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It is the 25th century. You are a member of an intergalactic expedition shipwrecked on a mysterious planet named Artemia. While waiting for the rescue ship, you begin to explore the planet but an alien entity picks up your scent and begins to hunt you. You are NOT ALONE! Will you survive the dangers of Artemia? NOT ALONE is an asymmetrical card game, in which one player (the Creature) plays against the stranded explorers (the Hunted). If you play as one of the Hunted, you will explore Artemia using Place cards. By playing these and Survival cards, you try to avoid, confuse or distract the Creature until help arrives. If you play as the Creature, you will stalk and pursue the shipwrecked survivors. By playing your Hunt cards and using the mysterious powers of Artemia, you try to wear down the Hunted and assimilate them to the planet forever. NOT ALONE is a immersive, thematic card game, where you use guessing, bluffing, hand management, and just a pinch of deck-building to achieve your goal, which is survival for the Hunted... or total assimilation for the Creature!
After one hundred years in service, the Panama Canal still is one of the most important and impressive engineering achievements in modern times. Built in 1914, it held a prominent role in the deployment of military vessels during WWI and in the conflicts that have followed. Nowadays commercial usage is the core business of the Canal; its economic impact is profound and has not only developed the region, but in fact helped define shipping throughout the world. In the wake of the Canal’s opening hull designs were influenced accordingly; ships fell into three categories, those that could travel through easily and in groups (Feeder class), massive ocean-going ships too big to enter the Canal (ULCV or Ultra Large Container Vessels), and the new standard-designed to the maximum limits of the Panama Canal. These ships are called PANAMAX. In Panamax each player manages a shipping company established in the Colón Free Trade Zone. Companies accept contracts from both US coasts, China and Europe and deliver cargo in order to make money, attract investment and pay dividends. At the same time the players accumulate their own stock investments and try to make as much money as possible in an effort to have the largest personal fortune and win the game. Panamax features several original mechanisms that blend together; an original dice (action) selection table, pickup-and-deliver along a single bi-directional route, a chain reaction movement system-“pushing” ships to make room throughout the Canal and a level of player interaction that is part self-interest, part mutual advantage and the freedom to choose how you play. On their turn, players remove a die from the Action table to select Contracts and Load Cargo or Move ships until the pool of dice is emptied ending the Round. Over the course of three rounds these actions are blended during the turn to create a logistics network which the players use to ship their cargo, minimize transportation fees and increase the net worth of their Companies. Each Company has a limited amount of Stock that the players can purchase in exchange for investing-receiving a dividend each round. The questions for the players will be which companies are likely to yield higher dividends? There’s more to explore and several ways to win, but we ask that you join us at the table and celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Panama Canal with a session of Panamax!
The dragon has been asleep for many long years. In that time, the cave under which it slumbered has changed greatly…Goblins and strange monsters have filled its gloomy depths and there are whispers that the cave itself has begun thinking, shifting, and growing evermore dangerous. Still, stories of peril rarely overshadow the rumors of riches. And riches there may be… For where a dragon slumbers, there also lies a fiercely guarded treasure. Fortunately for the slumbering beast, malevolent crystals fill the cave’s rooms with spectral light, hiding the entrance to the immeasurable treasure trove. Many have given their lives to the search and over the years the rumors have faded to legend. But the most courageous adventurers will not be discouraged by bloodshed. On this day, a knight steps into the darkness, her gloved hand gripping the hilt of her sword. Her years of quests--all of the victories and defeats--have led to this one final adventure. Knowing the kingdom can never truly be at peace with the dragon beneath the cave, she has come to make a final stand. Little does she know that she will awake everything that slumbers in the shadows… and begin the final battle in the darkness. Enter the world of Vast: The Crystal Caverns! Vast takes you and your friends into the torch light of a classic cave-crawling adventure, built on the concept of total asymmetry. Gone are days of the merry band of travelers fighting off evil. In Vast, you will become part of a new legend... Any part you wish! Play as the classic, daring Knight, the chaotic Goblin horde, the colossal, greedy Dragon, or even the Cave itself - powerful, brooding, and intent on crushing the living things that dare to disturb its gloomy depths. Each role has its own powers, pieces, and paths to victory...and there can be only one winner. As the ultimate asymmetric board game, Vast: The Crystal Caverns provides a limitless adventure, playable again and again as you and your friends explore the four different roles in different combinations. Play one-on-one in a race to the death between the Knight and the Goblins, or add in the Dragon and the Cave for deeper and more epic experiences, different every time.
"The way to have Power is to take it" - William "Boss" Tweed Tammany Hall is a game of backstabbing, corruption, temporary alliances, and taking power at all costs. If you want to rule New York, you are going to need to play the city's growing immigrant populations against one another. Help the immigrant groups who owe you political favors, call in those favors to slander your rivals, and win elections. In Tammany Hall, players help immigrants settle in New York, collect political favors from those immigrant groups, send ward bosses into Manhattan to secure votes, and slander political opponents. An election is held at the end of every fourth year, and the player who uses his power base best will be elected mayor. The Mayor's grip on the city is tenuous at best. After every election, the Mayor must pay off his political rivals by placing them in offices that they can wield to try to take control of the city. Every player is your friend, every player is your enemy. Tammany Hall was the political machine that dominated New York City politics by organizing the immigrant populations. While the organization's influence spanned from its founding in the 1790s to its collapse in the 1960s, this game is set in lower Manhattan roughly between 1850 and 1870 – the era of Boss Tweed.
Hannibal & Hamilcar: Rome vs Carthage is a 20th anniversary edition of the classic Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, an asymmetrical card-driven game for 2 players set in the time of the epic struggle between ancient Rome and Carthage. It presents a conflict between two superpowers of Antiquity from the classical Clausewitzian perspective, according to which a power only reverts to military operations when there is no other way to achieve political dominance. Hannibal was designed by the world-renowned Mark Simonitch. This 20th Anniversary Edition of the game includes new scenarios and variants. Certain game mechanics have been streamlined, while producing exactly the same game results as the golden classic. Hannibal has won numerous awards (including the Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Award and the Golden Geek Best Wargame Award), and is currently ranked 18th in BoardGameGeek.com’s Wargame rankings. The original rules and components were updated by Mark Simonitch and Jaro Andruszkiewicz. The development team at PHALANX has given the original game a careful, meticulous update. It is now easier and faster to play. It has received new artwork. The original game has been further enriched by the addition of two new expansions: Sun of Macedon and Price of Failure. These expansions are not Kickstarter exclusives, so they will be available as a separate products. This 20th Anniversary Edition of the game includes new scenarios and variants as well as new graphics, miniatures, new custom dice, extra cards, and a new double-sided mounted board (with the Hannibal map on one side and the Hamilcar map on the other). Hamilcar, set during the First Punic War, is a companion game sharing components and using similar mechanics. It introduces a naval system and naval battles. Both players compete for control of the Mediterranean Sea in a conflict that will be described as a war between an elephant and a whale - the struggle of a land-based empire versus the world’s naval power. Rome's goal was to break through the island chain of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia - Carthage's defensive line to contain Rome on the Italian peninsula. In both games players use Strategy Cards for multiple purposes: moving generals, levying new troops, reinforcing existing armies, gaining political control of the provinces involved in the war, and introducing historical events. When two armies meet on the battlefield, a second set of cards, called Battle Cards, are used to determine the winner. Ultimately both players seek victory by dominating both fronts: military and political.
Smart10 is a quiz game where a player doesn't need to wait for one's turn for long. There are ten possible answers to each question, and every player gets to answer every question. If the answer is correct, the player gets an answer marker. But should you answer or pass? If you don't score your answer markers on time (and thereby pass on this round), you can end up losing them. So if you are not 100% certain of an answer - do you gamble or do you pass? Plays great in teams.
In Celestia, a revamped version of Cloud 9, you board an aircraft with a team of adventurers to perform many trips through the cities of Celestia and recover their wonderful treasures. Your journey will not be safe, but you will attempt to be the richest adventurer by collecting the most precious treasures! At the beginning of a journey, all players place their pawns within the aircraft; the players start the game with six cards in hand (or eight depending on the number of players). At the beginning of each round, one player is chosen to be the captain of the trip and he rolls 2-4 dice to discover the challenges that they will face: fog, lightning bolts, killer birds, or pirates. He must then play the appropriate cards - a compass, a lightning arrester, a foghorn, or even cannons - to continue on the journey and reach the next city. But before the captain plays the appropriate cards, each player must decide whether to stay within the aircraft: If you exit, you're guaranteed the victory points that come from exploring the current city. If you stay on board, you hope to make it to the next city in order to catch more precious treasures. If the captain can't overcome the challenge, though, everyone comes crashing down empty-handed and you'll need to begin a new trip with all passengers on board. During the journey, each adventurer can try to pull out of the game with fabulous objects (a jetpack, astronomy glasses, etc.) or by changing the trip (modifying the travel or abandoning an explorer in the city). As soon as a player earns treasure worth at least fifty points, the game ends and this player wins.
Welcome ashore! Merchants Cove is a highly asymmetrical eurogame where each player assumes the role of a different fantasy merchant with a unique shop. The merchants contend to sell their goods to the arriving adventurers at the cove’s piers-the most famous markets in the Five Realms. Each player uses their own set of role-specific components and gameplay mechanisms to produce their goods, increase their shop’s efficiency, and-most importantly-get rich! Though the merchants work independently in their specialized shops, they compete against each other to attract customers, influence the demands for goods, and secure sponsorships from the four faction halls. To get an edge, merchants can employ local townsfolk to work in their shops as staff. Or if they dare to cut corners, they can gain leverage from the corrupt lair of rogues-but at what cost? After three days of selling at the markets, the wealthiest merchant shall be declared the winner! -description from the publisher
Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak takes the players to an indoor environment with vicious close-ranged fights, Prison Outbreak contains all the needed material for a new player to enter the Zombicide universe, and lots of content, almost all new, for an existing Zombicide player to expand his game experience. In fact, Prison Outbreak holds even more material than the core game published in 2012 (now nicknamed Season 1)! The Prison Outbreak will feature berserker zombies. They’re really tied to each other. Prison tiles display tortuous alleys, small rooms and doors everywhere, filled with berserker zombies immune to ranged weapons. You have to think fast, foresee the improbable and jump into melee at every turn. This is like a modern dungeon where levers are replaced with switches to open or lock doors, use security rooms and reach secret areas. Prison Outbreak also contains six new survivors with their Zombivor aspects. These survivors are really designed to act as a team, as their skills really complement each other. They’re precious assets to any Zombicide team. Missions featured in the rulebook form a campaign on their own, as survivors battle to turn a zombie-filled prison into a reliable shelter. Many challenges await them, but they have new tools of the trade: riot shields, automatic shotguns, concrete saws and many more toys. There’s even an alternate ending.
It is an age of great discoveries. New and wonderful items find their ways into the hands of the greatest merchants. And if there ever is a place those traders love, it is the town of Dale. There’s an extraordinary guild in the Dale founded by the greatest merchants. The tricky part is getting the membership since one must win the annual trading competition to be invited to the guild. Notable animalfolk merchants from all over the world have gathered in the town to take part in the event. Everyone has only one goal in mind – to be celebrated as the winner and the newest member of the legendary guild. In Dale of Merchants, players take the roles of those participating merchants learning new techniques, trading goods, and managing their stock. The player who first manages to complete their astounding merchant stall wins the game and gets access to the guild!
Only once in a great while does a game dare to be truly different and abandon old concepts while striking out to chart virgin territory in game design. Rarer still are the instances in which these games succeed in presenting a simulation of unparalleled realism in an easily comprehended and playable format. In UP FRONT, we have just such a game. Gone are the hexes and charts of conventional wargames; replaced by innovative and attractive game components which have distilled a wealth of technical data into one of the most playable, yet detail laden formats ever devised. UP FRONT is a game of man-to-man infantry combat set in WWII Europe. In many ways, the game is more realistic than SQUAD LEADER principles in that its inherent mechanics simulate the fear and confusion of the battlefield and the inability of leadership to assert itself far better than any tactical combat game yet published. There is no playing board; it has been replaced by Terrain cards which become the “hexagons” of the game as players maneuver their forces via Action cards over constantly changing terrain. The scale of the game is measured in terms of relative ranges between opposing forces, with most combat occurring within a scale distance of 500 meters during the course of player turns measured in varying seconds of actual time. UP FRONT is a game player’s game, rich in detail yet easily playable within the space of a lunch hour. However, it also contains engrossing Multi-Player and Campaign Game versions which could last a week or more. Like SQUAD LEADER, UP FRONT is an open-ended game capable of depicting endless Design-Your-Own variations of small unit actions between American, German and Russian combatants. Tanks, Assault Guns, Smoke, Anti-Tank Rifles, Demolition Charges, Pillboxes, Partisans, SS, Entrenchments, Anti-Tank Mines, Infantry Guns, Flamethrowers, Armoured Cars, Halftracks, Panzerfausts, Bazookas, Panzerschrecks, Wire, Ambushes, Radios, Artillery, Minefields, Mortars, Snipers, Starshells, Heroes, Prisoners and Fords are all accounted for. In fact, UP FRONT encompasses almost everything that the SQUAD LEADER game system has taken four gamettes to do, and does so in a far more playable format. The game can be summed up in four words: Innovation, playability, detail and realism. That’s an unbeatable combination. UP FRONT is rated 4 on the Avalon Hill Complexity scale of 1 (easy) to 10 (difficult). Recommended for two or more discriminating players of skill, ages 12 & up. Each game includes: 162 full-colour, quality 2¼" × 3 ½" playing cards 120 full-colour 2" × 2.6" infantry cards 40 full-colour 2.3" × 3.1" AFV cards (maybe 39 cards? See link below to a BGG post.) 304 double-faced .75", .6", and .5" counters 12 scenarios with up to four variations of each A plastic card tray A 36-page rulebook containing Designer’s Notes, Historical T, O & E charts and Campaign Game Rosters. NOTE: This post https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/785207/article/8884028#8884028 suggests there are 39 Vehicle cards, not 40
A shot disturbs the eerie silence of a deserted city street, punctuated by the frantic footfalls of men seeking cover. One of Kruger’s last veteran nco’s lies motionless in the street. The remnants of the dead man’s squad are nowhere to be seen-scattered in nearby houses and gutters-all thoughts of the advance abandoned with the sudden demise of their leader...the compulsion for revenge obviously overcome by their instinct for self-preservation. Off to the right, Kruger’s own men have located the source of the lethal shot and are laying down a steady stream of fire on the church steeple directly ahead. The absence of responding fire suggests that the lone Russian marksman has beat a hasty retreat or been victimized by the withering fire of the German retort. Kruger has seen enough. He is to occupy the church and set up a regimental observation post at once. His orders leave no leeway for delays by a single sniper. He gives the signal to rush the building. Obedient to their training, his men, veterans of France, the Balkans, and 18 months of fighting in Russia, spring to their feet. Seconds later the sharp, staccato retort of a Russian machinegun concludes with the assertiveness of death itself that this time Kruger was wrong... This is Squad Leader...a game of WWII tactical combat in Europe. Now you make the instant decisions resulting in life or death for your men, victory or defeat for your army...for YOU are the Squad Leader. YOU direct the fire of your squad, select your plan of attack, or set your defenses against massed Russian human wave or armor assaults. Will that hedgerow provide adequate cover for your flanking efforts, or will your men be cut down by the American machinegun position in the woods? The decision is irrevocable and yours alone. You must live or die by the results. Squad Leader utilizes programmed instruction to guide you through 12 scenarios of increasing realism and complexity. The scenarios run the gamut from street fighting in Stalingrad to armored advances across snow covered roads in the Ardennes. A Campaign Game ties the individual scenarios together and allows your own personal leader counter to advance in rank and ability. In addition, a “Design Your Own” section is included so that players can create an unlimited number of play situations of their own creation. Each hex in Squad Leader represents 40 meters of real terrain with counters representing individual leaders, support weapons, and vehicles or 4 man crews and 12 man squads. Each game turn is divided into two player turns with 8 phases, equivalent to two minutes of actual time. Squad Leader is more than just a game, it is a game system which can be used to portray any WWII infantry action. Its innovative system does for infantry combat what Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader have done for armored warfare games. Squad Leader provides innovative rules for morale, leadership, machineguns, flamethrowers, demo charges, smoke, hidden placement, sewer movement, off-board artillery, radio contact, anti-tank guns, night actions, wire, entrenchments, mines, bunkers, rubble, multi-story building differentiation, fire, river crossings, roadblocks, mortars, and much more. Be forewarned! Squad Leader is not an easy game. Do not attempt it without prior wargaming experience. Squad Leader is rated Tournament Level IV on the A.H. Complexity scale. In each game you get: 520 two-sided ½” die cut counters representing the men and weapons of the German, Russian, and American armies of WWII. 192 two-sided â” die cut counters representing fortifications and individual vehicles of the combatants. Big 22” x 28” four section, full-colour GEOMORPHIC mapboard which can be arranged to make literally hundreds of different terrain configurations that can represent large cities, small villages, wooded hillsides, or even the flat plains of the Ukraine. Comprehensive, illustrated 36-page rules of play and designer’s notes booklet. Scenario cards for the first 12 carefully constructed game situations. Two highly refined Quick Reference Data Cards which reduce the complexities of a realistic infantry combat game into easily playable proportions.
