Gone Cardboard: Two New, Two Newish Titles from FRED in 2010

FRED Distribution has announced four titles for release in early 2010, two of them new editions of games that have been released previously and two brand new titles. To start with the familiar faces, Railways of Europe is a new printing of Rails of Europe, which appeared in 2008 in a limited printing. FRED’s Keith Blume notes that the game play of Railways of Europe is identical to the earlier release, with only the name being changed.

Reiner Knizia’s En Garde first appeared in 1993 from Abacusspiele, then was reissued in 2007 by Ferti in two editions, one with a 3D gameboard and a travel version with a flat gameboard. Pierô’s graphics from the Ferti travel edition will be used in FRED Distribution’s version of En Garde, which is the first title in Gryphon Games’ two-player line. Two pewter fencers will be included in the game, along with the gameboard, cards and scoring stones. En Garde plays in 20-30 minutes and will retail for $30.

Cornucopia, by Carlo A. Rossi and Lorenzo Tarabini, will be #10 in the Gryphon Games bookshelf series. Here’s a description from the publisher:

In Cornucopia, your goal is to fill your basket with a bountiful collection of fruits and vegetables, while at the same time correctly predicting how long it will take you to fill your basket.

You can try to assemble a basket with only one type of fruit or vegetable, which is difficult to do; or you can try to collect the entire range of harvest products. In either case, you want to complete your harvest as efficiently as possible to earn the most coins.

Players can bet and win more coins by correctly predicting the outcome (success or failure) of their opponents’ efforts to assemble their harvest, so players stay involved and engaged in the game even when it is not their turn!

Cornucopia is for 2-5 players, ages 8 and up, with a playing time of 45-60 minutes and a price of $26.

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