Thursday saw the tickets for the 2017 UK Games Expo go on sale.

Naturally I’ve bought mine. I have the three day pass, so I’m there for all three days of the event that are open to the public (there is usually a press/industry day on the Thursday).

Now I have my ticket the fun starts finding an affordable place to stay. 

Click HERE to go buy yours and hope to see you there in 2017.

I’ve not done a Week Starting for a couple of weeks now, mainly because there has not been much out catching my eye.

Which is good really, because it means my wallet has had an easier time than normal.

But as you can see FFG and Esdevium have plans to strip mine your wallet and then your bank account with a Star Wars themed collectible dice game called Star Wars Destiny.

Luckily for me I don’t have room in my life and bank account for another “life style” game.

Next up the amazingly brilliant game (that I have the expansions, promos and coins for but don’t actually own the base game) Viticulture Essential Edition is being restocked. Whilst it’s proper expansion Tuscany Essential Edition also comes out. 

I actually have the original paper playmat for Colt Express. But now a more robust version of it is coming out. This mouse mat material version is going to sell out quickly for sure. So grab it fast is my advice.

The Hood expansion hits for The Thunderbirds boardgame.

Guilds of London is getting a restock. This is really worth getting if you don’t have it. Don’t let the iconography put you off. It’s worth the effort.

Castle Panic gets another expansion. I don’t know too much about what this adds. But I love Castle Panic so this will be a must get.

Another expansion for Dice City hits. I’ve not started on the expansion route for Dice City. It’s a nice game, and better than Quadropolis. 

Finally £33 is all you need to spend to relive the magic of the children’s/geek classic The Goonies in The Goonies The Adventure Card Game in game format. I’ve not seen any reviews yet so can’t comment on how good the game is. You have been warned.

In a poor attempt to shake things up here is a short video showing the new releases for next week from our Esdevium over lords.

Yes as usual there are other things coming out next week, and I’m not interested in those ones. This is what’s caught my eye. Hopefully these will interest you also. 

I keep thinking I want to do a podcast of some sort but I’m not sure what format yet. For me I’m bored with what’s out there at the moment.

The current formats are tired, clones, predictable.

I want something fresh, me. 

Oh well will have to wait for what I come up with.

Well with Essen keeping our Esdevium/Asmodee overlords busy last week it was rather quiet, with a game (Escape from Colditz) and an expansion (the Mystic Vale one) having sold out before the update was released!

So now we are going to start seeing a tidal wave of games coming out after the Essen announcements and trying to hit the shelves before Christmas.

This coming week sees a new CCG hit, this one themed around the ever popular Final Fantasy video games. The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game is using the money sink hole model of the collectable random booster packs. Which is why I won’t get it. I don’t have that space in my life or budget for such a game.

The big must get for me next week is the first expansion for 7 Wonders Duel, Pantheon. I’m really looking forward to this as is Nath. We love 7 Wonders Duel, however this expansion may push the limits on Naths small table he has in his room in halls.

Krosmaster 2.0 hits also next week. I did like the first edition. This is Final Fantasy Tactics the boardgame really. I sold mine in the end as the skirmish game I wanted to try and get to the table more was Imperial Assault. Although I am tempted to get again. 

Continuing the rerelease of expansions using the new artwork comes one of my favourite expansions for Carcassonne Princess and The Dragon.

Although I haven’t got Civil War yet for Marvel Legendary (yeah shocking I know), it won’t stop me picking up this Deadpool expansion for the game. Now if only they’d release Howard the Duck that came out as part of their 3D cards in the US last year.

As you will know at the last Fenland Gamers monthly Meetup we got to play Keyflower. Now Key to the City – London is hitting the stores, which I believe is basically Keyflower at heart. Now I know Jonathan has a London boardgame fetish! So I imagine he will be getting this. I hope so, then I can decide which one I want in my collection.

Finally some rather nifty Star Wars The Force Awakens card sleeves are out next week.

