13 + 3 - Shut Up & Sit Down

Above and Below

Your last village was ransacked by barbarians. You barely had time to pick up the baby and your favorite fishing pole before they started the burning and pillaging. You wandered over a cruel desert, braved frozen peaks, and even paddled a log across a rough sea, kicking at the sharks whenever they got too close, the baby strapped tightly to your back.

Then you found it! The perfect place to make your new home. But as soon as you had the first hut built, you discovered a vast network of caverns underground, brimming with shiny treasures, rare resources, and untold adventure. How could you limit your new village to the surface? You immediately start organizing expeditions and building houses underground as well as on the surface.

With any luck, you’ll build a village even stronger than your last– strong enough, even, to turn away the barbarians the next time they come knocking.

Above and Below is a mashup of town-building and storytelling where you and up to three friends compete to build the best village above and below ground. In the game, you send your villagers to perform jobs like exploring the cave, harvesting resources, and constructing houses. Each villager has unique skills and abilities, and you must decide how to best use them. You have your own personal village board, and you slide the villagers on this board to various areas to indicate that they’ve been given jobs to do. Will you send Hanna along on the expedition to the cave? Or should she instead spend her time teaching important skills to one of the young villagers?

A great cavern lies below the surface, ready for you to explore– this is where the storytelling comes in. When you send a group of villagers to explore the depths, one of your friends reads what happens to you from a book of paragraphs. You’ll be given a choice of how to react, and a lot will depend on which villagers you brought on the expedition, and who you’re willing to sacrifice to succeed. The book of paragraphs is packed with encounters of amazing adventure, randomly chosen each time you visit the cavern.

At the end of the game, the player with the most well-developed village wins!

The world of Arctic Scavengers pits players against one another in an attempt to survive a post-apocalyptic ice age. As the competing tribes developed and grew, headquarters were established for each tribe (supported via the HQ expansion included with the Arctic Scavengers base game from Rio Grande Games).

As the tribes have evolved further and struggled for dominance, information has become the most valuable currency. In the new world mapped out in Arctic Scavengers: Recon, deception reigns, leading to a need for reconnaissance. This expansion adds new tribe leader roles, new mercenaries, new equipment, and new levels of player interaction (i.e., new ways to make your opponents feel pain).

Arctic Scavengers: Recon comes with a plastic insert to organize the cards (including those from the base game and HQ expansion) for ease in play set-up.

France 1429 is a game of dynastic ambition, where players assume the roles of nobles in the 15th century Kingdom of France. Each player strives to become the most powerful ruling force in the Kingdom by gaining control of Fief and Bishopric territories. In turn, they acquire Royal and Ecclesiastical (church) titles which give their families influence to elect the next Pope and King. Players strengthen their positions by negotiating marriage alliances between their families, setting the stage for love treachery and deception!

Funemployed is the satirical job application party game for 3 or more players. Make your best pitch for different jobs using four qualifications not fit for any real job interview. Creativity and the ability to spin a good story are key. It is tricky to justify your “burrito” qualification when applying for the job of astronaut.

After all players have had their “interview,” the interviewer selects the person who created the best story out of their qualifications. That person wins the card and a new round starts.

It’s not always easy to explain why Fairy Dust, Jacked Forearms, Treats, and a Time Machine make you the most qualified to be a Competitive Eater, but we have faith you can do it.

In For the Crown, you must gather key resources, train an army from scratch, and capture the rival King and Heirs to prove your claim to the throne!

In this game that combines the highly popular “deck-building” mechanic with the most engrossing variations of Chess, do you have what it takes to wisely divide your attention between preparations and military maneuvering? To outpace your opponent’s development while eluding capture? Strategize your position and seize glory in For the Crown!

Mysterious murders, mad scientists, and secret codes: take on the roles of Edgar P. Jacobs’ famous characters and solve these strange cases to bring about order and justice.

But take care! The villainous Olrik is on the prowl and he’ll try to foil your plans.

Mandrake root and scorpion tail; spongy mushroom and warty toad — these are the foundations of the alchemist’s livelihood, science, and art.

But what arcane secrets do these strange ingredients hide? Now it is time to find out. Mix them into potions and drink them to determine their effects — or play it safe and test the concoction on a helpful assistant! Gain riches selling potions to wandering adventurers and invest these riches in powerful artifacts. As your knowledge grows, so will your reputation, as you publish your theories for all to see. Knowledge, wealth, and fame can all be found in the murky depths of the alchemist’s cauldron.

In Bring Your Own Book, players take turns drawing prompts from the deck, then race to find the best phrase in their own book that satisfies the prompt.

Everyone has a book and sits in a circle. The cards are placed face-down in the middle. The starting player should also have a 1-minute timer. Each player gets four cards (with 5-7 players) or five cards (with 3-4). The starting player takes the top card off the deck, picks a prompt, and reads it aloud. Everyone except the Picker searches their book for text to match the prompt. They’re seeking for sequential text of any length: a single word, half of a sentence, a whole sentence, multiple sentences.

The first Seeker to find matching text announces “I’ve got it” and starts the timer. When the timer runs out (or every Seeker announces “I’ve got it”), each Seeker reads what they’ve found. Seekers who didn’t find text in time open to a random page and read a random sentence from it.

The Picker chooses their favorite submission and awards that Reader the card. After each round, the person to the left of the last Picker starts the next round. Once any player reaches three cards, everyone passes their book to the player on their left. This happens any time a player reaches three cards during the game. As such, it can happen as many times as there are players. It is quite possible for players to pass until they have their original book back.

The game proceeds until one player reaches the set number of cards. With 5-7 players, four cards wins it; with 3-4 players, it’s better to play to five.

In Last Will: Getting Sacked, the lawyers have found a hidden clause in your uncle’s last will. Spending money faster than all your relatives will not be enough. To inherit your Uncle’s fortune, you must also lose your job! After all, your Uncle’s heritage can’t go to someone who’s employed!

You will also have a chance to find yourself a good, demanding wife. A wedding is such a romantic way to spend piles of money in a hurry, right? The expansion has 6 nuptial cards. So get down on one knee and ask the question!

Also, with this expansion, each game can have a different planning board to bring additional variety to the game. When you set up the game boards, you randomly select the 8 plan tiles that will be used in the game.

The Sheriff of Nottingham is a fun and engaging game for all where each player will have the chance to step into the shoes of the Sheriff himself! Other players, acting as Merchants will attempt to bring their goods into the city for profit. Beware though, while many may act as honest merchants, there is always the possibility of contraband being smuggled into the city!

Experience Nottingham in a whole new way! Declare your goods, deal with the Sheriff and secure victory in a fun-filled and exciting adventure!

Above and Below

Arctic Scavengers: Recon

Fief: France 1429

Funemployed

For the Crown (2nd edition)

Witness

Alchemists

Bring Your Own Book

Last Will: Getting Sacked

Sheriff of Nottingham

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