Category: Geekly News

Geekly News: May 4, 2025, MCU Reveals First X-Men Villain

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First things first. Happy Star Wars Day! We plan to celebrate with various games. Let us know how you plan to celebrate May the Fourth. Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. This geek week’s news cycle had a few developments, but we’ll start with the MCU.

Mister Sinister Named the MCU X-Men’s First Villain

While not guaranteed, the MCU heavily implied that they intended for Mister Sinister to be the first villain the MCU’s rendition of the X-Men would face. Mister Sinister has been rumored for months. Several trusted sources have confirmed that we’ll see Doctor Nathaniel Essex soon. This tracks. Often, the MCU would rather use a villain who hasn’t yet made their big screen debut as the villain in a major film, and the rebooted X-Men would be a major release.

I have reservations with Mister Sinister being the X-Men’s first villain. Typically, he’s better served with a slow build. Mister Sinister’s original concept was of a child at the same orphanage as Cyclops, but he secretly ran the facility. Mister Sinister ages slowly, so while he looked like an 11-year-old like Cyclops was at the time, he was 50 years old. I can see the MCU making it appear like Mister Sinister hid in plain sight for decades, but I’m not sold on this angle. We’ll have to see how the MCU intends to incorporate Mister Sinister. He’s not the easiest villain to plop into a narrative, but I’d love to see him on the big screen.

Skye casted Robert Pattinson as Mister Sinister in our recent Geekly Casting: X-Men in the MCU post. I like that casting. I can see it. There have also been rumors of Keanu Reeves joining the MCU. Of the two roles we know will happen, Reeves would make a good Beyonder (Secret Wars) or Mister Sinister. We’ll let you know as we get more information.

Whoopsie! Chrono Trigger Remake May or May Not Have Been Leaked

2025 marks Chrono Trigger’s 30th anniversary. Fans got excited for a Chrono Trigger Remake after a statement was released that the game would be next in line at SquareEnix to get the remake treatment. At first, news releases made it sound as if original game designer Yuji Horii had made an announcement for a Chrono Trigger remake at Napoli Comicon 2025, but Horii’s comments were mistranslated. Here’s a link to the Napoli Comicon 2025 panel in question:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2448211166?t=18941s

Still, one must think there may be some smoke. Chrono Trigger is celebrating a milestone anniversary. It would make sense that SquareEnix has something planned for this year. Fingers crossed that SquareEnix continues its trend of video game remakes with Chrono Trigger.

Flamecraft Duals Hits Kickstarter

While the original Flamecraft can accommodate 2-player games, it thrives at higher player counts. Flamecraft Duals continues the trend of 2-player variants of popular games. The production quality looks fantastic. I like the use of buddy tokens. Flamecraft Duals may be set in the same universe as Flamecraft, but plays very differently from the original. I don’t have a lot of bag pulling games, so I may consider picking up Flamecraft Duals. Gamers can even purchase the Dragons & Dragons add-on that modifies the original game. You can back the base Flamecraft Duals for $30 or Dragons & Dragons for $20. There’s even a Horde option where Cardboard Alchemy includes promo cards, an art book, and two dragon plushes for $99.

Trash Rush Launches on Kickstarter

Raccoons work as trash collectors in Trash Rush. What’s not to love? Trash Rush is a quick to learn and streamlined experience. Players control their team of raccoon trash collectors by playing cards from their hands once per turn, but be careful. Whatever order you place your raccoons’ actions will be the order they will conduct those actions for the entire round. Despite a simple concept and easy-to-learn rules, there are plenty of strategic choices.

Per Rhado, from Rhado Runs Through, Trash Rush is a good alternative to Ticket to Ride. Players must generate a network and optimize their ability to collect trash. I can’t get over the raccoon characters. Yay! And it helps that Trash Rush has multiple ways to play: multiplayer competitive, cooperative, and solo. The base game costs about $34 (the totals are calculated in Euros). If you include Trash Rush’s first expansion, a pledge will cost about $59, and the all-in pledge runs around $72. Shipping is not included, of course.

Super Pixel Tactics Lands on GameFound

If you’re like me, you’ll have to wait for Super Boss Monster to make it to your local game store, but Boss Monster isn’t the only board game inspired by classic video games. Pixel Tactics pits players against each other in a battle to the death. Super Pixel Tactics is the new definitive version by Level 99 Games. I’m actually more impressed by the storage capacity of Super Pixel Tactics. Super Boss Monster had issues with storing a lot of its bits; Super Pixel Tactics shouldn’t have that same issue.

I even like how Super Pixel Tactics is accommodating sleeves. That doesn’t happen that much, and so many board gamers love to sleeve their cards. The gameplay gets some much-needed tweaks but stays mostly the same. I am excited about the new solo mode. If you’re looking for a two-player combat game that’s set in a classic video game universe, you should consider Super Pixel Tactics. The pledge levels include the full collection at $100, the first two Pixel Tactics and a mat for $60, just the first game for $15, and everything, including all the bling, for $150.

Geekly News: April 27, 2025, Thunderbolts* Fan Screenings

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. It’s another Sunday, so we have another week of Geek News. There is plenty of tariff news and updates, but we talk about that a lot. Let’s sandwich those stories with more cheerful news.

Thunderbolts* Fan Screenings

Thunderbolts* becomes the first MCU movie in history to receive advanced screenings for fans. Typically, advanced screenings are reserved for critics, who must sign a non-disclosure agreement and a gag order preventing them from leaking any information about the movie. Advance movie screenings are meant for critics to form an opinion and write a review in advance of the movie’s release. Those reviews will feature zingers the studio can use in future trailers and teasers. But Thunderbolts*’ advanced screening includes fans. Fans don’t care about a gag order.

In fact, the MCU may be banking on fans talking, generating word-of-mouth buzz. It takes a week or so for word-of-mouth to take effect. Thunderbolts* dropping advanced screenings with fans will accelerate this effect. But be careful on the internet. Thunderbolts* may become the MCU movie with the most spoilers.

Geekly has no idea what this development means for the MCU or the Thunderbolts* movie. Will this become the norm? Is Marvel so confident about Thunderbolts* that they’re comfortable with whatever fans will say? Who knows? I will say that heading into this year’s slate of films, Thunderbolts* had me intrigued. Thunderbolts* wasn’t one of the MCU’s make-or-break 2025 titles, but in our 2025 MCU Preview, I listed it as a potential sleeper hit.

Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Order Wave One Ends

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, Nintendo opened United States pre-orders for its latest hybrid game console, the Switch 2. Pre-orders continued until the order quota was reached. Taking current United States trade policies into consideration, the order quota was based on how many copies the video game company thought would yield the best results.

The Switch 2’s United States pre-order wave one lasted less than one day. Customers who were able to buy a copy won’t receive their systems until June 2025. Don’t worry if you weren’t one of the lucky few who snagged a copy. Nintendo intends to run another Switch 2 pre-order within another eight months (in time for the holidays), when the company believes it can turn a profit by sending systems to the United States. Unfortunately, staged releases for the United States are the new normal.

Rising shipping costs and tariffs have caused tech companies like Nintendo to re-evaluate their business with United States customers. This has become an issue with other business types; Geekly covers geek culture, so we’re interested in video games and board games. We’ll have more on board games in the next segment. Getting back to the Switch 2, most of Geekly’s statistics are derived from an interview with a GameStop manager. I live in the greater Omaha area, and according to the GameStop manager, the Midwest quad-state region (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri) received 2,000 total Nintendo Switch 2 systems. That is 2,000 Switch 2s for a population of over 14 million. Granted, most of the 14 million people living in those four states have no desire to purchase a Switch 2 at this time, but Wal-Mart overordered and had to issue tens of thousands of refunds in the Midwest quad-state region alone.

