of 2026 from designer Charlie McCarron (Four Humours and Skyrockets: Festivals of Fire) that will join the line up of thematic gaming experiences from Paverson. The game will feature art by Kwanchai Moriya (Apiary and Dinosaur Island), graphic design by Brigette Indelicato (Let’s Go to Japan and Endless Winter), and cultural consultation by James Mendez Hodes (Dungeons & Dragons and Distilled).

Ringyō blends simultaneous worker placement, environmental management, and competitive strategy into an immersive experience that rewards foresight, adaptability, and respect for the natural world. Only the daimyō who accumulates the most favor after five rounds will be celebrated as the Shōgun’s favored lord.

Rooted in Japanese history, the game invites players to step into the role of a daimyō during Japan’s Edo period. Each player will oversee the development of their personal province. Provinces begin as wild, untouched forests, and players will shape the destiny of their land by deploying samurai who are skilled in forestry into crucial intersections. Each placement is a critical decision that will define their province’s future for generations to come. Players may…

  • Harvest trees to construct various structures,
  • Plant and study trees for future knowledge,
  • Establish a new agricultural presence to sustain the region’s population,
  • Build castles for both ongoing benefits and favor,
  • Muster a military force to help support the efforts of the Shōgun in Edo.

Each choice carves a unique path, balancing immediate rewards with the long-term harmony of the land. But nature is ever-changing. Players must anticipate the weather patterns of Japan—where rains that aid in the growth of the forest can just as easily turn into a cascade of devastating floods! A dynamic deck of weather cards ensures no two games are alike, challenging each daimyō to protect their province from environmental ruin.

Four distinct species of trees offer vital materials for construction, yet careless deforestation may leave lands vulnerable to flooding. Success lies in managing a delicate balance between harvesting resources and fostering a sustainable cycle of forest regeneration. Over-exploitation may yield quick gains, but at great risk to the province’s future.

The Shōgun keeps a keen eye on the provinces from Edo. Each daimyō must send advisors and compete to fulfill the Shōgun’s demands, earning prestigious gifts and favor. Ringyō rewards players who consider both their own region’s needs as well as the requests of the greater country, all while taking a sustainable and respectful approach to the land on which they call home.

The game is for 1 to 4 players ages 14+ and playing time is 45 to 90 minutes.

Rock Manor Games unveils Disco Heist Laundry

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Revealed by Rock Manor Games, Disco Heist Laundry is heading to Kickstarter September 16th! Travel back in time to the radical 1980s where you’ll put together a crew of criminals for the heist of the decade. Play a Crew member to your montage, move about the city to avoid the cops, gather intel, and then grab the most cash when the window of opportunity opens. After you’ve stolen your big score, you’ll need to cash out and launder that money to win the game.

Rock Manor Games will be offering a FREE expansion to everyone that signs up and then pledges early on Kickstarter.  This expansion will add 2 new asymmetric Kingpin characters along with some unique Crew members to recruit to your gang. Be sure to unlock this reward and follow the project on Kickstarter so that you don’t miss out on this bonus.

Disco Heist Laundry is for 2-4 players ages 13+ with games taking about 30 minutes per player.

Disco Heist Laundry

Gen Con 2025: Unmatched is getting two more expansions, Hellboy and Stars and Stripes

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Restoration Games has revealed two more expansions for Unmatched, Unmatched: Hellboy and Unmatched: Stars and Stripes.

Unmatched: Hellboy brings the popular character to the tabletop. Hellboy joins numerous characters from Marvel as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as characters that have jumped from the comic page to the board. This four character box set will release in 2026 and feature cover art by Mike Mignola himself!

Unmatched: Stars and Stripes features heroes from the USA’s past. The box features four heroes, three of which from a design contest. It includes Rosie the Riveter, George Washington, John Henry, and it looks like Wyatt Earp.

Now we can have George Washington battle a dinosaur or Deadpool!

Both sets will be released in 2026. You can sign up to find when Unmatched: Hellboy and Unmatched: Stars and Stripes launch to be ordered.

Unmatched: Hellboy
Unmatched: Stars and Stripes

Unmatched pits characters, both real and imaginary, against each other as they battle it out on a board. The mixes card management, miniatures, and board game for a fun experience where you can match up battles that could only happen on the tabletop.

Unmatched: Muhammad Ali vs Bruce Lee is Available for Pre-Order

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Unmatched: Muhammad Ali vs Bruce Lee

The highly anticipated release for Restoration Games‘ Unmatched, Muhammad Ali vs. Bruce Lee is available for pre-order.

Unmatched pits characters, both real and imaginary, against each other as they battle it out on a board. The mixes card management, miniatures, and board game for a fun experience where you can match up battles that could only happen on the tabletop.

