I love checking out the Leder Games offerings as they often dive deep into asymmetric play. When done well, it gives the game a bunch of replay value as you want to see how each new side works. Done poorly, and the explosion of options give the game a huge mental overhead. Root leans dangerously close to the second option but, for most of my gaming friends, manages to stay on the happier side. The newest expansion, Root: The Homeland Expansion brings in three new factions and a big two-sided board playable by up to 6 players. Their big title about racing kids’ go-karts, Kart is only a bit asymmetric at the start but players soon bolt on new toys to their karts as they race down a hill, plowing through different terrain while trying to manage ever increasing speed. It is in its final throes of crowdfunding so if you’re interested you would need to hop over there pretty much right now. Their other news, along with the Kickstarter, is a reprint of Fort. This, second edition, doesn’t change rules but clarifies the rulebook, fixes some errata, and has much better gaming bits and bobs.

On the other end of company size, Ravensberger had a few new games and others that continue on with some of their popular lines. Mind the Lines is a party drawing game. However, drawers get a large squiggle on their paper. To “draw” their target word, a player is only allowed to trace over lines that already appear on the page. Disney Villainous: Darkness Brewing serves as an entry point for new players. It has three previous villains in the series (slightly cleaned up and streamlined for new players) and one new villain, The Sanderson Sisters which is the first “villain” to be more than one character. The Sisters are also available as a single-villain expansion if you already own all the others. The Horrified line goes back to Dungeons and Dragons with the new Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft, placing the game in the realm of the vampire-filled land of Ravenloft. All the new monsters in the new stand-alone release are also compatible with the previous Horrified D&D game. Finally, Ravensburger is bringing back the dice-rolling majority game, Las Vegas. It’s not a straight reprint as rewards are increased, fewer rounds are played, and players now have a double-strength die. Rules and bits for a neutral player are also included.

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