Levy. Maneuver. Conquer. The Duke is a dynamic, tile-based strategy game with an old-world, feudal theme, high-quality wooden playing pieces, and an innovative game mechanism in its double-sided tiles. Each side represents a different posture – often considered to be defensive or offensive – and demonstrates exactly what the piece can do within the turn. At the end of a move (or after the use of a special ability), the tile is flipped to its other side, displaying a new offensive or defensive posture. Each posture conveys different options for maneuver and attack. The full circle is a standard Move, the hollow circle the Jump, the arrow provides for the Slide, the star a special Strike ability and so on. Each turn a player may select any tile to maneuver, attempting to defend his own troops while positioning himself to capture his opponent's tiles. If you end your movement in a square occupied by an opponent's tile, you capture that tile. Capture your opponent's Duke to win! Players start the game by placing their Duke in one of the two middle squares on their side of the game board. Two Footman are then placed next to the Duke. Each turn a player may choose to either move a single tile or randomly draw a new tile from the bag. With fifteen different Troop Tiles, all double-sided, and nineteen total pieces for each player (plus special optional tiles), the variety of game play is limitless. Beyond the endless variety of the basic game, Terrain Tiles introduce a variety of game play options, altering the game board. These rules also include several alternate objectives, such as the challenging Dark Rider game which pits five Pikeman against a lone Knight.
It's been twenty years since Victor Frankenstein died on a ship in the arctic, but his vengeful creature lives on, as does Robert Walton, the sea captain who vowed to kill the fiend before mercy stayed his hand. It's now 1819, and a sinister darkness descends upon the city of Paris. A mysterious benefactor of gigantic stature has emerged in the scientific community, never showing his face, claiming to possess the late Frankenstein's research. He sponsors a grand competition, offering an even grander prize: unlocking the mystery of mortality! Renowned scientists from around the world come to take part: some drawn to solve this eternal riddle, others coerced against their will. But a certain captain comes as well, one deeply suspicious of the secretive patron, hoping to finally fulfill his vow. Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is a competitive game of strategic monster building for 2-4 players, inspired by Mary Shelley's classic novel of gothic horror. In the game, the creature demands your help to accomplish what his own creator would not: to bring to life an abomination like itself, a companion to end its miserable solitude. Through worker placement and careful management of decomposing resources, you'll gather materials from the cemeteries and morgues around the city, conduct valuable research at the Academy of Science, hire less-than-reputable associates, and toil away in your lab - all in an effort to assemble a new form of life and infuse it with a "spark of being". Do well, and the creature may reward you during one of its surprise visits; do poorly, and you may come to regret not putting forth more effort. Narrative elements come into play throughout the game, guided by your decisions, leading to potentially unsavory outcomes. The game ends when you succeed in bringing your creation to life or when the Captain kills the creature, whichever happens first. Then the player with the most points fulfills Frankenstein's dark legacy, becoming his heir, for good or ill... -description from the publisher
There's always something happening in the city that never sleeps. Maybe it's the lights, maybe it's the energy, or maybe it's the giant monsters trying to demolish the place! King of New York is a standalone game from designer Richard Garfield that keeps the core ideas of King of Tokyo while introducing new ways to play. As in KoT, your goal is to be the first monster to collect 20 victory points (VPs) or to be the last monster standing. On your turn, you roll six dice up to three times, then carry out the actions on those dice. Claws cause damage to other monsters, hearts heal damage to yourself, and energy is stored up so that you can purchase power cards that provide unique effects not available to anyone else. What's new in King of New York is that you can now try to become a star in the big city; more specifically, you can achieve "Fame", which nets you VPs, but superstar status is fleeting, so enjoy your time in the spotlight. The game board for King of New York is larger than in KoT with each monster occupying a district in the city and everyone trying to shine in Manhattan. When you attack, you can displace a monster in another district, whether to escape military forces or to find new smashing opportunities. Yes, smashing because you can now destroy buildings and get bonuses for doing so, but the more destruction you cause, the more intense the military response. The monsters from King of New York can be used in KoT and vice versa, but the power cards are specific to this game. Part of the King of Tokyo series.
The Tang dynasty was considered the first golden age of the classical and now iconic Chinese gardens. Emperor Xuanzong built the magnificent imperial Garden of the Majestic Clear Lake as an homage of life itself and from where he ruled. Players will act as Imperial Garden Designers and they will be called to build the most incredible garden while balancing the elements of Nature. Tang Garden is a Zen-like game that will take you to the first golden age of China, where players will progressively build a garden by creating the landscape, placing the scenery and projecting their vision through vertical panoramas. During the construction, noblemen will visit the garden to admire the surroundings and the way the natural elements coexist in the most breathtaking scenery humankind has ever laid their eyes upon. Players will take turns by playing one of the two actions available in the game: 1) Placing tiles and matching the elements to increase their personal nature balance and unlock more character miniatures. By balancing the nature elements on the player boards, players will attract new characters into the garden. On each player turn, if the elements are balanced, the player will have to choose one miniature from the ones available and finally decide which one of the characters will be placed in the garden, orienting them towards their favorite background, while keeping the other with you to keep exploiting its ability. 2) Draw decoration cards and place one on the board to get prestige by completing collections. Players will draw a quantity of cards based on the board situation and choose one to keep. Players will then have to place the chosen decoration in one of the available spots in the garden, creating a unique and seamless scenario that will never be the same. During the game, by placing tiles on special parts of the board, you will be able to place a panorama tile, a new element that adds a never ending perspective for the visitors. Both small and big panoramas will be placed perpendicularly to the board by attaching it to the board insert by creating a seamless look on the four sides of the board. The Panoramas will interact with the characters at the end of the game by giving prestige points based on what your visitor sees and likes. At the end of the game, the player with the most prestige will be the winner. -description from the publisher
From the back of the box (edited for grammar): "Jambo is the friendly greeting Swahili traders offered their customers in Central Africa before colonization. The players are traders in this day, competing to be the first to earn 60 gold by buying and selling tea, hide, fruits, salt, silk, and trinkets. The game is played with cards that allow players to buy and sell goods, help you or hinder your opponent, and others that add a bit of spice to the game. Return to the dark continent where the players alternate turns with up to 5 actions each until one player reaches the goal and wins the game." Original description from Games4You. Players take on the role of merchants offering their wares from market stands. On a player's turn, he has five actions to choose from. Actions can be used to draw cards, play cards, and activate buildup cards. In order to sell wares, the merchants must first lay the wares out, since customers will only buy where all the wares they want are being offered. And since market space is at a premium, players have to think hard about which wares to offer. By owning important buildup cards and properly using the assets of other village inhabitants, the merchants succeed in attracting especially many customers to their stalls, making bargain buys, and messing with their opponents' plans. The first player to reach a set cash level through buying and selling of wares is the winner. The game's attraction lies with the many special cards. Many different combinations are possible during the game, and each game plays out differently as a result.
Letter Jam is a 2-6 player cooperative word game where players assist each other in composing meaningful words from letters around the table. The trick is holding the letter card so that it’s only visible to other players and not to you. At the start of the game, each player receives a set of face-down letter cards that can be arranged to form an existing word. The setup can be prepared by using a special card scanning app, or by players selecting words for each other. Each player then puts their first card in their stand facing the other players without looking at it, and the game begins. The game is played in turns. Each turn, players simultaneously search other players’ letters to see what words they can spell out (telling the others the length of the word they can make up). The player who offers the longest word can then be chosen as the clue giver. The clue giver spells out their clue by putting numbered tokens in front of the other players. Number one goes to the player whose letter comes first in the clue, number two to the second letter etc. They can always use a wild card which can be any letter, but they cannot tell others which letter it represents. Each player with a numbered token (or tokens) in front of them then tries to figure out what their letter is. If they do, they place the card face down before revealing the next letter. At the end of the game, players can then rearrange the cards to try to form an existing word. All players then reveal their cards to see if they were successful or not. The more players who have an existing word in front of them, the bigger their collective success. -description from the publisher
In his first year as king of Persia, Cyrus the Great issued a decree in writing to the Israelite exiles living under his rule: The God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem. Any of his people may go up to Jerusalem in Judah to build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel. And in any place where survivors may now be living, the people of Persia are to provide them with silver, gold, goods, livestock, and offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem. - Ezra 1:2-4 (paraphrased). Decades later, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes reign, the king noticed a sadness in his cupbearer, Nehemiah. When asked why he looked so ill, Nehemiah replied: May the king live forever! Why should I not look sad when the city of my ancestors lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire? If it pleases you, and if I have found favor in your sight, let me go to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I may rebuild it. - Nehemiah 2:3-5 (paraphrased). The aim of Ezra and Nehemiah is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at game's end. Points are gained primarily by building the temple, rebuilding the city walls and gates, and by teaching the Torah to the returning exiles. Players may also seek to develop their land, travel to settlements outside the city walls, or stoke the altar's fire to keep it burning day and night. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah will be doing their part to keep the people focused on what is most important. Over three weeks (rounds), players will use their hand of cards, workers, and resources to do their part in rebuilding the great city of Jerusalem. After six days of work comes a Sabbath day of rest when food will be needed, and the week's work will be reflected upon. The game ends after the third Sabbath has been completed. -description from the designer
Take on the role of one of the great monarchs of the past, and show your valor! You will arrive in a vast and rich territory, but the road to the prosperity is filled with challenges. In Brazil: Imperial, you need to construct buildings, manage resources, explore the land, create trade, acquire the support of the greatest personalities of the country, and recruit a powerful army to protect your interest against the rival states. If you make the right choices, you can complete missions to progress to a more advanced era, receiving new interesting options of development and victory points. In the end, the best monarch receives the title of Brazilian Emperor and constructs a new era of prosperity, freedom and peace! In more detail, while playing in a modular map board that recreate real regions, you use a combination of worker placement, area majority, and individual powers to construct an empire in Brazil between the 16th and 19th centuries. You start by choosing one of the available monarchs and its personal game board and components; some monarchs are strong in combat, while others prioritize science or exploration. You receive tasks that advance you to a new era when you complete them, giving you access to more power constructions as you move into the second and third eras of the game, then you choose a starting point on the shared map. On each turn, you can participate in an action phase and a movement phase. You manage actions on your individual game board, and you have these seven choices: Deploy: Summon one military unit to explore and defend your territory. Frame: Buy cards that represent famous historic figures to receive special powers and victory points. Build: Construct farms, mines, cities, and other structures to generate resources and do other things. Renovate: Overhaul an old building to produce new resources. Manufacture: Produce basic resources - wood, sugar cane, cotton, or coffee - to receive victory points, improve your "action arches", and have raw material for more valuable products. Harbor: Go to the port to receive a small amount of basic resources. Trade: Sell your basic resources to receive gold and special cards to improve your empire. During the movement phase, you can explore hidden places or attack other players. For combat, you check the power of the troops involved in the conflict to determine the winner, with cards being able to modify these values. Once a player completes their goals in the third era, the game ends and players tally their scores. Brazil: Imperial was developed with the concept of it being "Euro X", a new style of game that combines Eurogames (in which you collect and manage resources) and 4x games (in which you explore, expand, exploit and exterminate). A new concept of maps was also introduced in this game. All maps are different and created with modular boards that recreate real regions of Brazil and the world. Each game you can focus on resource management, combat, or a combination of both, depending on your choice of monarch and the interaction with other players.
Your Town Center is flourishing, but as the city grows, the need for emergency medical care grows with it. Fortunately, you and your business partners have the wherewithal to build a clinic to help those in need of more than first aid. You quickly get a pre-admissions facility built to help process and route the different cases into the appropriate queues. Unfortunately, just before groundbreaking, your differing views of the ideal clinic cause a schism between you, and you go your separate ways, with patients already lining up in pre-admissions. Each of you decides to build the clinic of your dreams, trying to hire doctors, nurses, and maintenance staff, and build new modules, specialized services, and even parking, in order to meet the needs of the patients ailing in pre-admissions. This is your Clinic! Build it however you like to give patients the care they need, so you can make your Clinic the most popular one in town! Possible exhaustive list of differences between the Deluxe edition and previous edition: - The rules have been totally rewritten - The rules offer two sets up for beginners and experts - The rules include a solo variant - Many bonuses and penalties have been changed such as when a Patient dies in your hospital, the turn order has been updated and clarified - The box includes a bag of wooden laser cut meeples for the cars, the doctors, the staff and the nurses
Fugitive is a two-player card game set in the world of Burgle Bros. One player is a fugitive trying to make it out of town while being pursued by an unstoppable agent. The fugitive plays cards face down to the table trying to work their way to a goal, while the agent must guess those cards to uncover them. If all the cards are face up, the fugitive is caught.