Geekly will keep you posted on when the next waves of United States Switch 2 pre-orders will occur. Good luck to all of you who want a copy. We’ll also give updates on any new developments. Hopefully, there will be a resolution to the United States’ trade war soon.

Geekly News CMON Games Tariffs

Board Game Company Madness

We’ve discussed board game companies and the effect rising tariffs have had on them in the past; this will be a quick update. Final Frontier Games and Boardlandia have closed their doors. Greater Than Games and CMON Games have suspended all future crowdfunding campaigns and board games under development, and laid off countless employees until a viable manufacturing/shipping option becomes available. Small board game publisher, Rookie Mage Games, joined forces with three other indie board game companies in suing President Trump over his new tariffs.

According to Jordan McLaughlin, founder of Rookie Mage Games (via The Columbus Dispatch), “I will not stand by and allow my years of hard work and the hard work of many other small businesses to be ruined in a desperate political ploy for attention and ego validation.” McLaughlin continues, “Attempting to move manufacturing jobs back to the United States is a worthwhile effort. There are smart ways to do it, and there are dumb ways.” Numerous board game companies, including Stonemaier Games (producer of Wingspan and Scythe) have joined Rookie Mage Games’ lawsuit. We’ll keep you posted on this emerging story.

This War of Mine, Second Edition Launches on Gamefound

The award-winning board game adaptation of This War of Mine returns to Gamefound. This War of Mine features countless morally gray choices for players to make while they attempt to survive in a war-torn country. Since the game is fully cooperative, players share the experience and the consequences.

This War of Mine, Second Edition showcases numerous updated maps to explore. Producer Awaken Realms is known for its ornate miniatures, and This War of Mine, Second Edition includes additional scenario books. Countless hours of griping stories await. This War of Mine, Second Edition has plenty of pledge options on its Gamefound page.

Solo Game Dicemancy Releases on Gamefound

I love the increased number of great solo board games. Dicemancy looks interesting. It’s a tower defense game with plenty of combotastic abilities. That’s music to my ears. Players construct unique spells they think will help them ward off enemies. I like the domino-style spell cards players can stack for power-ups. Dicemancy plays quickly (about 45 minutes), has minimal setup, and doesn’t appear to take up too much table space.

Dicemancy features adorable art, and at $25 (plus $5 for shipping), it’s a low-cost option for a new board game. Feel free to give Dicemancy’s Gamefound page a look.

That’s all we have for Geekly News this week. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: April 20, 2025, 2nd Fantastic Four Trailer

Published on by Kyra2 Comments

Happy Easter if you celebrate the holiday. If not, happy Sunday. We have another week of geek news. What better way to celebrate than to cover the second Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer and reveal its Easter eggs?

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We may go light on geek news this week, Geekly Gang. I’m not going to lie. I’ll be eating my body weight in sweets, but the MCU dropped the second Fantastic Four trailer, so let’s dish.

Fantastic Four: First Steps Second Official Trailer

The biggest reveal the second Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer gave us was the upcoming movie’s basic plot. Speculate no further. The movie will revolve around Galactus visiting this version of Earth. This story looks like it may parallel the Avengers’ Battle of New York during their first movie. Aliens invade. The world’s protectors need to intervene. But while the Avengers were either unknowns or distrusted, the Fantastic Four are treated as celebrities, as evidenced by their appearance on the Ted Gilbert Show and how civilians treat them. I love the interactions we see during this montage. Gilbert says, We can never repay them, but we can celebrate them. And the Fantastic Four are celebrated.

Geekly News Fantastic Four First Steps Stage

I also like that the show host’s name is Ted Gilbert, which is an obvious play on the Ed Sullivan Show. We mentioned in our post about the first trailer that the Fantastic Four are introduced on a stage similar to the Beatles when they played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ted Gilbert is the perfect name for an alternate timeline Ed Sullivan. I love the Gilbert and Sullivan reference. I may have to rewatch The Pirates of Penzance.

“I am the very model of a Modern Major-General…”

I’ll stop.

Ted Gilbert succinctly breaks down the Fantastic Four’s origin. Four brave astronauts head up into space and come back forever changed. We’ll probably see snippets of the Fantastic Four’s origin, but I like that First Steps won’t go into the team’s origin in great detail. I also like that Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place on an alternate Earth. Moviegoers won’t need to watch (or rewatch) hours of MCU content to prepare for Fantastic Four: First Steps. Sure. There will be nods to the multiverse. The Fantastic Four will approach this subject because they’ll need to mosey over to the main MCU timeline, but there should be little to no “MCU homework.”

The second trailer revisits the dinner scene from the first trailer, but we receive a bombshell of a plot thread. Sue is pregnant with Franklin Richards. This could be huge. First, Franklin Richards is a mutant, so he’ll fit right in with the upcoming Mutant Saga. Second, Franklin Richards would be one of the most powerful characters introduced in the MCU, and that includes Asgardians and even Galactus. Third, there is a storyline where Franklin controls Galactus.

Yes! I like that this Fantastic Four is a veteran team, and we may not need to wait too long for Franklin and Valeria (von Doom) Richards’ mayhem. Oh, yeah. Valeria has a mean streak like her godfather Victor. This should be fun. During the second trailer, Reed Richards mentions that the Fantastic Four may have stretched the boundaries of space, and they (Galactus and his heralds) heard. I like this angle. Typically, Reed gets the Fantastic Four and the Earth at large into trouble that he must then get them out of, but there may be another reason Galactus chooses to visit Earth. The MCU may be setting up a Galactus-Franklin Richards dynamic.

Galactus looks great in the little we see of him. I’m less thrilled about Shalla-Bal’s look. Shalla-Bal is the woman Silver Surfer. In the comics, Shalla-Bal is the empress of the planet Zenn-La, the planet where Norrin Radd (Silver Surfer) originates. Shalla-Bal was introduced as a character in the 1960s (she’s also in the underrated ’90s Silver Surfer cartoon, which is available on Disney+), and she’s Radd’s longtime love interest.

Shalla-Bal has powers comparable to the Silver Surfer and has served as one of Galactus’s heralds, but she is a different character. Shalla-Bal’s inclusion leaves the door open that Norrin Radd could appear in the MCU’s future. Getting back to my original point, Shalla-Bal’s CGI looks rough. I hope this is an issue with the trailer and not the movie, and the final graphics for the movie look better. Movies work on their graphics until the film is released. Fingers crossed.

The second trailer ends with Galactus taking a stroll in downtown New York City. This could be a nod to Godzilla or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. Classic.

If you can’t tell, I’m hyped for Fantastic Four: First Steps. This second trailer introduces some great plot points but holds back enough for the audience to discover when the movie releases in July.

Quorum by Devir Games Released

In Quorum, players take on the role of Roman senators who share the power of Rome and its provinces. The goal is to be the most powerful and influential senator by gaining victory points, which are awarded in various areas of influence over twelve rounds.

Designed by Raul Franco and Fran Martinez, Quorum accommodates 2-4 players and lasts about 45 minutes. The game’s double-sided cards show a province on one side (which will score points in that province on the central board) and on the opposite side show one of four groups: military, intrigue, architecture, and commerce, which grant different bonuses when placed in the player’s personal zone. Players are presented with interesting choices each turn. Quorum is easy to learn and quick to play, but offers plenty of strategy.

Check out your local game store or Devir Games’ website.

Hutan: Life in the Rainforest Released

We have another interesting board game release this week, Hutan: Life in the Rainforest. Inspired by the Indonesian rainforest, Hutan allows players to step into the rainforest’s natural splendor.

