Unrivaled has revealed plans for the 2018 Championship Season for its nationwide game tournament after a kickoff party on International Tabletop Day.

The 2018 series will feature 16 games including Kingdomino from Blue Orange Games, Red Dragon Inn from Slugfest Games, Onitama from Arcane Wonders, Champions of Midgard from Grey Fox Games, Exploding Kittens from The Oatmeal, Evolution from North Star Games, Villagers and Villains from Studio 9, KLASK from Competo, and Nevermore from Smirk & Dagger. New Regional competitions have been added for 2018, and the prize pool has increased to $300,000.

Friendly Local game Stores can work with event service GameWorks (see “Oomba Acquires Chain”) to bring customers together at Regional Events to compete for prizes and a chance to win a seat at the Grand Finale in Las Vegas. Awards at these events will be earned not only by the winners, but also the stores representing the players. All FLGS registered to be a sanctioned Unrivaled venue in 2018 will be invited to attend the regional events (space permitting.)

“Friendly local game stores are the backbone of the tabletop gaming community, and it’s extremely important to us that they benefit as much from the tournament as the players do,” said Michael Williams, founder of the Unrivaled World Tabletop Championships. “Simply put, the player wins, the store also wins.”

The second half of the season will begin on August 13 and run for eight weeks. Players can demo featured Unrivaled games at the stores to sharpen their skills before competition.

The Unrivaled Road Crew will begin a tour of the country this month, appearing at FLGS and conventions including Gen Con and Origins to offer players additional opportunities to earn an entry in the Finale. The first Regional event will be held in Salt Lake City at Oasis Games on May 19.

Unrivaled launched in 2017 (see “Unrivaled Tournament Series”), and 289 game stores hosted 1,606 qualifying events from April through June. There were 13 regional tournaments held at GameWorks locations and local game stores, with a championship in Las Vegas on Halloween weekend. Champions won up to $10,000 for each event, and the stores that fielded the champions received matching prize money as well (see “Unrivaled Tournament Store Winners Received $114,000”).