Gaming: Game of Thrones gets Oathbreaking board game; Fallout 76 goes Wild; more

Lies, deception, betrayal: Game of Thrones’ notoriously thorny minefield of questionable relationships and false alliances is about to come to your coffee table in the form of a new board game — one that’ll have you casting nervous glances at all those people you thought were your friends.

HBO and game maker Dire Wolf are teaming up to introduce Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker, an old-school board game that’s designed to test your radar for double crosses. Made for 5-8 players and built around matches that can be completed in under an hour, Oathbreaker is all about picking up on subtle social cues — or learning the hard way that your ally is really your assassin.

Oathbreaker is “a game of deception and social deduction,” according to Dire Wolf. “One player assumes the role of King or Queen, while the others represent the great Lords and Ladies of the Houses of Westeros. Some are loyalists who want order in the realm. Others are conspirators, seeking to undermine the throne. And all of them have a secret agenda of their own. Who is truly loyal, and who is simply hungry for power, honor, and coin? It's up to the King to figure it out before it's too late.”

Pick from your choice among a 12-character lineup “as you connive and scheme your way to victory,” Dire Wolf teases. Oathbreaker comes handsomely boxed and is packed with tons of illustrations and photos from HBO’s hit series, as well as two double-sided game boards, six double-sided character boards, 125 game cards, six House sigils, and a retail price of $35.

Look for Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker to arrive in stores sometime this spring — just as we’re working our way through the show’s series-ending Season 8 on HBO.

Fallout 76 is off and running through the West Virginia wilderness with the first of three major updates planned for 2019. Bethesda has just launched "Wild Appalachia," the first installment, which introduces a brand-new storyline and quests, alongside a slew of updates both big and small that bring upgrades to the online game’s crafting system, weapons tweaks, and quality-of-life refinements — including the new ability to break down extra gear that exceeds your weight limit, rather than simply having to drop it.

Check out the "Wild Appalachia" launch trailer below:

The patch includes the new "Wasted on Nukashine" quest, a through-the-woods version of older games’ Nuka-Cola hunts (though here, the pre-wasteland beverage has found its way into bootleg bottles as moonshine). The spirited theme also comes with new crafting upgrades that’ll let you brew up your own alcoholic concoctions, with the usual Fallout assortment of accompanying status effects.

"Wild Appalachia" debuts ahead of the other two major quest updates Fallout 76 is slated to receive this year: "Nuclear Winter" and "Wastelanders." Check out the full rundown of new features over at Bethesda’s landing page.

If you want to know where in the world Carmen Sandiego is, you may have to start relying on Google Earth.

Google is reportedly teaming with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to debut The Crown Jewels Caper, a techy take on the classic Carmen Sandiego educational game series. The new globetrotting caper finds players using Google’s mapping app to stalk Carmen as she tries to make off with more priceless loot.

Like the original Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego from 1985, the new game is about learning the lay of the lands you’re traveling to. As you chase Carmen via the Google Earth app, you’ll explore the highlights of the locations you visit, talk to the locals, and correctly answer enough trivia questions about your surroundings to get the next hot tip on where Carmen’s gone.

The new game may bring back a wave of nostalgia for old-school Carmen fans, as it’s tied in with Netflix’s new Carmen Sandiego movie. Compatible with Google Earth for iOS, Android, and Chrome, The Crown Jewels Caper is available now.