Each player controls their own patch of rainforest, where they will plant seeds that, over time, will grow into towering trees. When a habitat is created, an iconic forest animal arrives: the orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, the rhinoceros hornbill, the cassowary, or the Sumatran rhino. Hutan plays over nine rounds. All players have two turns each round. On your turn, you may take a flower card from the shared market and place the flowers into your rainforest. If you place a flower on top of a matching flower, you grow a tree. When an area has nothing but trees, the last tree is replaced by an animal. The player with the most animals wins.

Hutan: Life in the Rainforest accommodates one to four players and lasts about 45 minutes. Check your local game store or OP Games’ website.

Nintendo Switch 2 Receives United States Release Date

After several weeks of deliberation (over tariffs and price hikes), Nintendo announced that customers in the United States can preorder their Switch 2 starting April 24, 2025. Pricing for the a la carte console and bundle with Mario Kart World will not change, but prices for accessories like extra Joy-Cons, a Switch 2 Dock, and the new pro controller received price bumps between $5 and $10.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Screenshots Leaked

The rumored Oblivion remaster/remake that will release soon had some screenshots leaked this week on the developer’s website. An Oblivion remaster/remake has been believed to be in production for the past several years. Some wondered if the game would release last year for the holiday season. It doesn’t appear that Bethesda/Zenimax will wait for next holiday season. Check out the screenshot below.

The new rumor is that the Oblivion remaster/remake will be announced and released next week. I may have some gaming to do. If you need me, I’ll be in Cyrodiil.

That’s all the geek news we have for you this week, Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: April 13, 2025, Werewolf By Night’s Sequel

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang. It’s Sunday, so we have another Geekly News. We have an update about the tariffs and their impact on the board game industry, but first, let’s talk about the MCU.

Werewolf By Night Gets a Sequel

Michael Giacchino transitioned from writing scores for popular shows and movies like numerous Pixar movies (The Incredibles, Up, and Ratatouille to name a few), the Jurassic World series, Lost, and the MCU to directing the singular Werewolf By Night special. Giacchino is turning his attention to comic books. I loved the Werewolf By Night special. We’ve covered it in a previous post. According to Giacchino, this new comic book series (which will debut in summer 2025) tells an untold story from the original Werewolf By Night’s run.

Giacchino isn’t waiting for the MCU to green light a second Werewolf By Night special. He’s keeping busy with his theatrical movie debut, reimagining the 1954 monster classic Them!, which features mammoth ants invading a city and the mayhem they cause. And he continues to work within the MCU. Giacchino is the composer of the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Step’s score.

Giacchino mentioned that he’s interested in seeing Werewolf By Night return to the screen with a sequel special. This new comic book series will be a treat and could be adapted into that Werewolf By Night’s sequel. Werewolf By Night: Blood Moon Rises releases this summer and will get added to my summer reading. I can’t wait.

But Werewolf By Night fans may need to wait for a sequel. The MCU hasn’t figured out what it wants to do with the dark corner of Marvel’s universe. Recently, the Blade movie got cancelled, and while Midnight Sons remains on the horizon, the MCU hasn’t given word on which projects the characters involved (like Blade) will appear. Blood Moon Rises may need to tide fans over for a year or two until the MCU makes a Werewolf By Night sequel.

The DM Lair Cancels its Dungeon Drifters Kickstarter

Dungeons & Dragons YouTube creator the DM Lair launched its Dungeon Drifters Kickstarter campaign this past week. Dungeon Drifters is a rules-light adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons to a board game. Think of it as a quirky and fun alternative to Hero Quest. I intended to include Dungeon Drifters as an upcoming board game that recently began a crowdfunding campaign, which is something I do in most Geekly News posts. But days later, the DM Lair cancelled its Dungeon Drifters Kickstarter campaign. Here’s a link to the DM Lair’s official cancellation announcement.

The DM Lair has had a history of successful Kickstarter campaigns. They’ve had numerous successful ones, even a handful of board game-like projects. During the announcement, the DM Lair listed a handful of reasons. They take full responsibility for the Kickstarter campaign’s cancellation and reassure fans that Dungeon Drifters is on hold. I like the DM Lair because of its transparency. The company claims that they lost $50,000 of upfront cost during the making of Dungeon Drifters and is offering a 50% discount on their tabletop role-playing game supplies. Check out their store and help out, if you would like. I love the title of their discount code: HolyCrap50.

One of the contributing factors the DM Lair lists for Dungeon Drifters’ cancellation is the tariffs on board game products. By no means does the DM Lair say that tariffs are the only reason the project got cancelled (or postponed), but they do cite their many Kickstarter successes and admit that the increased cost played a role. And this is by no means an isolated incident.

The above image is of Vancouver-based board game company Off The Page Games (who make board games based on indie comics like MIND MGMT,  Harrow County, and Corps of Discovery), unable to make a shipment to the United States because of new tariffs.

Board Games and Tariffs…Again

We aren’t going to have any new board games on this week’s Geekly News because there aren’t as many to discuss, and the industry is scrambling to find answers for the mounting tariffs. A month and a half ago, Geekly mentioned tariffs causing havoc for Dutch indie board game company Splotter Games. One month ago, we discussed CMON’s precarious position. Like the DM Lair mentioned in their announcement, more than one factor is playing a role with fans questioning if CMON can fulfill last year’s Kickstarter campaigns. To date, CMON Games has only fulfilled smaller Kickstarter campaigns from 2024. I have my fingers crossed for DC Heroes United. Last week, we shared the CEO of Steve Jackson Games, Meredith Placko’s, thoughts.

Placko was one of several voices within the board game industry who expressed their concerns about these tariffs. Stonemaier Games co-founder Jamey Stegmaier suggested that his company’s games’ prices could leap from $60 to $100 to keep up with rising costs. I’ve heard numerous companies postpone any releases (both on crowdsourcing platforms like Kickstarter and retail stores like local game shops) until they learn the final cost of doing business.

I’ll paraphrase Placko here. The United States doesn’t have the industry to fill in the gaps left by this sudden inability to use outsourced labor. Many board game companies based within the United States would like to use in-country labor if it was possible. I’ll take it a step further. The United States government has made outsourcing labor a necessity. This trend began in the 1980s. It’ll take decades to build up the means (such as factories) and the labor force needed to fill the void.

Hopefully, we’ll have new Kickstarter or Gamefound releases for next week. If you have any new board game releases you’re excited about, feel free to contact us, and I’ll include them in the next Geekly News post. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: April 6, 2025, Shelved Coyote vs. Acme Movie Saved

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be finishing up with Protospiel Kansas City. I wrote this post before I left, so there may be some major news stories that aren’t discussed. I apologize for that. Without further ado, let’s get to some geek news.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Even though I wrote this post early, we have some geek news.

Coyote vs. Acme Movie Saved

Ketchup Entertainment has officially secured the rights to Coyote vs. Acme from Warner Bros. Pictures. The film features Will Forte and John Cena acting beside the animated character Wile E. Coyote. Warner Bros. had permanently shelved the completed movie in favor of a tax write-off in 2023, but it’s far from the only movie Warner Bros. shelved over the past several years. A Scooby Doo animated film and Batgirl saw similar fates.

During an official statement, Ketchup’s CEO said, “Coyote vs. Acme is a perfect blend of nostalgia and modern storytelling, capturing the essence of the beloved Looney Tunes characters while introducing them to a new generation. We believe it will resonate with both longtime fans and newcomers alike.” Ketchup Entertainment must believe in the project. They secured the global rights to Coyote vs. Acme for an undisclosed amount. That amount would have to defray some of the film’s original budget of $70 million.

Coyote vs. Acme was one of the shelved Warner Bros. movies that intrigued me the most. I’m glad it’ll get a theatrical release.