The characters of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are having a Parade! All players are producers of this parade. Characters from Lewis Carroll's books such as Alice, The White Rabbit, and The Hatter are steadily invited to join this weird procession. On your turn, you play a card (from your hand of five) to the end of the parade. Unfortunately, that card might cause other cards to walk off the parade. These cards count as negative points in the end. The length of the parade line is important. If the number of the card you just played is less than the line length, you may receive the excess cards (counting from last played to the first of the line). But you don't take all the relevant cards, only the cards that meet one of these requirements: 1. the color is the same as color of the card just played, or 2. the number is the same or lower than the card just played The game ends when the draw deck is exhausted or when one player has collected all six colors in their point piles. Then everyone plays one last card. From the four cards remaining in their hand, players choose two cards to add to his or her point piles. The player who has the least negative points after this is the winner. Scoring: Normally, negative points are same the number on the card. But if you have the most cards in a certain color, each of your cards of that color counts as only 1 negative point! Thus, play your cards well!
A cooperative game of adventure for 1-5 players set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. It is named after the book series by the same name recounting the adventures of the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and his friends. Designed for 1-5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. Players explore the game world, which is built during the game by laying out tiles, using ready-made player characters and encountering enemies with corresponding miniatures. Encounters are generated by drawing cards and resolved using a D20 die. All players win together, depending on the scenario, by escaping, saving others or overcoming a threat. Integrates with: Dungeon Command: Blood of Gruumsh Dungeon Command: Curse of Undeath Dungeon Command: Sting of Lolth Dungeon Command: Tyranny of Goblins Dungeon Command: Heart of Cormyr Can also integrate with: Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: Waterdeep â Dungeon of the Mad Mage Board Game Dungeons & Dragons: Ghosts of Saltmarsh Board Game
It is the 1920s, and the world is in a state of confusion following WWI. During this time, you and your friends find yourselves amongst mysterious events. You are surrounded by strange figures, letters with unreadable texts, as well as sudden appearances of being unknown. By relying on your connections, you set out to investigate these incidents. Unknown to you are the frightful truths that lie in wait ahead of you... Lovecraft Letter is a card game that combines the Love Letter system with the world of H.P. Lovecraft. In addition to the standard sixteen cards in the Love Letter game are new versions of the cards that include special "insanity" powers. If you have one of these cards in your discard pile, then you are insane (at least for the current round) and on future turns can play insanity cards for their regular power or their special power, giving you more options during play. The risk, however, is that you must undergo a sanity check at the start of each of your turns, drawing as many cards from the deck as the number of insanity cards in front of you; draw one or more insanity cards, and you're out for the round. If you win the game, whether by being the last person standing or the player with the highest single card after the deck runs out, you win a token colored to reflect whether you were sane or insane. Win enough tokens of the right type, and you win the game. Cthluhu can also help you win the game if you release it at the right time... Will you put an end to the evil schemes as an investigator, or will you help guide the world to destruction as one of insanity's disciples? It all depends on you. 1920å¹´ä»£ãä¸çã¯ãã¾ã ç¬¬ä¸æ¬¡å¤§æ¦å¾ã®æ··è¿·ã®ä¸ã«ãã£ãããããªæãããªãã®èº«åããããã¯åäººããä¸å¯æè°ãªåºæ¥äºã«ééãããå¨å²ã«ç¾ããå¥å¦ãªäººå½±ãèªããªãæåã§ç¶´ãããæç´ãããã¦ãçªç¶ã®å¤±è¸ªã ããªãã¯ä¼æãé ¼ãã«ããã®äºä»¶ã®èª¿æ»ã¸ã¨ä¹ãåºããããã®åã«ã©ã®ãããªæãããäºå®ãå¾ã£ã¦ããããç¥ããã«……ã æ¬ã²ã¼ã ã¯ãã©ãã¬ã¿ã¼ã®ã²ã¼ã ã·ã¹ãã ã§ã¯ãã¥ã«ãã®ä¸çè¦³ãè¡¨ç¾ããã«ã¼ãã²ã¼ã ã§ããéå¸¸ã®ã«ã¼ãã»ããã«å ãã¦ãæãã¹ãåãæã¤çæ°ã«ã¼ããæ°ãã«å°å¥ãããåã®ã²ã¼ã ã¨ã¯ç°ãªãã²ã¼ã å±éãæ¥½ãããã¨ãã§ãã¾ãã æ¢ç´¢èã¨ãã¦é°è¬ãæªç¶ã«é²ãã®ããçæ°ã®ä¿¡å¾ã¨ãªã£ã¦ä¸çãç ´æ»ã«å°ãã®ãããããã¯å¨ã¦ããªãã®é¸ææ¬¡ç¬¬ã§ãã
The woods are old-growth, dappled with sunlight. Delicious mushrooms beckon from every grove and hollow. Morels may be the most sought-after in these woods, but there are many tasty and valuable varieties awaiting the savvy collector. Bring a basket if you think it's your lucky day. Forage at night and you will be all alone when you stumble upon a bonanza. If you're hungry, put a pan on the fire and bask in the aroma of chanterelles as you sauté them in butter. Feeling mercantile? Sell porcini to local aficionados for information that will help you find what you seek deep in the forest. Morels, a strategic card game for two players, uses two decks: a Day Deck (84 cards) that includes ten different types of mushrooms as well as baskets, cider, butter, pans, and moons; and a smaller Night Deck (8 cards) of mushrooms to be foraged by moonlight. Each mushroom card has two values: one for selling and one for cooking. Selling two or more like mushrooms grants foraging sticks that expand your options in the forest (that is, the running tableau of eight face-up cards on the table), enabling offensive or defensive plays that change with every game played. Cooking sets of three or more like mushrooms – sizzling in butter or cider if the set is large enough – earns points toward winning the game. With poisonous mushrooms wielding their wrath and a hand-size limit to manage, card selection is a tricky proposition at every turn. Following each turn, one card from the forest moves into a decay pile that is available for only a short time. The Day Deck then refills the forest from the back, creating the effect of a walk in the woods in which some strategic morsels are collected, some are passed by, and others lay ahead.
It is the dawn of the Industrial Age in the Netherlands. For centuries, the country has relied upon a series of dikes and wind-powered pumps to keep it safe from the constant threat of flooding from the North Sea, but this system is no longer enough. In Pandemic: Rising Tide, it is your goal to avert tragedy by constructing four modern hydraulic structures in strategic locations that will help you defend the country from being reclaimed by the ocean. Storms are brewing and the seas are restless. It will take all your guile to control the flow of water long enough to usher in the future of the Netherlands. It's time to get to work. Containing the water that threatens to consume the countryside is your greatest challenge. Water levels in a region are represented by cubes, and as the water containment systems currently in place begin to fail, more water cubes are added to the board. With water levels constantly on the rise, failure to maintain the containment system could quickly lead to water spilling across the board. To successfully build the four hydraulic structures needed to win a game of Pandemic: Rising Tide, you must first learn to predict and manipulate the flow of water. Failing to maintain safe water levels throughout the country can bring you perilously close to failing your mission. Fortunately, water can be corralled by a strategically placed dike or slowed by pumping water out of a region. Correctly identifying and intervening in at-risk areas can get you one step closer to victory.
Conquer the realm and bring honor to your clan in Battle for Rokugan! This turn-based strategy game of conquest and mayhem puts players in the role of Rokugan daimyÅ struggling for control over the rich land of the Emerald Empire. Leaders must balance their resources, plan their attacks, and outwit their enemies to ensure their clan's victory. The land is there for the taking. The most honorable daimyÅ will win the day! -description from the publisher
Description from the publisher: There are six companies that will change the world as we know it! You can be part of their success and be an investor. Try to become rich by making the right decisions! Only the biggest investor can get money out of each company. You must try to read the next steps of your rivals and use your capital and your three hidden cards to win against them and become the biggest shareholder! You have to be lucky in this game but you must also think about your moves and analyze your rivals! You can play this card game with only a few players but also with many!
A handful of heroes have just stolen the powerful relics of the Baleful Queen. Without them, the immortal sovereign is weakened; recovering them is now her sole purpose. With the High Mages attempting to destroy them, the heroes have fallen back into the Bastion of the Ancient Kings, where they must defend the fort to the peril their lives. Unceasingly, the hordes led by the Warlords besiege the ramparts. If this citadel falls, an entire civilization will be swept away, and an entire world will fall into chaos... Last Bastion is a cooperative game in which the players take on the roles of heroes defending an ancestral Bastion against the monstrous hordes of the Baleful Queen. The players struggle together against the game, either they all win victory, or else they all suffer defeat.
Among the Stars takes place in a war-ravaged galaxy where the warring alien races have declared peace in the wake of a threat with the potential to destroy them all. An Alliance is established to build space stations throughout the galaxy in order to promote trade among the races, strengthen diplomatic relations, and defend against this impending threat. Each player takes the role of one of those races trying to build the greatest space station. Through card drafting, the players select locations, and use these to build their station, scoring victory points based on the placement. The construction lasts four years, and the alien race with the most points at the end wins.
"History punishes those who come too late." - Mikhail Gorbachev 1989: Dawn of Freedom is an exciting, fast paced game simulating the end of the Cold War in 1989. During this amazing year, a series of democratic revolutions ended the 40 year Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. 1989 simulates the political, social and economic aspects of these revolutions using a card-driven system similar to Twilight Struggle. "No man is so old he cannot live one more year." - Leszek Kolakowski One player plays the Communist. At the start of the game he holds unquestioned power across the six nations of the Warsaw Pact. But there are ominous clouds on the horizon. The new leader in Moscow has declared no more will Soviet tanks prop up tottering Communist governments. The economies, after decades of central planning and stagnation, have reached various stages of crisis. Inside the churches and among the students and their professors there are dissident movements that have been emboldened. From crushing dissent to offering concessions, the Communist player will have to use a variety of strategies in a struggle to hold on to his empire. "A bad regime is never in so great danger as when it tries to improve." - Alexis de Tocqueville The other player plays the Democrat. At the dawn of 1989, behind the iron curtain, no one considers revolution possible. The goal of dissidents is to create a civil society outside the control of the Communist regimes. On their side are students who are fascinated with the style and pop culture of the west, and the Church. Against them is the vast apparatus of the Communist state. Their challenge is to persuade the workers, who are the bulk of society, to join their cause. "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Ronald Reagan
Outlive is a management/survival game in a post-apocalyptic universe in which nature has overcome its rights amongst the world of Men. In Outlive, players have six days (turns) to send heroes gathering resources during the day, while avoiding threats from other players and reinforce their settlements during the night, trying to recruit new survivors and adapt to the new world. The specifics: movements and resource gathering are compelled by your hero's strength. You play six rounds (six days) that are divided between the day phase and the night phase. During the day phase, you move your four heroes of different strength on the board to collect resources with a mechanical movement innovative and interactive. During the night phase, you manage your shelter, feed your survivors and recruit new ones, organize your survival, and improve your rooms and objects. Only one clan can outlive this devastated world!
Inferno is a standalone expansion to Arcadia Quest. It is 100% compatible with the original base game and introduces four new Guilds: Sharks, Tigers, Crows, and Serpents. It features new types of heroes, such as Alchemists and Gladiators. There is a new branching campaign system, and the storyline revolves around the guilds descending into a fiery abyss. There are Brimstone cards that make the terrain risky to navigate, which operate similarly to the Tombstone cards from Arcadia Quest: Beyond the Grave. A new mechanism called "Damnation" will tempt the heroes with powerful weapons that can corrupt the characters over time or change the behavior of nearby monsters. There are also Angels, which are allied characters for the heroes to rescue, escort or assist. Working with the Angels can affect the branching campaign path system and even allow the player to recruit them for use in later missions.
The Black Southern Host has arisen, corrupting the hearts of the indigenous creatures. Afflicted by a mysterious sickness, they are attacking human cities. The last remaining hope for restoring peace to Xidit lies with the Kingdom's noble heirs, the Idrakys. As one of them, you must roam the Kingdom recruiting brave soldiers and reclaiming threatened cities. Your bravery will not go unrewarded: accumulate wealth, send bards to sing your praises, and build Sorcerers' Guilds! Lords of Xidit features simultaneous programming and an elimination-based scoring system that leaves no room for complacency! In more detail, at the end of the game players compare their influence in one category and the player with the least influence is eliminated and his pieces removed from the board; players then compare influence in another category, with a player again being removed. The order of elimination is randomly determined at the start of play, forcing you to thinking in different ways each game. Prepare to ride out, Idrakys, and forge your legend! Note: Contained inside the box are 2 copies of a promo for other game: Seasons: Speedwall the Escaped
Game description from the publisher: You are humanity's last hope. In XCOM: The Board Game, you and up to three friends assume the roles of the leaders of the elite, international organization known as XCOM. It is your job to defend humanity, quell the rising panic, and turn back the alien invasion. Where the world's militaries have failed to stand against the alien invaders, you must succeed. To do so, you must make strategic use of the resources available to you. You must launch Interceptors to shoot down alien UFOs, assign soldiers to key missions, research alien technology, and use that technology to defend your base - all while trying to keep the world from collapsing just long enough that you can coordinate one final mission to repel the invaders for good. One of the more notable aspects of XCOM: The Board Game is the way that it incorporates a free and innovative digital app into the core of its gameplay. This digital companion will be available both as a downloadable app and as an online tool. The app's primary function is to coordinate the escalating alien invasion, randomly selecting from one of five different invasion plans. Each invasion plan represents a general outline that the alien commanders will use to coordinate the arrival of new UFOs, plan strikes against your base, and respond to your successes or failures as it seeks to conquer Earth. The app manages all of these tasks and heightens the game's tension as it forces you to respond in real-time. Then, after you move quickly to coordinate your response, you engage the enemy in the untimed resolution phase and feed the results to the app. Based upon these results, the app launches the invasion's next strikes. Additionally, the app teaches you the rules, controls the information that your satellites provide you, and tracks the progress of your resistance efforts, even as it allows you to enjoy the game at any of three levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, or Hard. The use of this app does more than simply streamline your play experience and track your turns in real-time; it also permits a uniquely dynamic turn structure. While the variety of game phases remains the same from round to round, the order in which you and your friends must play through them may change, as may the number of a given phase. As a result, while you'll want to know where UFOs appear before you deploy your Interceptors, the alien invaders may be able to disrupt your satellite intel and force you to deploy your Interceptors on patrol with limited or no knowledge of the UFOs current whereabouts. Similarly, you may be forced to think about the costs of resolving the world’s crises before you know how many troops you’ll need to commit to your base defense. The effect of the app is to immerse you deep into the dramatic tension at the core of XCOM: The Board Game, and it ensures that the game presents a challenging and cooperative (or solo) experience like no other. Just like the XCOM department heads that you represent, you'll need to keep cool heads in order to prevail.
Since the dawn of time, humanity has sought new ideas, forever developing them into still newer concepts. Their genius made them stand out from the other animals. Each invention is a veritable evolutionary step. Humans' use of tools surpasses the efforts of all others, making Homo sapiens technologists since before historical records were invented. Inventions: Evolution of Ideas follows humanity's most noteworthy innovations and places the power of these technological developments in your hands to evolve your societies over the ages. In Inventions, cards simulate these new concepts. Cards are the ideas that eventually become inventions. Once they are invented, these technologies can be shared with the world, and everyone involved in the process spreads the exciting news, giving credit where credit is due. Developing these inventions progresses your society, advancing its technology, economy, and culture. You can even share with other societies, boosting the inventions' efficacy even more! Inventions is a tactical game, but you will do best by building these tactics around a long-term strategy. Each society's progress will be measured in Intellectual Property Points (IPP), and the player who has the most IPP has the strongest society and wins the game.
