News Flash: NOW! Announced, Courtisans Pre-Order

NOW! Announced
Scorpion Masqué has announced a new competitive card game, set for release on April 17. "NOW! is a competitive card game where everyone plays at the same time! Your goal? Discard your cards as quickly as possible in search of the perfect number. Be careful, you'll go through your deck quicker than you think! Do you think you have the right card? Shout NOW! Get as close as possible to the target values (without exceeding them!) to get them. Gain as many points as possible while denying your opponents of them.”
Source: https://www.scorpionmasque.com/en/now

Courtisans Announced
Pandasaurus has announced Courtisans, set for release in May and currently available for pre-order. "Guide the Courtiers around the hall and attempt to sway a family’s influence. Manage your Courtiers and read the plans of your opponents to emerge with the most points!"
Source: https://pandasaurusgames.com/products/courtisans

Making Board Games Finale
The finale of CGE's Making Board Games Youtube docuseries was released this week. "In the 8th and last episode of Making Board Games, we tell the story behind the enormous success of Lost Ruins of Arnak. We get to know about the process of Min & Elwen, about the art vision of the game and we conclude our little docuseries with the second edition of Galaxy Trucker and all the recent releases of CGE. "
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVSL202OhI

Randolph Announces Seaside
Seaside is a light, portable game that is built to be waterproof and windproof. The game is expected to be released in the US this June. "The aim of the game? One piece at a time, create your coastline with the elements the sea sends your way. Pick a token from the bag and choose a side, apply its effect and try to collect as many tokens as possible. The highest stack of tokens wins!"
Source: https://www.randolph.ca/produit/seaside-en/

Tangram City Pre-Order
Capstone Games has a new tile-placement game designed by Uwe Rosenberg available for pre-order. "In Tangram City, you place city tiles on your board using secret information about what city tile will come up next. As the city tiles are double-sided, plan your layout with the goal of harmony and the shape of a rectangle in mind. At the end of a round, you receive points for the largest rectangle on the board, and at the end of the game, bonus points for harmony between the realms."
Source: https://capstone-games.com/board-games/tangram-city/

New Crossroads Game Announced
Plaid Hat Games has announced Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game. They will be bringing the game to Kickstarter (a first for Plaid Hat) this summer. "Become a member of a ragtag starship crew traversing the edge of charted space in search of fame and riches. Together your crew will command and control a beat-up ship procured with the fantastically low interest rate of 23.5% from an honest loan shark. Set off on a world-jumping campaign, taking on jobs too dangerous (or too insane) for the average space traveler.  Come aboard and fly across the galaxy to see if your crew can make enough profit to pay off your ship and become masters of your own cosmic destiny.”
Source: https://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/2024/02/13/announcing-wandering-galaxy-a-crossroads-game/

Reviews
Challengers! Beach Cup (Meeple Mountain): “A fantastic party game and it still works for both gamers and more casual players in my circles. If I had to pick, I would only own one of these two games, and that would be Beach Cup.”
Source:  https://www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/challengers-beach-cup/

The Cupid Crisis (Opinionated Gamers): “The Cupid Crisis was a fun one, and while I needed no clues, there were a number of difficult puzzles in this one, and this goes with the rating of 3/3 difficulty on the cover.”
Source: https://opinionatedgamers.com/2024/02/14/68433/

ICECOOL Wizards (What’s Eric Playing): “Overall, I think ICECOOL Wizards is a solid entry in the ICECOOL franchise! I like the return to the roots of penguins being silly penguins, even if the theming of them sliding around and getting Lesson Cards is a bit incongruous. I legitimately don’t care; it’s fun and neat.”
Source: https://whatsericplaying.com/2024/02/05/icecool-wizards/