New Games for January 27th, 2023 - Wickedly Simple Troll launches Tussie Torpedoes

It's New Game Friday! David Wiley (Cardboard Clash) is here to tell us about the new games.

Here’s what is new this week:

• A Simple Life
• Wicked & Wise
• Torpedo Dice
• Dungeon Pages: Drok, Outcast Troll

https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games

A Simple Life

You just moved to the province to live a simple life. You promised yourself you’ll get things done in 10 days. Plant crops, make friends, mine the mountains, populate your pond, and donate to the museum to achieve your goals.

My very first introduction to this sort of video game came in the Super Nintendo days with Harvest Moon. You might also be familiar with the more recent megahit of Stardew Valley. Regardless of whether you have any knowledge of those video games, there’s a lot to enjoy in this simple roll-and-write. You’re going to work toward a goal (or more, for challenge) by the end of 10 turns, but there’s a lot of things that connect together for either faster progress or more points to score. I’m always searching for the elusive roll-and-write that really captivates me, and this one turned out to be a whole lot of fun when I played the contest version of the game, so I can speak from experience and recommend this one as something that should not be missed. Who doesn’t like that nice pixelated art aesthetic?

Wicked & Wise

Hoarding is a lot of work for a Dragon - and also, a lot of play! In order to expand their hoards, Dragons will challenge other Dragons to a game of cards. Sometimes, they need a little help to win - so they call on the wily mice who reside in their caves to “stack the cards in their favor,” so to speak.

This is a trick taking game for both those who absolutely love them, as well as for those new to the mechanic. In here you have partners, with one as a Dragon and the other as a Mouse. The catch is that Dragons play cards only for the numbers, whereas Mice play them only for the abilities. With Dragons playing two cards per trick to the one of the Mice, there’s a lot to really consider in this game. Certainly the gameplay will live up to the namesake, requiring you to be equal parts wicked and wise in order to come out on top.

Torpedo Dice

Be the first player to destroy your enemy’s submarine by targeting all 7 of their ship’s vital systems - but if you run out of spare torpedoes, you will lose this battle!

At first blush this might look like a roll-and-write version of a game you probably played during childhood. However, you won’t be calling out coordinates to try and dismantle the opposing naval vessels, but rather using the pips on the dice to mark off spaces in order to destroy their equipment and leave their vessel stranded and yourself reveling in victory. With an extremely short set of rules, like most roll-and-writes, you’ll be up and rolling in no time and having a ton of fun. The neat thing here is you’re trying to destroy only one of the people sitting next to you, which also makes the drafting of dice vitally important to consider.

Dungeon Pages: Drok, Outcast Troll

As is likely to be the case each week this year, there’s a new addition to the lineup of Dungeon Pages. This time we have Drok, Outcast Troll, who is a fun departure from the first heroes. You won’t want to miss out on this new hero to run the gauntlet of Dungeons.

Game of the Week: Tussie-Mussie on sale for $2!

Coming from an era full of fads such as using tear catchers to determine the length of mourning, Tussie-Mussie is based on the Victorian fad that assigned meanings to the flowers that friends and lovers exchanged. Famous authors such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Emily Bronte all utilized the meaning of flowers in their writings, and now you can experience the language of flowers in this game from Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave and artist Beth Sobel.

With the approach of Valentine’s Day, it should come as no surprise that we’re offering up the great Tussie-Mussie as the game of the week. After all, flowers are usually associated with love, and this game will help you learn exactly which flowers to send along to your loved one to deliver the desired message - or what to send to your enemy. This clever game with an I Cut, You Choose mechanism is sure to delight your significant other with its brilliant gameplay and provide a nice way to spend the evening together. And even if you are alone, there is a great solo expansion for the game that is worth scooping up for fun with flowers.