Some games quietly go out of print. Mechs vs. Minions very much didn’t - its absence has been felt for a while, especially as copies became harder (and pricier) to track down. Now, a decade after its original release, Mechs vs. Minions is officially heading back to tabletops with a new anniversary printing.
The return comes via a partnership between Riot Games and Incredible Dream, who will handle publishing and distribution for this new edition. A full global launch is planned, with more details expected later this year.
Originally released in 2016, the game quickly built a strong reputation. Set in the world of League of Legends, it has players take control of Yordles piloting oversized mechs, programming their actions in advance to deal with increasingly chaotic waves of minions. The core hook - queueing up actions and hoping everything goes roughly to plan - gave it a distinct feel compared to other co-op games at the time.
It also didn’t hurt that the production was… a bit excessive (in a good way). Even now, Mechs vs. Minions is still brought up as an example of how far you can push component quality in a board game, with detailed miniatures, layered boxes, and a campaign that steadily introduced new mechanics over ten missions.
Despite staying in the upper ranks of hobby game charts for years, the game has been out of print since around 2020. Since then, it’s developed a bit of a reputation as one of those titles people recommend - followed by “if you can find it.”
This new edition looks set to fix that. Alongside the reprint, there are plans for expanded product offerings, though specifics are still under wraps. The involvement of Incredible Dream is also notable, particularly given the studio’s ties to Riot projects like Arcane.
For now, it’s mostly a case of “more details soon,” including pricing and pre-orders. Still, for a game that’s spent the last few years being more talked about than actually played, just having it back in circulation is likely to be the main draw.
