Obligatory 2016 Essen Spiel Post Part II: Top 5 Reprints/Re-implementations

I’m back!  I feel a little bad because these posts are much later than I’d want, but that’s because of some pretty huge changes in our lives.  We have been trying to move out of Maryland for quite a few years now but it just hasn’t been a viable option.  Finally, we found jobs for both of us and are currently en route to Indiana where we will now be living!  Because of the whirlwind that has been the past three weeks I’m a little behind on these posts.  That being said, let’s move on to post number two, my top 5 anticipated reprints/re-implementations of 2016 Essen Spiel!  These are games which have either had a prior edition or have been re-themed and changed around a bit from the original.  There are some great ones this year so it wasn’t an easy list to make!  Before we go on to these games feel free to check out the first post, my top 5 anticipated game expansions of this year’s Essen Spiel.

EssenSpiel 2016 Post Part I: Top 5 Game Expansions

Alright, now that you have made the trip down post memory lane, let’s get back to the main attraction.  These are some great looking (or already great!) games and I am totally stoked to check these out and hopefully add them to my collection.  Enjoy the read!

Honorable Mention – Fields of Green (Artipia Games/Stronghold Games)

Fields of Green is a card-drafting and tile-laying game that is designed by Vangelis Bagiartakis and is being released at Essen Spiel 2016 by Artipia Games in conjunction with Stronghold Games.  This game is a re-implementation of the ideas that were put forth by the game Among the Stars.  All of the mechanisms of the original are present in this game with a few added ideas thrown into the mix.  The players will draft cards that they will add into their tableau expanding their farms over four rounds.  Where this differs is that the players will have to pay costs, water fields, feed livestock, and other agricultural odds and ends at the end of each year.  This gives a little more weight and added decision points that the original didn’t have.  I think this game looks really good and much “prettier” than Among the Stars did.  I would love to try it out and hopefully will eventually get the chance!

#5 – Colony (Bézier Games, Inc.)

Colony is a dice-rolling, pool-building game that is designed by Ted Alspach, Toryo Hojo, and N2 and is being released at Essen Spiel 2016 by Bézier Games, Inc. This game is a re-design/re-implementation of the 2014 release Age of Craft which was designed by Toryo Hojo and published by Chicken Dice Games. This game finds players rolling dice which they then use to construct and upgrade buildings which managing the resources of their colony. It uses a clever dice rolling system where the player starts with a few dice and will over time gain more stable dice which they can save and more unstable which they may only use that round. It seems to fairly accurately simulate a deck-building game without building an actual card deck. I love that the theme is somewhat post-apocalyptic and the art really gives that vibe. There are a whole bunch of building cards that can be added in different ways (a la: Dominion) which will give the game a high level of replayability. I look forward to trying this one out eventually and it may hit my cart sometime in the future.

#4 – Jórvík (Stronghold Games/eggertspiele)

Jórvík is an auction/worker-placement game that is designed by Stefan Feld and is being released at Essen Spiel 2016 by Stronghold Games in partnership with eggertspiele. This game is a re-theme/re-implementation of the 2010 release Die Spiechderstadt which was also designed by Feld and published by eggertspiele and Z-Man Games. This game finds players taking on the roles of Viking jarls who are attempting to gain prestige through different activities in their city. Players will use a worker-placement and auction system in order to gain cards from a display which will allow them to build up their trading empire. Along with some streamlining the game also includes the difficult to find expansion Kaispeicher in the box as an advanced game. This game looks like a pretty cool auction style game and I’ve heard good things about the original. I would like to try it out and see if it actually works with two players or they just threw it on the box to sell a few more copies. Regardless, this looks good and has made it to number four on my list of re-releases/re-implementations.

#3 – Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island (Fourth Edition) (Portal Games)

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island (Fourth Edition) is a cooperative, worker-placement, adventure game that is designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek and is being released at Essen Spiel 2016 by Portal Games. This is a new edition of the original 2012 release also by Portal Games with English distribution by Z-Man Games. Portal Games gained back the English rights to this game this year and decided to make a new edition and print it in English for themselves. The new edition boasts a “Ticket to Ride-style” sized box along with upgraded components, player boards, and a new, easier-to-understand ruleset! I owned the Z-Man Games version of this gem but sold it off this year in anticipation of this release. I love this game and can’t wait to have it back on my shelf in its new, shinier edition! Oh, on a side note, the cover of the box was redone by the fantastic artist Vincent Dutrait! This just adds more awesomeness in my humble opinion!

#2 – Pandemic Iberia (Z-Man Games)

Pandemic Iberia is a cooperative, action-point, set-collection game designed by Jesús Torres Castro and Matt Leacock and is being released at Essen Spiel 2016 by Z-Man Games. This is a re-implementation of the 2008 cooperative, set-collection game Pandemic by designer Matt Leacock and publisher Z-Man Games. This new version of the classic finds the players doing many of the same things like moving across the board and curing diseases using the cards that you gain during play. Due to the game now being set in the Iberian Peninsula in 1848 you obviously can’t travel by plane across the world. Rather, the players will be taking carriages, boats and trains throughout the peninsula in order to stop the spread of malaria, cholera, typhus and the yellow fever. You will also be attempting to stop the spread of these diseases by cleaning the water supplies of each region. I loved what Chuck Yager did with Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu and am really looking forward to what they do with the classic Pandemic gameplay in this re-design.

#1 – Key to the City: London (HUCH! & friends/Game Salute)

Key to the City: London is a city building/auction/tile-laying/worker-placement game designed by Richard Breese and Sebastian Bleasdale and is being released by HUCH! & friends and Game Salute at Essen Spiel 2016. This game is a re-imagining of Keyflower which was released by R&D Games, HUCH! & friends and Game Salute in 2012 and was also designed by Breese and Bleasdale. This new game finds players taking different actions on their turn in order to build their city. You can bid on tiles, generate resources and upgrade resources. This allows the players to build up their city in order to gain the most points. The isometric views on the tiles just make this game pop on the table and even though I haven’t played Keyflower I can already tell that I’ll love this game! I hope to add this to my collection but will have to wait until the release in North America.

Other reprints/re-implementations of note:

– TheArrival (Game’s Up)

– Aroundthe World in 80 Days (IELLO)

– Villannex (2^nd Edition) (Japon Brand)

– Welcome Back to the Dungeon (IELLO)

– Xnimmt! (AMIGO Spiel)

Well there you have it!  So sorry that this post is so very late but I’m hoping to get the next in the series up much more quickly now that we are all moved in to our new house.  The next up are my honorable mentions of this year’s Essen Spiel.  After that will be two successive posts that will take on my top ten.  Lastly I’ll have a post that will be the top 5 games that were shown off at Spiel but not available for purchase.  Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to bringing you more gaming goodness!  Feel free to comment/question below and let me know which re-implementations you’re looking at…or at this point have already purchased!  Until next time, game on!