At Gen Con this year, we met with Ravensburger to hear about what new games they were releasing at the show. To the surprise of none of us, they had a massive amount of new games to show off. While some of them are the larger titles you’d expect from them, a good amount were small games that either travel easily or aren’t even a game! So, we figured we’d collect them into one big roundup review where we can talk about them together. For the larger titles, keep an eye on the site for when we post the full reviews on those.
Quick Hits for New Releases from Ravensburger
World’s Smallest Rush Hour
I’ve played various versions of the classic game Rush Hour before. For those of you who haven’t, this puzzle game has you set up a few cars on a grid, and you need to slide them around to allow the red car to escape. It’s simple but definitely stretches those brain muscles. This new version is pretty tiny, fitting in the palm of your hand. The cars are 3d plastic, and there is even a tray below the board to hold the cards. The only thing I didn’t like was that there was no top of the game, making it so you have nowhere to really store the cars when you are done. I ended up throwing everything into a sandwich Ziploc bag, but it would have been nice for them to have given this some thought. For puzzle game fans, this is a good travel option.
World’s Smallest Rush Hour is available for about $16.99.
Mazepop
Much like Rush Hour above, Mazepop is a logic puzzle for one player. Yet instead of moving cars around a grid, you are poking ball bearings in a line. The goal is to create a path from the start to the exit, going through all the terrain pieces. It’s a simple logic game with increasingly difficult puzzles, but it really shines in its tactile experience. The balls have a satisfying click, and you poke them with the pen, causing them to stick to the top of the game board. After doing the puzzles for a bit, my son ended up just playing with the pen and board, creating his own little drawings. It’s small, portable, and seems to keep them entertained, which is a win in my book.
Mazepop is available for about $20.
KPop Demon Hunters Labyrinth
40 years ago, Labyrinth was released into the world. That’s right, gamers have been sliding tiles around this board since 1986. Well, you are probably not surprised to see that Ravensburger has created a Kpop Demon Hunters version of the game. For those of you who haven’t played it, Labyrinth has players trying to navigate their player marker through a series of ever-shifting paths on the game board. For this version, players can be either Rumi, Zoey, Mira, or Jinu, and they are trying to navigate to various things from Kpop Demon Hunters: Demons, Saja Boys, and even Ramen. I gave it a play with my kids, and it definitely felt like a classic labyrinth. However, since then, this has been a house favorite for them. I’ve seen this on the table countless times as they keep going back to it. They seem to love the game, and they are big Kpop Demon Hunters, so that probably helps add to the excitement.
KPop Demon Hunters Labyrinth is available for about $20.
KPop Demon Hunters Puzzle
Continuing the trend of all things Kpop Demon Hunters finally hitting stores, Ravensburger has released a Derpy and Sussie puzzle. Upon arriving home, I handed it off to my daughter, who immediately scurried off to build it. At 300 pieces, it took her a decent amount of time, but she had it finished by the next day. I think the size and subject matter are perfect for her age (8 years old), and she’s already asked to frame the puzzle and hang it up. This one is probably more aimed at little kids, as a 300-piece puzzle isn’t going to keep most puzzlers busy for very long. But for her age, it was the perfect amount of size and theme.
Mazepop is available for about $19.
Disney Villainous: Come, We Fly!
Disney Villainous has been gracing our gaming tables since 2018. In addition to having spin-offs in the Marvel and Star Wars universes, the core line has released a crazy number of expansions. This year brought us what appears to be the 9th expansion (going by the number of boxes shown on the included flyer). Called Come, We Fly! this new Villainous expansion centers around the Sanderson Sisters. No, they are not related to Brandon Sanderson. They are from the movie Hocus Pocus. Full Disclosure: I have never seen Hocus Pocus, but I assume they are the antagonists of the movie. That being said, their goal in the game is to brew the life potion, which would give them eternal life. Which, frankly, doesn’t sound all that evil. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live forever young and attractive? Anyway, to create the potion, they need to add various ingredients to their cauldron tile, based on their recipe cards. Once it’s fully brewed, they then attach it to a hero. Defeat that hero, and they win!
Note: Unlike other expansions, this one is not a standalone expansion. The Sanderson Sisters are the only characters in the box. So, you need at least one other set (either the core or a standalone expansion) to play. I will say that the mover token is super cool, showing all three sisters on it. It’s really chonky and looks great.
Disney Villainous: Come, We Fly! is available for about $20.
Disney Mickey Puzzle
My wife loves puzzles. We tried something new last Gen Con by reviewing a copy of MicroMacro: The Home Game Jigsaw Puzzle Review. Sarah liked it, but the black and white art made putting the puzzle together more difficult than she wanted it to be.
Fast forward to this year, and I was able to snag a 300-piece Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Tailor Lorcana puzzle. Although not a Lorcana player, she loves Disney. She thoroughly enjoyed putting this puzzle together. She loved the art and the colors. She loved how easily the pieces snapped together. When finished, she asked me if I had any other new puzzles to do! Our kids are grown up now, but I know this puzzle would be perfect for families to work on together for an evening or two.