Zendaya Will Appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

First, the fourth Spider-Man film series breaks away from the “Home” branding (Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home) of its entries with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This title has been confirmed. I support this change. Peter Parker is headed to college. Dr. Strange’s spell robbed Peter of his childhood friends Ned and MJ. Brand New Day is a fitting title. It also goes with Captain America: Brave New World.

Second, with Zendaya’s MJ no longer knowing Peter and Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) set to costar, there was some confusion about whether Zendaya’s role of MJ had been recast. Then, news broke that Sink will portray a mutant (to tie Spider-Man into the Mutant Saga). Sink denied rumors that she’d play Jean Grey. Another rumor cropped up that Sink would take the role of Spider-Queen (another mutant with ties to Spider-Man), but Marvel stated that they wanted an older actor (than Sink) for Spider-Queen. Even though Sink won’t portray Spider-Queen, that doesn’t mean that Spider-Queen won’t make an appearance. Before both rumors were debunked, I half-joked to Season that Sadie Sink as a live-action Firestar could happen. At the time, I thought there was a twenty-percent chance Sink would portray Firestar. Those odds may have risen significantly.

What we do know is that Sadie Sink will portray a mutant who isn’t Jean Grey or Spider-Queen and has a connection to Spider-Man. I’m not gonna lie. I will squee if we get a live-action Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. That cartoon’s premise was Peter Parker going to college and making new friends. Could this happen?

A Message from Steve Jackson Games

We’ve discussed the impact recent tariffs by the United States government has had and will have on the board game industry. This week, the CEO of Steve Jackson Games, Meredith Placko, wrote a message to fans and customers addressing the issue. She does an excellent job breaking down the many roadblocks these tariffs create. We’re sharing what Meredith Placko had to say.

On April 5th, a 54% tariff goes into effect on a wide range of goods imported from China. For those of us who create board games, this is not just a policy change. It’s a seismic shift.

At Steve Jackson Games, we are actively assessing what this means for our products, our pricing, and our future plans. We do know that we can’t absorb this kind of cost increase without raising prices. We’ve done our best over the past few years to shield players and retailers from the full brunt of rising freight costs and other increases, but this new tax changes the equation entirely.

Here are the numbers: A product we might have manufactured in China for $3.00 last year could now cost $4.62 before we even ship it across the ocean. Add freight, warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution margins, and that once $25 game quickly becomes a $40 product. That’s not a luxury upcharge; it’s survival math.

Some people ask, “Why not manufacture in the U.S.?” I wish we could. But the infrastructure to support full-scale board games production—specialty dice making, die-cutting, custom plastic and wood components—doesn’t meaningfully exist here yet. I’ve gotten quotes I’ve talked to factories. Even when the willingness is there, the equipment, labor, and timelines simply aren’t.

We aren’t the only company facing this challenge. The entire board game industry is having very difficult conversations right now. For some, it might mean walking away from titles that are no longer economically viable. And, for what I fear will be too many, it means closing down entirely.

Tariffs, when part of a long-term strategy to bolster domestic manufacturing, can be an effective tool. But that only works when there’s a plan in place to support manufacturing for the types of products we made. This isn’t about steel and semiconductors. This is about paper goods, chipboard, wood tokens, plastic trays, and color-matched ink. These new tariffs are imposing huge costs without providing alternatives, and it’s going to cost American consumers more at every level of the supply chain.

We want to be transparent with our community. This is real: Prices are going up. We’re still determining how much and where.

We’ll keep making games. But we’ll be honest when the road gets harder, because we know you care about where your games come from—and about the people who make them.

Thank you, Meredith Placko, for your transparency about this situation. The new tariffs have rocked the board game industry. Time will tell how much of a hardship these tariffs will cause.

Good Puppers, Too! Launches on Kickstarter

One hundred new pups join the deck with the stand-alone sequel to Good Puppers. Just like the original, you’ll gather a bunch of dogs who share an important goal: bury a nice pile of bones in the yard. Good Puppers, Too! accommodates 1-5 players. It sports two solo modes. Not one, two.

Good Puppers, Too! cards are double-sided. On one side, you can play the card as a pup. The other side counts as bones. Each game takes about thirty minutes to play, and Good Puppers, Too! appeals to a wide range of gamers. The game deploys easy to learn game mechanisms that have strategic depth. And I’m a sucker for multi-purpose cards. Check out Good Puppers, Too! on Kickstarter.

Till5AM Launches QUARZ on Gamefound

QUARZ takes the simple concept of Capture the Flag to a board game. 16 unique monsters battle for the Crystal Idol in this high-energy, competitive game for 2-4 players. Snatch the Crystal Idol from the altar and race back to your base.

Each of the 16 monsters has unique powers and personalities. The Book Worm (pictured above) is one of my favorites. Who wouldn’t want to become a bookworm with your favorite bookshelf strapped to your back? QUARZ has multiple pledge options. Go for their base game (€54) or go all-in (€129). Check out their page on Gamefound.

This week’s geek news is a little light. Hopefully, some good games will be played. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News MCU Blade

Geekly News: March 30, 2025, Blade Movie Cancelled

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’ll go lighter on Geekly News for the next few weeks. Protospiel Kansas City is next weekend. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t miss a News post.

MCU Cancels Blade Movie

On one hand, the MCU cancelling Blade comes as a surprise. A trusted insider announced a day prior that Blade had a new director, but then another trusted insider, World of Reel, made the announcement that Blade was nixed. No one has questioned World of Reel’s claim…yet. Blade has had the worst luck in the past few years. Actors have committed and then de-committed. The same goes for directors. And the script has been chopped up and rewritten so many times that it looks like someone tried to reconstruct a ream of paper from the confetti dumped on Times Square during New Year’s. In short, the MCU’s Blade was cursed.

I’m glad Marvel ended the failing production. Blade should return. He’s a popular character, and I’d like to see the MCU’s take on Blade. Rumors persist that Blade will appear in a team-up movie like Avengers: Doomsday or Midnight Sons. But if Blade were to get his own vehicle, perhaps Marvel could give him a Special on Disney+. Marvel hasn’t released a Special on the streaming platform since 2022’s Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special. I didn’t care for the Christmas Special; it played like the Star Wars Christmas Special. Yuck! But Marvel’s previous special, October 2022’s Werewolf By Night, was among the best productions in the MCU’s Phase Four.

Werewolf By Night saw even more success after it became part of 2023’s Huluween. This proves that the format works and has legs. An annual (or a series of annual) Marvel After Dark Special(s) could also work to organize the MCU’s release schedule. Spectacles get movie releases. Street-level heroes receive a TV series. Horror/macabre characters feature in Marvel Specials. Blade would fit in with Werewolf By Night, Man-Thing, and Elsa Bloodstone. We’ll see many of these characters (including Blade) in Midnight Sons, but I’d like to see more of Marvel’s darkest corners. Even though Blade won’t get a solo movie, and that’s disappointing, it could lead to something special.

Black Panther 3 to be Released February 2028

Ryan Coogler, director of the first two Black Panther films, said in an interview (with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco) that Black Panther 3 is closer than movie-goers think. The MCU plans to introduce Prince T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman’s character’s son, in the upcoming movies. Avengers: Doomsday is a little soon, but Prince T’Challa could make an appearance in Avengers: Secret Wars.

Two Marvel comic book crossover series have been named “Secret Wars,” one in 1984 and another in 2015. The Russo brothers have stated that they will pull from both comics. T’Challa plays a pivotal role in the second “Secret Wars,” so it would make sense if Prince T’Challa is in play for that movie or both films: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

In a previous Geekly News post, we shared that Denzel Washington will feature in Black Panther 3. We mentioned a few characters Washington could portray. Here’s a quick recap. Achebe is a brilliant and unhinged adversary from the Black Panther comics. The First Black Panther Bashenga could explore Wakanda’s lore. Or perhaps he could play the Shadow King, a powerful telepathic mutant villain.