This new set will be available in 2025 and brings back the in-demand Bruce Lee hero and introduces the new Muhammad Ali fighter with a double sided board featuring two new battlefields. Lee quickly sold out in his initial release and has been going for a lot of money on his own.

You can get this expansion for just $35.

Don’t Starve: The Board Game Kickstarter Launches This September

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Something strange and splendid is crawling out from the depths of the Constant – and it seems to have taken a particular liking to you. After slipping into another dimension (as one does), Don’t Starve: The Board Game has found its way back to the surface! Glass Cannon Unplugged has worked directly with Klei Entertainment to ensure the soul of the game was not only preserved, but also nourished and lovingly cared for. From original art contributions to game design insights and even new lore, this is a true collaboration.

Glass Cannon Unplugged has locked themselves in the lab, muttered arcane phrases, redesigned a few vital contraptions, and waited for lightning to strike (metaphorically, this time). And now we’ve created a game that captures the essence of the digital & original version, but with a few fresh twists that could only have been implemented on the tabletop.

This is a 1-4 player cooperative roguelike survival experience, where every decision is dangerous, and every turn might be your last. Play as Wilson, Willow, Wendy, or Webber – and explore a strange world full of odd creatures, hidden dangers, and ancient secrets.

Follow the pre-launch page to receive a free Constant Curiosities mini-expansion.

Gen Con 2025: Kosmos Brings the Heat with Dice Words, EXIT: Catan, and More

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Dice Words

Kosmos returns to Gen Con with an exciting lineup of premieres and highly anticipated releases. The company is pulling out all the stops for the global debut of Dice Words, a fast-paced, dice-rolling word game, with an after-hours launch party on Friday night. Attendees can also snag an all-new, con-exclusive mini expansion for The Gang, as well as the latest EXIT title, Adventures on Catan. These games and more will be available at the Kosmos booth, #259, from July 31 to August 3.

The year’s Gen Con release, Dice Words, marks a milestone as the first tabletop game fully developed by the company’s U.S.-based team. 

To celebrate its world premiere at Gen Con, Kosmos will host a launch party for Dice Words where people can learn and play the game, meet the designer, and win all sorts of cool prizes. For details and to sign up for the party, attendees are encouraged to visit the event’s page on Gen Con’s website, www.gencon.com/events.  

Additionally, gamers who were blown away by last year’s cooperative poker hit, The Gang, can look forward to a brand-new mini expansion, made especially for Gen Con. Attendees will receive The Gang: Mini Expansion 2 – Tools of the Trade free with any purchase at the Kosmos booth (while supplies last).

More highlights include:

  • Masters of Crime: Mosquito: The newest addition to this crime-solving (and crime-committing) storytelling series makes its North American debut at Gen Con. 
  • Australis: Winner of two 2025 UK Games Expo Awards: People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice (Best Dice Game). Navigate the East Australian Current in this vibrant dice-drafting strategy game where players feed fish, grow coral, and guide sea turtles through a rich underwater ecosystem. Smart decisions and tactical risk-taking will determine who thrives in the shifting currents.
  • The Crew: Family Adventure – Marooned in Paradise: From the creators of the award-winning The Crew series comes a cooperative, story-driven adventure perfect for families. Stranded on a desert island, players work together – without speaking – to complete 35 linked missions using simple trick-taking mechanics, a game board, tokens, and evolving objectives that make every round count.

Of course, the Kosmos booth would not be complete without the latest in its award-winning EXIT: The Game series of at-home escape room games. All five 2025 additions – including EXIT: Adventures on Catan, in which the worlds of EXIT and Klaus Teuber’s wildly popular board game CATAN collide in a captivating escape room adventure – will be for sale in the booth, along with over 30 previous EXIT releases and EXIT Advent calendars.

All games in the Kosmos booth, #259, are 10% off at the show, while supplies last. Fans can also take advantage of this discount all weekend long on the Thames & Kosmos website using promo code GENCON2025 at checkout.

CGE steps in it with Codenames: Back to Hogwarts. Faces Backlash

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Codenames: Back to Hogwarts

In July, CGE announced Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, a new edition/skin of the popular Codenames game. We didn’t cover it and won’t be covering it due to its connection with Harry Potter whose creator is a TERF on a mission of what we see as hatred towards the trans community. We don’t cover Harry Potter in general (not like it’s a comic), and absolutely have not once her beliefs were clear.

The tabletop game community is one of general inclusion where everybody is welcome to sit at the table and enjoy a game. So, for a company to embrace a property so tied into exclusion and bigotry is a bit perplexing. The fact that J.K. Rowling uses her “Harry Potter wealth” to fund anti-transgender organizations, and she’d likely profit from the game’s licensing, is even more infuriating.