Ohanami consists of a deck of 120 cards that are numbered from 1-120, with each card having one of four symbols on it. The game lasts three rounds, with players scoring at the end of each round, in addition to bonus scoring at the end of the game. At the start of a round, each player receives a hand of ten cards. Each player chooses two cards, then passes the remaining cards to the left. All players reveal their cards at the same time, then decide whether to use 0, 1, or 2 of them in personal rows of cards. When you start a row, you can use any card; to add a card to an existing row, that card must be higher than the row's highest card or lower than the lowest one. A player can have at most three rows of cards. Discard any cards you don't use. Players repeat this drafting, passing, and playing process until they have played ten cards. The first round ends, and players now receive 3 points for each blue card in their rows. Players then receive a new hand of ten cards to start round 2, once again choosing two cards and passing the rest, but now to the right. Players continue building on the rows that they already have, scoring 3 points for each blue card and 4 points for each green card at the end of round two. For round three, players have ten more cards and pass cards to the left once again. At the end of this round, players once again score for their blue and green cards, while also receiving 7 points for each gray card in their rows. Additionally, each player scores for their pink cherry blossom cards, with these cards having a pyramidal scoring structure: one card = 1 point, two cards = 3, three cards = 6, etc. Whoever has the highest total score wins!
In ZÈRTZ, the third addition to the GIPF Project, players compete to acquire sets of multi-colored balls. This is mostly accomplished by jumping one ball over one or more others, Checkers-style, on a hex board. A player's turn consists of either jumping (which can be forced) or placing any color ball on the board and removing an empty space from the edge of the board. In this manner, the play space continually shrinks, giving the endgame an almost claustrophobic feel. This game is part of project GIPF.
Defeat Prussia before the Tsarina dies! Or be Frederick the Great and struggle for survival with a mixture of courageous willpower, sudden inspiration and stoic patience. It is the summer of 1756. On the eve of the Seven Years War, half of Europe has formed an alliance. Frederick the Great is in deep sorrow: Is the annihilation of Prussia planned? Is it Prussia's defeat or is it Prussia's glory? All against one – but only one will reign supreme. On a map of Old Europe, players maneuver their generals from city to city. Frederick must retain a part of each Prussian province, while the attacking powers savagely seek out their objectives. The clever use of tactical cards is decisive to winning. Histogame and Richard Sivél present Friedrich as a novel concept uniting the fascination of board and card games. Accurately based on history while maintaining a slim set of rules, Friedrich offers wide open spaces for chess-like moves and great depth for decision making. Taken into Frederick's era, you will reflect on tactical finesses, smile about interspersed anecdotes, and be perplexed at how often you are not able to count to three... Note: A common misconception is that Friedrich has player elimination based on the cards of fate making countries leave the game. The game does not have player elimination; it has country elimination, and a player could end up controlling fewer countries than they started with, but players are never eliminated by the cards of fate. Friedrich FAQ Details on the Jubiläumsedition In 2011 Histogame released a slightly revised version of Friedrich, dubbed the "Jubiläumsedition" or "Anniversary Edition" in honor of Friedrich's 300th birthday. Designer Richard Sivél notes the following differences between this edition and earlier ones: New cover art. Four color images for the patterns of the cards. Small rearrangements of cities on the map, such as Falkenau (in northwestern Austria) moving into the spades sector and Gollnow (close to Stettin) getting a diamonds-city neighbor. Minor adjustment of some fate cards to clarify the wording. More details: on this webpage
The triumph of science that led to dinosaurs returning to the world once more has become public knowledge. New parks spring up regularly, often beginning operations even before everything has been finalized. There is no shortage of patrons eager to be entertained by these returned species in new and exciting ways. However, as with any form of entertainment, elements of triumph are often accompanied by elements of tragedy. This means it is of the utmost importance that you take every precaution by ensuring each visitor signs the safety waiver before enjoying the wonders of Dinosaur World! Each round in Dinosaur World, you draft a new résumé card to acquire new workers; spend workers to take public actions building your park and acquiring DNA; spend further workers to take private actions improving that park; then drive your jeep around experiencing the wonder and excitement of what you have built! Throughout the game you acquire victory points through a variety of means - and possibly a few visitor deaths as a natural consequence of overly enthusiastic dinosaur encounters. At the end of the game, you lose points if you accumulated too many deaths, then the player with the most points wins!
Welcome to Arzium, land of ancient civilizations, bizarre creatures, unexplained wonders, and vibrant characters. A great sleeping sickness has spread across the land, sending every type of creature to roam for hundreds of miles in a dazed, incoherent march. It's your job to seek them out and wake them from their sleepwalk, recruiting them to help you find even more lost souls! In Roam, you and up to three friends compete to find lost adventurers. The game includes more than fifty unique, tarot-sized adventurer cards, which feature characters from Near and Far, Above and Below, and Islebound. The opposite side of each card depicts a landscape split into six squares, and two rows of three of these cards are placed in the center of the playing area to make the board. Each turn, you may activate one of the adventurer cards in your party by flipping the card face down. Activating an adventurer allows you to place search tokens on the board in the shape depicted on your adventurer card. When every square on a landscape card has been searched, the player who did the most claims the card, finding the lost adventurer and adding them to their party. Each adventurer you add to your party gives you points and a new search pattern that you can use. When searching, you also claim coins, which can be spent to use special actions or purchase artifacts with useful powers. When one player has ten adventurers in their party, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins. -description from the publisher
In ancient Rome, tribunes were highly esteemed individuals elected by the people to represent them politically and militarily. In the board game Tribune: Primus Inter Pares, players take on the role of a powerful and ambitious patrician family. By applying influences and manipulating controls over the various factions, they attempt to pave their way to victory in order to attain the high office of the tribune. From the mind of the highly acclaimed designer of Die Macher, Karl-Heinz Schmiel, the gameplay in Tribune is a combination of worker placement and set collection. Each round, the players take turns by positioning their followers on the board to garner cards, achieve objectives, and/or attempt to take over factions. In order to gain control of a faction and to utilize its benefits, one must play a set of cards from that specific group. That person will remain in command of the faction until someone else stages a successful take-over by having another set that is either of higher quantity or higher sum of values. Victory is achieved when a player has met the required number of objectives as specified on the victory condition card selected at the start of the game, which is dependent on the number of participants. Alternatively, you can choose to forego the use of a condition card and play with the point-value option. In this variant, the game ends when someone has collected a certain number of the faction markers, and the winner is the one with the highest scores as determined by the points assigned to each achievement.
One Deck Dungeon is a card game "roguelike" - a dungeon delve that is different every time, difficult to survive, with a character you build up from scratch. The deck consists of various foes to combat and other perils from the dungeon. Each card, though, depicts both the obstacle to overcome and the potential rewards for doing so. When you defeat a card, you claim it as either experience, an item, or a skill, tucking it under the appropriate side of your character card to show its benefits. The longer you take exploring the dungeon, the deeper you'll delve, and the difficulty will scale up quickly! If you make it far enough, you'll have to fight the dungeon boss. Survive, and you'll be a legend! One Deck Dungeon is designed for 1-2 players. With multiple sets, you can add more players.
Rurik: Dawn of Kiev is a euro-style realm building game set in an 11th century Eastern European Kingdom. It features area control, resource management, and a new game mechanic - "auction programming." You play as a potential successor to the throne following the death of your father, Vladimir the Great, in 1015. The people value a well-rounded leader, so you must establish your legacy by building, taxing, fighting, and accomplishing great deeds. Will you win over the hearts of the people to become the next ruler of Kievan Rus? Rurik brings to life the ancient culture of Kievan Rus with game design by Russian designer Stanislav Kordonskiy and illustrations by Ukrainian artist Yaroslav Radeckyi. In Rurik, players openly bid for actions with their advisors. Stronger advisors earn greater benefits at the cost of performing their action later than other players. Conversely, weaker advisors earn lesser benefits but perform their action quickly. This planning mechanism ("auction programming") adds a fun tension to the game. -description from the publisher
It is a dark time for the galaxy. The Galactic Empire has consolidated its dominion through the might of the Imperial Navy. In the underworld of the Empire's most populated planets, and in strongholds throughout the Outer Rim, powerful gangsters rule vast criminal organizations. From the shadows, those lost to the grip of the dark side of the Force scheme to bring their evil designs to bear on an already oppressed galaxy. Yet not all hope is lost. The Rebel Alliance resists the iron grip of the Empire. Smugglers and other fringe elements lend their aid to the Rebellion. And unknown to the Emperor and his dark minions of the Sith, the last remnants of the noble Jedi Order work tirelessly to restore peace and order to the galaxy. Star Wars: The Card Game is a two-player card game that puts one player in command of the Rebels (light side, with the factions Jedi, Rebel Alliance, and Smugglers And Spies), and one player in command of the Empire (dark side, with the factions Sith, Imperial Navy, and Scum And Villainy). The Balance of the Force expansion allows multi-player games. The game is set within the time-frame of the original Star Wars trilogy. Each player has a deck of objective cards representing various missions plus a deck of player cards of units (characters, vehicles, droids and creatures), events, enhancements and fates. Each objective is linked to a set of five player cards. Deck construction consists of choosing which objectives are to go into your objective deck, then adding each of those objective's set of five player cards to your player deck. Game play consists of deploying cards to your tableau, attacking your opponent's objectives, defending your own objectives, and committing cards to the Force Struggle. The Empire wins if the Death Star dial reaches 12, with this dial increasing by one on each dark side turn, effectively putting a timer on the game. It may also be increased by winning the Force struggle, destroying light side objectives, and via card effects. The Rebels win by destroying three dark side objectives before the Empire wins. Contains objective sets 1-36.
Recruit workers, buy projects, build ships. And use the ships to open new commercial routes to eastern Africa and India, to earn money and glory. This is a resource management game, with an element of risk management, that works like this: Beginning with the start player, each player takes one numbered disc and places it on top of his own coloured disc in one of the four action areas of the board. A Vasco da Gama tile states a number; everything above this number is free of charge, anything below will have to be paid for, so players will take this into account when taking numbered discs. When all players have placed four discs, a modifier to this 'activation number' is shown, and discs are worked by number. In the crew area players may hire crew and a captain, but this costs money. Each round there is a window of ships. The number on the left is the navigation strength, the number on the right is the required amount of different crew. Players choose a ship, pay for the crew and turn the tile to its other side - with a captain on top. In the navigation area, a player takes his ship and places it in a row of his choice, but he has to take care not to exceed the navigation strength of the ship. The game lasts five rounds, after which the player with the most points has won. A brief description from the rule book: Vasco da Gama was charged with finding a maritime route to India. Players play the part of rich shipowners who, under his patronage, aim to achieve prestige and riches. To succeed in the enterprise, they must manage the money and actions at their disposal in order to hire captains, recruit crew, build ships, launch them, and send them to the landings of Natal, Terra de Boa Gente, Mozambique, Malindi, Mombasa, and Calicut. For each ship sent, players will receive an immediate reward and will gain prestige (Victory Points). The farther the ship is sent, the lower the compensation, but the higher the victory score that the player will earn. Ships at landings that are "complete" at the end of the round (i.e. reached by a certain number of Ships) will earn further Victory Points for their owners and will then advance, under certain conditions, to the next Landing. This creates the opportunity to earn again Victory Points in the following Rounds. During each Round, Players take actions in various Areas (Navigation, Recruiting, or Purchase Projects or Characters). Planning is fundamental: The right to take an Action could be free of charge or paid for. The earlier a Player plans to take an Action, the more likely that he will have to pay for it. Players will have to ask themselves if and how much they are ready to pay for the right to act first in a certain area. Vasco da Gama himself will decide which is the first free of charge Action for each Round. He will also help some of the Players by making some money available to them. This great maritime enterprise raises the interest of 4 influential Characters. Aiming to have a substantial role in the development of the new commercial route, they will also provide their favors free of charge to the Players. Francisco Alvares (The Priest) will make available a number of Missionaries to be used as crew members, Girolamo Sernigi (The Merchant) will organize Ships built and manned, Bartolomeu Dias (The Leader) will grant an increased initiative and additional Victory Points, and Manuel 1st (The King) will allow Players to take an additional Action in the name of the Portuguese Kingdom. The winner is the Player with the highest Victory Points score at the end of the game.
Once upon a time, three big cats became exhausted fighting to be top cat. They agreed to quit the fight and spice up their nine lives with a hot spice eating contest. Alas, everyone was soon cheating, so the cats invented a very hot, often tearful, bluffing game. Spicy is a bluffing card game for 2-6 players. The cards are played face down, so you can cheat when you announce your card. That said, this clever card game isn't just about bluffing for you can almost always play a card that is at least half right if you cleverly play your hand. This means tactically deciding which card to use to get through: Do I play a "Pepper 10" or a color wild on a "Wasabi 9" and declare it a "Wasabi 10"? Or do I better pass because surely someone has noticed me thinking for so long now? Spicy contains six game-variant cards, but even without these a high replayability is guaranteed. The cards are illustrated with forty separate pieces of art. In addition, not only the game box sparkles in chic metallic gold, but also the card backs are adorned with a gold-colored finish.
Qwixx is a quick-playing dice game in which everyone participates, no matter whose turn it is. Each player has a scoresheet with the numbers 2-12 in rows of red and yellow and the numbers 12-2 in rows of green and blue. To score points you want to mark off as many numbers as possible, but you can mark off a number only if it's to the right of all marked-off numbers in the same row. On a turn, the active player rolls six dice: two white and one of each of the four colors listed above. Each player can choose to mark off the sum of the two white dice on one of their four rows, then the active player can choose to mark off the sum of one colored die and one white die in the row that's the same color as the die. The more marks you can make in a row, the higher your score for that row. Fail to cross off a number when you're the active player, however, and you must mark one of four penalty boxes on your scoresheet. If you mark off the 2 or 12 in a row and have at least five numbers marked in that row, you get to also mark off the padlock symbol in that row, locking everyone else out of this color. When either a player has four penalty boxes marked or a second color is locked, the game ends immediately. Players then tally their points for each color, sum these values, then subtract five points for each marked penalty box. Whoever has the highest score wins.
Description from the publisher: Legendary explorer Percy Fawcett marched deep into the Amazon in search of El Dorado. He was never seen again. Your team has gone in search of him, but now you hope to escape the jungle with the greatest treasure of all: your life. Make the best of your food, your ammunition, and your health in The Lost Expedition as you plunge deep into the jungle. Choose your path carefully to ensure you're ready for the pitfalls that may occur. Play solo or cooperatively to survive the expedition, or play in teams to see which group can escape the jungle first. Errata: In the 'head-to-head' rules, the diagram shows more cards than can legally be played. The rules-as-written are correct.
