All reviews and game descriptions in this handout were taken
from www.gameboygeek.com unless otherwise noted.
NOTE:
P: Number of Players
A: Recommended Age
T: Play Time
Splendor is a game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance
trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If
you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will
further increase your prestige.
On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you
collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card,
you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card—in order to make sure you get it,
or, why not, your opponents don't get it—you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round,
but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem. All of the cards you buy increase your
wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order
to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do. P: 2 to 4 A: 10+
T: 30 min.
The harvest is in, and the artisans are hard at work preparing for the upcoming festival. Decorate the
palace lake with floating lanterns and compete to become the most honored artisan when the festival
begins. In Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, players have a hand of tiles depicting various color
arrangements of floating lanterns, as well as an inventory of individual lantern cards of specific colors.
When you place a tile, all players (you and your opponents) receive a lantern card corresponding to the
color on the side of the tile facing them. Place carefully to earn cards and other bonuses for yourself, while
also looking to deny your opponents. Players gain honor by dedicating sets of lantern cards. The player
with the most honor at the end of the game wins. P: 2 to 4
A: 8+
T: 30 min.
A long time ago at the Japanese Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear as a
symbol of peace to the Japanese Emperor. Since then, the Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court
members (the players) with the difficult task of caring for the animal by tending to his bamboo garden.
In Takenoko, the players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of
bamboo (Green, Yellow, and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo
garden. They will have to bear with the immoderate hunger of this sacred animal for the juicy and
tender bamboo. The player who manages his land plots best, growing the most bamboo while feeding the delicate
appetite of the panda, will win the game. P: 2 to 4
A: 8+
T: 45 min.
With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes, while providing
players with intense strategic and tactical decisions every turn. Players collect cards of various types of
train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more
points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that
connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route. "The rules are
simple enough to write on a train ticket – each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get
additional Destination Tickets," says Ticket to Ride author, Alan R. Moon. "The tension comes from being forced to
balance greed – adding more cards to your hand, and fear – losing a critical route to a competitor. Ticket to Ride
continues in the tradition of Days of Wonder's big format board games featuring high-quality illustrations and
components including: an oversize board map of North America, 225 custom-molded train cars, 144 illustrated cards,
and wooden scoring markers. P: 2 to 5 A: 8+
T: 30 to 60 min.
In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a
selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards
to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly,
striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end. The game comes with
500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play—leading to immense
variety.
P: 2 to 4 A: 14+
T: 30 min.
In Catan (formerly The Settlers of Catan), players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by
building settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine what resources the island
produces. Players collect these resources (cards)—wood, grain, brick, sheep, or stone—to build up their
civilizations to get to 10 victory points and win the game... A turn consists of possibly playing a
development card, rolling the dice, everyone (perhaps) collecting resource cards based on the roll and
position of houses (or upgraded cities—think: hotels) unless a 7 is rolled, turning in resource cards (if
possible and desired) for improvements, trading cards at a port, and trading resource cards with other players. If a 7 is
rolled, the active player moves the robber to a new hex tile and steals resource cards from other players who have built
structures adjacent to that tile. Points are accumulated by building settlements and cities, having the longest road and
the largest army (from some of the development cards), and gathering certain development cards that simply award
victory points. When a player has gathered 10 points (some of which may be held in secret), he announces his total and
claims the win. Catan has won multiple awards and is one of the most popular games in recent history due to its
amazing ability to appeal to experienced gamers as well as those new to the hobby.
P: 3 to 4
A: 10+
T: 60 min.
Cartagena takes as its theme the famous 1672 pirate-led jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena.
Each player has a group of six pirates, and you want to be the first to have all six escape through the
tortuous underground passage that connects the fortress to the port, where a sloop is waiting for
them. To move a pirate, you need to play a card from your hand. Each card bears one of six
symbols (dagger, pirate hat, etc.), and when you play a card, you move one of your pirates forward
to the next matching symbol in the tunnel, leapfrogging over matching symbols where another pirate already stands.
The only way to get more cards, however, is to move backwards; more specifically, you move one of your pirates
backwards to the first space that holds one or two pirates, drawing one or two cards after doing so. Each turn, you take
1-3 actions, whether moving forward or backward or both. When you move a pirate to the end of the track, it jumps on
the sloop where it must await the other pirates in its crew. With every step toward victory, though, you have fewer and
fewer pirates to move each turn, possibly locking you in to actions you don't want, so be sure to plan ahead and not
leave yourself empty-handed! P: 2 to 5
A: 13+
T: 45 min.
