Board games: Innovations at Schmidt Spiele

Everything is ready for spring at the Berlin publisher Schmidt Spiele. Numerous innovations were announced. An extension is crystal clear, but you will also find something under water. With other innovations, you will be amazed over a coffee with building blocks. Here is an overview of the innovations.

After New Year's Eve is before the spring novelties. At least that's how the publisher Schmidt Spiele proceeded when announcing the new products for the first quarter. A variety of new titles were announced right on time for the start of the year. In this article we summarize which games you can look forward to.

New Eden - Survival underwater

Benjamin Schwer already has Hadara  and Crown of Emara shown. that he can design good connoisseur games. with New Eden the next connoisseur's game will follow in spring. In the year 2442 the sea level rises inexorably. Large areas of the earth are covered and the task of the players is now to create a "New Eden" under water.

Players must balance progression and destruction. The expansion of the station with modules from the mega-factories of the last coastal regions or from the black market, starting from the "White Smoker" in its midst, can also cause damage in addition to the desired progress. 

Over three rounds, players buy modules by spending oxygen on divers or by passing. This is followed by the black market phase, in which the players choose from three hand cards, which they pay for with coins and damage. Then the unselected cards are placed in four rows and the individual rows are increased. This is how you can move your divers and activate modules.

If you have more damage than progress after three rounds, you do not score any additional points at the end of the game, but only have the points you have collected during the game. The highest score wins as usual.

The novelty is suitable for 1-4 people aged 10 and over and can be played in 45-60 minutes. The RRP here is €37.

Also by Benjamin Schwer Mayhem in Gotham City, which will also be published by Schmidt Spiele in the spring. In this trick-taking game for 2-6 players, ages 8+, the players take on the roles of villains in Gotham City and try to create as much chaos as possible.

Two novelties for well-known basic games

Of course, extensions should not be missing either. Here is for fans of Mille Fiori and Again! replenishment. 

In Mille Fiori - Masterpieces new elements are added to the base game. The Doge cards bring advantages such as victory points, changed movements or a changed turn order. There is also the "Little Council" and the Signoria, who advise the Doge. The most important and at the same time eponymous novelty are the masterpieces. The total of nine available masterpieces can be collected either on the extended sea routes or through the Dogaressa, the Doge's wife. 

The masterpieces give you points immediately and at the same time they fill the shop window. If you choose them wisely, you can collect additional points.

The expansion will not change anything in terms of the number of people (2-4) and recommended age (10 years). Only the playing time is said to be shorter and at 45-60 minutes instead of 60-90 minutes of the base game.

There is no real extension for Again!. The spring novelty here is a deluxe edition of the successful Roll&Write game. It's the first time a game from the small but mighty series is getting a deluxe edition. Durable dice, wipeable and therefore reusable game boards and a dice tower "deluxe" the game. 

As an innovation, there is also a cooperative and a solo variant. In these, the players work together to achieve intermediate goals in order to complete one of five missions at the end.

Up to four people from the age of 8 can roll the dice alone or in a team within about 20 minutes. The RRP for this game is €26.

Don't spill, but clog...

... is the motto of the next novelty. In Cool blocks The players have 30 seconds to recreate one of the illustrations on display as best they can so that as many other players as possible can name the card. Six wooden blocks are available for this.

The highlight is that the illustrations cannot be reproduced 1:1. A rope-jumping giraffe, a swinging baby sheep or a candle-blowing llama are not that easy to build with cylinders, pyramids or cuboids. 

If your own structures are assigned to the correct cards, the master builder receives points, but points are also awarded for the correct assignment, if you observe others building. Whoever was able to collect the most points at the end wins the game and is the coolest.

The game is suitable for 3-6 master builders from the age of 8 and takes about 30 minutes to play. The price should be around 37€.

At least "Don't make a mess" is also the motto of Cafe del Gatto. Here 2-5 baristas from the age of 8 have to serve the purring cat customers the best coffee creations. Whoever can collect the most barista points wins the game. 

All have a cup for espresso, espresso macchiato, doppio, cappuccino and latte macchiato. The important coffee and milk stones come out of the coffee machine in the middle. They slide down when stones are bought there and thus change the prices. With one action per turn, the players can buy stones and place them in the cups.

The number of points and the amount of money that is awarded for serving the drink changes depending on the value and the method of preparation chosen for the stones when they are placed. Good timing is also important for serving. When one person has served five specialty coffees, the game ends. Whoever now has the best barista values ​​wins the game.

The novelty with an RRP of 42€ plays in about 30 minutes.

Further innovations at a glance

bing boing is a bingo variant in which the best combination can be made from two dice in order to unlock the best Boing bonuses. 2-8 people from the age of 7 can challenge their luck with the dice in about 15 minutes.

The cooperative children's game also lasts about 15 minutes Captain Nature. Here the children drive blindly in their turns in a boat across an imaginary sea on the level play surface and try to collect as much rubbish as possible and as few sea creatures as possible. The game is recommended for ages 6 and up and can be played with 2-4 people.

The next novelty is recommended from one year less. In Maze of the Mages the children in the team have to help Linus, the magic student, to pass his magic test in the dark maze and to find all 13 target chips. He receives support from 2-4 children from the age of 5 years. The way through the maze takes about 20 minutes.

One year earlier can already catch the worm be unpacked. Here the woodpecker has to lure the worm out of the tree trunk. Colored markers indicate where the bird can peck through the paper if the correct result is rolled. Suitable for ages 4 and up and playable for 2 or more people, the action game offers about 10 minutes of fun.

In Pointed sketch the correct sand figures must be guessed by matching strokes of the sketch master. The fewer attempts needed, the better the drawing and guessing team. Playable with 2-6 people from the age of 7, there is a playing time of about 15 minutes.

And finally, there are new titles in the publisher's licensed world. There is a new Kniffel variant with Bibi Blocksberg. In addition, Pipi Longstocking will enrich the world of licenses. Initially, there are puzzles for children and adults and a children's search game in which children from 4 years old have to find the right objects.

All new products are expected to be available from March.

 

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Last updated on 8.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API