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W. Eric Martin
United States
Apex
North Carolina
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German publisher Zoch Verlag has released basic info on its line-up for the first half of 2011. Here's the rundown on what you'll see:
• Arschbombe from the design team of Bernhard Lach and Uwe Rapp. Arschbombe is both exactly what it sounds like and something completely different as "Arschbombe" is the German word for "cannonball" – that is, someone tucking in a ball and jumping into a swimming pool. In this card game, players will have swimmers jump from their hand into a swimming pool comprised of cards, with experienced divers trying to land in quiet waters away from others while toughs will be aiming to soak others with their "ass bombs". (2-4 players, 8+, 20 minutes, English/German/French)
• Auf die Birne from Manfred Reindl. In this counting, memory and reaction game, cards from a common deck are laid out, with more and more pears, apples and maggots (yum!) being piled up. Once a harvest card appears and eleven fruits of the same type or eleven maggots have been laid out, the players need to know how many objects of the desired type are out there. Collect the harvest card if you're correct, and grab more than anyone else to win the game. (2-5 players, 7+, 15-20 minutes, English/German/French/Italian)
• Avanti from Heinz Meister. Players live on the road, moving from event to event to help supply them with supplies and make money. (2-5 players, 10+, 45-60 minutes, English/German/French/Dutch/Spanish)
• Crossboule from Mark Calin Caliman. This take on bocce, aka lawn bowling, gives players soft, flexible balls that will be kind to materials within your house, allowing for indoor games on the stairs, a bookcase or wherever else you might think to throw the target ball. Throw the right way, and you can earn bonus points; whoever wins two sets of 11 points first wins the game. (2+ players, 6+, English/German/French)
• Da ist der Wurm drin from Carmen Kleinert. In this dice game, players dig their worms through the neighbor's garden, trying to reach the flower and strawberry beds that await. (2-4 players, 4+, 15-20 minutes, English/German/French)
• Zicke Zacke from Marek Zoschi with Doris Matthäus providing the charming illustrations. All the familiar Zoch critters are hiding behind a wooden fence, a fence comprised of cards, with only parts of their bodies being visible. If you can slap the animal's home – a card sitting in front of one of the players – before anyone else, you claim the animal. (2-5 players, 4+, 15-20 minutes, English/German)
• Zozzle Junior from Elena Fyrogeni. Game play in these four titles is the same as in Zoch's Zozzle line from 2010. To start the game, place the 45 tiles face down in a central playing area. On a turn, reveal two tiles; if they match, place one of the tiles into your playing area, return the other tile, then take another turn. If they don't match, place them both face down. The first player to assemble a 3x3 image of tiles wins the game. Instead of animals, these four titles show cartoon images of princesses, pirates and more. (2-4 players, 4+, 15-20 minutes, English/German/French/Italian)
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