But (in that same interview with Sharpe and Ochocinco) Coogler teased that Washington could portray a role that could shake the entire MCU. He dropped a few hints, and internet sleuths have deduced that Coogler could be alluding to Denzel Washington playing Magneto. This wouldn’t be the first time that Wakanda went head-to-head with a leader who only wants what’s best for their people and may take drastic measures to protect them. 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Namor strikes a similar chord. Washington would be a great choice for Magneto. Regardless of Washington’s role, we can’t wait for Black Panther 3.

Six Sojourns: An Eight-Minute Empire Game

Red Raven Games revisits one of their earliest designs, Eight-Minute Empire. Six Sojourns builds on the short area control game. The original game’s title is a misnomer. It takes about forty minutes to play Six Sojourns, not eight minutes, but forty minutes is a short game for the game type. Six Sojourns features tough choices, allows for creative strategies and tactics, and promotes high player interaction.

Ryan Laukat serves as the illustrator and game designer of Six Sojourns. He’s had board game hits like Above and Below, Near and Far, Sleeping Gods, and Now or Never. Six Sojourns showcases Laukat’s unique artwork. My favorite feature from Six Sojourns is its three double-sided maps: Red Rock Islands, Volcano, and Northern Seas. Six Sojourns is available now on Gamefound.

G.I. Joe: Operation Cobra

OC Games launched G.I. Joe: Operation Cobra this past week. The game features cooperative tactical action and has plenty of miniatures. OC Games was founded last year, so G.I. Joe: Operation Cobra is one of their first releases. The company focuses on adapting intellectual properties from the 80s and 90s into board games. I can’t speak to the quality of their games yet, but they did capture the look of G.I. Joe from the 80s.

The character cards look like the cards one could cut out from the back of a G.I. Joe toy. OC Games has a knack for tapping into nostalgia. At one point, OC Games had posted G.I. Joe: Operation Cobra on Tabletop Simulator (TTS) so players could demo the game. OC Games’ website has loading issues, I’ll post their update on Gamefound for their Tabletop Simulator announcement. If you’d like to see the game’s pretty miniatures, check out the game’s page on Gamefound.

Funko Bitty Pop Arcade

Funko Pop expands its number of collectible series with Funko Bitty Pop Arcade. Classic cabinet arcade systems inspire these collectibles. The first series of Funko Bitty Pop Arcade will include Wreck-It Ralph, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tron, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. The Five Nights at Freddy’s collectible is the oddball of the bunch as it resembles a claw machine. At $8 apiece, Funko Bitty Pop Arcades are a frugal way to start a collection. These items will be released in early July 2025, and you can pre-order them from Amazon.

That’s all the geek news we have for this week. Hopefully, we’ll have a news post next week. Until next time, thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News DnD Sigil

Geekly News: March 23, 2025, D&D Sunsets Sigil

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re a little light on geek news this week. I’m sure things will heat up as we approach convention season, spring replacement shows, and summer blockbusters.

On a personal note, I’ve been preparing for upcoming conventions, so my focus is split at the moment. 😅 I’ll be sharing some updates in the coming weeks.

Dungeons & Dragons Sunsets Its 3D Virtual Tabletop Sigil

Sunset is a fancy and nice way of saying shutting down. Had Dungeons & Dragons adopted a 3D virtual tabletop five years earlier during the pandemic lockdown, Sigil would’ve been used by every D&D gaming group. Sigil uses the Unreal 5 engine while integrating the game’s online database D&D Beyond. The graphics and physics of the system impress, but the product is rough around the edges, and with the announcement that D&D plans to shudder the project, Sigil will never reach its lofty expectations. Wizards of the Coast claimed that Sigil would be like you were meeting in person for a tabletop RPG. But let’s be real. Playing a tabletop RPG is best done in person.

A virtual tabletop can only go so far. If anything, D&D was hoping for a second pandemic or another wave of the previous pandemic and that’s a risky business move. During the pandemic, people were willing to take on new hobbies. They were willing to accept a virtual tabletop with all its flaws and often used virtual tabletops inferior to Sigil. Had Sigil released over five years ago, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of gamers, would’ve downloaded Sigil. Many of those same gamers may have continued to use the system after the quarantine lifted. Sigil missed its window. Unfortunately, Wizards of the Coast announced that they laid off the 30-person team behind Sigil. Best of luck to these talented designers. They did a great job with an unfinished Sigil.

Point Galaxy and Propolis Available on Kickstarter

The Point series returns with Point Galaxy. Like Point Salad and Point City before it, players draft double-sided cards to build their galaxies in Point Galaxy. This time, whenever you draft a card, you choose to add the card to an existing galaxy or create a new galaxy. The front of the cards will have celestial bodies like planets and suns, but the card backs will feature unique ways for players to score with the galaxies they build. Spaceship tokens add more complexity to the scoring, making Point Galaxy fast-paced and strategic. I’ve always liked Point Salad. Point Galaxy builds on the base game. Flatout Games manages to put a lot of game in a small box.

Propolis, also from Flatout Games, has me intrigued. It combines worker placement and resource management, two game mechanisms found in heavy European games (games with a lot of strategic choices) in another fast and approachable game. The design team of Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich is one to keep on a gamer’s radar. They’re also behind the Point series. In Propolis, players control worker bees. You may place your bees on actions and gain resources or use those resources to build structures. Structures give workers bonuses and score points at the end of the game. Simple and fun.

My favorite game mechanism in Propolis is that at the end of each round, players gain a wild resource for each row where they have the most workers. This serves as quick area majority or area control. It can turn the tide but not break the game. Point Galaxy and Propolis are live on Kickstarter and can be purchased separately or together. Individually, they cost $19. Together, players can pledge $35.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Clue

Ordinarily, Geekly wouldn’t report on a new version of Clue being released, but this is RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Season will spend $45 to snag a copy. One of six drag queens has stolen the crown. Figure out who stole the crown, where the crown was discovered, and what dazzling accessory helped the thief escape.

Instead of the standard Clue pawns, Clue: RuPaul’s Drag Race includes standees of the various queens you can play and accuse. The six characters include Madam Mustard, Pepper La Peacock, Crystal White, Sir Lady Scarlet, Marsha P. Plum, and Geraldine Green. All of these drag names are fabulous. My favorite is Marsha P. Plum. I call dibs. Sashay away to iconic Drag Race locations like the main stage, the untucked lounge, and the ladies’ room when Clue: RuPaul’s Drag Race releases later this year.

That’s all we have for this week in geek news. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News CMON Games

Geekly News: March 16, 2025; CMON Games Could Lose $2 Million for 2024

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Crowdfunding Board Game Giant CMON Games Claims They Could Lose $2 Million for 2024

CMON’s board issued a profit warning to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange earlier this week. It estimates its losses for 2024 at between $1.4m and $2.1m, with the final, audited total expected by the end of this month. $2 Million is a large number. Several factors have contributed to CMON Games claiming a loss for 2024. We’ll give a quick rundown on what led CMON in this direction.

A Quick History

CMON Games quickly bounced back from the pandemic. It suffered a 17.5% revenue drop to $25.1m in 2020 because of the pandemic. In 2022, CMON reached $45.3m and almost duplicated that success the next year due to multimillion-dollar Kickstarter campaigns for its long-running Zombicide series and games based on huge IPs such as Marvel and DC Comics.

