News time! Mafia becomes a blockbuster movie (really), Fury of Dracula looms large, plus a Mars double

Mafia filmI can’t really believe I’m writing this, but as of this morning the next big tabletop game film franchise we’re all waiting for with bated breath is no longer Hungry Hungry Hippos. No. Ladies and gentlemen, god bless Mother Russia for taking a tilt at a cinematic blockbuster version of… hidden roles card game Mafia.

Mafia, or Werewolf as it’s more commonly known, has been knocking around for nigh on 30 years in one form or another, most recently getting a super-speed makeover from Bezier Games through last year’s One Night Ultimate Werewolf. Furious research shows it was first birthed in the USSR, so I guess it’s fitting that a Russian studio has decided to give the game the Hollywood treatment. And what a treatment. We’ve been joking about it since I posted the video on the board games subreddit earlier today, but the trailer looks like the result of a production team gulping down litres of espressos and desperately cramming in whatever bits of blockbuster cinema sprung to mind. Tron? Check. Hunger Games? Check. Alien? Check. Sharks? YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE IT’S A CHECK. It’s premiering on November 7th, so presumably will be out in time for us all to go and watch The Force Awakens instead. Check out the trailer, then head to the comments section at the bottom of this page and let rip.

Next! Fantasy Flight Games are continuing their ‘interesting’ marketing of the hugely awaited reprint of Fury of Dracula, which is apparently coming to shop shelves (in the US anyway) in NovemberNOVEMBER.Fury of Dracula That’s great news, as dates floating around up until today had ranged all the way through to December 31. As it stands, we’ll be able to bag copies just after we’ve all kissed goodbye to Halloween, and FFG have kissed goodbye to a massive Halloween marketing opportunity. Seems criminal to me, but I guess it’ll sell a bucketload of copies anyway – previous editions are still being hawked for upwards of $100 on eBay, although hilariously the bottom seems to have fallen out of that exploitative market following the 3rd edition announcement. FFG previously blew their surprise announcement of the game in the run-up to GenCon this year, by accidentally making the game page live on their website. Lol!

mission red planet

One Fantasy Flight Game you’ll be able to get your sticky puds on even quicker is Mars-themed steampunk area control game Mission Red Planet – or rather the 2nd edition of the 2005 original designed by the board game Brunos, Cathala and Faidutti. It’s officially out today if you have a hunt around online – just make sure you’re looking at the 2nd edition version like this though, as pages for the first edition are likely to show ‘out of stock’. The newly-polished edition include components for up to six players rather than five, a bunch of new action cards and revised mission and ‘discovery’ cards, and the ability to muck about on Mars’ moon Phobos.

Mars Bonus: I didn’t get the chance to try this one out at Essen last week, but I DID run my eye over an early demo of the intriguing-looking Terraforming Mars, which is in the works from Sweden’s Fryxelius brothers and due out next summer. Everyone takes control of various corporations trying to initiate projects to make Mars habitable, including raising the temperature and oxygen levels and creating oceans across the planet. It’s got hand management, resource production and lets you fling asteroids at Mars so you know it’s got potential to be good. It’s flying under the radar a little bit at the moment, but I managed to grab a quick audio interview with FryxGames CEO Enoch Fryxelius, which will be up on the site along with some pics later this week. Also, go and see The Martian if you haven’t already as it’s chuffing excellent.

In the mean time, why not tell us what you think about the above bits and pieces in the comments below? I’m especially keen to hear from anyway who reckons they can wheedle their way into the Mafia premiere, or alternatively anyone who thinks they can do a better job using just their mobile phone camera. I reckon you can. Signing up to the email list below means you’ll never miss a post, and having a click on those social media buttons just below would be lovely, as it helps keep the site alive. Thanks!

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