What A Scoop! Settlers of Catan Publisher Making Newspaper Game

Fanghawk

New member
Feb 17, 2011
3,861
0
0
What A Scoop! Settlers of Catan Publisher Making Newspaper Game

Mayfair Games, the publisher behind Settlers of Catan and <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/cones%20of%20dunshire?os=cones+of+dunshire>Cones of Dunshire, is offering Extra Extra and Flea Market within the next two months.

Settlers of Catan is pretty fun, but if you find yourself playing it <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139501-Green-Bay-Packers-Are-Obsessed-With-Settlers-of-Catan>as much as the Green Bay Packers, it might be time to mix things with another tabletop game. Thankfully, publisher Mayfair Games has announced new Spring titles that aren't Settlers of Catan, Settlers expansions, or Settlers spin-offs. These two new games - Extra Extra and Flea Market - bring unique gameplay systems to the tabletop that can still be grasped within the span of a family board game night.

Extra Extra pits 2-5 players against each other as managers of fledgling newspapers. Your goal is to run the most successful publication, balancing your limited resources (money and reporters) to gather the stories and photos that will sell papers. Each newspaper has a specialty topic that rewards bonuses when you publish to your readership, or you can also turn to advertising to make ends meet. As a final twist, publishing first earns more points, but the game's winner will have constructed the most complete newspaper.

From the sounds of things, if this game isn't played with everyone shouting "What a scoop!" every ten minutes, it's probably being played wrong.

Alternatively, if the fast-paced reporter's life doesn't suit you, there's always the option of browsing the Flea Market. This dice game aims to recreate the experience of finding hidden treasures while digging through used goods. You play as a buyer's agent seeking to buy items as cheaply as possible, then resell them when the demand dice make them popular once again.

Flea Market is expected to launch in late February, while Extra Extra will hit gaming shelves in March 2015. In the meantime, Mayfair Games is keeping itself busy <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139481-Mayfair-Games-Kickstarter-for-Parks-and-Recreations-Cones-of-Dunshire>managing the Cones of Dunshire Kickstarter campaign.

Permalink
 

drummond13

New member
Apr 28, 2008
459
0
0
I have to admit, I'm a little confused about this "article".

Mayfair games has published dozens of games unrelated to their Settlers series, and many other games companies publish great games nearly monthly. Why does the pending release of these particular games merit any sort of mention when I can't remember this site ever doing so before?

Is this an ad?

I'm not criticizing here, just feeling confused. I would actually love a sincere answer.
 

Nimcha

New member
Dec 6, 2010
2,383
0
0
drummond13 said:
I have to admit, I'm a little confused about this "article".

Mayfair games has published dozens of games unrelated to their Settlers series, and many other games companies publish great games nearly monthly. Why does the pending release of these particular games merit any sort of mention when I can't remember this site ever doing so before?

Is this an ad?

I'm not criticizing here, just feeling confused. I would actually love a sincere answer.
This is what's called 'native advertising'. An ad disguised as a news article. It's all the rage these days on the internet.
 

Dandres

New member
Apr 7, 2013
118
0
0
Nimcha said:
This is what's called 'native advertising'. An ad disguised as a news article. It's all the rage these days on the internet.
It sure looks like it 'native advertising', unless this is part of the new restructuring that?s going on.
 

Davroth

The shadow remains cast!
Apr 27, 2011
679
0
0
If by calling this "native advertising" you try to insinuate that Mayfair Games paid for this, then you are deluding yourself on the money you make as a games publisher.

A simpler explanation would be that the writer had the scoop for this game and wanted to write about it and tried to decorate the article with some of the publisher's previous crown jewels (although at that point I feel inclined to point out that Settlers of Catan was Klaus Teuber's brainchild, and Mayfair games has little to do with it.), especially since there's a current news story about a sports team to accompany it.
 

JonB

Don't Take Crap from Life
Sep 16, 2012
1,157
0
0
Wow y'all, really? We're covering the announcement of a new game.

You know. For our tabletop section. The one where we write about tabletop games.
 

Ftaghn To You Too

New member
Nov 25, 2009
489
0
0
JonB said:
Wow y'all, really? We're covering the announcement of a new game.

You know. For our tabletop section. The one where we write about tabletop games.
After that time the Escapist tried to pass off a furniture line as news, it's hard to not to find blatant examples of native advertising all over the place. That said, this is probably not one of them.
 

JonB

Don't Take Crap from Life
Sep 16, 2012
1,157
0
0
Ftaghn To You Too said:
JonB said:
Wow y'all, really? We're covering the announcement of a new game.

You know. For our tabletop section. The one where we write about tabletop games.
After that time the Escapist tried to pass off a furniture line as news, it's hard to not to find blatant examples of native advertising all over the place. That said, this is probably not one of them.
We're never going to live that down. Trust us, though, if somebody paid for it you'll see the disclaimer.
 

Cowabungaa

New member
Feb 10, 2008
10,806
0
0
A 5 player game? Nice, my gaming group could use more 5 player games. We're often either stuck with 4 player games and a person too many, or games that require too many players.

Plus, the journalism angle really interests me, that ain't something you see around a lot. I just hope it's going the theme is properly fleshed out. I'm not one for Euro-type games that have amazing settings but in the end are abstract like hell.
 

drummond13

New member
Apr 28, 2008
459
0
0
JonB said:
Wow y'all, really? We're covering the announcement of a new game.

You know. For our tabletop section. The one where we write about tabletop games.
JonB I'm here every other day or so and this is maybe the second time I've ever seen board games mentioned.

I believe you when you say you have a tabletop section, but it's sorely lacking in exposure. Need any help with it?
 

drummond13

New member
Apr 28, 2008
459
0
0
TopazFusion said:
drummond13 said:
I believe you when you say you have a tabletop section, but it's sorely lacking in exposure.
It's the big purple button at the top of the page, - at the top of every page. I'm not sure how it's possible to miss it.
Well, as we just found out, it's VERY possible for someone to miss it. :)
 

L. Declis

New member
Apr 19, 2012
861
0
0
Awesome.

And I know it's basically advertising, but I would actually prefer more board games adverts (as long as they're truthful on quality) because it's hard to find the more interesting games to play beyond the main indie ones.