Marvel United Box Close Up Board Game Review

Last September, CMON’s mid-year revenue had fallen for the first time since the pandemic, to just over $15.9m with slumping wholesale earnings putting a dent into the company’s H1 results. CMON’s wholesale revenue sank 39% to $5.9m in H1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while revenue from its crowdfunding campaigns fell by about 9.7% to just over $9.9m.

What CMON Claims Caused this Loss

CMON Games says the biggest contributing factor to this loss is the rising cost of living, which is eating into its revenue from tabletop game sales. They believe people aren’t buying as many board games because the cost of living has increased. Cost of living can and does play a role in reduced board game sales. But this can’t be the only factor.

CMON Switches from Kickstarter to Gamefound

CMON switched its crowdfunding strategy in February 2024 when it ended 12 years of running campaigns on Kickstarter. They chose to sign an exclusivity deal with Kickstarter’s crowdfunding competitor Gamefound. CMON had raised more than $108 Million in total on Kickstarter.

CMON’s first year on Gamefound began slowly. Large campaigns like DC Super Heroes United and Cthulu: Death May Die, Forbidden Reaches helped push CMON closer to the money they raised on Kickstarter the previous year.

At the mid-point of the year, the 2024 losses would almost wipe out CMON’s $1.8m profits across the previous three years combined, marking the first time the company suffered a loss since the pandemic.

Personal aside: I backed one of CMON’s projects on Gamefound and followed several others. The company had issues navigating Gamefound’s backend. There were growing pains but the year ended better than it could have. Different consumers use Gamefound and Kickstarter. Switching crowdfunding providers could contribute to a dip in sales. Gamefound also offers what equates to layaway, so certain Kickstarter marketing tactics CMON Games has cultivated over 12 years may not work as well on Gamefound.

CMON Bought IPs Last Year

CMON made two significant acquisitions last year. They bought Japon Brand, the Japanese board game collective that published Love Letter and Machi Koro and picked up the intellectual property rights to a pair of stalled Kickstarter projects from Mythic Games in January 2024.

The two games from Mythic Games, Hel and Anastyr, raised a combined $3.2 Million on Kickstarter. Per CMON Games, both games require extensive playtesting and editing to reach their standards for print. CMON Games plans to ship Hel and Anastyr to Kickstarter backers if the customers who originally backed the game are still interested. This created another issue with CMON Games switching from Kickstarter to Gamefound. Original backers of Hel and Anastyr haven’t received a single update since CMON Games acquired the rights to produce these games because CMON no longer uses Kickstarter.

Tariffs on Board Games

Geekly mentioned a month ago that tariffs on Chinese goods have complicated board game production. We belong to several board game groups and know several publishers. Many board game publishers have cited up to $2000 for a crowdfunded board game making $100,000. CMON deals in crowdfunding projects in the millions of dollars, and the company has at least seven completed campaigns that it will fulfill by the end of 2025. The company could lose at least $500,000 in tariffs alone.

CMON Agreed to Sell IPs

CMON started 2025 by agreeing to sell some of its intellectual properties in a $12 Million deal, with two new shareholders investing around $1.39 Million into the business by picking up a combined 16.66% stake in the company. CMON had entered a non-binding agreement to sell the unspecified IPs last August, but terminated the arrangement last month after CMON and the unnamed buyer failed to agree to terms.

CMON also revealed last week that the new shareholders had failed to hand over the money for their stakes and said it was seeking legal advice on how to cancel the process. CMON added at the time that it was now seeking other fundraising means to increase its general working capital in order to enlarge its capital base, increase the overall liquidity of its shares, and strengthen the company’s financial position.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of which factors affected their sales the most, CMON Games finds itself in a tight spot. One of board gaming’s dominant companies (especially post-pandemic) is struggling. But CMON has taken steps to get on the right track.

In January this year, CMON hired the CEO of tabletop gaming YouTube channel Man vs Meeple as its new global director of marketing. David Waybright will work full-time on promoting upcoming crowdfunding and retail releases from CMON while continuing to run Man vs Meeple, which specializes in previewing upcoming crowdfunded games. Fingers are crossed that CMON Games recovers.

Split Fiction Video Game Sells 2 Million Copies Its First Week

Split Fiction is the follow-up to Hazelight’s critically acclaimed It Takes Two (2021). It sold 2 million copies during its first week. Split Fiction was first announced at the 2024 Game Awards by studio chief Josef Fares, but began development immediately after Hazelight released It Takes Two. Like its predecessor, Split Fiction features dual protagonists who must work together, either locally (couch co-op) or online.

Split Fiction’s protagonists are named after Fares’ real-life daughters. Written by director and Hazelight studio chief Josef Fares and Sebastian Johansson, Split Fiction blends fantasy and science fiction, following a pair of authors trapped in the worlds they wrote. Split Fiction features unique gameplay mechanics involving split-screen combat, platforming challenges, and differing abilities for each character.

Steam’s Spring Sale Takes Up to 75% Off Your Favorite Games

Spring starts early, thanks to Valve. Steam begins its annual Spring Sale, and while most of the games featured in this sale aren’t new, there are some classics you may consider purchasing if you don’t already own a copy.

You can pick up a copy of Square Enix’s Chrono Trigger in honor of the SNES RPG’s 30th anniversary. Cyberpunk 2077 is down to $42.76 (almost $40 off), which includes the expansion Phantom Liberty that significantly improves the gameplay. The 2016 Doom reboot is going for $1.99. I may have my eye on some deck-builder games. Slay the Spire is $6.24, while Inscryption is going for $7.99. Both of these games offer great mechanisms and blend in roguelike elements.

Steam’s Spring Sale ends March 20th so be sure to check out the store before then.

Wasteland Degenerates Launches on Kickstarter

Tabletop Role-Playing Game Wasteland Degenerates launched on Kickstarter this week and was funded within hours. Wasteland Degenerates takes inspiration from the MÖRK BORG and CY_Borg systems. It features easy-to-roll-up characters, and dice rolls that can take out a character in seconds. If you want to explore the wastes, finding treasure from trash, and fight gnarly mutants, Wasteland Degenerates has you covered. While Wasteland Degenerates is based on, and compatible with, the award-winning MÖRK BORG and CY_Borg systems, it does not require any other books to play. You can learn more about this project on its Kickstarter page.

Modiphius Announces New Star Trek Adventures Sourcebook

Take your Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition RPG to the next level with the upcoming Technical Manual. Modiphius Entertainment announced that the new sourcebook will be released in June 2025.

This 129-page full-color hardcover book covers gear from across the Star Trek universe. The Technical Manual will cover details on Starfleet, Klingon, Romulan, Orion, and more technology. Add just about any piece of tech from the Star Trek universe, from universal translators to tricorders. The manual also details medical technology and the engineering elements of transporters.

The Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition Technical Manual will retail for $46.23. You can order your copy of the base game and the Technical Manual by following this link.

Steamforged Games Announces Helldivers II: The Board Game

Steamforged Games has a history of bringing several video game properties to the tabletop game space, and they continue by announcing a board game adaptation of the hit sci-fi shooter Helldivers II. Manning squads armed with pistols, machine guns, and flamethrowers, players protect Super Earth against alien threats. You’ll complete high-risk missions, navigate battlefields, and overcome enemy swarms.

The crowdfunding campaign will launch on Gamefound on April 8, 2025.

That’s all the geek news we have for this week. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News Wonder Woman Video Game

Geekly News: March 2, 2025, Marvel Picks Television Series Direction

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here, and we’re back with some Geekly News. We don’t have as many stories to cover this week as we did the week before and we’re still figuring out how to present Geekly News. Let’s start with a standby.

