News Flash: Azul Summer Pavilion Announced, New Games from Tasty Minstrel

Azul: Summer Pavilion Pre-Order
Next Move Games has announced their third game in the Azul series, and made it available for pre-order. "Fans will immediately recognize the core Azul style drafting but will be intrigued by the new scoring mechanisms based on set collection and pattern building. Players will also appreciate the new style of tiles found in the box – elongated diamonds and stunning player and scoring boards."
Source: https://www.nextmovegames.com/en/home/94-azul-summer-pavilion-pre-order.html

Rolled West and Big Dig Announced
Tasty Minstrel Games is releasing two new games this month. "Both Rolled West and Big Dig will be available September 23rd at your Game Store of choice.  Both are small box writing games, using a dry erase marker that allows for infinite replays."
Source: https://mailchi.mp/playtmg/tasty-news-99-new-releases-pre-orders-and-more

USAopoly (The Op) Announces Match-O-Rama
Match-O-Rama is a party game in which players attempt to match answers with other players, but the trick is you then have to guess where at the table the players are sitting who have the same answers. "Guessing where you’ll find someone with an answer that matches yours earns you points! Using the prediction dial on your player board, bet on a range of seats to your left or right within which you’ll find a match for a respective number of points. For example, naming a match within 3 players gets you 3 points, within 2 players scores you 4 points, and so on."
Source: https://theop.games/2019/09/match-o-rama-available-now/

WizKids Releases Hako Onna
Hako Onna is a spooky asymmetrical horror game that was originally released in Japan. "In this excitingly atmospheric asymmetrical game for 3-5 players, one player becomes the Hako Onna, or “Box Woman,” haunting the house where her spirit resides and eliminating all who encounter her. The rest of the players are Visitors, trapped in the house with this vengeful spirit, and must either escape or defeat the Hako Onna once and for all."
Source: https://wizkids.com/2019/09/04/dont-make-a-sound-in-hako-onna-available-now/

Interview with Game Designer Dan Blanchett
Plaid Hat Games has posted an interview with Dan Blanchett, designer of Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein. “Discussing Abomination and all things Frankenstein!"
Source: https://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/1020

Future of Pandemic Games
Z-Man Games has written a blog post from their Head of Studio Steve Kimball, looking at their Pandemic line of games and where it's headed next. "For now, I want to tell you about some exciting changes to how we’ll approach the different varieties of Pandemic games."
Source: https://www.zmangames.com/en/news/2019/8/24/2019-pandemic-survival-worlds-and-looking-ahead/

Reviews
Lots (What’s Eric Playing): “I like that it blends dexterity with a bit of strategy, and does so in a way that’s bright, colorful, and consistently interesting.”
Source: https://whatsericplaying.com/2019/09/02/lots/

Coloretto (A Pawn’s Perspective): “The price point is excellent, it plays great, and it is family-friendly with even very young players with no text on the cards or needed to play the game at all. It is a rare game that combines all of the above and manages to please such a wide variety of gamers.”
Source: https://pawnsperspective.com/coloretto-review-looking-back/

Moonrakers (Father Geek): “I’d categorize the game as casual, as the gameplay never felt intense and the level of play never reached a depth where I was seriously thinking through my next move to a point where my brain hurt. It did keep me occupied (happily) and I enjoyed the level of player interaction.”
Source: https://fathergeek.com/moonrakers_prepub/