SU&SD Recommends 25 - Shut Up & Sit Down

Keyflower

Keyflower is a game for two to six players played over four rounds. Each round represents a season: spring, summer, autumn, and finally winter. Each player starts the game with a “home” tile and an initial team of eight workers, each of which is colored red, yellow, or blue. Workers of matching colors are used by the players to bid for tiles to add to their villages. Matching workers may alternatively be used to generate resources, skills and additional workers, not only from the player’s own tiles, but also from the tiles in the other players’ villages and from the new tiles being auctioned.

In spring, summer, and autumn, more workers will arrive on board the Keyflower and her sister boats, with some of these workers possessing skills in the working of the key resources of iron, stone, and wood. In each of these seasons, village tiles are set out at random for auction. In the winter, no new workers arrive, and the players select the village tiles for auction from those they received at the beginning of the game. Each winter village tile offers VPs for certain combinations of resources, skills, and workers. The player whose village and workers generate the most VPs wins the game.

Two Rooms and a Boom from Tuesday Knight Games (http://www.tuesdayknightgames.com/tworoomsandaboom) – a social deduction/hidden role party game for six or more players – there are two teams: the Red Team and the Blue Team. The Blue Team has a President. The Red Team has a Bomber. Players are equally distributed between two rooms (i.e., separate playing areas). The game consists of five timed rounds. At the end of each round, some players will be swapped into opposing rooms. If the Red Team’s Bomber is in the same room as the President at the end of the game, then the Red Team wins; otherwise the Blue Team wins. Lying encouraged.

Assuming the role of one of the greatest sorcerers of the time, you will be participating in the legendary tournament of the 12 Seasons.

Your goal is to raise the most victory points by gathering energy, summoning familiars and magic items. If you amass enough crystals and symbols of prestige, you will become the kingdom’s most illustrious mage. Optimize the cards through skilful combinations, using the seasons wisely to access the energies of crystals and become the the new Archmage of the kingdom of Xidit.

In a first phase, select 9 power cards at the same time as your opponents. Do the right choices, because they will determine the rest of the game. Acclimatize to the season to make the most of the actions proposed by each roll of the dice! Collect energies, invoke magical and familiar objects, and collect enough crystals, symbols of prestige.

Sekigahara is a simple 3-hour block game based on the campaign in 1600 that unified Japan. Hidden information on blocks & cards, but no dice. Cards are not events (this isn’t a typical “card-driven wargame”) but rather motivation (suited by clan). Units fight only when a matching card is produced.

Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys, hawkers, shouting merchants, dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money, and prostitutes – called “the wretched” – on every street corner.

The board game Letters from Whitechapel, which plays in 90-150 minutes, takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper, and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play, Jack the Ripper, the Policemen, and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel’s streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles, while policemen move on their patrols between crossings, and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles.

Toc Toc is a fun, fast-paced game of dexterity that many have described as a “Reverse Jenga”. With over 10,000 copies sold in Korea, this hit game is now taking the US by storm! Play from 2-7 players as you become a woodman (or woman) trying to take down some bark (+1 point each) without knocking off the center pieces (-5 points each).

You get 2 chops with the axe each turn and the game continues until all the bark is gone!

The railways of today are amazing things and bullet trains, freight trains and more keep entire countries running. From transporting the populace to carrying essential materials, trains play an integral part in a nation’s power and economic development.

You will start with a small set of cards, but by building a more effective deck throughout the game, you will be able to place stations and lay rails over the maps of Osaka or Tokyo. Gain enough points from your railways and you will ultimately manage the most powerful railroads in modern Japan!

This English edition of Trains, designed by Hisashi Hayashi, features updated graphics, artwork, and streamlined card abilities. With extensive replay value, Trains is one game you won’t want to leave the station without!

You are a team of adventurers – trapped in a cursed temple. Together you must activate the magic gems in the temple chambers in order to banish the curse.

Look out for one another. Some tasks can be accomplished only as a team – and you have only 10 minutes before the temple collapses!

Escape is a cooperative real-time game, that is not played in rounds. Instead, each player rolls as quickly and as often as he can with his five dice.

The dice determine your fate:

Discover the different temple chambers by rolling the correct dice combinations. Take care, though, because if you fall under the spell of the Black Mask, you‘ll need the help of the Golden Mask and your team-mates in order to keep moving!

Act together:

If several adventurers are together in one chamber, you‘ll activate more magic gems faster!

Two modules make Escape even more exciting: The modules “Curses” and “Treasures“ make gameplay even more varied. The treasures aid you whereas the curses make escape more difficult. After all, an adventurer who is unable to talk or who must roll his dice with one hand stuck on top of his head will have a tough time working with his team!

The 10-minute soundtrack enhances the exciting atmosphere of the temple adventure!

In this collaboration between Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc, players must buy the favor of the gods in their race to be the first player to build two cities in the Ancient Greek island group known as the Cyclades.

Victory requires respect for all the gods – players cannot afford to sacrifice to only one god, but must pay homage to each of five gods in turn. Each turn, the players bid for the favors of the gods, as only one player can have the favor of each god per turn – and each player is also limited to the favor of a single god per turn.

Mobilize your fingers for the ultimate six-sided skirmish! Field an army of cubes and then place them strategically on the board. Each cube has special powers: Strikers and Skulks are strong on the attack, while Grunts are better for defense. Once your cubes are in position, sound the trumpets and let the flicking begin! Try to knock your opponent’s king off the board, aiming carefully not to get caught behind enemy lines. Triumph in your quest and crown yourself the Cube King!

We love finding games that are easy to teach, different every time you play and challenging to master. Brothers Oliver and Gary Sibthorpe created just that type of mix with Cube Quest – a game that perfectly meshes strategy with skill. You can tell that they put many hours into perfecting this balance evidence by the unique group of cubes included within. Be sure to experiment with different mixes of cubes as well as formations. Send us pictures of your favorite formations, along with stories of thrilling moves and victories!

Keyflower

Two Rooms and a Boom

Seasons

Sekigahara

Letters from Whitechapel

Toc Toc Woodman

Trains

Escape: The Curse of the Temple

Cyclades

Cube Quest

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