KMW is reporting early news from Nuremberg, the biggest German wholesale toy and game show, over on his Spielplatz.
Apparently, Goldseiber will shortly release twelve new games! I suspect that the bulk of these will be children's games but there are a few family games that may be of interest.
Just as the rest of the gaming world is finishing up on this glut of card games, Goldseiber leaps into the fray with Nyet! ("Nope!", Stefan Dorra, 3-4 player). "So you think you know what trump is? You think you've got a handle on which of your cards are valuable? Nyet! Think, again."
Manitou ("Manitou, Great Spirit, The Force", Günter Burkhardt, 2-4 player, "very good for two") is yet another abstract game with an American Indian setting. Each player leads a tribe. The warriors must hunt buffalo for food. At the same time the squaws must be defended from the hostile intentions of other players' tribes. Tension ensues. But where is the cavalry?
...und Tschüss! ("...and Goodbye!", Martin Wallace, 4-6 player) is another card game. It seems to hinge around avoiding having the best hand. Perhaps the player with the best hand can be blown away (hence, the name) if they are discovered? Dunno. Martin?
Kleine Fische ("Little Fish", Peter Neugebauer, 2-4 players, "very good for two") which is, as near as I can tell, some sort of fishing game. The marketing literature is very vague, though.
Nimm's Leich! ("Stealing Corpses!, Grave Robbers!", Wolfgang Lüdtke, 3-6 player) is an amusing, social game about corpses. How many corpses are in the cellar? (There follows a string of entirely untranslatable German puns based on words that end in "corpse" (well, "leiche", really - like Kartei-Leiche or karteileiche, which is a "sleeping member" (weren't we supposed to let those lie?) which is German for "a person who is on the rolls in an organization but isn't really active." Ha, ha! Get it? No. I didn't, either). Oh, well, I'll have a go at it:) How many bodies are there in the basement? Some-body, Any-body, No-body, Whatta-body? (Hey! At least, I tried!) A game of bluff and decay. Check it out.
Neugebauer and Lüdtke are part of the TM-Spiele design team and, along with Fritz Gruber, are responsible for editting the Goldseiber series. KMW mentions that the TM from TM-Spiele comes from the last names of Klaus Teuber und Reiner Müller.
There is no news of the other new games from Goldseiber.
Now onto the big news! Hans im Glück have released (will release?) an expansion set for El Grande entitled König & Intrigant ("King & Conspirator")!
"Spain calls with new adventures! The story of El Grande continues with King & Conspirator. Fans of the current game can now expect new tactical possibilities. All of the materials from El Grande are required as well as the new deck of 100 cards that replaces the existing actions and power cards. The graphics by Doris Matthäus ensure that the new game material maintain the accustomed mood and setting of this fan favorite."
The first player in each round becomes the "king" while the last player in the round becomes the "conspirator" whose intrigues seek to topple the monarchy. There are many new actions for the players to worry about, as well. Targetted at groups of four or five strategy gamers, the expansion also includes special rules for two and three players.
Sounds like a winner at 15 DM. Any takers for translation duty?
Ravensburger have issued Shanghai, a new (well, sort of) game by Sid Sackson. KMW isn't thrilled about it and claims that it is very similar to Das Erbe des Maloney and Holiday.
Ravensburger also have another big box game, Der Zerstreute Pharao ("The Distracted Pharoh") and two new card games For Sale by Stefan Dorra und Fiasko ("Fiasco") by Reinhard Staupe.