Carcassonne - Hunters and Gatherers, a new game but obviously related to the original award-winning Carcassonne, is scheduled to be published in October. According to Rio Grande, Hunters and Gatherers will have completely new graphics, new rules, and it's set in the Stone Age.

Rio Grande also announced that they are "working on four other games for October and two more for November" with announcements expected soon.

Game Previews

Trans America

America in the 19th century: railroads are booming! Pioneer spirit and vision are everywhere. Everyone wants to be the first to build a railroad network across the country. Each player gets a set of five cities and must build a network (with the help of the other players) to connect all five cities.

The first player to connect his five cities wins the round. The others lose points based on how far their unconnected cities are from the network. Who will be the first to connect his cities? Is it Casey, who was the first to build through the mountains to the west? Or Annie, who was the one who best made use of the others' tracks?

$24.95; 2 to 6 players; ages 8 and up; 30 minutes; designer: Franz-Benno Delonge.

Heave Ho!

Tug of war in the Scottish highlands

Players play cards instead of using their own muscle-power in this Scottish tug-of-war game. A player can play cards on either side of the rope: high cards on his side and, naturally, low cards on the other. With an energetic "heave-ho!," players compare their strengths and move the whisky barrel in the direction of the strongest team.

Beware: both players have access to a handful of tricks! Traitors can exist on both sides. The rope can break! Or Nessie can join one side to help or feed! At the end, the player who has the whisky barrel on his side of the board, wins the round. But a full match is the best of five rounds!

$19.95; 2 players, ages 10 and up; 30 to 45 minutes; designer: Richard Borg.

News included here is culled from various sources, including official company press releases and Web sites.