To say CGE’s statement in response lacks is an understatement.

When we embarked on creating the newly announced version of Codenames many years ago, it was a dream coming true for many of us at CGE. The vast world of magic featured in the upcoming Codenames has been a source of inspiration. It ignited a passion for learning English and exploring new worlds through reading. It shaped our childhoods, sparked imagination, or gave comfort in difficult times. We know many people around the world share the same sentiment about this universe, even among those who have been hurt by the public views and actions of its creator. Deciding whether those feelings should also transfer to the once-beloved world is up to everyone, and we fully respect and understand those who do not wish to engage with this game. We still believe in the magic of stories and the connection they create between people.

As this is an ongoing conversation, we encourage everyone to approach discussion with care, empathy, and respect—both online and in person.

It calls for “care, empathy, and respect,” though embraces a bigot for profit. They don’t respect their community as they have locked responses to social posts, clearly not wanting to hear the feedback from the community and it should be noted a community that helped make Codenames the success that it is.

WB Games, which has released has released multiple Harry Potter video games, is another example of a company seeing dollar signs, and that’s what it is all about. We have not covered them since 2022 (from what I can tell) for similar reasons. The upcoming Harry Potter television show on HBO has us rethinking any future coverage concerning HBO (though it’s limited as is, so not much of a loss).

We wear our beliefs on our sleeves here at Graphic Policy. Inclusion, treating others well, supporting diversity, those are things baked into the site. We’re not always perfect, but we try our best. There are times we don’t connect, or even know about issues, or slip ourselves. Our beliefs results in editorial decisions to not support and promote releases, companies, or creators that we feel are the antithesis of that.

We’re standing with other sites/influencers/tabletop games against CGE’s decision concerning this release. We won’t be covering CGE until they give a proper response and do what’s right, which is not release the game or donate its profits to charity benefiting the transgender community. We stand with the trans community which has seen hatred and vilification that’s unwarranted and only comes from a place of hate.

We speak with our coverage. We speak with our dollars. There are numerous wonderful organizations and companies that support the trans community. Let’s shine a light on them and lift them up and support them.

Renegade Game Studios announces Ikusa: Samurai Swords 40th Anniversary Edition coming to Gamefound This Fall!

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Ikusa: Samurai Swords

Renegade Game Studios, in collaboration with Avalon Hill, is bringing Ikusa: Samurai Swords back to the table for the first time in over a decade with a deluxe 40th Anniversary Edition—exclusively launching on Gamefound this fall.

Known to many longtime fans as Shogun, Ikusa: Samurai Swords has been a staple of strategy gaming since its original release. Now, in honor of its 40th anniversary, Renegade is reviving the classic with all-new artwork, upgraded components, and premium production values—reimagining it as a true collector’s edition. As one of Avalon Hill’s most iconic strategy titles, this release reflects the studio’s continued focus on celebrating legacy games with premium, fan-first experiences.

In the game, players take on the role of rival warlords vying for control of feudal Japan. With armies and mercenaries at their command, each seeks to claim the ultimate title: Shogun. The 40th Anniversary Edition retains the core gameplay fans love while elevating the experience with refined visuals and deluxe components.

The Gamefound campaign will run from September 30 to October 30, offering fans exclusive access, behind-the-scenes content, sneak peeks at the components, and exciting giveaways. This edition will only be available through the Gamefound campaign and will not be offered at retail, making the upcoming campaign a must-back for collectors and longtime fans alike.

Gen Con 2025: Modiphius Announces Two Upcoming Board Games for DOOM

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Modiphius Entertainment has announced that it is developing board games based on the classic video game DOOM.

Coming to Kickstarter later this year, Modiphius will offer backers two editions of the board game: DOOM | Arena Board Game, based on the original DOOM (1993) video game, and the DOOM: The Dark Ages | Arena Board Game, based on the latest critically acclaimed title in the franchise, DOOM: The Dark Ages. Both games will use the same ruleset, and the campaign will include a variety of expansions covering enemies found in both games, including an Atlan mech and the Mecha Dragon.

DOOM | Arena Board Game and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Arena Board Game will offer a quick-to-learn competitive game, where players face off as either the DOOM Slayer or the demonic hordes and rip and tear across a variety of battlefields. Featuring a host of devastating weapons and monstrous demons drawn directly from the seminal series, players will battle across three rounds with increasing stakes, decorating the hex-based arena with their opponent’s gibs!

Modiphius will be offering demos of early versions of the miniatures board games at this year’s Gen Con and QuakeCon. The final version of both board games will be available at a later date. 

DOOM: The Dark Ages | Arena Board Game
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