White Wizard Games renamed to Wise Wizard Games, announces new games, including legacy Star Realms
The publisher of Star Realms has changed its name from White Wizard Games to Wise Wizard Games, citing “feedback from the community” in a company-issued press release. The name change won’t affect the company logo or SKU numbers.
Alongside the name change, Wise Wizard Games announced four new games, including a legacy-style Star Realms game and a standalone Hero Realms game. The company will release two new games not tied to their existing product line, as well: Riders of Chaos, a Richard Garfield-designed miniatures game, and Robot Quest Arena, a robot-battling deckbuilding game.
Z-Man Games ending Euro Classics line, returning game rights to designers
In an article on Z-Man Games’ website, Steve Kimball, head of studio at the publisher, announced an end to the company’s Euro Classics line, which comprises a number of Reiner Knizia titles.
The series was also set to include a new edition of Princes of Florence, designed by Wolfgang Kramer. The announcement from Kimball notes that the rights to Princes of Florence have been returned to Kramer, citing a substantial shift in market conditions.
The rights for Knizia’s games have also been returned. Those include Ra, Samurai, Taj Mahal and Through the Desert.
Roll-and-write publisher Inkwell Games closing doors amid name issues
Inkwell Games, a roll-and-write games publisher, is closing its doors after an apparent legal issue, just days before a planned Kickstarter campaign relaunch for Joey Schouten-designed game GRBLD.
According to Inkwell Games on Twitter, the decision comes following a cease-and-desist from another company, Inkwell Ideas, who produce supplemental material for role-playing games, particularly Dungeons and Dragons.
In a post on Twitter, Odin Phong, founder of Inkwell Games, said the publisher would be shuttering: “I (Odin) do not have the energy to start over, I just don’t. So with a heavy heart, I am choosing not to continue with Inkwell Games.”
Inkwell previously published Dice & Ink Vol. 1, an anthology of small roll-and-write games from a variety of designers. The company had also launched a campaign for another roll-and-write game, GRBLD, in October, but the campaign was cancelled after two days on Kickstarter. Inkwell said GRBLD “is basically finished up” and that it would likely land at a new publisher.
Asmodee USA inks trio of distribution deals
In what has become routine, Asmodee’s North America branch announced multiple exclusive distribution deals, netting them successful games like Everdell and Tang Garden, among others.
Asmodee USA announced distribution deals with Tabletop Tycoon and Thundergryph Games for their catalogs, as well as a single-game distribution deal with Fantasia Games for Endless Winter: Paleoamericans.
Thundergryph Games is the publisher behind Tang Garden, Iwari, and Darwin’s Journey, among others. Many of Thundergryph’s offerings have seen successful funding campaigns on Kickstarter. The deal is noted as exclusive for the company’s entire library.
Tabletop Tycoon is best known as the publisher of Everdell, which is published under their Starling Games imprint. The company is run by Dan Yarrington, a controversial figure in gaming, especially when his company was known as Game Salute. Tabletop Tycoon has no fewer than five imprints, including Starling Games, Victory Point Games, Flying Meeple, Spark Works and Polyhero Dice. The deal is not noted as exclusive.
Fantasia Games’ Endless Winter: Paleoamericans is the first offering from the publisher, and the deal with Asmodee is only for that game.
All three companies are known for the games launched on Kickstarter, which has become a common method of funding in games.
Press releases
- Asmodee USA to Distribute Tabletop Tycoon
- Asmodee USA Becomes Exclusive Distributor of Fantasia Games’ Endless Winter: Paleoamericans
- Asmodee USA Announces Thundergryph Games Exclusive Distribution Partnership
Recent game announcements
Pandasaurus Games announced two games the company will be localizing for the U.S. audience, both of which are being published in conjunction with French publisher Catch Up Games. The two games are cooperative game The LOOP and tactical card game Wild Space. The company is also delaying one of their releases, Umbra Via, which is now set for a mid-April debut after shipping delays.
Academy Games hit gold with their Kickstarter campaign for Stellaris Infinite Legacy, a board game adaptation of the strategy video game series by the same name. As of Monday evening, the campaign had over $2.2 million pledged.
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