Rio Grande Games June 2004 Update

Rio Grande Games had several of its products honored recently, as Igloo Pop received a 2004 iParenting Media Award and the Spiel des Jahres jury in Germany named three Rio Grande releases in the five nominated games: Saint Petersburg, Maharaja and Dawn Under (the latter is scheduled to be released in English later this year).

In other news from a recent Rio Grande Games newsletter:

Goa and Saint Petersburg have shipped to retailers. The company expects to have restocks of The Duell and Marco Polo from Reiner Knizia and Adam and Eva from Aaron Weissblum in early June.

At the same time, RGG will release three new games: Maharaja, Who’s the Ass?, and FBI. 5th Avenue is scheduled for later in June.

RGG is still on track to release Master Thieves (a beautiful wooden game in a wooden box), Torres (with new graphics by Franz Vohwinkel), Tikal, Sinister Corridors (with a new title), and Circus Flohcati this summer.

For the fall, the company is working on two projects in the Carcassonne line, two Bohnanza expansions, two games (one new and one old) from Andrea Meyer, one new game from Friedemann Friese, and a board expansion for Power Grid with maps of Italy and France.

Rio Grande has announced an incentive for players to visit their booth as conventions this summer: "From our beginning, we have supported many conventions and encourage players to attend. We feel conventions are a great place to show players our games and for players to try out the games to determine which they like and want and which to pass on. For this reason, we have decided to add an incentive for players to visit conventions and support the retailers that sell our products at these conventions. The incentive: the Puerto Rico Expansion using card stock matching that used in the original game. These expansions will only be available at selected conventions (as many as we can arrange) and only with the purchase of Rio Grande games. The expansion will be released at Origins in June and then be available after that at both major and smaller conventions. So, make plan to visit a convention, come by and try our new games, and pick up the Puerto Rico Expansion!"

Some brief descriptions of upcoming RGG releases:

Who's the Ass?

Just as I was winning, the ass appeared. Now I am stuck with a hand full of cards again! The aim of the game is it to get rid of your cards as fast as possible. Once done, all other players score negative points. However, beware of the ass... and do not feel sorry if it sticks on you.

$12.95; 3 to 12 players; ages 8 and up; 30 minutes; designer: Wolfgang Kramer.

FBI

You are the leader of a team of field agents. Your aim is to collar as many criminals as you can. Your superior and the media spotlight has you in the pressure cooker to perform above and beyond the call of duty. But, of course, no one is perfect... and so, from time to time, innocent bystanders get thrown in the slammer. You better free them as soon as possible, otherwise you score negative points. To win you need to bag the FBI's Most Wanted. To achieve this, you need a quick and sharp mind, nerves of steel, and tactical prowess. Oh, and a little bit of luck doesn't hurt either.

$12.95; 2 to 5 players, ages 10 and up; 30 minutes; designers: Wolfgang Kramer & Horst-Rainer Rosner.

Maharaja

The maharaja has called and you, a distinguished Indian prince, are obeying his call. Build magnificent houses and palaces in his name! Maharaja is a clever strategic boardgame for two to five players. During the game the players take different roles and travel from city to city in India. Their architects build palaces and houses for the maharaja. Of course, building a palace is expensive. Thus, it is important to earn enough money in the cities. The first player building 7 palaces is the winner. Besides the basic game the rules booklet contains two advanced versions for players who seek even more depth in their game play.

$44.95; 2 to 5 players; ages 10 and up; 90 minutes; authors: Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling.

5th Avenue

The skyscraper boom has began and everyone wants to get in the act. This is a limited action game, where you always have more you want to do than you are able. Players try to build their 'scrapers near businesses to gain value (and victory points). The more different businesses next to your 'scraper, the more points. When a building commissioner finishes his tour of the city, the players bid for the right to build their 'scrapers. But players may be penalized (allowed to build fewer buildings) if they bid too much. Of course, bid too little and others do the building.

$37.95; 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up; 60 minutes; designer: Wilko Manz.