Dragon’s Gold

Dragon's Gold

In Dragon’s Gold, each player controls a team of dragon hunters (two knights, a thief, and a wizard). Like all dragon hunters, they have only one goal: gold, silver, jewels and magic objects. As for actually killing a dragon? It’s a piece of cake. But the most difficult part comes after the dragon is dead: the adventuring party has to figure out how to share the spoils.

As soon as a dragon is overpowered, then some additional gems are revealed, and the players who had participated in that hunting party start a negotiation over how to divvy up the gems. If the sixty-second sand timer runs out, then no one gets treasure. When all of the dragons have been slain and the treasure claimed or discarded, the game ends and players score for their holdings, with silver and magic objects worth 1 point each, gold worth 3, the Black Diamond worth 7, and the colored gems scoring 10-15 points for those players who hold more than everyone else. (In the Advanced game, the colored gems score 8-12 points in addition to a variety bonus of 5 points for each set of different colored gems a player holds. The Black Diamond is worth 19 points [in the 2011 edition], but negates a player’s score for all colored gems.)

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Cyclades: Titans

Cyclades: Titans

In the Cyclades archipelago, tension has reached a boiling point. The conflict is now focused mainly on two large neighboring islands. With the help of the Gods, there are now 6 great cities of ancient Greece fighting for supremacy.

Now, more than ever, the war is raging. And on top of all that, Kronos decided to join the party, and with him comes a horde of Titans, ready to anihilate everything in their path…

The Titans expansion allows for up to 6 players, and offers 2 game modes: Everyone for himself, just like in the base game. With 4 or 6 players: teams of two!

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Anomia

Anomia

Have you ever considered that our minds are positively brimming with all sorts of random information? Soap brands, pop songs, sports teams…the list is endless! Normally, it’s easy to give an example of a dog breed, a frozen food, or a fairy tale character – but be warned; you’ll find that your brain works a little differently under pressure!

Anomia is simple. Players flip cards in turn until the symbols on two players’ cards match. Matching players must race to give an example of the category on their opponent’s card. Whoever blurts out a correct answer first wins their opponent’s card, and drawing continues. Sounds easy, right? Think again! Wild cards create unexpected matches, and face-offs can cascade when you lose a card, revealing a new match. Pay attention – it could be your turn at any time!

Fast moving and hilarious, Anomia will have everyone roaring with laughter as they try to beat each other to the punch! Winner of multiple awards, including the Mensa Select Seal, ASTRA’s Best Toys for Kids, Major Fun’s Party and Word Games Awards, Dr. Toys Best Vacation Products, and the National Parenting Seal of Approval.

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The Great Fire of London 1666

The Great Fire of London 1666

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.

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Skull

Skull

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.

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Rex: Final Days of an Empire

Rex: Final Days of an Empire

Rex: Final Days of an Empire, a reimagined version of Dune set in Fantasy Flight’s Twilight Imperium universe, is a board game of negotiation, betrayal, and warfare in which 3-6 players take control of great interstellar civilizations, competing for dominance of the galaxy’s crumbling imperial city. Set 3,000 years before the events of Twilight Imperium, Rex tells the story of the last days of the Lazax empire, while presenting players with compelling asymmetrical racial abilities and exciting opportunities for diplomacy, deception, and tactical mastery.

In Rex: Final Days of an Empire, players vie for control of vital locations across a sprawling map of the continent-sized Mecatol City. Only by securing three key locations (or more, when allied with other factions) can a player assert dominance over the heart of a dying empire.

Unfortunately, mustering troops in the face of an ongoing Sol blockade is difficult at best (unless, of course, you are the Federation of Sol or its faithless ally, the Hacan, who supply the blockading fleet). Savvy leaders must gather support from the local populace, uncover hidden weapon caches, and acquire control over key institutions. Mechanically, this means players must lay claim to areas that provide influence, which is then “spent” to (among other things) smuggle military forces through the orbiting Sol blockade. Those forces will be needed to seize the key areas of the city required to win the game. From the moment the first shot is fired, players must aggressively seek the means by which to turn the conflict to their own advantage.

While the great races struggle for supremacy in the power vacuum of a dead emperor, massive Sol warships execute their devastating bombardments of the city below. Moving systematically, the Federation of Sol’s fleet of warships wreaks havoc on the planet’s surface, targeting great swaths of the game board with their destructive capabilities. Only the Sol’s own ground forces have forewarning of the fleet’s wrath; all others must seek shelter in the few locations with working defensive shields…or be obliterated in the resulting firestorm.

