Times have been hard. To save on money, you have moved out of your old castle, and into a luxurious ravine. You didn't like that castle anyway, it was always getting looted, and never at a reasonable hour. And if it wasn't barbarians it was the plague, or sometimes both would come at once, and there wouldn't be enough chairs. The ravine is great, you get lots of sun, and you can just drop garbage wherever you want. In your free time you have taken up begging. Begging is brilliant conceptually, but tricky in practice, since no one has any money. You beg twigs from the villagers, and they beg them back, but no one really seems to come out ahead. That's just how life is sometimes. You are quietly conquering people, minding your own business, when suddenly there's a plague, or barbarians, or everyone's illiterate, and it's all you can do to cling to some wreckage as the storm passes through. Still, you are sure that, as always, you will triumph over this adversity, or at least do slightly better than everyone else. This is the 7th addition to the game of Dominion. It is 500 cards but is not a stand-alone. It adds 35 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus new bad cards you give to other players (Ruins), new cards to replace starting estates (shelters), and cards you can only get via specific other cards. The central themes are the trash and upgrading. There are cards that do something when trashed, cards that care about the trash, cards that upgrade themselves, and ways to upgrade other cards.
This expansion to Dominion adds 25 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus 2 new Basic cards that let players keep building up past Gold and Province. The central theme is wealth; there are treasures with abilities, cards that interact with treasures, and powerful expensive cards. For 2-4 players; takes about 30 minutes to play. — As of 1/23/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 37 reviews on Amazon.com.
This is the 6th addition to the game of Dominion. It adds 26 new Kingdom cards to Dominion including 20 Actions 3 Treasures 3 Victory cards and 3 Reactions. The central theme is cards that do something immediately when you buy them or gain them. Dominion: Hinterlands is an expansion and cannot be played by itself; to play with it you need Dominion or a standalone expansion to Dominion (e.g. Dominion: Intrigue). Those provide the Basic cards you need to play (Treasure Victory and Curse cards) as well as the full rules for setup and gameplay. Dominion: Hinterlands can also be combined with any other Dominion expansions. — As of 1/02/2012 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 10 reviews on Amazon.com.
The peasants have spent a hard week scything hay in the fields, but tonight the festivities begin, starting with a sumptuous banquet of roast hay. Then, the annual nose-stealing competition. Then you have two jesters, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, both hilariously. This celebration will truly have something for everyone.This is the 5th addition to the game of Dominion. It adds 13 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus 5 unique cards. The central theme is variety; there are cards that reward you for having a variety of cards in your deck, in your hand, and in play, as well cards that help you get that variety.
In this tactical card game, players are monarchs who rule small peasant kingdoms. The players compete to enlarge their kingdoms by claiming as much land as possible. The game is for two to four players and can be played in approximately 30 minutes. — As of 1.06.2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 128 reviews on Amazon.com and was No. 29 on the top 100 bestselling toys and games. PROS: Variety keeps players entertained. CONS: Cards are easy to lose.
This game challenges two to four players/treasure hunters to beat their opponents in transporting 10 treasure pieces to a safe harbor. The hunters must watch out for other merciless pirates as they cruise the seas. Playing time is 25 to 45 minutes.
Invented by German game designer Wolfgang Kramer, this unique building and strategy game takes place amid the rolling plains of Argentina at the beginning of the 19th century. Players develop their haciendas, increasing their herds and land holdings, opening new markets and making sure to maintain water supplies and harvests. Players need to look out for competitors who may be amassing larger haciendas than themselves. The game winner is the one with the most victory points at the end. Included is one two-sided game board, 80 land cards, 72 animal cards, 80 hexagonal land tiles, a rule booklet, 5 scoring markers, 18 water tiles, 9 haciendas, 8 harvest chips, 72 money bills and 5 rule summaries.
For 2 to 6 players, this 90-minute game has players climb aboard their chosen dragon and race off across the board. Players choose their own speed secretly, which could hinder or help them because those that travel at slower speeds are more able to maneuver their dragons through perilous canyons and unpredicted road blocks. The track is made of 2-sided tiles so that players can design their own races and change them every race to keep the game fun and exciting.
Two players compete in this 20- to 40-minute game of stategy to link two opposite sides by placing and moving 19 white and 19 black pieces on a game board. The trick is to mislead one's opponent so that she doesn't catch on as to where or when the connection will be made. Otherwise, she could punk you.
Now it is time to go railroading in Europa. Just like Transamerica, players work together building a railroad network, but this time it is across Europe instead of the United States. The first to have their five cities connected winds the round - the others lose points for being too slow! After 3-4 rounds, the player with the most points wins the game!
It is 1821, and for 250 years the Philippine Islands have been under the thumb of the Spanish crown. But, in the end, the Spaniards do not really control everything. In the shadow of the colonial power, self-willed natives have established secret maritime trade with neighboring islands and the Asiatic mainland. Using odd-looking punts and fragile bamboo barks, these black market traders cram their boats with nutmeg, silk, jade, and ginseng, and set sail to smuggle them into MANILA. Succes in each venture is uncertain, as the seaworthiness of both boats and captains is poor. To add to their woes, pirates lie in wait to plunder boats that cannot escape them.
Given all this, it is not surprising that wares that reach the black markets in MANILA command high prices, making the venture worth the risk for those who succeed. The black market dealers use accomplices to ensure they get the wares, bribe pilots to aid their cargoes and hinder others, and insure their cargoes against failure. And a few wealthy merchants hire pirates to attack the black market boats and secretly pocket the profits from these raids.
