News Flash: Cartagena Escape Diaries Announced, Dice Manor Released

Cartagena Escape Diaries Announced
Plan B Games has announced a new edition of Cartagena Escape Diaries, coming this fall from Pretzel Games. "You have been sent to the prison of Cartagena. Your task: successfully guide your crew of pirates to escape this perilous fortress. Will you be the first to lead your entire group to the ship and escape to the sea?"
Source: https://www.facebook.com

Dice Manor Released
Arcane Wonders released Dice Manor this week. "Over four rounds, players will use their dice to bid for blueprints, earn advertising space, collect Inspiration tokens and give early tours of their manor. All leading up to the final round where it’s time for the Grand Opening of their completed manors – in the hopes of earning the most praise from the community."
Source: https://www.arcanewonders.com/product/dice-manor/

Ares Announces Ensemble
Ares Games has announced Ensemble, a cooperative party game set for release this June. "For two to 10 players. They are challenged to “think” in syntony with each other, voting the best match between images without communicating, as a close-knit group that can overcome any challenge - much like musicians in an orchestra. Each round of the game presents a new challenge, revealed through a new card. Players must secretly choose the picture that matches the current challenge, then simultaneously reveal their choices.
Source: https://www.aresgames.eu/32660

Timeline Twist Announced
A new, cooperative version of Timeline has been announced. "Timeline Twist, a reimagination of the popular Timeline series. With a focus on cooperative strategic gameplay, Timeline Twist challenges players to work together and place historical event cards in chronological order. Timeline Twist is planned for a Spring 2023 release on the Asmodee store and at select retailers"
Source: https://www.asmodeena.com/en/news/2023/1/24/TimelineTwist/

Dead Cells Board Game Announced
Le Scorpion Masqué has announced a board game adaptation of the video game Dead Cells. "Dead Cells: The Rogue-Lite Board Game is a dungeon-crawler that offers a cooperative rogue-lite experience inspired by the Medroidvania genre, playable with 1-4 players, and with a gameplay of around 45 minutes."
Source: https://www.scorpionmasque.com/en/blog/we-are-making-dead-cells-board-game-coming-kickstarter-spring

Wooden Board Games Roundup
The Tabletop Family has posted a round-up of their favorite wooden board games. "Wooden board games are some of my favorite types of games to play. There is just something about the feel of the wooden components and the often organic and artistic nature of the game design. We’re sharing about a few of our favorite wooden board games to play, from small pocket size games to art pieces you can hang on your wall. "
Source: https://thetabletopfamily.com/great-wooden-board-games/

Reviews
Dream Quest (The Tabletop Family): “If you like the choose-your-own-adventure style stories, this is worth checking out. It took us an hour to play through both booklets and made for a fun, memorable experience that my kids are excited to do again with the next installment.”
Source: https://thetabletopfamily.com/dream-quest-storytelling-game-review/

Donut Shop (Gaming With Sidekicks): “The game does not overstay its welcome, we got most of our games played and boxed in less than an hour. This game is sure to find a way onto our table often and like a good box of donuts it will definitely be a hit that everyone will want to get their hands on!”
Source: https://gamingwithsidekicks.com/2023/02/15/kickstarter-preview-donut-shop/

Challengers! (Meeple Mountain): “Challengers! is sticking around in my collection because it’s great to have filler games that help kick off a game night with bigger groups[...] easy to teach and can be raucous with the right audience.”
Source: https://www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/challengers/