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The Winter 2014 issue of Casual Game Insider is now in stock and available for sale! Print and digital versions are available.

Lost Temple by Stronghold Games is a jungle explorer game in which players attempt to be the first to reach the temple ruins. The board offers a single track from start to finish with various ruins along the way. To progress along the track during each round, players must decide which of the local villagers will help them go the farthest through the jungle.

Völuspá, by Stronghold Games, prominently asks on the back of the box, "Will Thor survive the challenge of the trickster, Loki? Will the Valkyries overtake Odin?" The "Saga of Edda” expansion included with the game is also clearly marked on the box. If the title and theme of this Norse Mythology game don’t pique your interest, bear with me, as there is a fun casual game hidden inside, even though it appears to be intended for fantasy gamers.

Casual Game Revolution is seeking a freelance graphic designer, Passport Game Studios has released two quick card games in the U.S., and Lamp Light Games re-launches a Kickstarter campaign for Space Junk.

Have you ever noticed that easy tasks can become very difficult when you're under pressure? Anomia is a game that drives this pesky truth home, as it pits players against each other to come up with words in a particular category as quickly as possible. It is a card/party game we recently had the opportunity to play that left us, somewhat literally, speechless.

Gameplay

Last January I played Tessen with designers Chris and Suzanne Zinsli and Belle of the Ball with designer Daniel Solis months before either game went on Kickstarter. Would you like to play preview versions of what could become the next hottest game of 2014 or 2015 with the designer, then tell them face-to-face how to make their game even better? Then figure out a way to get to Dover, Delaware, for the weekend of January 18-19 because Unpub4 is for you. What’s the price of admission to be a play tester for the weekend? $0. That’s right – nothing, nada, zilch, free.

Asmodee announces the release date for Cappuccino, Z-Man Games releases new Pandemic scenario and iSlaytheDragon interviews Adam McIver.

Z-Man Games releases new games just in time for Christmas, Casual Game Insider is reviewed by Today in Board Games, and several new games are looked at.

The inhabitants of the villages surrounding a dormant volcano were happily living in peace until — KABOOM! — the old volcano sprung back to life, unleashing rivers of molten lava in every direction and blasting volcanic rock into the sky.

Here is a list of our favorite crowdfunding projects for December 2013. This month, we're seeing evidence of the growing trend of microgames, a subset of casual games that are intended to be as portable as possible while still maintaining fun and challenging gameplay. There are also several other casual games of a wide variety of themes that seem to be worth checking out.