Slip on the role of clever court attendant and try your luck in the court of Louis XIV.
Influence his next decrees. Relax in his radiance on his countless cushions. Bribe ministers and buy generals. Spin intrigue and spread your net in the empire of the Sun King. Every plan is right - if it works! A careful plan and provident use of information gained in the court can help you fulfill your mission -and win the game!
Together, the players build the eight wonders of the ancient world. While building together, each tries to provide the majority of the components for each wonder and collect scoring tiles. Together, these things earn the players victory points. And, the victory points determine the winner at game end.
Help! The sun is rising! In the false dawn before sunrise, the vampires search for a dark resting place for the day. But, just when you think you have found the perfect grave, you find it is already occupied. Or worse, it contains dreaded garlic!
Dawn Under is a fun game of searching and memory. It requires some thought, a lot of memory, and, perhaps, a bit of bluff. But, memory is your most important tool in your search for daytime resting places for your vampires.
Dawn Under: a family game without numbers, calculations, and scoring. It is a light, but fun game for children, but a challenging game for adults.
A large fruit salad with bananas, strawberries, lemons and plums. Each player plays a card changing the mixture in the salad. But when the salad contains exactly 5 of one fruit, the players race to be the first to ring the bell. The fastest wins all face up cards ... and the game continues until only one player has cards left - that player is the winner!
A fast-paced and thrilling party game for young and old!!!
Follow the path of those who took this legendary Jules Verne trip around the world. Do it less than 80 days and faster than your opponents and win the game. Win or lose, all will enjoy this game as you travel by train, boat, elephant, and balloon around the world.
In the wild rapids of the Niagara River, fearless canoers battle the water and each other to collect gems along the riverbank. Of course, the most valuable gems are found furthest down-river, close to the waterfall. Yes, there is a waterfall, and careless canoers can fall over the waterfall. Also, players must return collected gems to land in order to be counted. At the end, the player who collects the most value in gems is the winner.
Players play on a 3D board, representing the Niagara River and the falls. Canoes float down the river as the river flows, but players can row their canoes up-river or down-river to collect gems, to return them to shore, and to avoid the waterfall. This game is great fun for the family, but is strategic and gives players the chance to plan and steal from one another.
Today, there is chaos in the chicken yard!!! Todays practice for the chicken cha cha olympics is feather stealing. Each chicken cha chas to catch each of their opponents without being caught themself. Their reward for catching another chicken is tail feathers. The first chicken to have all tail feathers is the winner! But only a chicken who knows what is in the chicken yard will be able to catch the others and win the game. A chicken with a leaky memory will find himself standing bare-rumped and medalless when the prizes are distributed.
Gulo junior was caught by the lady vulture while attempting to steal one of her eggs and has now been arrested. There is only one thing left to do: get the family together and search for the little bugger, but they cannot resist passing a nest without stealing an egg. Whoever jumps the furthest, gets to Gulo junior first and can win the game.
An import game, Medici transforms players into competitive cargo bidders in the age of the Medici family. Seductively simple in game play but rich in strategy, this game is an interesting variation of the ultra-popular Monopoly game and a draw for the entire family. - Andrew Robinton
Rio Grande Games has released a series of board games that teach children ages 12 and up about important historical periods and figures. The board games include Nero, where kids can learn about the last of the Julio-Claudian Roman Emperors; Age of Napoleon, a games that introduces two players to the Napoleonic times; Alexandros, where players can become Alexander’s generals and control lands; The Prince, a card game in which players represent one of the great, powerful Italian families in Renaissance Italy; and Maya, a family board game set in middle America long before Cortez came to conquer the area.
It is the 1900’s and America’s railroads are booming. Each player has a set of 5 cities that he must connect with a network of railroads. The players start their networks separately, but, eventually, the networks will interconnect. When networks are connected, the players may extend the network from any place on the network they can reach. When a player’s 5 cities are connected, the round end and losing players lose points based on how far they are from connecting their cities. After several rounds, the player who has the most points, wins the game!
Carcassonne is a clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its distinctive Roman and Medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters and in the fields. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious. ― “Carcassonne is a classic tile-laying game, great for families, with several expansions,” Ed Evans, owner of All Things Fun! in West Berlin, N.J., told TDmonthly. “Carcassonne has only entered our top-10 in the last year or so. It’s considered an evergreen title in the game industry.”
The cards in this game feature some very cute animals by Doris Matthäus. It is a trick-taking game played with changing partners over several hands. In each hand, the players try to be the first to get rid of all of their cards, but there are special cards that can add or subtract from a player’s score.
Thus, players’ scores are based on how early in the hand they get rid of all their cards and what cards they take in tricks.
Four robots move in a warehouse. As they have no brakes, they must rely on obstacles such as walls and other robots to stop. From time to time, they receive a request to move to one of the 17 targets in the warehouse and they rely on the players to provide them with instructions to move to the targets. The players search for the shortest moves to the target, using one or more of the robots. The player who finds the shortest route receives the chip as a reward. The player who takes the most chips, is the winner! Any number may play this game, making it a great party game, "If you love puzzles, sci-fi B movies, or just plain off-the-wall humor, this game’s for you!" - Robin H. King, Games Magazine