Forbidden Island is a visually stunning cooperative board game. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the game. Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking, while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- sacrifices must be made. What causes this game to truly stand out among co-op and competitive games alike is the extreme detail that has been paid to the physical components of the game. It comes in a sturdy and organized tin of good shelf storage size. The plastic treasure pieces and wooden pawns are well crafted and they fit just right into the box. The cards are durable, well printed, and easy to understand. The island tiles are the real gem: they are screen-printed with vibrant colors, each with a unique and pleasing image. With multiple levels of difficulty, different characters to choose from (each with a special ability of their own), many optional island formats and game variations available, Forbidden Island has huge replay value. The game can be played by as few as two players and up to four (though it can accommodate five). More players translates into a faster and more difficult game, though the extra help can make all the difference. This is a fun game, tricky for players of almost any age. Selling for under twenty dollars, oddly, Forbidden Island is a rare game of both quality and affordable price. For those who enjoy Forbidden Island, a follow-up project by Gamewright titled Forbidden Desert was released in 2013. From the publisher's website: Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!
Coffee Roaster is a solitaire pool-building game. You choose a variety of coffee beans you want to roast, and put a number of tokens specific to that variety into a bag. Each turn, you draw a number of bean tokens randomly from the bag to advance their roast level. When you are finished, you make a cup-testing to check the taste of your coffee and score points accordingly. Each variety has its own target roast level, but approaching the target is not enough for perfect roasting; you also have to even out the roast level of each bean, while not spoiling the flavor of that variety. You also have to screen out smoke tokens and burnt bean tokens that hinder your roasting, and reject bean tokens that spoil the taste. It is important to control the contents of your bag utilizing flavor effects and unique effects caused by placing tokens on the roast board. There are 22 varieties of beans in the game. In one game, you try to roast three of them, and your roaster title is awarded based on the total score. Enjoy the world of coffee-roasting, and aim for the ultimate title "Meister". ••• ãCOFFEE ROASTERãã¯ï¼äººç¨ã²ã¼ã ã§ããã¿ã¼ã³ãã¨ã«è¢ã®ä¸ã«å¥ããè¦å®æ°ã®è±ãã¼ã¯ã³ã®ççåº¦ãä¸æããã¦ãããæå¾ã®ã«ãããã¹ãã§å³ãç¢ºããå¾ç¹ãè¨ç®ãã¾ããããããççã³ã¼ãã¼ã«ããããã«ã¯ãçã£ãççåº¦ã«è¿ã¥ããã ãã§ãªããè±ã®çãå·åãæããããç¹å¾´ãé¸ãåºããã¬ã¼ãã¼ãæ®ãããããå¿è¦ãããã¾ãã å¦¨ãã¨ãªãçããããç¦ãè±ããããã¾ãå³ãæãªãæ¬ ç¹è±ãããã®æé¤ã«ãæ°ãã¤ãã¾ãããããã¬ã¼ãã¼å¹æãççãã¼ãã¸ããããéç½®ãããã¨ã§å¾ãç¹æ®å¹æãé§ä½¿ãã¦ãè¢ã®ä¸ã®ç¶æããã¾ãã³ã³ããã¼ã«ãããã¨ãéè¦ã§ãã ç»å ´ããè±ã¯ï¼ï¼ç¨®é¡ããã®ãã¡ï¼ã¤ã®è±ã®ççã«ææ¦ããåè¨å¤ãççè·äººã¨ãã¦ã®ããªãã®ã©ã³ã¯ã§ããæé«ä½ãã¤ã¹ã¿ã¼ã®ç§°å·ãåã¡åãã¹ããççã®ä¸çãååã«æ¥½ããã§ãã ããã
The town of Scoville likes it hot! Very hot! That means they love their peppers – but they're too busy eating them to grow the peppers themselves. That's where you come in. You've been hired by the town of Scoville to meet their need for heat. Your role as an employee of Scoville is to crossbreed peppers to create the hottest new breeds. You'll have to manage the auctioning, planting, and harvesting of peppers, then you'll be able to help the town by fulfilling their orders and creating new pepper breeds. Help make the town of Scoville a booming success! Let's get planting! A round of Scoville consists of a blind auction, which determines player order, a planting phase, a harvesting phase, and a fulfillment phase. Each round, the players plant peppers in the fields. Throughout the game, the available opportunities for crossbreeding increase as more peppers are planted. When harvesting, players move their pawn through the fields, and whenever they move between two planted fields, they harvest peppers. If, for example, they harvest between fields of red and yellow peppers, they crossbreed those and harvest an orange pepper. Harvested peppers are then used to fulfill the town's peppery desires!
Reef Encounter is about life on a coral reef! Using polyp tiles, players grow different types of corals, which they can protect from being attacked by other corals through judicious placing of their four shrimp counters. To be successful, players must consume polyps from neighboring corals in order to acquire the 'consumed' polyp tiles that are the key to the game. The consumed polyp tiles have a myriad of uses (and have a similar effect to the action points in games like Tikal and Java). Most importantly, they can be used to flip over or lock the coral tiles, which determine the respective values of the different types of coral at the end of the game. Description from the designer, Richard Breese. Expanded by: Reef Encounter of the Second Kind
The Industrial Age is starting to boom. You are in need of more workers for your factories, and you also need more workers to build railroad tracks to expand your railway network. This, in turn, will enable you to deliver the goods from your factories to cities with high demand - but be sure to earmark goods for fulfilling profitable public contracts because when the connection to Trieste is made, your net worth is all that matters. Imperial Steam is a highly strategic yet accessible economic and logistics game that sees you making difficult decisions as you manage your business's operations while navigating fierce competition to ensure your victory! -description from the publisher
Super Rhino! presents players with an incredibly heroic – and regrettably heavy – rhinoceros who is eager to climb a tall building and leap other tall buildings in a single bound. First, though, you need to construct that building. Players each start the game with five roof cards, and they take turns adding walls and roofs to a single building. On a turn, you first place walls on the highest floor, then you choose a roof card in your hand and place it on the wall. Each roof card bears markings that indicate where the next player must place walls on the card. In addition, some roof cards force a player to perform special actions, such as placing a second roof, changing the direction of play, or moving Super Rhino to a new location on the tower. Keep your hands steady! The first player to build all of their roof cards wins the game. Alternatively, if the building collapses, the player who caused the collapse automatically loses, and the player with the fewest roof cards in hand wins. Similar to Turmbau zu Babel
In Werewords, players guess a secret word by asking "yes" or "no" questions. Figure out the magic word before time is up, and you win! However, one of the players is secretly a werewolf who is not only working against you, but also knows the word. If you don't guess the word in time, you can still win by identifying the werewolf! To help you out, one player is the Seer, who knows the word but must not to be too obvious when helping you figure it out; if the word is guessed, the werewolf can pull out a win by identifying the Seer! A free iOS/Android app provides thousands of words in hundreds of categories at various difficulty levels, so everyone can play.
Spyrium is set in an alternate world, an England set in a steampunk-based universe. Players build factories, needing workers to manage the production of a commodity previously unknown to us called "Spyrium". Producing Spyrium in one factory, then processing it in the next results in victory points (VPs) for that particular player. Alternatively, Spyrium can be purchased, but the material is rare and expensive, and players are constantly scraping for money. Only those who from the beginning of the game manage to increase their regular income or their base of permanently employed workers (who can be used again and again to raise money) will be flexible enough to get their hands on the important end-of-game buildings to generate many VPs. The circular nature of the game is flexible as each player can decide for himself when to move out of the placement phase and into the activation phase. With the two tracks in the game, those involved with delivery during the worker phase can then be used to raise money, to purchase an adjacent card, or to work on their own in an idle factory. All of these things are important, but in the end only the player who has dealt best with the lack of money, workers, and Spyrium will win.
Mah-Jongg (Chinese éº»å°/éº»å° Májiàng [game of the] sparrow) is a traditional Chinese game using illustrated tiles, with game play similarities to rummy. It is a popular gambling game, but wagering real stakes is by no means necessary to have fun playing. The tiles consist of three suits numbering 1-9 (Dots, Numbers or Characters, and Bamboo, the "Ace" of which almost always looks like a bird), three different dragons (Red, Green, and White [white is unusual in that it may look like a silvery dragon, or like a picture frame, or blank - think "White dragon in a snowstorm"), and the four winds (east, south, west, and north). There are four copies of each tile. This totals to 136 tiles. In addition, special Flower, Season, and Joker (American version) tiles may also be used. Four players take turns drawing from a stock (the wall), or from the other players' discards, in an attempt to form sets of numeric sequences (e.g., 5-6-7 of the same suit, which can only be drawn from the player at one's left, by calling "Chow"), triplets and quadruplets (which can be drawn from the discards out-of-turn by calling "Pung"), pairs, and other patterns. "Pung" takes precedence over "Chow", and "Mah Jongg" takes precedence over all (and is the only situation one may draw "Chow" out-of-turn.) What happens if a single discard would give two (or more!) players "Mah Jongg"? Precedence goes to the player who would play next in normal sequence. Originating in China in the mid-19th century, it was introduced to the U.S. in the 1920s. It is now played in different forms throughout Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Although the rules for game play are fairly constant, there are an immense variety of scoring schemes. A few general categories of rule-sets include: Chinese Classical, Hong Kong Old Style, Japanese, Taiwanese, Western, and American.
Star Trek: Fleet Captains, designed for two or four players, is set in the "Prime Universe" of STAR TREK (as seen in the various TV series and movies up to Star Trek: Nemesis) and is more adversarial in nature when compared to Star Trek: Expeditions. Each player takes the role of a faction (or race) from the universe. In the base game, the choices are Klingons and Federation. Each faction has a number of ships (on Clix dials similar to the Heroclix line of components) of varying ability and with a corresponding “size.” Fleets of ships are drafted to a given size total which reflects the victory points required to win. Thus, larger fleet sizes lead to higher point (and longer games). Players then “shuffle build” a deck of command cards. Choosing four decks from a set of ten decks per faction. Each deck has a unique flavor or theme, with corresponding major characters. For instance the Klingons have a deck themed around larger ships and imperial domination and Gowron is a central character. The four decks chosen will help to set the player’s strategy for winning. The ships chosen have physical stats like weapons, shields, engines, and sensors. They also have mission totals for science, influence, and combat missions. These determine the kinds and numbers of each kind of mission cards the player draws to form a mission deck. Completing missions gains the player points, which will win them the game. Missions could be as simple as damage an opposing ship that is larger than your own (combat), to as complex as claiming the spaces connecting your command post to your opponents (influence). Thus a player’s chosen ships sets the types of missions they will need to earn points and the deck they build determines the way they will complete missions. Points can also be earned for non-mission actions such as destroying a ship or building a starbase. The game itself plays out on a randomly built board of hex cards, called sectors that start the game unexplored. As each ship progresses through the sector, the cards are turned face up, revealing what is in that part of the sector (a Class-M planet, a Class-J Nebula, empty space, etc...). There are additionally random events that can occur when exploring, which usually correspond to a single episode of a series (for instance one encounter is “trouble with tribbles.” Some of these encounters also give victory points. Overall, the game can best be thought of as playing out an entire season of Star Trek with the conflict between players representing the major story arc and the turns, missions, and random encounters representing individual episodes. Players will move their ships, explore space, complete missions, play cards to upgrade their ships (and staff them with famous and not so famous crewmembers), or boost their stats in combat. Combat, while important, is not the sole path to victory, with the mission cards being the primary factor (some of which will encourage combat). The style of game will depend heavily on individual player decisions, but no matter what, it will feel like Star Trek.
Combat Commander:Pacific is a card-driven board game covering tactical infantry combat in the Pacific Theater of World War II. CC:P's main theme is the addition of three new factions to the Combat Commander family: Imperial Japan the Pacific US - with a strong emphasis on the US Marine Corps the Pacific Commonwealth - focusing on Indian and ANZAC forces CC:P is a stand alone game in the card-driven Combat Commander game series. While utilizing Combat Commander: Europe's basic rules, CC:P includes numerous rule tweaks and additions in order to more accurately portray tactical warfare as experienced by the participants in and around the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This slightly ramps up the complexity of the Combat Commander series while at the same time imparting a bit more depth and realism. Just a few of the additions include: Banzai attacks; BARs and Thompson SMGs; Beach landings & river crossings; Hidden movement; Caves; Scouts; Aircraft; Bayonets; Mortar spotting; Treetop snipers; Reconnoitering. SCALE: Each hex of a Combat Commander map is roughly 100 feet across (about 30 meters). Each complete Player Turn abstractly represents several seconds of real time. Each complete Game Turn abstractly represents several minutes of real time. UNITS: Due in part to the unique composition of late-war USMC squads and the imbedding of specialized weapon teams within IJA squads, the units in the game are represented by 4-6 man Teams and 8-13 man Squads. Radios - and individual weapons larger than a rifle - are represented by their own counters. Individual Aircraft are also represented with their own counters. VICTORY: Players attempt to achieve victory by moving their combat units across the game map to attack their opponent’s combat units and occupy as many objectives as possible. The degree to which a player succeeds or fails is measured by a scenario’s specific Objective chits, the destruction of enemy units, and the exiting of friendly units off the opponent’s board edge. GAME FLOW: A game of Combat Commander is divided into several Time segments. There is no sequence of play to follow, however: each Time segment is divided into a variable number of Player Turns, each of which may consist of one or more Fate Card "Orders" conducted by the active player. Fate Card "Actions" may generally be conducted by either player at any time. "Events" and die roll "Triggers" - both good and bad - will occur at random intervals to add a bit of chaos and uncertainty to each player’s perfect plan. CC:P includes twelve maps featuring terrain specific to the PTO. CC:P's playbook includes: twelve scenarios. Pacific version of the Random Scenario Generator utilizing the new maps and nationalities. This random scenario system provides an almost unending variety of map configurations, force structures, and combat situations. section detailing the differences between CC:P and Combat Commander's first two volumes in order that players familiar with those earlier games can jump right into their first scenario with minimal rules reading. examples of play. Design & Development notes as well as numerous play hints. Components: 352x large counters (5/8") 280x small counters (1/2") 220x 2.5 x 3.5 cards 6x 2-sided 17 x 22 maps (twelve maps in total) 3x 2-sided 8.5 x 11 nation-specific player aid sheets 2x 1-sided 8.5 x 11 generic player aid sheets 1x 32-page Rulebook 1x 32-page Playbook 1x Track Display NOTE: Combat Commander:Pacific is a stand-alone game. You do NOT need to own any other Combat Commander game in order to play it, though familiarity with the system would be a plus.
Japan, 1605 – Hidetada Tokugawa has succeeded his father as the new Shogun, ruling from the great city of Edo (a.k.a. Yedo), the city known in present times as Tokyo. This marks the beginning of the golden age of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the so-called Edo Period that will last until 1868. Naturally, the most powerful families in Edo immediately try to curry favor with the new Shogun – and this is the opportunity our clan has been looking for, our chance at power and glory. Our clan will prove ourselves to be indispensable to the new Shogun. We will work from the shadows to acquire information about our rival clans. We will kidnap those who might oppose our ascent and assassinate those who prove a threat. We will use cunning to prevent our adversaries from doing the same to us. We will find glory and honor in the eyes of this new Shogun – or failing that we will end his rule by any means necessary. In the strategy game Yedo, players assume the roles of Clan Elders in the city of Edo during the early years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The object of the game is to amass Prestige Points, mainly by completing missions. To do so, players must gather the necessary assets and – most importantly – outfox their opponents and prevent them from completing their missions. There are several ways to reach your goal. Will you try to complete as many missions as possible and hope that your efforts catch the Shogun's eye? Or will you choose a more subtle way of gaining power by trying to influence the Shogun during a private audience? You can also put your rivals to shame by buying lots of luxury goods from the European merchants. It's all up to you – but be careful to make the right choices, for in Yedo, eternal glory and painful disgrace are two sides of the same coin...
