As aurora borealis fills the night sky with fantastical light, and the eyes of those who came before look upon you, it has fallen on you to lead your village to power and prosperity. Now is the time to grow in numbers and strength, to build, to hunt, to look to the spirits of the … Read more
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The Imomushi silkworms can live only in the cold peaks of the Akaishi Mountains, and they produce the most delicate and expensive silk in the world. Very few people can withstand the hardships of the lonesome life a shepherd of giant silkworms leads. It is a solitary existence that requires great dedication and strength of character to bear the pressures that stem from competing with the few other shepherds who fight over the scarce but desirable feeding grounds, while keeping the fearsome ookamy at bay.
Silk is a gateway game into area control and worker placement systems. Players have to move their silkworms to the optimal spaces so they can feed on the best grass available, while pushing the other players’ pieces into less desirable feeding grounds. In this game, players roll dice in order to determine which actions they are allowed to perform during their turn. There are six types of actions available: breeding more silkworms, moving the shepherd or their mastiff, building fences or farms, moving the ookami monster around the board, and — most importantly — getting your silkworms to feed. When silkworms feed, they generate a number of silk points, depending on the type of terrain they are standing on at that moment. These points can be used to modify the outcome of a dice roll, all while keeping in mind that the player with the most silk points at the end of the game wins!
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The players slip into the role of rich patricians in ancient Rome. Everyone is trying to build a lucrative city district to score as many prestige points as possible. The novel way to get to the individual buildings of a district combined with a large variety of score cards make for an unusual game with a large number of strategies. From the successful designer, Stefan Feld.
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In Fuji, you play as a group of adventurers on their way to Japan‘s most famous volcano, Mount Fuji. But just before you arrive at your destination, the earth begins to shake and the volcano erupts! Now your group must escape the deadly lava flows as quickly as possible to reach the safe village.
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The City Council recently approved the zoning map for a new urban development — The Estates — featuring high-end infrastructure and a modern atmosphere for its citizens. Soon after, the banks awarded millions of dollars in loans to six real estate investment firms to help develop this new area. The zoning map for The Estates calls for two rows of four buildings each, located between the River and Main Street. The meadows on the other side of the River are to remain a recreational area for the City.
But, with hopes of larger profits, investors and building tycoons entirely ignore the City Council’s demands and begin developing three rows of buildings instead. The Mayor catches wind of the potential for profit and begins planning a new mansion in The Estates, which would double the value of one of the building rows! With some sketchy building permits, investors begin developing buildings on the other side of the River, beyond the designated building zone. However, the City Council takes rigorous steps to put an end to the racketeering with an ultimatum: As soon as the first two rows are completed, the buildings in the uncompleted row will be torn down, resulting in a huge loss for all who invested there. At the end of the day, the investor with the highest-valued buildings will come out on top.
The players take on the role of investors seeking to make the most money by developing buildings in The Estates. Players will bid for the various building pieces and place them in The Estates to their benefit. All buildings in completed rows score positive points, while all buildings in incomplete rows score negative points. It is possible to have zero completed rows of buildings.
A game of The Estates lasts around 40 minutes and can be played in several rounds to experience a shifting economy.
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Wage war against opponents on a hexagonal board. Prepare your armies to face off on the battlefield and surprise your enemy with your choice of special abilities!
Monolith Arena is a fantasy battleground board game built around the base engine of Neuroshima Hex, which is also from designer Michał Oracz. The game includes four factions, with unique abilities and units! Each player has a monolith that serves as their headquarters, and each player seeds their monolith with three tokens that provide special abilities. When an opponent damages your monolith, you remove the top layer to expose the first token, gaining its special ability, so being attacked can actually make you stronger — albeit while still moving you toward defeat…
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Now Boarding is a real-time cooperative game in which you work together to fly a fleet of airplanes. You must deliver all the passengers to their destinations before they get too angry — and new passengers are constantly arriving! Upgrade your plane to fly faster and carry more passengers to handle the load. The twist: All players take all their turns at the same time! This allows for clever hand-offs of passengers. It’s a whole new level of pick-up-and-deliver game.
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Enter a world where anything is possible in KeyForge! In the center of the universe hangs the Crucible, an artificial world built from the pieces of countless planets. Here, in the world’s first Unique Deck Game, created by legendary designer Richard Garfield, two players step into the roles of mighty Archons, racing to forge keys that unlock the Crucible’s hidden Vaults.
Leading their diverse teams, filled with followers from three of the Crucible’s great Houses, the Archons must gather Æmber, stave off their opponent’s progress, and ultimately be the first to open a Vault and gain its incredible knowledge. With a vast array of creatures, artifacts, and abilities and over 104 quadrillion possible decks, every deck is completely one-of-a-kind, and no two battles will ever be the same!
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THE GAMEPLAY
Street Masters is a 1-4 player cooperative miniatures board game inspired by classic fighting video games. Featuring over 65 highly detailed miniatures, unique decks for fighters & enemies, custom dice, and lightning-fast gameplay, Street Masters lets players match up powerful fighters against villainous organizations in a wide array of exciting scenarios. Designed by Adam Sadler and Brady Sadler, the game offers modular and elegant gameplay set in a unique and exciting world of brutal combat.
THE STORY
Warriors from around the world, known for their legendary fighting abilities and skills, receive mysterious invitations to participate in a martial arts tournament. During the tournament, the organization surrounding it reveals their true identity — The Kingdom — and their purpose to recruit fighters to join their militia or enslave those against them. While several of these warriors made it out in time, many were never heard from again.
Five years later, a government project called “Street Masters” initiates in order to counter-act the war against The Kingdom, now having divided and seized control over the world by several of its factions. Those who join the Street Masters project must work together to take down each faction, crippling parts of The Kingdom before they’re able to launch their end game.
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In war-torn feudal Japan, the soldiers are restless. The endless battles, betrayals, and broken promises have the soldiers questioning where their loyalties lie. Meanwhile, the daimyo are strategising, marshalling their troops, and erecting strongholds to bolster the strength of their armies, all in pursuit of honour and ultimate victory.
In Gunkimono, players take on the roles of these daimyo, plotting their military advances across the countryside. Each new squad of troops yields victory points, but you may decide to forgo these points and save up for your stronghold instead. All the while, you need to keep an eye on your opponents so that their forces do not grow too large and expand at your expense.
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