Marvel Picks Television Series Direction

Marvel picked a new direction with their Disney+ shows. After the abject failure of Secret Invasion, rumors flew around Marvel’s television projects. Television shows like the upcoming Okoye (from the Black Panther franchise) series and the Nova series got canceled. Even some movies like Armor Wars got nixed. Marvel announced these cancelations in a whirlwind, leaving fans wondering why some shows got canceled and others didn’t. We’ve gotten some clarification. The following is a quick overview of the situation.

Overview of Marvel Reorganization

First, Marvel used to film an entire television series and drop it on the Disney+ platform with little outside input. There are a few shows that follow this method that have yet to be released, specifically Ironheart. But all future shows will film shorter pilots and test screen the pilot to gauge audience interest before filming the series in its entirety.

Second, Marvel pivoted to television shows featuring street-level heroes like Daredevil and Punisher, while making Marvel films larger spectacles, to reduce cost. The studio has confirmed that they want to bring back the rest of the Defenders (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist), but only after Daredevil: Born Again releases and they can see how the show is received. No pressure, Daredevil. If all goes well, these street-level heroes will need a Thanos-type big bad that they must collectively overcome. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin should fit that bill.

Third, Marvel does plan on starting a Marvel Animated Universe (an MAU). Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will serve as a jumping-off point if they do plan on an MAU. Keep an eye on any upcoming Marvel animated projects.

Cancelled Marvel Projects

Getting back to what I said about Okoye’s show getting canned. That’s disappointing, but Marvel will release a Black Panther-themed animated show later this year. She could feature in that show (Marvel often uses their live-action actors as voice actors in their animated content) or a future Black Panther animated show, since Black Panther isn’t exactly a street-level hero. Okoye will undoubtedly return in the next Black Panther movie, which will include Denzel Washington in its cast. We still don’t know who Washington will play but here are a few options.

Achebe is a brilliant and unhinged adversary from the Black Panther comics. The First Black Panther Bashenga could explore Wakanda’s lore. Or perhaps the Shadow King. Amahl Farouk (Shadow King) is a powerful telepathic mutant who’s been a frequent Wakdandan antagonist and could bridge the gap with the X-Men. Could we get a Storm sighting in Black Panther 3?

The rest of Marvel’s cancellations include Armor Wars (film) and Nova (television show. Armor Wars’s plot was tied too closely to the failed Secret Invasion. War Machine will have to wait for his first solo movie after Marvel brass reworks the plotlines. It doesn’t look good, but a revamped Rhodie story could still happen. Robert Downey Jr. could don Iron Man’s armor during the Mutant Saga in Iron Man 4. Why couldn’t Don Cheadle do the same? While Armor Wars’s cancellation upset me, Nova stung a little more. The show doesn’t fit Marvel’s new roadmap. Okoye may or may not be a street-level hero. Nova is by no means a street-level hero. The Nova television show planned to introduce Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone with aspirations to control every known galaxy. We may have to wait until the Fantastic Four’s second film before meeting the villains, but there have been rumors that he could sneak into a project before Fantastic Four 2.

Final Thoughts on Marvel (for this week)

Daredevil: Born Again needs to succeed. Marvel’s roadmap makes more sense, and it’s a good thing when studios are transparent with their plans. I would’ve liked to have seen the three projects I listed that got canceled, but Marvel made their cancellation make sense.

Wonder Woman Game Canceled, Studios Closing

Speaking of a project getting cancelled and not making any sense, we have Warner Brothers’ video game branch. Warner Bros. hasn’t made too many sound decisions with their video game projects in years. They produced Multiversus, making the game stand out from Smash Bros. by making speed its core tenant, only to suspend the game for over a year and then rerelease it as a slower, more of a Smash Bros. clone game. Great. Then, there was whatever Suicide Squad: The Justice League Must Die was. Suicide Squad was meant to play as a multiplayer, online version of the Arkham series because “gamers want live service games” and failed. Okay. And then Warner Brothers refused to see Hogwarts Legacy as the smash hit it was because it wasn’t a live service game. What?

At least Avalanche Software (the developer of Hogwarts Legacy) got to keep their jobs. Player First Games (Multiversus) closed as well as Warner Bros. Games San Diego, which planned more online games. Monolith Productions who made the well-received Shadows of Mordor games and who were working on Wonder Woman also got shuttered this past week. Warner Brothers states that they’re keeping their focus on Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC Comics. That’s funny. Didn’t they just cancel Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman wasn’t a free-to-play online-only game. Maybe that was why, but then the publisher also canned Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. Warner Bros. could take a page from Marvel Studios and produce a roadmap. Make it make sense.

Monster Hunter Wilds Released

The wait is over. Monster Hunter Wilds is out. I haven’t had a chance to play yet, but the game has received overall ratings of 90/100 from critics. Monster Hunter Wilds features a shorter main campaign than the last two Monster Hunter games. I don’t mind that. One seldom plays Monster Hunter for the main storyline. There’s also a major update coming in April. Capcom hasn’t said what the update will include, but I agree with waiting a month before a major update. Players will have a chance to play the game for a month before adding more fun.

World’s Largest Dungeon Returns

Have you ever wanted to play the largest Dungeons & Dragons dungeon? You’ll soon get your chance when The World’s Largest Dungeon returns with its 20th Anniversary Platinum Edition for 5th Edition. The crowdfunding campaign launches on May 13th. (Here’s a link to the BackerKit.)  

Originally published in 2004 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), The World’s Largest Dungeon earned a Guinness World Record for its size and scope. The campaign was designed to take players from level 1 to 20, feature every monster from the System Reference Document (SRD), and offers an interconnected, inescapable dungeon experience.

The World’s Largest Dungeon’s updated edition will include 16 new boss miniatures, curated miniature sets from Reaper Miniatures, and 16 poster-sized maps with new detailed maps. Over 1,600 original encounters have been fine-tuned for 5th edition, and the new dungeon will feature exclusive Fanroll dice, an audiobook by AudioRPG, and stretch goals of course.

Aspiring RPG designers may submit their own dungeon encounters, with fan-voted winners earning a spot in the Secret Doors book which will be alongside the core books. The Platinum Edition will be released as a four-book set. Each book will feature fantasy artwork, immersive page layouts, and rich world-building details, making it easier for game master to navigate this massive dungeon’s encounters and secrets.

Ernie Gygax Has Passed Away

Ernest “Ernie” Gygax Jr, son of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) co-creator Gary Gygax, passed away this week. Ernie was one of D&D’s earliest playtesters. The Gygax family confirmed the news via Gary Con’s website on Friday (February 28). His cause of death was not given, but Gygax had been hospitalized several times in recent years. Gygax is best known for creating Tenser, the first magic-user character in D&D. Tenser’s name appears on several D&D spells in D&D’s current editions.

Our condolences to the Gygax family.

Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News Marvel Rivals Lays Off Seattle Branch

Geekly News: February 23, 2025, Spider-Gwen Joins Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season Two

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

We didn’t release a news post last week. Kyra was sick with the flu. That’s also why our coverage of Captain America: Brave New World has been lacking. We’ll get to it as soon as possible and figure out this news thing quickly.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here, and we’re back with some Geekly News. We have several stories to get through, so let’s get started.

Spider-Gwen Joins Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season Two

Season and Skye wrapped up their coverage of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s first season, and the final episode had plenty of easter eggs and loose story threads for the next season. You should check out their reviews if you haven’t yet. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s creative team dropped a bombshell the day after the final episodes hit Disney+, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen joins the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man mayhem in season two.

We don’t yet know if Gwen will be a transplant from another dimension like she was in the Spider-Verse series or if she already exists in Peter’s universe. The spider that bit Peter and gave him his powers crawls into another student’s backpack. Perhaps that student is Gwen.