In CODEX Naturalis, you must continue the work of the illuminating monk Tybor Kwelein, assembling the pages of a manuscript that lists the living species in primary forests. Can you put the pages together in the best order possible? And are you prepared to sacrifice a species to develop your manuscript? In the game, each player starts with a single card on the table, a card that shows some combination of the four possible resources in the middle of the card, in the corners of the card, or both. Players also have two resource cards and one gold card in hand, while two of each type of card are visible on the table. On a turn, you place a card from your hand overlapping the corners of one or more cards you already have in play. Your starting card has four overlappable corners, while resource and gold cards have only three. Resource cards have no cost to be played, and they often depict resource symbols in their corners. Gold cards deliver points when played, but they often have a resource requirement, e.g., three fungi or two plant/one animal/one insect, and you must have those resources visible in your manuscript at the time you play the gold card. You score points from this card immediately, with some cards having a fixed value and others a variable one depending on how many of a certain symbol are showing or how many corners you covered this turn. If you wish, you can play a card from your hand face down; such a card has four corners and one resource, but provides no points. After you play, draw a face-up card or the top card of either deck to refill your hand. When a player reaches 20 points, you complete the round, and each player takes one additional turn. Players then score points based on how well they matched two public objective cards and one secret objective card, after which the player with the most points wins.
Jekyll vs. Hyde is a trick-taking game for two players based on the famous novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. As Dr. Jekyll, you'll need to resist Mr. Hyde's fierce attacks to protect your mind and keep the secret of your dual nature. As Mr. Hyde, your goal is to dominate Dr. Jekyll to overcome his identity. One player is Dr. Jekyll ; the other is Mr. Hyde. The game plays in three rounds. At the end of each round, Dr. Jekyll's identity will progressively disappear under Mr. Hyde's relentless attacks. Compare the number of tricks that each player has won in this round and subtract the lowest score from the highest one (for instance, if Dr. Jekyll won 6 tricks and Mr. Hyde won 4 tricks, then the final result is 6-4=2). This result indicates by how many spaces the Identity Marker will move to Mr. Hyde's side. Evil is relentless! Even if Dr. Jekyll won more tricks that Mr. Hyde, the marker will progress towards Mr. Hyde's side. As Dr. Jekyll, your goal is to keep balance, without giving in to darkness! If the marker reaches the last space of the track (far left), then Mr. Hyde instantly wins the game. Otherwise, start a new round: remove the three colored tokens from the board and reshuffle all cards, including the 5 cards that you set aside at the beginning of this round. Mr. Hyde wins as soon as the Identity Marker reaches the last space of the Identity Track (far left). If the marker did not reach the end of the track after three rounds, then Dr. Jekyll wins, escaping from Mr. Hyde's dark influence.
Humans set off into the stars in search of high-powered fuel and found it in the remote corner of the universe on the small planet PK-L7. Their discovery of Xenium - a dark, oily compound deep below the planet's surface - was everything they hoped for. But they found something else, too. The Xenos attack was brutal and unrelenting. While the scientists and soldiers have held them off the best they could, the Xenos are still coming... Zombicide: Invader is a cooperative game in which 1-6 players face Xenos, an unfathomable swarm of infected Xenos controlled by the game itself. Each player takes on the role of one to six survivors in a sci-fi setting being overwhelmed by these Xenos. The goal is simple: Choose a mission, complete its objectives, kill as many Xenos as possible, and (most importantly) survive! Survivors will fight Xenos, rescue each other, recover vital data, unveil dark secrets, and much more! Survivors can be civilians or soldiers, each with specialized skills. They all play together as a team, trading equipment, and covering each other. They use whatever weapons they can get to kill Xenos and slow the invasion. The better the weapon, the higher the body count, but the more Xenos will appear, attracted by the onslaught! Survivors must also be mindful of their location as conventional weapons work fine indoors, but the planet’s oxygen-starved surface, they'll need to arm themselves with more specialized weaponry. Lasers, anyone? Most of the time, Xenos are predictable, but there are a lot of them and they use nasty tactics not encountered in previous Zombicide games. Only through cooperation can players achieve the Mission objectives and win.
What is Stationfall? Well, imagine a dozen or so random humans, robots, and none-of-the-aboves, each with their own abilities, goals, and secret relationships, have been turned loose on a space station that is going to be incinerated upon its inevitable reentry into Earth's atmosphere. You are one of these characters, and the others are collaborators you have on hand ready to assist you in achieving your goals. But choose them wisely, as any one of them could secretly be another player waiting to betray you! Stationfall is a box full of creative solutions, but that box is going to morph, twist, and grow teeth over the course of play. Your best turns will exploit the unique tactical freedom of being a secret conspiracy, as well as deductions about your opponents’ identities and motives. Stationfall is messy, intricate, and full of dangerous variables. -description from the publisher
Experience the dense Cold War suspense and scratch that Twilight Struggle itch in only 45 minutes. 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis is a nail-biting, theme saturated two-player strategy game about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Your fate is determined by how well you deal with the inherent dilemmas of the game, and the conflict. 1) Will you push to gain prestige at the risk of escalating the crisis to global nuclear war? 2) How do you best manage your hand of cards to further your own plans while depriving your opponent of options? Work out these dilemmas in order to emerge as victor of the Cuban Missile Crisis after thirteen suspenseful days. 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis is a meaty filler utilizing the card-driven game mechanisms. Rich with history, yet accessible to gamers with no prior knowledge of the crisis. It is targeted specifically at catering to two groups of gamers: the enthusiasts that just don't have the time they used to and the curious newcomers that are scared off by the heavy commitment and long play times of the classics in the genre. Official FAQ/ERRATA Designer Diary
(from GMT's website:) Washington’s War is the long awaited re-design of the original card driven game, We the People. Washington's War, like its predecessor, pits the forces of a world power (England) against its rebellious American colonists as they fight for their independence. Washington’s War is a true re-design that maintains the deep strategy of We the People while creating a game with a very short playing time (approximately 90 minutes). Unlike most wargames, Washington's War allows you and your opponent to play twice while switching sides in one sitting. This feature allows for rapid tournament play either face-to-face or on the Internet. Washington's War is the perfect antidote for a time conscious crowd whose only option up to now have been Eurogames. Washington’s War features a dice-driven combat system that quickly resolves combat and is very friendly to Internet play. The game also features a new CDG discard mechanic that makes every card in your hand playable by allowing your opponent to buy his discarded events for an operations card. Now, unusual card distributions create challenges and not insurmountable barriers for advancing your strategy. The biggest design changes between We the People and Washington's War, besides the aforementioned new game mechanics, is the increased emphasis on the asymmetrical capabilities of the two sides. The British are a conventional army with a dominant naval capability that gives them great strengths in the coastal regions. The Americans are an unconvential force with a small Contintental Army led by George Washington who yearn for French intervention. While the British struggle to expand their influence inland, the Americans struggle to keep their militia forces in the field. In the end it is the side that is better able to play to their strengths and protect their vulnerabilities that prevails in Washington's War. Washington’s War was broadly tested on the Internet in a tournament format to ensure clarity of rules under the stresses of competition. What was old is new again...be the man on the white horse and father a new nation, or be a king trying to save his empire during a world war. COMPONENTS: * 2 Double-thick Counter Sheets * MOUNTED 22"x34" Map * 110 Event Cards * 2 6-sided dice * Rule Book * Play Book * 2 Player Aid Cards DESIGNER: Mark Herman DEVELOPER: Joel Toppen ART DIRECTOR: Rodger B. MacGowan MAP & CARD ART: Mark Simonitch COUNTER ART: Harold Lieske (BGG description:) Washington’s War is a card-driven game on the American Revolution. It pits the forces of King George III against the American colonists as they fight for their independence. In Washington’s War, you assume the role of either: The King of Great Britain as he tries to bring his rebellious colonies back into the Empire, while at the same time dealing with a global war against ancient enemies bent on revenge for their losses in the Seven Years War; OR The Continental Congress as they battle the forces of Britain, while trying to rally their countrymen to the cause of liberty. Washington’s War is not just a re-tread of my earlier design on the same subject, but a true re-design that is keeping the basic feel while simplifying and speeding up what was already a fast paced game. Washington’s War features a dice-driven combat system that quickly resolves combat and is very friendly to internet play. The game also features a new CDG discard mechanic that enables a player to play a discarded event for the cost of an operations card. Now unusual card distributions create challenges and not insurmountable barriers to push your strategy forward. Washington’s War is being broadly tested on the internet to give players a voice and a source of input prior to publication. What was old is new again…. Be the man on the white horse and forge a nation or save an empire.
For more than four centuries scholars have argued over the identity of the mysterious Dark Lady of William Shakespeare's sonnets. According to the sonnets, the Dark Lady seduced the poet and held him in an agonised thrall while also conducting an affair with the Fair Youth whom Shakespeare also loved. In Black Sonata you will find yourself in Shakespeare's London, circa 1600, in pursuit of the shadowy Lady. A specially ordered deck of cards determines her hidden movements from place to place. You must deduce her location and then intercept her to catch a glimpse and gain a clue to her identity. You will need several clues to deduce her identity, but with each clue gained the Lady becomes harder to track. Black Sonata combines hidden movement and logical deduction into a unique solitaire steeped in literary history. Can you finally solve English literature's greatest mystery? Or will the Dark Lady elude you, melting from your grasp like a curl of smoke and promises?
In Evergreen, your goal is to build a lush ecosystem by planting seeds, growing trees, and placing other natural elements on your planet, trying to make it the greenest and most fertile of all. You choose biome cards from a common pool to determine which area of your planet you'll develop in a round. The cards not chosen make those regions more fertile, and thus more valuable. To create a huge forest, you want to grow trees, plant bushes, and place lakes, while using the power of nature to gain extra actions. Ideally you can concentrate your trees in the most fertile areas, but without them overshadowing one another as you also want them to collect as much light as possible.
Challengers! is an interactive deck-management game for 1-8 players that plays in about 45 minutes independent of player count. With the tournament gameplay style, you meet another opponent every round. In the Deck Phase, you choose new members and add them to your deck, which might consist of a wizard, alien, cat, gangster and kraken. 75 distinct characters with more than 40 exciting effects create a unique experience every game. Choose from six different sets and discover new strategies and synergies every game. In the Match Phase, stay in flag possession to win the trophy of that round. Try to get the most fans and trophies over the course of seven rounds to be able to qualify for the final. If you can best your opponent in the final, you win Challengers! (If you think that all sounds a lot like a board game adaption of a digital Autobattler, we are proud to tell you that this is the first of its kind!) -description from the publisher
Container is a game about big ships and big production. Each player will play both as a producer and shipper of goods. Players will decide which products they want to produce, and which of the OTHER players' goods they want to ship out to a remote island. During these phases, players will be able to set the prices for their goods and try to maximize their cash! Once the goods have reached the island, players will play the part of the purchaser for their tiny island. Players bid for the goods arriving each day by ship, and the highest bidder collects these goods for conversion into points at the end of the game. Sounds simple? It is! But the real challenge is turning your home production into goods for your island. Your government is willing to subsidize your purchases, but just how much money do you want to give to your competitors for that lovely crate of goods your island desperately needs?
Each year, the graduating classes of the Ravenrealm Magic School compete to demonstrate their mastery of magic. For the final exam, all the wizards of each class must assemble at the legendary Ravenskeep… but every last one of them has procrastinated, distracted by learning new spells. They’ve also used all their potions-they can’t show up unprepared, with empty potion bottles! Help your wizards get to Ravenskeep as quickly as possible. Using their magic they could even move the very towers atop which they stand to get there more easily! But how can they refill their potion bottles along the way? Well, here’s a little secret: Trapping wizards allows you to capture some of their magical essence in a bottle…
On the hunt for priceless treasures, groups of adventurers explore the legendary temple at Luxor. Their ultimate goal is the tomb of the pharaoh, but many treasures can be collected as they search. As they explore, the challenge unfolds: The player who manages to quickly get their team of adventurers to the tomb, while salvaging as many treasures as possible, will be the winner. Luxor offers variable game play as the path that leads to the tomb is different for every game - and will even change during play! -description from the publisher In Luxor, players move their adventurers through the temple with the goal of reaching the tomb in the middle of the game board. At the start of the game each player gets dealt 5 cards, which he is not allowed to change the order of. In each round players take turns that consist of 3 actions: 1. Choose either the left or right most card to play to the discard pile. According to the played card move, one adventurer that many tiles forward towards the tomb. An adventurer only moves from tile to tile, jumping over empty spaces and not counting them. 2. When the adventurer has completed his movement, he performs the action of that tile, if possible. Depending on the tile this can have various effects: Treasure tile - If enough of a players adventurers player are placed on a tile, the player can collect that tile and earn points for it. Additionally he keeps the tile, trying to collect treasure sets consisting of the three different treasure kinds, vase, statue and necklace. Horus tile - The player can either gain a key or a Horus Card. He will need the key to enter the tomb and the special Horus card offers unique and strong ways to move his adventurers once he plays that card. Osiris tile - The tile acts as an catapult instantly moving the adventurer a certain amount of tiles forward. Temple tile - On these tiles players get special bonuses, like scarabs that are worth victory points or joker tiles, which complete treasure sets. The most unique tile is the tunnel. If an adventurer lands on a tunnel he instantly gets teleported to the next tunnel in play, creating a shortcut through the temple. 3. After performing the action of the tile, players draw one card from the draw pile to refill their hand to five cards. The drawn card is placed in the middle of the hand. At the start of the game, players can chose to move one of 2 adventurers. Every time an adventurer crosses over an Anubis statue for the first time he gains a new adventurer which is placed at the start. The game ends once two adventurers reach the tomb. But in order to get in the tomb and collect the valuable sarcophagi, players need to have a key, which they collect from landing on Horus tiles. One key is needed for each adventurer wanting to enter the tomb. The round is finished and then the game ends with a final scoring. The player who now has the most points is the winner!