Carcassonne is a tile-placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of
southern French landscape on it. The tile might feature a city, a road, a cloister, grassland or some
combination thereof, and it must be placed adjacent to tiles that have already been played, in such a
way that cities are connected to cities, roads to roads, etcetera. Having placed a tile, the player can
then decide to place one of his meeples on one of the areas on it: on the city as a knight, on the road as
a robber, on a cloister as a monk, or on the grass as a farmer. When that area is complete, that meeple
scores points for its owner. During a game of Carcassonne, players are faced with decisions like: "Is it
really worth putting my last meeple there?" or "Should I use this tile to expand my city, or should I
place it near my opponent instead, giving him a hard time to complete his project and score points?" Since players place
only one tile and have the option to place one meeple on it, turns proceed quickly even if it is a game full of options and
possibilities.
P: 2 to 5
A: 7+
T: 35 min.
Welcome to the city of Machi Koro. You've just been elected Mayor. Congrats! Unfortunately the
citizens have some pretty big demands: jobs, a theme park, a couple of cheese factories and maybe
even a radio tower. A tough proposition since the city currently consists of a wheat field, a bakery
and a single die. Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the
largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and
steal from your neighbors' coffers. Just make sure they aren't doing the same to you! Machi Koro is a
fast-paced game for 2-4 players. Each player wants to develop the city on his own terms in order to
complete all of the landmarks under construction faster than his rivals. On his turn, each player rolls one or two dice. If
the sum of the dice rolled matches the number of a building that a player owns, he gets the effect of that building; in
some cases opponents will also benefit from your die (just as you can benefit from theirs). Then, with money in hand a
player can build a landmark or a new building, ideally adding to the wealth of his city on future turns. The first player to
construct all of his landmarks wins!
P: 2 to 4
A: 10+
T: 30 min.
The World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago was a spectacular international exhibition that showcased many
great achievements in science, technology, culture, and entertainment. Acting as organizers of the fair,
players work diligently to increase their influence throughout the fair and obtain the grand exhibits that
will be put on display. The organizer who has earned the best reputation when the fair begins will
emerge the victor. On each turn of World's Fair 1893, the active player sends a supporter to one of the
five areas and gathers all of the cards by it. New cards are then added to some of the areas, and the
next player takes a turn. The five areas represent sections of exhibits, like Fine Arts and Electricity.
Some cards represent exhibit proposals in one of those five areas, others represent influential people who give you
bonus supporters, and other cards represent tickets for attractions and concessions along the Midway. The game
consists of three scoring rounds, each triggered when players collectively gather a certain number of Midway tickets.
Players gain reputation points for leading in number of supporters in an area and for gathering the most tickets in each
round. The leaders in an area also receive approval for exhibit proposals they have gathered that match the area. Players
gain reputation points at the end of the game based on the breadth and diversity of their approved exhibits.
P: 2 to 4
A: 10+
T: 40 min.
In Rise of Augustus, you vie with your fellow players to complete "objective" cards for special powers
and ultimately for victory points. Each card has 2-6 symbols which you must populate with legionnaire
meeples in order to complete the card. These symbols are drawn one at a time from a bag, with all
players gaining the benefit equally, but interestingly, the bag contains more of some symbols than
others. So the pivotal skill you'll deploy is in making your choice of which three objectives you'll start
the game with (you're dealt six) — balancing potential difficulty of completion against value of the
reward — and then which of five available objectives you'll add to your plate each time you complete one of your three.
The game ends when someone completes seven objectives.
P: 2 to 6
A: 8+
T: 30 min.
Setting: Jamaica, 1675.
After a long career in piracy, Captain Henry Morgan skillfully gets appointed to be Governor of
Jamaica, with the explicit order to cleanse the Caribbean of pirates and buccaneers! Instead, he
invites all of his former "colleagues" to join him in his retirement, to enjoy the fruits of their looting
with impunity. Each year, in remembrance of the "good old days," Morgan organizes the Great
Challenge, a race around the island, and at its end, the Captain with the most gold is declared Grand Winner.
Jamaica is a pirate-themed tactical race game with player interaction and side goals (e.g. detouring for treasure). The
winner is the player who best balances their position in the race with their success at the side goals.