Although open diplomacy and back-door dealmaking can often mitigate the need for bloodshed, direct combat may prove inevitable. When two or more opposing forces occupy the same area, a battle results. Each player’s military strength is based on the sum total of troops he is willing to expend, along with the strength rating of his chosen leader. A faction’s leaders can therefore be vitally important in combat…but beware! One or more of your Leaders may secretly be in the employ of an enemy, and if your forces in combat are commanded by such a traitor, defeat is all but assured. So whether on the field of battle or the floor of the Galactic Council, be careful in whom you place your trust.

All this, along with a host of optional rules and additional variants, means that no two games of Rex: Final Days of an Empire will play exactly alike. Contributing further to replayability is the game’s asymmetrical faction abilities, each of which offer a unique play experience.

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Cutthroat Caverns

Cutthroat Caverns

A perfect balance of cooperative gameplay and back-stabbing goodness.

An artifact of untold power lies in your hands. To claim it, you must escape the caverns alive. No less than nine horrific beasts stand in your way – that, and the greed of the other players.

In this game of kill-stealing, you decide whether to swing for a whopping 50 points of damage – or hold back, awaiting a more opportune time to strike. Only the final blow matters if you are to score the kill. Hold back or sabotage other’s plans too much – and the entire party will die, without a winner.

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Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal at the House on the Hill

Build a House of Terror. Tile by Tile.

It’s never the same game twice. As one of twelve mysterious characters, you’ll explore a house filled with deadly secrets. As you play, you’ll build the house. But beware! One of your fellow players will betray you. The traitor will test your sanity as you use all your skills to survive.

With fifty fiendish scenarios, Betrayal at House on the Hill puts you face-to-face with legendary monsters, modern nightmares … and your friends.

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Space Cadets

Space Cadets

It”s your lifelong dream – to join the Star Patrol and be part of the crew of an interstellar Starship. You”ve worked hard, graduated from the Academy, and received your first assignment as part of a team of young recruits, confident in your training and ready to be put to the test.

Nothing can possibly go wrong…

You”ve been prepared for anything…

You are the Space Cadets.

Space Cadets is the highly-anticipated cooperative game from the famous Engelstein Design Family (Brian, Sydney, and Geoff Engelstein). It is your first voyage aboard one of the best starships in Star Patrol. Taking control of one of the bridge stations, you are sure that this mission will be an easy one…where nothing can go wrong… yeah… right…

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Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

The Cylons were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies. And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared and the Cylons left for another world to call their own.

Forty years later, they returned, and brought humanity to the brink of extinction. The remaining humans, led by the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, fled in hope of finding a new home, one known by legend as Earth.

Humanity’s only hope lies in finding Earth’s location while fighting off the unrelenting Cylons. But as resources run low, it is discovered that the enemy can now appear human and has infiltrated the fleet from the inside.

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game provides a unique gaming experience. Unlike most games where players win individually, Battlestar Galactica is a cooperative game, with the added complication that one or more of the players is a secret Cylon traitor – your entire side will win or lose, and you might not even be certain who is on your side until the game ends!

Each player is secretly assigned his or her loyalty at the start of the game. Players will either be loyal to the humans, or to the Cylons. Humans and Cylons have specific and conflicting winning objectives. The human players win by reaching Kobol, but the Galactica will be be threatened by a host of challenges along the way. Only through the cooperation of the humans will the ship (and fleet) survive. The Cylon player(s) wins by either destroying the Galactica with attacks from the Cylon fleet, or, through sabotage, by reducing one of the necessary resources (Food, Fuel, Population, or Morale) to zero.

Either all of the humans win together, or all of the Cylons win together…but both sides must figure out who they can trust in order to achieve victory.

Players’ identities are secret and no one will know for certain at the beginning of the game who they can trust. Keep your eyes open and watch how the other players play. Can you trust them to watch out for Humanity’s interests? Or are they Cylons bent on destroying Humanity?

If your gaming group enjoys highly-thematic political intrigue, and can handle some good-natured infighting and backstabbing, you’ll enjoy Battlestar Galactica.

If you like playing a game where there is a continuous challenge, and victory is always a very close call, Battlestar Galactica is for you.

If you’re a fan of the hit Sci Fi Channel show, and want to simulate the twists and turns on your game table, then Battlestar Galactica is the game you have been waiting for!

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