Tobago

Tobago

An adventure game in which the players all possess different parts of treasure maps, Tobago has everyone hunting for buried riches. Gradually, more and more information about the locations of the treasures are revealed and their possible locations narrowed down. When a player identifies the location of one of the treasures, they try to reach it as fast as possible to secure whatever might be buried there.

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K2

K2

K2 is a board game in which each player controls a team of two mountaineers. Their objective, to reach to the summit of K2 and return before anyone else… and without the mountain killing them. Every player uses an identical deck of cards to move their climbers or to acclimatize them to the cold. It’s a deadly mountain and staying alive is not going to be easy.

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Survive: Escape From Atlantis!

Survive: Escape From Atlantis!

This is a true classic, and now brought back by Stronghold Games with completely upgraded components, and now in a 30th Anniversary Edition!

In “Survive”, you try to lead your Explorers from the sinking central island of Atlantis to the safety of one of four islands nearby. Your Explorers can get there quickly by boat (if they find one) or more slowly by swimming. But it will be a perilous journey as they must avoid Sea Serpents, Whales, and Sharks! When the volcano on Atlantis explodes, the game is over. The player with the most Explorer points wins!

As compared to its previous versions from other publishers, all of the components for “Survive” have been upgraded to the highest-quality levels, including slotted wood boats to carry the Explorer tokens, as well as Land Tiles of 3 different thicknesses to give Atlantis a 3-D look.

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Bang!

This card game recreates an old-fashioned spaghetti western shoot-out, with each player randomly receiving a character card to determine their special abilities, and a secret Role card to determine their goal. The Sheriff has to clean out the town, with the aid of their hidden deputy, while the Outlaws must take down the law. The Renegade? Well, they’re all on their own…

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Jungle Speed

Jungle Speed

In Jungle Speed, you must rely on your keen sense of observation and quick reflexes. It requires a steady hand — which can be hard to maintain during the many fits of maniacal laughter! The wooden Totem sits in the middle of the table, waiting for the player with the fastest reflexes to snatch it up and win the game.

Each player is dealt a hand of cards. In order to win you must be the first player to get rid of all of your cards. Each turn, all of the players reveal one of their cards. If two cards are identical, those players must make a grab for the Totem. The faster player then gives their cards to their unfortunate adversary.

To add to the difficulty, certain cards are almost identical, which can trick a hapless player into grabbing the Totem by mistake — a grave error. Other cards force all players to make a grab at once, change the method of play, or otherwise add to the difficulty.

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SU&SD’s Best Games For Your Family

Bang!

Paul: Like a snowman at the door, having a wank through your letterbox, Christmas is coming fast. Everyone and their dog is going to be asking for board games and hoping to unwrap something special but, but not everything that you ask for is going to be suited to families.

Does your brother want to play Twilight Imperium for eight hours? Does your dad understand how the Ambush card works in Memoir ‘44? Will your mum flip the table again if she loses another game of Space Hulk?

Here, then, are Shut Up & Sit Down’s recommendations for games your family can play at Christmas. These are all games with rules you can learn in just a few minutes, and won’t keep you returning to the manual. Some are simple, some are smart, some are physical and some are outright dangerous. But they’re all terribly, terribly good fun.

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Games News! 09/12/13

Coin Age

Quinns: Hello! Is it time for Games News? I feel so jetlagged that this is quite likely to be a terrible dream. Any second I’ll wake up still on the plane, one of my eyes gummed shut, the overweight man on my right having spilled an entire vodka miniature in my crotch.

Best to just enjoy this reality while it lasts, with its crunchy toast, hot coffee and board game news.

First up is the mighty Eurogamer, which has published a couple of articles about Chess 2 and Pandante, games that attempt to “fix” chess and poker, respectively.

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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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Review: Cutthroat Caverns

Review: Cutthroat Caverns

Would you like to come on an ADVENTURE? Get some treasure, some glory, back home in time for tea?

So you’ll come? …What’s that? Oh, nowhere special. Just the Cutthroat Caverns. No! Come back! It’s only a name!

What about you, dear reader? Will you join us? If you’re brave enough, you’ll see there’s an awful lot of fun to be had in those dingy, treacherous caverns. Assuming you’re just a bit of a jerk.

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Podcast #12: Quinns’ Holiday Crush

Our very TWELFTH podcast has arrived! Twelfth doesn’t look like a proper word, does it? Twelfth. What are all those consonants doing? It sounds like a Lovecraft monster. So: Quinns is back from Board Game Geek con, and he’s fit to BURST with news of Nordic LARP, sinister physical games and a board game designer … Read more

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