Agricola, Genji, and More: An Update from Z-Man

No news is good news, right? Not always – a lightning strike outside Z-Man Games headquarters this past Monday took Zev Shlasinger and his website offline. Surge suppressors apparently aren’t designed for direct strikes as Zev’s computer, printer, router and phone were fried in the blast. He’s still waiting to see whether his hard drive, to be transplanted into a new computer, has survived.

What’s more, this is only one of the fires Zev has been fighting since returning from the Australian Games Expo in early June. A major issue with one of the printers Z-Man normally uses has forced the shuffling of several forthcoming games. Here’s an update for what to expect in the next couple of months from Z-Man Games:

• Agricola has been printed and will ship from the printer during the week of June 21st. Once you factor in a shipping time of at least three weeks, the preorders should start to ship from the Z-Man warehouse before the end of July. Distributor orders will be fulfilled once all the preorders have shipped. Customs is always a wild card in terms of possible delays – “They held Pandemic for three weeks,” says Zev – as are typhoons and kraken, so don’t clear a spot on the game shelf just yet.

  

• Tom Lehmann’s Middle Kingdom had issues with the box, so the printer is reworking it. All of the other materials are complete, so the game is now due the final week of July.

• Ideology, Second Edition and the third printing of Pandemic should ship from the printer the week of June 21st for yet another mid-to-late July delivery. Chinatown, although coming from a different printer, is on the same timeline. Traders of Carthage and Shadow Hunters also now bear a July release date.

• Genji, Wasabi!, Neuroshima Hex! and Tales of the Arabian Nights will most likely have to be moved to a new printer. As such the first three games now have an unknown release date until a new print shop is found for them. Zev says that Tales of the Arabian Nights should still be out at Gen Con, although the plastic figures previously mentioned will likely be stand-up figures along the lines of those used in Prophecy.

• Due to the delays in other titles, issues with getting art completed, and so on, Arena and Monster Liner will likely be released in 2009.

These games have been updated on Gone Cardboard.

---

Comments:

You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free!

Will the rules, or maybe a preview, for Middle Kingdom be available before the release? Posted by Michael Potts on Jun 19, 2008 at 06:39 PM | #

Tom Lehmann has written an overview of Middle Kingdom, and I’ll publish it on BGN prior to the game’s release. I also have a preview of Genji that will appear close to the game’s release. Eric Posted by W. Eric Martin on Jun 19, 2008 at 06:46 PM | #

I was so hoping Agricola would make it by July 12th in time to take with me on Vacation. Alas looks like it just isn’t going to happen. Posted by Terry Bailey Sr. on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:00 AM | #

I played Middle Kingdoms a couple of times last year; it’s a fun little game.  I can’t wait to get it! Posted by Joe Casadonte on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:11 AM | #

Sorry to hear that for Zev. I hope sales of Agricola will boost his spirits and allow him to come back stronger… I wonder what the printer issue was and what printer it is. Posted by William Baldwin on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:50 AM | #

Does this mean that JKLM could have their Z-man pre-order copies by early next week (assuming the printer to be somewhere in Germany)? Posted by Håkan König on Jun 23, 2008 at 02:21 AM | #

Hadn’t read this thread: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2410677#2410677 Or for lazy Europeans: JKLM expects to have the games in a few days and will send them out ASAP. Posted by Håkan König on Jun 23, 2008 at 02:52 AM | #

< Back Home