News Flash: Kohaku and Royal Visit Released, Asmodee Acquires Board Game Arena

25th Century Games Releases Kohaku
Kohaku was released in stores this week. "A peaceful koi-pond-building, tile-laying game. Score points by surrounding flowers with koi containing matching colors, placing frogs next to koi tiles that have dragonflies, and ensuring that baby koi have a safe place to hide by placing them near rocks."
Source: https://www.25thcenturygames.com/store/kohaku

Royal Visit Released
IELLO has released Royal Visit in stores this week. It can also be pre-ordered online and will ship out February 25th. "This is the new strategy game by Reiner Knizia for 2 players: a smart and exciting tug-of-war game, where you try to use each character’s ability optimally to make the court advancing to your valley!"
Source: https://iellousa.com/products/royal-visit

Asmodee Acquires Board Game Arena
Asmodee has announced that it has purchased the online board gaming platform Board Game Arena. "Board Game Arena has been around since 2010. It has official virtual tabletop versions of 250 games, and it supports 40 languages. It has more than 5 million people signed up. You play in your web browser or on smartphones and tablets, and it even works on PlayStation and Xbox consoles."
Source: https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/11/asmodee-acquires-board-game-arena-a-platform-for-playing-tabletop-games-online/

Gravwell Second Edition Announced
Renegade Game Studios has announced a new edition of the Mensa Select Winner. "Gravwell returns from the 9th Dimension in Gravwell 2nd Edition, with an expanded player count, new art, and unique player powers!"
Source: https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/news/2021/2/1/announcing-gravwell-2nd-edition

Asmodee Digital Humble Bundle
Humble Bundle is offering a board game themed bundle. "We've teamed up with Asmodee Digital for our newest bundle! Get games like Terraforming Mars, Blood Rage: Digital Edition, and The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game. Plus, your purchase helps support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital & a charity of your choice!"
Source: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/asmodee-tabletop-2gether

Game Boy Geek Season 9 Kickstarter
Game Boy Geek is running a Kickstarter Campaign to support its 9th season. A number of game promos are offered as rewards. "My name is Dan King a.k.a The Game Boy Geek and over the last 8 years I have produced over 2400 board game videos with over 80% of those being reviews!"
Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/293767764/game-boy-geek-season-9-2021

Reviews
Stuffed Fables (Meeple Mountain): “a great family game for both the young and old. There is enough inspiration from Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to draw in players for Stuffed Fables visual style, the mechanics are fun and challenging so it does not feel like a ‘kids’ game and the story is engaging, keeping players wanting more.”
Source: https://www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/stuffed-fables-review-a-tale-of-tiny-heroes/

Calico (The Game Aisle): “It’s colorful, it’s easy to learn and difficult to “master,” and there’s some variation in play so you don’t feel like it’s the same challenge over and over again.”
Source: https://www.thegameaisle.com/calico/

Risky Chicken (Board Game Halv): “A very simple and straightforward board game that mashes up the mechanics of press your luck and the prisoner's dilemma to make for a streamlined and exciting experience set against a fun world of Chicken puns.”
Source: https://www.boardgamehalv.com/risky-chicken-review/