Black Gold - FFG Reprint of Giganten

FFG needs to announce an expansion with a plastic milkshake token.

"I DRINK IT UP!!!"

The artwork and bits look quite Days of Wonder-ish. DoW failed to establish themselves in FFG territory (BattleLore), we'll see how it goes the other way around.

As far as I can remember, this will be the first unequivocal "euro" from FFG (big box, not a card game, not fantasy or sci-fi).

Is it just me, or does it look like the "Dust Games" artists are now on staff at FFG? That box art looks like the same guy as Adventurers or Cadwallion. Maybe I'm seeing things.

The artwork and bits look quite Days of Wonder-ish. DoW failed to establish themselves in FFG territory (BattleLore), we'll see how it goes the other way around.

FFG established themselves in that territory long ago with Citadels, Through the Desert, Kingdoms, Condottiere, Ingenious, and I can keep going, but you get the idea.

Hell, they've probably got as many Knizia games in their catalog as Rio Grande do.

As far as I can remember, this will be the first unequivocal "euro" from FFG (big box, not a card game, not fantasy or sci-fi).

I would say Tribune and Constantinopolis satisfy those conditions. I'm counting Kingsburg too. Fantasy or no, if the words "impress the king" appear anywhere near a game, it's a Euro.

mjl1783 wrote:

The artwork and bits look quite Days of Wonder-ish. DoW failed to establish themselves in FFG territory (BattleLore), we'll see how it goes the other way around.

FFG established themselves in that territory long ago with Citadels, Through the Desert, Kingdoms, Condottiere, Ingenious, and I can keep going, but you get the idea.

Hell, they've probably got as many Knizia games in their catalog as Rio Grande do.

I mean specifically DoW territory: some complexity, some theme, cute bits. I honestly can't imagine them publishing a Knizia.

mjl1783 wrote:

As far as I can remember, this will be the first unequivocal "euro" from FFG (big box, not a card game, not fantasy or sci-fi).

I would say Tribune and Constantinopolis satisfy those conditions. I'm counting Kingsburg too. Fantasy or no, if the words "impress the king" appear anywhere near a game, it's a Euro.

Granted.

In any case, I guess they haven't really *established* themselves in the family market – they lack a truly successful game in comparison to other companies (maybe Kingsburg?). And it doesn't seem that Black Gold will change that.

They've tried on and off to break into the family market- see: Penguin, Rattlesnake, Loco, some of the Silver Line titles...none have been particularly successful though.This is definitely not a lightweight DoW-style title- it's a medium weight Eurogame with a couple of systems going on.

FFG has a long history publishing Knizia games. Lord of the Rings, Kingdoms, King's Gate, Through the Desert, Ingenious, Beowulf _and_ the Beowulf movie game, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (two editions), Blue Moon, Blue Moon City...so if you can't imagine them doing Knizia- take a look at their catalog.

Michael Barnes wrote:

They've tried on and off to break into the family market- see: Penguin, Rattlesnake, Loco, some of the Silver Line titles...none have been particularly successful though.This is definitely not a lightweight DoW-style title- it's a medium weight Eurogame with a couple of systems going on.

FFG has a long history publishing Knizia games. Lord of the Rings, Kingdoms, King's Gate, Through the Desert, Ingenious, Beowulf _and_ the Beowulf movie game, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (two editions), Blue Moon, Blue Moon City...so if you can't imagine them doing Knizia- take a look at their catalog.

I thought tcho-tcho meant that DOW wouldn't do a Knizia.
Isla Dorada is another recent FFG title that wouldn't have looked out of place in DOW's lineup.

Oh, I see...I think they'd do a Knizia if it were the right game.

But yeah, Isla Dorada is much more of a DoW style title.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Oh, I see...I think they'd do a Knizia if it were the right game.

True. In interviews, Knizia used to say he wanted to publish at least one game through every major publisher. I'd like to see DoW work with him to make a new version of Clash of the Gladiators with plastic minis and maybe some action cards. That game *could* have been great, but the presentation was all wrong, and it needed more chaos.

Yes, I meant DoW: Knizia has turned himself into a designer of unambitious abstracts, but DoW seems to be moving towards "fun" games with some theme. And the gap is only growing.

Michael Barnes wrote:

This is definitely not a lightweight DoW-style title- it's a medium weight Eurogame with a couple of systems going on.

But they don't do just lightweights: Colosseum is a brain-burner. I've played it once and I don't think I'll ever recover from the experience.