Smash Up: Sci-Fi Expansion

Alderac Entertainment Group plans to release a sci-fi expansion to its hit card game Smash Up. Expected in March, Smash Up: Science Fiction Double Feature will bring four new decks to the game.

The Science Fiction Double Feature expansion comes with 88 cards and can be played right out of the box by two players. It also comes with a VP token sheet and a rulebook. It plays in 45 minutes and has a SRP of $19.99. Combine it with any Smash Up set and the game can be played by up to four players.

Each of the four new factions brings new abilities to the game. Time Travelers allow players to use their cards repeatedly. Cyborg Apes take actions that take players' minions to a whole new level. Super Spies can use their espionage skill to plot out not only the player's future but also the opponent's. Shapeshifters could be anybody.

The Smash Up base game was featured in Wil Wheaton's TableTop  and made ICv2's Top 10 Card/Building Games for the Fall of 2012.

Summer 2013 - Best Summer Ever For Games

According to a new report in ICv2's Internal Correspondence, the long bull market for game sales continued throughout the Summer season, with some retailers describing it as "the best summer ever". For the first time, single-category stores selling almost exclusively CCGs, with event space, appear to be developing as a viable business model.

The Kickstarter phenomenon is still kicking - no pun intended - with more Kickstarted products going into trade release and, in general, selling in rough proportion to their popularity with Kickstarter.

Exposure on the second season of TableTop continues to have a sales impact when it comes to bringing games to your tabletop - again, no pun intended - with varying opinions on whether its the same size or a little smaller when compared to last year. As owner/operator of a gaming store, we can tell you that TableTop has had a considerable impact on the sale of board games. Every month we get several orders for whatever board game Wil Wheaton just featured in TableTop. If he ever visits Puerto Rico, dinner is on me!

Major shifts in the bestseller charts include Shifts below the top in collectible games, a new #1 in board games, Steve Jackson's Munchkin's return to the top in card games, Star Wars moving up in miniature games despite supply problems, and a *BIG* move in the RPG category. All these lists and more coming up tomorrow and the following days!