
Don't call it a comeback. As far as board game publishers with tumultuous histories go, WizKids ranks high on the list, but now they're back in a big way with a few games that will keep them in stores for a long time to come.
After bursting onto the scene with the Mage Knight collectible miniatures system in the early 2000s, WizKids was quickly scooped up by parent company Topps. The romance only lasted 5 years though, and WizKids had their operations suspended in 2008. Then, a year later and with gamers ready to pronounce the company dead, NECA surprised fans by revealing the return of WizKids as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Early on, this newly revived company focused on its core business, HeroClix and ActionClix lines, but also set the stage for re-entry into a booming board game market later in 2011. The first big step was acquiring the Star Trek license and producing two very well received games, Star Trek: Expeditions and Star Trek: Fleet Captains. This gamble paid off perfectly, leveraging the popular Star Trek name to get people playing WizKids games again. In making sure these first games were great, WizKids restored confidence in their brand.
Now that they're back in the spotlight, WizKids is reviving a classic franchise and turning one of their most recent hits into another. First up is a new Mage Knight board game from the mind of designer Vlaada Chvatil which aims to put a new spin on the deckbuilding genre by using it to drive a free-form adventure game. This new game looks to be a high end production judging by a few early pictures and a peek at the lengthy list of components. Click the image below to take a closer look:

The new franchise on tap at WizKids is Quarriors, another spin on deckbuilding that replaces the cards with dice. Lots of dice. The base game alone comes with a whopping 130 custom D6s, and the upcoming Rise of the Demons expansion adds 20 more. This expansion focuses on corruption, where players will purchase dice with negative effects and place them in opponents' bags rather than their own.

To say that Quarriors was the darling of Gen Con is an understatement. It made a huge splash there, and the fact that WizKids is following up with an expansion can only mean that there is a lot more Quarriors to come. They've been very open about their intention to extend the Mage Knight brand into additional areas.
Both of these games will be debuting later this year at the Spiel game fair, the world's largest board gaming convention held in Essen, Germany. There, up to 150,000 eager gamers will be able to see what WizKids has to offer. If the reception is positive, don't expect to see WizKids going away anytime soon.
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