New to Games? 20 - Shut Up & Sit Down

Hey, That’s My Fish!

Hey, That’s My Fish! is an engaging, award-winning board game of strategic fish hunting, in which 2-4 players control determined penguins hungry for their next meal on a bustling Antarctic ice floe. Since Hey, That’s My Fish! was originally published in 2003, it has become widely popular as an engrossing and strategic board game for casual family and tactical play.

Hey, That’s My Fish! includes 60 hexagons to create your ice floe with new artwork renditions of fish, 1 rules sheet, and 16 newly sculpted colorful and animated penguin miniatures. Can you waddle your way to dinner? Secure the best fishing ground with Hey, That’s My Fish!

Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops — all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you’re wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.

On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card — in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don’t get it — you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.

All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.

Welcome to the city of Machi Koro, the Japanese card game that is sweeping the world!

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow the sleepy town of Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and steal from your neighbors coffers (just make sure they aren’t doing the same to you)!

They say you can’t build Rome in a day, but Machi Koro will be built in under 30 minutes!

You are no simple bystander to this tragedy; the future of London lies in your hands.

The players are men of wealth and standing who own property around London. The Lord Mayor has failed to act and it is down to these mighty men to lead trained bands of militia to fight the fire and save the city. To do so they must decide which districts to sacrifice to the fire and which to protect. Remember, these same men own much of London, thus such choices will shape their own future and greatly affect their wealth and standing.

Use the trained bands to suppress the fire and explosives to destroy blocks of housing to create fire breaks and prevent its spread. Do you choose to protect your own homes, turning a blind eye and allowing the fire to consume your rival’s property? Or will you stand as the hero of London, and choose to save as much of the city as possible?

Victory can belong to the player with the most property left after the ashes settle, but stopping the fire and saving London’s most famous landmarks may win a more altruistic land owner the hearts and minds of the people.

Save the city, or watch it burn.

Raise the sail and straight on ’til morning.

How else could the honorable Henry Morgan celebrate his 30 years of governing Jamaica than with a race around the island? Gathering every Pirate and Buccaneer around, the “Great Challenge” will be a memorable race. Not to mention – what’s better than a race where you can earn some booty and shoot at your opponents? The ”Great Challenge”, that’s what!

The goal is to sail around the island of Jamaica as fast as possible, while gathering the goods required: gold for port taxes, powder for naval battles and food to eat while out on the high seas. Each time the pirates meet, they will have to fight to try and steal the contents of each other’s holds (and maybe pawn off a chest full of cursed gold at the same time).

And so, hoist up the sails and head towards Port-Royal. May the fastest and richest win!

In the game of Terror in Meeple City players each control one of the four monsters and their objective is to cause the most damage to the city while eating the Meeple citizens.

Each turn consists of choosing two actions to complete. These actions include: Movement, Attack a Building, Hurl a truck, or Monster Breath. Eating Meeples does not take an action, however, players are limited each turn by the number of teeth their monster has remaining.

The game ends when the buildings are destroyed. Buildings, Meeples eaten, and the Other Monster’s Teeth are worth points. To be victorious, players will need to use a combination of dexterity, planning, and luck.

Skull is the quintessence of bluffing, a game in which everything is played in the players’ heads. Each player plays a face-down card, then each player in turn adds one more card – until someone feels safe enough to state that he can turn a number of cards face up and get only roses. Other players can then overbid him, saying they can turn even more cards face up. The highest bidder must then turn that number of cards face up, starting with his own. If he shows only roses, he wins; if he reveals a skull, he loses, placing one of his cards out of play. Two successful challenges wins the game.

Skull & Roses is not a game of luck; it’s a game of poker face and meeting eyes.

Can you keep calm while bids are rising? Experience the exhilaration of real life auctions!

In Going, Going, GONE!, players try to win items by bidding on five simultaneous auctions while the Auctioneer counts down from 10 to 1! Players bid on these five simultaneous auctions by physically dropping their wooden cubes (known as “Bucks”) into any or all of the five transparent Auction Cups, each of which represents an auction for one or two Item Cards.

At the end of the countdown, the Auctioneer says “GONE!” and quickly places the Auction Paddle over the five Auction Cups to close the auctions. The player who has the most Bucks in each Auction Cup wins that auction and takes the Item Cards for that auction. Collections of items may be sold throughout the game for more Bucks, or players can keep building their collections to sell them at the end of the game. The player with the most Bucks at the end of the game wins!

Going, Going, GONE! is a simple-to-learn, exciting and unique game for players of all skill levels! It is ideal for playing in public spaces. Since the players control the pacing of the game and the variants used, the game adapts to the playing style of the players.

Blood Bound is a game of deduction, bluffing, and betrayal for six to twelve players. Each player belongs to one of two rival vampire clans, and fellow clan members must work together to capture the opposing clan’s leader. The catch? Identities are hidden at the start of the game, disguising ally and enemy alike. By attacking other players and forcing them to reveal information about their identity, players must distinguish friend from foe, and root out the rival leader!

Blood Bound provides a fun and fast-paced social experience. Unique abilities for each character ensure dynamic play scenarios. Ideal for larger gaming groups or parties, Blood Bound supports up to twelve players.

In Quantum, each player is a fleet commander from one of the four factions of humanity, struggling to conquer a sector of space. Every die is a starship, with the value of the die determining the movement of the ship, but also its combat power – with low numbers more powerful. So a [ 6 ] is a quick but fragile Scout and a [ 1 ] is a slow but mighty Battlestation.

Each type of ship also has a special power that can be used once per turn: Destroyers can warp space to swap places with other dice and Flagships can transport other ships. These powers can be used in combination for devastating effects. You’re not stuck with your starting ships, however: using Quantum technology, you can spend actions to transform (re-roll) your ships. Randomness plays a role in the game, but only when you want: Quantum is very much a strategy game.

You win by constructing Quantum Cubes – massive planetary energy extractors. Each time you build a new one, you can expand your fleet, earn a new permanent ability, or take a one-time special move. The board itself is made out of modular tiles, and you can play on one of the 30 layouts that come with the game or design your own. The ship powers, player abilities, and board designs combine to create a limitless set of possibilities for how to play and strategies for how to win.

With elegant mechanics, an infinity of scenarios, and easy-to-learn rules that lead to deep gameplay, Quantum is a one-of-a-kind game of space combat, strategy and colonization that will satisfy both hard-core and casual players.

Hey, That’s My Fish!

Splendor

Machi Koro

The Great Fire of London 1666

Jamaica

Terror in Meeple City

Skull

Going, Going, GONE!

Blood Bound

Quantum

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