The mythical realm of Hyperborea was ruled by an ancient civilization that used magical crystals as their main source of energy. With time, the Hyperboreans became greedy, and their search for power in the deep made the crystals unstable, causing earthquakes, mutations, droughts and floods. Hyperboreans just dug deeper, and only a few wise mages, foreseeing the inevitable, built an unbreakable magical barrier. When the unharnessed magical energy was unleashed from the deep, the Hyperborean civilization was destroyed in a single day, only the magical barrier preventing the disappearance of life from the whole land. The survivors living in the small outposts outside Hyperborea were now sealed out by the barrier. The knowledge of crystals was declared forbidden it was because too dangerous, or simply forgotten. Over centuries, six rival realms were born from the ashes of the Hyperborean civilization: the militarist Red Duchy; the Emerald Kingdom and its death-delivering archers; the Purple Matriarchy fanatically worshipping the goddess of life; the skilled diplomats and merchants of the Golden Barony; the Coral Throne with its efficiently organized society and finally the secluded and enigmatic Celestial Reign. The fragile peace between the different realms was not intended to last. One day, the magical barrier suddenly collapsed. A whole new land stood in front of the six kingdoms, still haunted by the old Hyperboreans turned into harmless but ominous ghosts, full of ruins to discover and cities to explore. Each realm is now sending its best warriors and explorers to Hyperborea in order to achieve dominance over their rivals, but which will prevail? Brutal strength or deep understanding of science? The discovery of valuable artifacts in the lost ruins or the retaking of long, lost cities? Only you, as the leader of one of the factions, can lead your people to the ultimate dominance over Hyperborea! Set in a mythical land of the same name, Hyperborea is a light civilization game for 2 to 6 players that takes 20-25 minutes per player. The game begins at the time when the magic barrier protecting access to the mythical continent of Hyperborea suddenly falls. Each player takes the role of the leader of a small kingdom situated just outside the now open to be conquered and explored land. Her kingdom has limited knowledge of housing, trade, movement, warfare, research, and growth, but new and exciting powers are hidden in Hyperborea. During the game, this kingdom will grow in numbers and raise armies, extend its territory, explore and conquer, learn new technologies, etc... The game's main mechanism, which can be described as "bag-building", involves you building a pool of "civilicubes". Each cube represents specializations for your kingdom: war, trade, movement, building, knowledge, growth. Grey cubes represent corruption and waste, and players will acquire them by developing new technologies. (Power corrupts by its own definition, and the more complex a society becomes, the more waste it generates.) Each turn, players draw three random cubes from their bags, then use them to activate knowledge (technologies) they own.
In Roll Through the Ages, players roll dice to obtain commodities and workers to build up their civilizations. Dice can be rerolled twice unless they come up as a hazard. Players use their workers to build infrastructure to support additional works or to build monuments that are worth points. At the same time, commodities are gathered that allow your civilization to develop. Once all monuments or five developments are achieved by a player, the game ends at the end of the round, points are counted, and a victor is declared. The game takes its name from Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, although the two games have different styles and designers.
"Hurry to the ship! Twelve houses from our town have already burned down!" In Evacuation, life on our planet is being burned away thanks to increasingly intense sunlight, so everyone is trying to move all the people and factories in their territories from the "old" planet to a new one - and they have only four rounds in which to do so. You start the game with a full functioning economy, and over the course of play, you must dismantle that economy and move it. Income on the old planet shrinks over time, and production probably won't be much better until you establish yourself on the new planet and kick things into action. Resources can't be mixed across the planets, so you need to take special care with your planning. To do this, you choose actions from the player board, with the expert variant adding cards to your hand that allow you to choose additional actions and combine them. Each action has its own value, and the sum of these actions is important for an "end of the round" bonus. Additionally, players move their markers along the orbital track based on the value of their actions. If you can raise production of three resources to level 8 and have three stadiums on the new planet, you win. Otherwise, players compare scores after four rounds. Evacuation includes modules to add new play options. NOTE: A community FAQ is available here to provide some clarity on Frequently Misplayed Rules.
A classic game is back! As one of the first worker placement games, Caylus stands among the true board game classics of the 2000s. The original designers' team, together with the Space Cowboys, have now created a revamped version! The mechanisms of Caylus 1303 have been streamlined and modernized for an intense and shorter game. Don't be fooled, though, as the game has kept both its depth and ease of play while a lot of new features have been added: Variability of the starting position for a virtual infinity of possibilities. No more pre-set strategies! Characters with special abilities, with a wavering loyalty, offer their services to the players. And of course, brand new graphics! The King calls you again, so it's time to go back to Caylus! -description from the publisher
Carcassonne: The City is a standalone game in the Carcassonne series. Players build up the old town together by placing tiles. While the town area grows, the town walls grow around it, starting from a wooden gate. The wall is comprised of delicately carved wooden parts, that create a beautiful rendition of the medieval town at the end of the game. Next to the slightly modified tile-laying rules, players have the possibility to place their followers as guards on the walls, offering them a wide view of the town. This brings the players extra points. Each player also receives between three and six cylindrical wooden towers (depending on the number of players), giving the town walls an added aesthetic effect.
Reiner Knizia's auction game about producing movies. In four rounds, players bid on chips representing genuine directors, actors, camera, effects, music, guest stars and agents (or in Nightmare Productions edition: creatures, locations, directors, musical conductors, cameos, and contractors). These all get placed on players' film-strips to complete the movie production. So one movie might need 2 actors (in editions prior to Nightmare Productions), but no music or effects and so on. As films are completed, the points value is marked and another film-strip taken. There are two parties (in Nightmare Productions edition: horror cons) each round where players get to pick from offers without paying anything. There are bonus points for first films completed and best films, best directors (in Nightmare Productions edition: best creatures), even worst film. The auction is a basic rising offer with passing until one winning bid remains. Players pay into the pot with contracts (in Nightmare Productions edition: money), and the rest of the players share the pot each turn. So it's a closed economy with players trying to time to bid on what they really need to complete films. See Movie Comparison - Traumfabrik for listings of movies and actors in each version prior to Nightmare Productions edition. Note: There have been many editions of the game under varying names. All are identical except for Nightmare Productions edition which has introduced a few changes.
What if the animals were the ones who ran the zoo? …Presumably, this wild government would be built upon the support of fellow creatures and fueled by the fame, attention, and prestige of wide-eyed visitors. Naturally, the most aspirational beasts would lobby for a position in the star exhibit, and the lead star would be elected Zoo Mascot. In order to join the star exhibit, each species must campaign its way up the hierarchy of enclosures with the majority support of animal voters. And the lead star will be the species that has earned the most laurels from both raving fans and jealous rivals along the way. How does one gain support and earn laurels? Through crafty politicking, clever negotiations, and ruthless schemes. There can only be one Zoo Mascot, after all. Where are you going? That is the ultimate question of Zoo Vadis. Zoo Vadis is an evolution of Reiner Knizia’s classic negotiation game, Quo Vadis? It retains the elegant, political gameplay that fans have come to love while introducing many innovations and improvements by: Enhancing the 3-player game and tailoring the board to all player counts through neutral, bribable figures-roaming peacocks Widening the player count with a second game board for 6-7 players Expanding the possibilities for strategic negotiation with asymmetric animal abilities Increasing tactical opportunities with new special laurel tokens Broadening the appeal of the theme and presentation with vibrant zoo art by Kwanchai Moriya and Brigette Indelicato Enlivening the production with chunky animal figures and functional player screens Like the original design, the game ends immediately when the Star Exhibit is full. Only the animals who have reached the Star Exhibit qualify for victory, and the winner is the player with the most laurels. –description from publisher
For ages the vile Doom Knights have sought to gather the remaining Thunderstones to fulfill a prophecy of corruption over the lands. Now the first Thunderstone has been discovered in the Dungeons of Grimhold and the Doom Knights have sent their minions to claim the relic. The Villagers of Barrowsdale gather brave souls to face the dungeon and keep the Thunderstone out of the hands of the Doom Knights. Thunderstone is a fantasy deck-building game much in the style of Dominion. Before the game starts a selection of Village and Hero cards will be randomnly chosen that players may add to their specific decks. Like Dominion, every player starts with a basic deck of weaker cards that they can use to purchase other more powerful cards. In Thunderstone these cards may be different Heroes such as mages, archers, thieves, or warriors or they may be supplies the heroes need like weapons, rations, or light to reach further into the dungeon. A dungeon deck is also created by combining several different groups of monsters. Certain groups of monsters may be more or less susceptible to different Hero types, so players will have to take this into account when they choose what to buy. Rather than buying puny Victory Points, players will use their deck to defeat monsters in the dungeon. From the monster deck a row of cards is laid out. Players may on their turn choose to attack a monster in the deck rather than visit town and buy cards. If they do this they play cards from their hand and resolve their abilities in order to boost strength and have enough light to reach a specific monster. Some monsters also have special abilities which may hinder the player. If they have enough strength they defeat the monster and place that card in their deck. This card is worth victory points and often can be used as money to purchase other cards. In addition to this, players are awarded experience points for defeating monsters which can be used to upgrade their heroes into more powerful versions. The game is played until the Thunderstone is revealed from the dungeon and a player is able to claim it. The player with the most victory points in their deck is the winner. The basic Thunderstone framework was updated in the implementation of Thunderstone: Advance. Integrates with Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruin Thunderstone: Dragonspire Thunderstone: Starter Set
Starseekers! Explore the sky and bring some light back to your world. Stella is a competitive game in the Dixit universe. In each round, players interpret Dixit cards on a board after receiving a common clue word. Each player observes the Dixit cards and secretly associates these cards with the clue word, marking on their erasable personal slates the cards that they choose. Selecting the same cards as the other players allows you to score more points. Conversely, selecting a card that no one else chooses may cost you dearly. At the end of the fourth round, each player calculates their total score. Whoever has the most points - which is possibly more than one person - wins. Take calculated risks, but beware of the fall. -description from publisher
In an abandoned warehouse a gangster band is splitting its loot, but they can't agree on the split! It's time to let the guns talk and soon everyone is aiming at everyone. The richest surviving gangster wins the game! Ca$h 'n Guns helps you relive the best scenes of your favorite gangster movies. The goal is to have more money than anyone else after eight rounds while still being alive. Each round, one player is the Boss, and he controls the pace of play. First, loot cards are revealed on the table to show what's up for grabs. Next, players load their guns by secretly selecting either a "Bang!" or a "Click! Click!" card from their hand. The Boss counts to three, and on "Three" each player points his foam gun at someone else; due to his status, the Boss can tell one player who's pointing a gun at him that he needs to point it in another direction. After a pause to observe threats and measure the seriousness in an opponent's eyes, the Boss counts to three again and anyone who doesn't want to risk getting shot can chicken out and remove themselves from the round. Everyone who's pointing a gun at someone still in the round now reveals their card, and anyone who's the target of a "Bang!" takes a wound marker and gets none of the available loot. Starting with the Boss, everyone still in the round takes one loot card at a time from the table - money, diamonds, paintings, the position of Boss, medical care (to remove a wound), or a new bullet (to add a "Bang!" card to your hand) - until everything has been claimed. After eight rounds, the game ends. Whoever has the most diamonds receives a big bonus, and paintings score based on the number of them that you've collected. Whoever has the most valuable stash wins!
Catacombs is an award-winning, cooperative board game set in the fantasy world of Cimathue, and you need skill and dexterity to master this fast-paced game. One player (the Overseer) marshals an army of monsters while the others choose from six brave heroes who embark on a quest to save the town of Stormtryne from the threat lurking in the catacombs below. As the heroes explore, they must use their abilities, buy items, and recruit allies to help them defeat the monsters before facing the powerful Catacomb Lord, thereby saving the town. In more detail, in Catacombs players flick wooden discs that represent the monsters and heroes. Contact with an opposing piece inflicts damage, while missiles, spells, and other special abilities can cause other effects. When all of the monsters of a room have been cleared, the heroes can move further into the catacomb. Items and equipment upgrades can be purchased from the Merchant with gold taken from fallen monsters. The Catacomb Lord is the final danger that the heroes must defeat to win the game. Conversely, the Overseer wins if all of the heroes are defeated. This third edition of Catacombs has all-new artwork compared to the earlier editions, but more importantly the keywords from the first two editions has been replace with iconography, the terminology has changed, and the third edition has new shot types, new card effects, and a different set of components (many of which have changed statistics) as well as wall pieces not present in earlier editions.
Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game is a survival horror board game that pits small-town heroes head-to-head against a horde of zombies. A team of four heroes is chosen by one set of players, and the zombies are controlled by one or two players. Each hero has its own special abilities. The board is modular, which changes the layout of the town and start positions of each hero. The game comes with several scenarios, which include simple survival, rescue, or escape. Differing combinations of heroes, scenarios, and board configurations offer a lot of replayability. A hero deck and a zombie deck deliver tactical bonuses to each side. Combat is resolved using six-sided dice, modified by the weapon cards with which heroes may be equipped. Many of the cards include zombie movie tropes to achieve a feel of playing out a horror movie. All the game art is photographic, enhancing the cinematic feel. The game also comes with a CD soundtrack of original thematic music. Each hero has its own plastic sculpted miniature. The game also has 14 zombies in two colors. Other objects and effects are represented by high-quality cardboard counters.
Enter the futuristic universe of Red Rising, based on the book series by Pierce Brown featuring a dystopian society divided into fourteen castes. You represent a house attempting to rise to power as you piece together an assortment of followers (represented by your hand of cards). Will you break the chains of the Society or embrace the dominance of the Golds? Red Rising is a hand-management, combo-building game for 1-6 players (45-60 minute playing time). You start with a hand of 5 cards, and on your turn you will deploy 1 of those cards to a location on the board, activating that card’s deploy benefit. You will then gain the top card from another location (face up) or the deck (face down), gaining that location's benefit and adding the card to your hand as you enhance your end-game point total. If at any point you’re really happy with your hand, you can instead use your turn to reveal a card from the top of the deck and place it on a location to gain that location’s benefit. -description from the publisher
Pictomania is a drawing game in which everyone is both drawing and guessing at the same time, giving a chance for those who excel only at one or the other skill to crush the dreams of other players. Pictomania lasts five rounds, and at the start of each round, you set up six randomly drawn cards on card racks visible to all players. Cards are double-sided, come in four levels of difficulty, and include seven related words on a single side. In addition to a set of guessing cards, scoring tokens, marker and drawing board, each player receives one symbol card and one number card, which together indicate which word or phrase on the revealed cards that player must draw. Bonus tokens equal to one less than the number of players are placed in the center of the table. Players simultaneously look at their cards and start to draw. While drawing, they can also watch what others are doing and place a guess card on that player's stack. Only one guess per player is allowed, and once you make a guess, you can't change your mind. Other players will ideally be playing guess cards on your stack, too. Once you have finished drawing and guessing – and you're not required to do either – take the highest-valued bonus token from the center of the table and take no other actions. Once the final bonus token is claimed, the round ends. One by one, players reveal what they were drawing and the guesses that others made. Those who guess your word earn one of your scoring tokens, with early guessers earning more points, while those who guess incorrectly have their card placed in the center of the table. Once all the guesses are resolved, you determine the black sheep – the player who made the worst guesses. If a single player has more cards in the center of the table than anyone else, then his bonus token (if any) counts as negative points. What's more, if no one guessed your word, then you throw away your bonus token, scoring nothing for it. You sum positive points for the round (a bonus token scored, and scoring tokens from the words you guessed correctly), then subtract points for the black sheep "bonus" and all the scoring tokens you didn't give away to determine your final score for the round, which could be negative. Reset the bonus and scoring tokens, set up six new cards, hand out the symbol and number cards and start another round. The player with the highest score after five rounds wins.