Who knows? Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man injected some life in the MCU, even if it is an alternate reality and I can’t wait for the second season. Spider-Gwen or Ghost-Spider would be a fantastic sprinkle on top of this sundae.

New Avatar: The Last Airbender Series (Avatar: Seven Havens)

A new Avatar cartoon is coming to Nickelodeon and Avatar Studios. Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko celebrated Avatar’s 20th anniversary with the announcement of this new series. Avatar: Seven Havens will be a 26-episode, 2D animated series following a young Earthbender who is the next Avatar following Avatar Korra.

Avatar: Seven Havens will be split into two seasons. Both seasons will consist of 13 episodes and be called “books.” No cast has been announced yet. This is the first mainline TV series from Avatar Studios who are also developing a full-length animated movie based on an adult Aang on a new adventure and set to premiere in theaters on January 30, 2026.

Elon: Make Video Games Great Again

Elon Musk has been busy tinkering with the United States government and tweets hundreds of times daily, but he’s found the time to circle back around to his idea about making an AI-based video game studio. Musk confirmed this past week that he still plans to make an xAI game studio, tweeting, “It’s got to be done. Make video games great again!”

There’s a lot to cover about Musk’s motivations and how he intends to run this new video game studio. Frankly, there’s too much to cover, so I’ll be brief and try to stay neutral. Spoiler alert: I’ll fail. The politics behind Musk starting a completely Artificial Intelligence video game studio stems from an ideology of anti-diversity, anti-equity, and anti-inclusion. I failed already. I wanted to spell out what DEI stands for because it’s easy to dismiss an acronym. The Musk superfan who tweeted his support for an xAI game studio stated that diversity, equity, and inclusion ruined video games. The world’s richest man doesn’t need a reason or encouragement to not pay employees and use artificial intelligence for all aspects of a video game.

I’m done ragging on Musk and his superfan, for the most part. The topic of AI in video games has been hotly debated. Some AI processes that don’t involve GenAI have been deemed useful enough to be used with little controversy. However, that is not true for GenAI being used in artwork, cinematics, script writing, and so on with most developers and studios. If Musk’s idea is to make an entire game based around xAI tech, that raises many questions about how that would work and what the program would produce.

Perhaps this is a coincidence, but video game developers have increased their use of artificial intelligence during the current downturn in video game quality. If anything, AI could be one of the factors in poor video game quality. But it’s not the only one. Work environments have come under fire in recent years. A lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in video game workspaces has led to hostile work environments. Crunch culture has crushed numerous video game releases. Every studio wanting their share of the live service model has also hurt; not every studio has what it takes or needs to make a live service game. In the current environment, video game publishers have fired talented developers with a smash hit.

In short, video game companies need to show more humanity.

Marvel Rivals Splash

Marvel Rivals Lays Off Seattle Development Team

I may not have given Marvel Rivals the highest marks in my review a month ago (you can check out that review by following this link if you want), but the game is a smash hit. The only game that compares to Marvel Rivals’ hundreds of thousands of concurrent Steam players is Fortnite. Marvel Rivals is that popular. And Marvel Rivals’ developer NetEase laid off their entire Seattle office.

NetEase released a statement earlier this week, explaining the layoffs were made as part of “organizational reasons” and to “optimize development efficiency for the game.” This doesn’t make a lot of sense. While developers often bring in extra talent to release a game and then cut ties with contractors after the game releases, Marvel Rivals has the most aggressive release schedule for new characters in a hero shooter. Season 1 has seen the release of the entire Fantastic Four. Overwatch, which Marvel Rivals often gets compared to, releases one character during the same period. Marvel Rivals releases four times as many new characters. Yikes! The video game industry has experienced numerous layoffs in recent years. Even the biggest studios cut the size of their teams or close entirely, but these studios often do that when a game isn’t successful, or the company makes a blunder. NetEase has a runaway hit on their hands and to the best of my knowledge hasn’t made a huge mistake with another title or financial decision, and this still happened. Success doesn’t make one immune from getting fired.

Note: NetEase is a Chinese-owned company. Firing their United States branch may make financial sense if the company worries about international trade uncertainty. Ahem. Tariffs.

Retailers Help Dutch Tabletop Game Publisher Splotter After Tariff Uncertainty

Video games aren’t the only entertainment industry that may be affected by new tariffs. Tabletop games have had their issues, too. Food Chain Magnate publisher Splotter says, United States distributor GTS canceled a “large order” for its game Indonesia on short notice, citing uncertainty over further charges to import tariffs in the United States.

US President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on imports from China (where the majority of board games are manufactured) by 10% at the start of February, and last November threatened Chinese goods with 80% tariffs, in addition to a blanket 20% on all imports to the United States. China has responded with a tit-for-tat tariff increase for several types of US products, and Trump’s subsequent threats of further hikes for sectors such as automobiles have made international trade unpredictable.

Splotter, a small Dutch tabletop publisher, said on February 17 that almost all the United States retailers who offered pre-orders for the third edition of Indonesia were having their supplies met through GTS, meaning United States customers would not receive their copies. Designer duo Doumen and Wirsinga (of Splotter) said that a string of United States and Canadian retailers have reached out to secure direct orders from the company, while other distributors and publishers have aided the small business.

Founded in 1997, Splotter specializes in heavy—and I mean heavy—strategy games. Indonesia was first released in 2005 and is the second-highest-rated Splotter game on BoardGameGeek. Second only to Food Chain Magnate.

Elden Ring: The Board Game Coming to Retail Soon

In 2022, Steamforged Games successfully funded a board game based on the smash video game Elden Ring. For years Elden Ring: The Board Game was only available through Gamefound and secondary markets (resale), but the game will become available at most game shops next month. Steamforged Games has a long history of adapting popular video game franchises to board games: Dark Souls, Horizon Zero Dawn, Monster Hunter World, and Resident Evil.

Real talk. I’ve never played a Steamforged Games adaptation of a video game. Their games tend to have high production values and a price tag to match. Many of their base games (specifically the ones I mentioned above) are at least $100. The Realm of the Grafted King is Elden Ring’s official core box. It’s priced at $200. Two expansions function as standalone games. Presumably, one can play the game with either of them. Weeping Penisula costs $120, while Stormveil Castle costs $130. These prices don’t include optional upgrades. So, yes. Steamforged Games can get expensive, extremely expensive, but if you have the money and the inclination, Elden Ring: The Board Game will be available at game stores in March 2025 or on their website https://steamforged.com/collections/elden-ring-board-game.

MetaZoo TCG Returns with Richard Garfield and Skaff Elias

The original MetaZoo TCG was launched in 2020. Despite the pandemic, MetaZoo found moderate success until the original publisher MetaZoo Games had to file for bankruptcy last year. The card game centers around creatures known as “Beasties” which are inspired by cryptids and other figures from mythology and folklore like Bigfoot, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil. The game’s art style resembled the Pokémon TCG, while its play style felt like Magic: The Gathering. Another company took over the MetaZoo IP and intends to relaunch the game this year. All this is standard fare, but the names involved in MetaZoo’s relaunch have caused the TCG world to buzz.

Rick and Emily Arons, prominent former members of the Pokémon Company, are joining forces with Richard Garfield (creator of Magic: The Gathering) and Skaff Elias (former Senior VP of R&D at Magic: The Gathering). I’m intrigued by these names. But MetaZoo showed promise without these new names. The game had some interesting mechanisms. MetaZoo’s standout feature is its fourth-wall mechanism, where real-world elements, like a player’s seat at the table, can directly influence gameplay and outcomes. I hope MetaZoo brings back some of its original creative team while adding trading card game royalty.

Phew! That was a lot. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.