So that’s it for the coming week. It’s just going to get more manic and expensive the closer we get to Christmas.

The next expansion for T.I.M.E. Stories has recently been announced.

Expedition:Endurance whisks us off to 1914 to find out what happened to a trans-Antarctic expedition.

The news site icv2 provides the following additional information:

“Designed by Croc (Claustrophobia, In Nomine) and produced in collaboration with Space Cowboys, this new expansion explores the Antarctic, where an anomaly in time threatens to change history and make reality fall apart completely. Questions of life and death as well as sanity itself are at play in this expansion, set in 1914 during the failed trans-arctic expedition of the Expedition.

Expedition Endurance contains 115 cards and requires the base T.I.M.E. Stories game for play. MSRP is $29.99, with a US release scheduled for Q1 2017.”

Looking at the bgg site those of us in Europe may be getting this new scenario a little sooner, like this month according to an official Facebook reply on the Official game/Space Cowboys page.

So Essen announcement/release?

I’ve been waiting a month or so for our Esdevium/Asmodee Borg masters to release Timeline British History. This will make a great starter activity for a class.

At last Escalation the latest datapack for Android Netrunner is hitting the streets. Once I’d seen the spoiler for it I couldn’t wait. I wanted so badly to play with the new Anarch runner Omar Keung.

Look at that ability. Isn’t it awesome?

Simurgh is a great worker placement game. It doesn’t say so, but this has to be a restock. It’s definitely worth getting. 

Finally I really do like the two player play mat for Magic the Gathering shown above. I’m going to have to get this to play my duel decks with when I play Nath. Or anyone else really.

After the last couple of weeks it’s a quiet week. I’m so glad our overlords are being kind to us.

It’s that time again for a new set of Magic the Gathering cards. So the coffers of your FLGS will be over flowing this weekend.

Dreamwell is a game that is on my radar just. I love the art work. That box art is lovely.

Sam Heely from The Dice Tower really liked the Old Saloon expansion for Bang the Dice game. I enjoy the game, and my students have also liked it when I take it in. So this will be a no brainer.

The Dark Tales game and its expansions is another game that’s on my radar. And to be honest sitting closer than Dreamwell. So this Cinderella expansion peaks my interest in the base game and the expansions.

Still sitting in my pile of shame is Coup G54 Rebellion, and I’d already got this Anarchy expansion for it from kickstarter. However if you like Coup G54 Rebellion this adds more of the same with more characters.

The Resistance The Plot Thickens is for edition three owners really, as it adds the expansion that was in the second edition but not the third. There are some other little bits but in reality I wouldn’t say this is a must have. But then I’ll be getting it.

That’s it for this week, lots of interesting expansions. If these have half as much impact on their respective games as the last one for Istanbul. Wow these games will be awesome.

So how are our Esdevium overlords planning to separate us from our hard earned pocket money this week?

First up is a game that I’d love me to try, Captain Sonar. But if I bought it wouldn’t get played much. This is a game that needs the max amount of players to get the best out of it.

Then it’s followed up with a restock of (queue Axl like screams, Slash like guitars) Welcome to the Dungeon. 

Istanbul is a fantastic game, love it. I liked it so much after playing it was instantly added to my collection. Anyhow the second expansion for it Brief and Siegel hits our shores. Yes I’ll be getting this. Not as if I need a reason but this gives a great reason to play the base game and first expansion again.

Lotus just looks stunning from the photos I’ve seen on Instagram. I’d be buying it just for its art. 

This final one in the piccy above is one you need to rush out and buy. In fact I played it yesterday. Yep Thiefs Market is out. 

And then we have Forgotten King: Super Dungeon Explore.

OMG how much? I paid £24 earlier in the year in one of those amazing Amazon offers. It had a rrp of £80 then. Btw it’s £50 at the moment on Amazon.

Oh and yep I feel super smug nabbing my copy at that super cheap bargain price.

Anyway that’s the new stuff hitting this week. Another pretty strong week.