At the GAMA Trade Show, Asmodee announced its new “AsmOPlay” organized play program for existing games and new releases.

The company plans two types of kits: premium kits for existing titles, and pre-release kits for upcoming games.  The premium kits will be available through a program with participating distributors, and stores who sign up for the program will receive kits for three existing games: Splendor, 7 Wonders, and Cash ‘n Guns – Second Edition.

The kits’ release will be staggered throughout the year, with the kit for Splendor arriving in May, 7 Wonders arriving in July, and Cash ‘n Guns planned for September.  "For this year, we have limited quantities, so it’s on a first come, first serve basis," Ruby Nikolopoulou, Asmodee’s Director of Marketing, told ICv2.  The program is limited to brick and mortar stores only, and stores will be limited to two of each kit per location.

Each kit will include "evergreen" exclusive promo items, as well as participation prizes for those who play.  Each kit will include two demo copies of the game, a poster, sign-up sheets, an instruction manual on how to use all the items in the kit, as well as an average of three different promo items per kit for participation and winner prizes.

"For Splendor we have playmats," Nikolopoulou said.  "We have created alternate tokens that are translucent, and a set of four Nobles cards that are different from the base game."  The kit will contain 2 Splendor  demo games, 2 custom playmats, 4 special Coins sets of each color, 2 Gold Coin sets, 16 packs of new Noble tiles,  2 event posters, an Instruction sheet, and 2 sign-up sheet templates.

The 7 Wonders kit will contain two  7 Wonders demo games, two custom playmats, two 7 Wonders Art Packs, 28 new Palace card packs, two posters, an instruction sheet and two sign-up sheets.




The Cash ‘n Guns kit will include a new character designed by Second Edition artist John Kovalic:  an oversized Cthulhu character.  It will also include foam Uzis as prizes. "The Uzis  are from the first edition, four years back; they're nowhere to be found," Nikolopoulou said.  The kit will include 2 Cash'n Guns demo games, 32 Cthulhu characters, 4 foam Uzis, 2 posters, an instruction sheet and 2 sign-up sheets.





As to the cost of the kits, that is up to the distributors.  "We’re actually letting the distributors come up with an offer.  They’re going to take our kits and do what they want with them," Nikolopoulou said.

"We think there’s enough material there to charge for the event and make some money out of that event as well."

The first pre-release kit will be for Asmodee’s upcoming game Elysium (see "'Nations: Dice,' 'Elysium,' 'Formula D' Expansion, More").  "We’ve tried with the pre-release kits to find ways to support brick and mortar stores," Nikolopoulou said.  The pre-release kit will come with a demo version, as well as additional copies to sell in their store before the release date.  With Elysium, stores will receive the kit on April 30, when the street date is May 14.

There are two sizes of the Elysium pre-release kits available: one is a case pack of six, with one demo copy; the other is three case packs of 18 (a total of three demo copies).  There are also some promo cards to give away with game purchase.

Two other kits are planned for 2015: one for around Gen Con, one for October.

For this year, the AsmOPlay program will include only Asmodee game titles, with no games from Days of Wonder or Queen Games.

Asmodee is also promoting the program with an "AsmOPlay" micro-site on their website.  The micro-site talks about the kit contents, and also has a place for retailers who use the kits to be listed.