Players are attempting to score the most points by building up influence in the districts of Venice via their aristocrats. The game uses a card distribution mechanic whereby (in the case of a four-player game) two players draw cards and divide them up into two piles each, the other two players pick one group and the remaining groups go to the players who formed the groups. The action cards allow players to place and remove aristocrats, erect and move bridges, and score individual regions. The entire game lasts three Passages and each Passage may contain several turns. 62 Action cards: 30 District (5 for each district) 6 Bridge 12 Transfer 10 Doge 4 Banishment 28 Limit cards: 8 X "1" 10 X "2" 10 X "3" Related game: Canal Grande is a two-player card game based on this game.
Formula Dé is a fast-paced racing game in which the cars' top speeds are limited by having to end a certain number of turns in each curve of the racetrack. This can be tricky, because although players can regulate their speeds by choosing which gear to be in and each gear allows a certain range of movement, the exact amount is determined randomly. Great fun for a big group. A winner of the 1990 Concours International de CrÃ©ateurs de Jeux de SociÃ©tÃ©. Expanded by: (LudodÃ©lire Expansions) Formule DÃ© Circuit â 1: Grand Prix de MONACO (included in french edition) Formule DÃ© Circuit â 2: FRANCE â Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Formule DÃ© Circuit â 3: GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA â Autodromo Nazionale Monza Formule DÃ© Circuit â 4: GROSSER PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND â Hockenheim Ring (included in german edition) Formule DÃ© Circuit â 5: GRAND PRIX DE BELGIQUE â Circuit de Spa â Francorchamps Formule DÃ© Circuit â 6: GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGAL â Circuito do Estoril Formule DÃ© Circuit â 7: BRITISH GRAND PRIX â Silverstone Circuit (included in british edition) Formule DÃ© Circuit â 8: GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÃA â Circuit de Catalunya Formule DÃ© Circuit â 9: GRAND PRIX DU CANADA â Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Formule DÃ© Circuit â 10: GRANDE PREMIO DE BRASIL â Circuito do Interlagos Formule DÃ© Circuit â 11: JAPAN GRAND PRIX â Suzuka Circuit Formule DÃ© Circuit â 12: SOUTH of AFRICA GRAND PRIX â Kyalami Circuit Formule DÃ© Circuit â 13: SAN MARINO â Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari Formule DÃ©: World Championship Expanded by: (Descartes Editeur Expansions) Formula DÃ© Circuits 1 & 2: Monaco & Zandvoort 1 (plans were included in base game) Formula DÃ© Circuits 3 & 4: Zandvoort 2 & SPA-Francorchamps Formula DÃ© Circuits 5 & 6: Kyalami & Ferrari Autodromo Formula DÃ© Circuits 7 & 8: Magny-Cours & Monza Formula DÃ© Circuits 9 & 10: Estoril & Interlagos Formula DÃ© Circuits 11 & 12: Watkins Glen & Silverstone Formula DÃ© Circuits 13 & 14: Montreal & Long Beach Formula DÃ© Circuits 15 & 16: Hockenheim & Zeltweg Formula DÃ© Circuits 17 & 18: Buenos-Aires & Barcelona Formula DÃ© Circuits 19 & 20: Suzuka & Melbourne Formula DÃ© Circuits 21 & 22: Budapest & NÃ¼rburgring Formula DÃ© Circuits 23 - 26: USA Track Pack #1 Formula DÃ© Circuits 27 - 30: USA Track Pack #2 Formula DÃ© Circuits 31 & 32: Zhuhai & Sepang Formula DÃ© Circuit 33: 10th Anniversary Formula DÃ© Circuits 34 & 35: Bahrain & Shanghai Expanded by: (Asmodee Expansions) Formula D: The "Shortcut" Formula D: Circuits 1 â Sebring & Chicago Formula D: Circuits 2 â Hockenheim and Valencia Formula D: Circuits 3 â Singapore & The Docks Formula D: Circuits 4 â Grand Prix of Baltimore & Buddh Formula D: Circuits 5 â New Jersey & Sotchi Formula D: Circuits 6 â Austin & Nevada Ride Re-implemented by: Formula DÃ© Mini Formula D
Akrotiri places you in the role of an explorer in Classical Greek times, combing the then-uncharted Aegean sea for lost Minoan temples that have long ago fallen into ruin. You've not only heard of these temples hidden around the island of Thera, but you actually have access to the secret maps that tell you of their hidden locations! Two mountains to the north? A volcano to the west? This must be the spot... But running an expedition can be costly. In order to fund your voyages into the unknown and excavate the ancient temples, you will have to first ship resources found on surrounding islands back to the resource-poor island of Thera. In Akrotiri - which combines tile placement, hand management, and pick-up and delivery - players place land tiles in order to make the board match the maps that they have in hand. Players excavate temples; the ones that are harder to find and the ones further away from Thera are worth more towards victory, but the secret goal cards keep everyone guessing who the victor is until the end! May the gods forever bless you with favorable winds!
Earthborne Rangers is a customizable, co-operative card game set in the wilderness of the far future. You take on the role of a Ranger, a protector of the mountain valley you call home: a vast wilderness transformed by monumental feats of science and technology devised to save the Earth from destruction long ago. You begin by building a deck that reflects your Ranger's interests, personal history, and personality. Then, as you explore the open world and your story takes shape, you augment your deck with improved equipment, refined skills, and the memories of your journey. The story of Earthborne Rangers is presented as a branching narrative campaign consisting of a main storyline and a multitude of side stories. In it, you can choose to follow the critical path or to strike off on your own to discover the Valley's many engaging characters, mysterious ruins, and beings both familiar and strange. Each game session represents one day in the Valley, and you'll pick up in the same location on the map where you rested the night before. Your goal is to either complete one of your available missions or to explore the open world. The session ends when you're either forced to rest (through either fatigue or injury), or you choose to rest for the night. An individual game session is played in rounds, and those rounds consist of turns. On your turn, you perform one action: either play a card from your hand, or choose an action from a card on the table. Each action allows you to interact thematically and narratively with the world, and each time you take an action, the world comes to life around you. Predators stalk their prey, rain pours from the sky, rocks tumble down the mountain to block your path, and much more. -description from the publisher
Union Pacific is a train-themed stock market game. On each turn, players must choose between expanding a company to increase its value and adding a share of stock to their hand, or playing stock onto the table from their hand to increase their ownership of one or two companies. There are four semi-random scoring events, in which the first and second place share holder in each company are paid dividends. Only stock that has been previously played onto the table is considered during the scoring rounds. Union Pacific is a special company whose shares are claimed according to special rules. Union Pacific is not represented on the board but instead pays dividends to all share holders according to a fixed progression chart. Money is only used to track victory conditions and cannot be spent during the game. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game. Re-implements: Airlines Re-implemented as: Airlines Europe
Conflict of Heroes is a fast-paced tactical board game series that follows the development of modern day squad and platoon level tactics, starting with World War II and continuing all the way through modern day Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The first game in the series, Awakening the Bear! – Russia 1941-1942, takes you to the eastern front during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia. Many consider this time period to be the birth of modern warfare tactics that continue to be used and perfected by today's modern armies. Conflict of Heroes merges the elegance of streamlined Eurogame rules with deep strategic wargames. The series was designed to create a tense and highly interactive game play experience. You must manage multiple command resources to move, attack, and take other actions with your units. This gives you great flexibility in executing your battle plans, but makes constant caution necessary as unit activations on either side can happen at any time. Much effort went into distinguishing the units in the game by highlighting their historical strengths and weaknesses. For example, each tank defense rating takes into account relative armor thickness, armor slope deflection percentage, speed, size, targeting mechanics, and crew training. All these factors are represented in an easy to learn target number system. The included firefights, most of which you can play in about an hour, are designed to depict the pivotal points in a given battle. You can learn enough of the game to play the first scenario in ten minutes thanks to the programmed instruction approach used in the full-color rulebook. The game also features three- and four-player firefights and optional rules for solitaire play.
Spyfall is a party game unlike any other, one in which you get to be a spy and try to understand what's going on around you. It's really simple! Spyfall is played over several rounds, and at the start of each round all players receive cards showing the same location - a casino, a traveling circus, a pirate ship, or even a space station - except that one player receives a card that says "Spy" instead of the location. Players then start asking each other questions - "Why are you dressed so strangely?" or "When was the last time we got a payday?" or anything else you can come up with - trying to guess who among them is the spy. The spy doesn't know where he is, so he has to listen carefully. When it's his time to answer, he'd better create a good story! At any time during a round, one player may accuse another of being a spy. If all other players agree with the accusation, the round ends and the accused player has to reveal his identity. If the spy is uncovered, all other players score points. However, the spy can himself end a round by announcing that he understands what the secret location is; if his guess is correct, only the spy scores points. After a few rounds of guessing, suspicion and bluffing, the game ends and whoever has scored the most points is victorious!
Palm Island is a portable game that you can take with you anywhere. Sitting, standing, waiting, riding, flying, relaxing, alone, or together you can play Palm Island no table required. Using a deck transforming mechanic a player uses just 17 cards over 8 rounds to shape their island and overcome its unique challenges. Store resources to pay for upgrades and upgrade buildings to access new abilities. Each decision you make will alter your village from round to round. At the end of 8 rounds calculate your victory points. PLAY SOLO working to gain achievements and unlock new abilities to help your village reach even greater heights. PLAY COOPERATIVELY by working together to successfully prepare your village before natural disasters strike. PLAY COMPETITIVELY by racing to purchase bonuses, or in casual mode by meeting specific criteria before your opponent. Add villagers to any game mode that you may recruit to your village and use their abilities to score more points than your opponent. The game comes with 2 player decks, competitive cards, cooperative cards and solo feat cards. Multiple games can be combined to add even more players. -description from the publisher
Istanbul: Das Würfelspiel is a standalone dice game in which players are once again plunging into the bustle of Istanbul's bazaar to collect rubies and thus secure their victory. By cleverly using the dice, the players can make money and goods, then exchange them for the precious jewels. -description from the publisher
The Mind is more than just a game. It's an experiment, a journey, a team experience in which you can't exchange information, yet will become one to defeat all the levels of the game. In more detail, the deck contains cards numbered 1-100, and during the game you try to complete 12, 10, or 8 levels of play with 2, 3, or 4 players. In a level, each player receives a hand of cards equal to the number of the level: one card in level 1, two cards in level 2, etc. Collectively you must play these cards into the center of the table on a single discard pile in ascending order but you cannot communicate with one another in any way as to which cards you hold. You simply stare into one another's eyes, and when you feel the time is right, you play your lowest card. If no one holds a card lower than what you played, great, the game continues! If someone did, all players discard face up all cards lower than what you played, and you lose one life. You start the game with a number of lives equal to the number of players. Lose all your lives, and you lose the game. You start with one shuriken as well, and if everyone wants to use a shuriken, each player discards their lowest card face up, giving everyone information and getting you closer to completing the level. As you complete levels, you might receive a reward of a shuriken or an extra life. Complete all the levels, and you win! For an extra challenge, play The Mind in extreme mode with all played cards going onto the stack face down. You don't look at the cards played until the end of a level, losing lives at that time for cards played out of order.
Welcome to the Northern Expanse, a place where nature is still unexplored, mystical and dangerous. When the humans first arrived, they thought they found an unspoiled paradise, filled with bountiful forests, lakes swimming with fish and cold freshwater flowing from the mountains. But as their settlements expanded and the surrounding forests grew thinner, nature itself pushed back. Great creatures known as Beasts emerged, and with their fangs, claws and mystical powers, they proved an incredible threat to the humans. In order to protect the settlements, humans enlisted specialised hunters, tasked with tracking and killing the Beasts before too many of their kin perish. The Beast uses a deck of direction cards to move over forests, swamps and caverns, using guile and deceit to hide its track from the hunters. However, whenever a hunter moves over a location where the Beast has previously been, a trail appears. Only when a hunter searches a location or the Beast itself attacks an unsuspecting target is the Beast's actual position revealed. More so, each hunter has but one chance of searching each round, making it a tense and difficult decision. Hunters seldom have full information whether the trail they’re pursuing contains the Beast’s actual location, or if the trail has already gone cold. Each action you perform in this game is done by playing a card from your hand (up to a maximum of two cards per turn). This means that if a player wants to search, attack or move, they need to have a card in their hand that lets them do that. Before each round, both hunters and Beast participate in a draft for the most important cards. All action cards can be used by both Beast and hunters alike. In order to win this game, you either need to cooperate every step of the way if you play as a hunter, or skillfully outmaneuver your opponents if you play as Beast. On their own, hunters are never stronger than the Beast. Only when hunters communicate, strategize and combine their actions can they bring down the Beast before it’s too late. -description from the designer
(From the publisher) Napoleon’s Triumph is built on the same foundations as its acclaimed predecessor, Bonaparte at Marengo, but is bigger and grander in scale. It uses two boards to make a double-size 44" x 34" map of the Austerlitz battlefield and has twice as many pieces as the earlier game, but defying the tradition that big wargames must also take a long time to play, Napoleon’s Triumph can be played from start to finish in a single evening. From Back of Box On December 2, 1805, on the battlefield of Austerlitz, an outnumbered French army led by their newly crowned emperor, Napoleon, waited to receive an expected attack by a Russian and Austrian army commanded by the Russian Czar, Alexander. Napoleon lured the Allies into attacking with their left wing, and when the Allies did so, a surprise French counter-attack smashed the Allied right and centre, and then surrounded and destroyed the Allied left in one of the most famous and decisive battles in military history. Napoleon's Triumph re-creates that historic battle. Befitting its epic subject, Napoleon's Triumph is played on a double-sized 44" x34" map of the battlefield. In spite of the game's size, it is easy to learn and fast to play. The rules are only nine pages long, and the playing time is only two hours. Napoleon's Triumph is unique among big wargames in that players can learn the game, set it up, and play it to completion in a single evening. The game system is derived from its award-winning forebear, Bonaparte at Marengo. Like that game, Napoleon's Triumph breaks with almost all of the standard wargame conventions. It has no hex grid and terrain effects chart; terrain effects are designed into the map itself. It has no combat results table; combat is resolved through strength differential. It has no dice; tension comes from limited information and the outcome only depends on the players' decisions. Napoleon's Triumph is a unique wargame experience. It is large, yet fast-playing. It has simple rules, but deep game play that rewards both boldness of conception and attention to detail. It stays close enough to history to engross wargamers and other students of the period, while still being entertaining enough for even non-wargamers to enjoy. Napoleon's Triumph is not only easy to learn and fast and exciting to play, it also is a great looking game due to its exceptional component quality. The map is mounted on a heavy board cut in the German style so that the playing surface is durable, stable, and flat, without the valleys of American-style mounted boards or the buckling of paper boards. To represent opposing armies, the game comes with 140 wooden blocks, blue for the French and red for the Allies. Painted on each block are symbols that identify the type and strengths of the unit. The senior commanders of the opposing armies are represented by 18 metal flags; stickers are applied to mark the nationality and name of each commander. In play, Napoleon's Triumph combines the visual appeal of 19th century battle maps and military minatures, with columns and rows of units lined for movement and attack, accented by flags to indicate corps. The effect is simply stunning.