P: 2 to 6
A: 8+
T: 30 to 60 min.
In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are
disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of
four plagues before they get out of hand. The game board depicts several major population centers on
Earth. On each turn, a player can use up to four actions to travel between cities, treat infected populaces,
discover a cure, or build a research station. A deck of cards provides the players with these abilities, but
sprinkled throughout this deck are Epidemic! cards that accelerate and intensify the diseases' activity. A
second, separate deck of cards controls the "normal" spread of the infections. Taking a unique role within
the team, players must plan their strategy to mesh with their specialists' strengths in order to conquer the diseases. For
example, the Operations Expert can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases and which
allow for greater mobility between cities; the Scientist needs only four cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of
the normal five—but the diseases are spreading quickly and time is running out. If one or more diseases spreads beyond
recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win!
P: 2 to 4
A: 10+
T: 45 min.
Game description from the publisher:
Captain Swallow has always dreamed of pocketing a large nest egg in order to retire on a remote
island – but he never counted on stiff competition from Captains Stanley Rackum, Dirk Chivers and
others, greedy and cruel enemies who always manage to attack the same ships as him. If he wants
to finally sink back and enjoy peaceful days in the sun, he must become the most cunning pirate! In
Libertalia, you must thwart the plans of competitive pirates over the course of three rounds while
using cards that show the same crew members as your piratical comrades-in-arms. Yes, not only do
they attack the same ships, but they employ the same type of ravenous scum that you do! Can you take advantage of
the powers of your characters at the right time? Will you be outdone by a pirate smarter than you? Jump into the water
and prove your tactical skills! P: 2 to 6
A: 14+
T: 40 to 60 min.
Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan. You are one of the two most powerful traders in the city. But that's not
enough for you, because only the merchant with two Seals of Excellence will have the privilege of being
invited to the Maharaja's court. You are therefore going to have to do better than your direct competitor
by buying, exchanging and selling at better prices, all while keeping an eye on both your camel herds. A
card game for two seasoned traders! When it's your turn, you can either take or sell cards. If you take
cards, you have to choose between taking all the camels, taking 1 card from the market or swapping 2 to
5 cards between the market and your cards. If you sell cards, you get to sell only one type of good per
turn, and you get as many chips from that good as you sold cards. The chips' values decrease as the game
progresses, so you'd better hurry! But, on the other hand, you get increasingly high rewards for selling 3, 4, or 5 cards of
the same good at a time, so you'd better wait! You can't sell camels, but they're paramount for trading and they're also
worth a little something at the end of the round, enough sometimes to secure the win, so you have to use them smartly.
Jaipur is a fast-paced card game, a blend of tactics, risk and luck.
P: 2
A: 12+
T: 30 min.
In Kingdom Builder, the players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming
to earn the most gold at the end of the game. Nine different kinds of terrain are on the variable game
board, including locations and castles. During his turn, a player plays his terrain card and builds three
settlements on three hexes of this kind. If possible, a new settlement must be built next to one of that
player’s existing settlements. When building next to a location, the player may seize an extra action tile
that he may use from his next turn on. These tiles allow extraordinary actions such as moving your
settlements. By building next to a castle, the player will earn gold at the end of the game, but the most gold will be
earned by meeting the conditions of the three Kingdom Builder cards; these three cards (from a total of ten in the game)
specify the conditions that must be met in order to earn the much-desired gold, such as earning gold for your
settlements built next to water hexes or having the majority of settlements in a sector of the board. Each game, players
will use a random set of Kingdom Builder cards (3 of 10), special actions (4 of 8), and terrain sectors to build the map (4
of 8), ensuring you won't play the same game twice!
P: 2 to 4
A: 8+
T: 45 min.
You are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World. Gather resources, develop
commercial routes, and affirm your military supremacy. Build your city and erect an architectural
wonder which will transcend future times. 7 Wonders lasts three ages. In each age, players receive
seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent
player. Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or
interacting with other players in various ways. Each player then chooses another card from the deck
they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After
three ages, the game ends. The player with the most points wins. P: 2 to 7
A: 10+
T: 30 min.
P: 4 to 6
"Each player begins by sketching a Telestrations word dictated by the roll of a die. The old fashioned
sand timer may limit the amount of time they get to execute their sketch, but it certainly doesn't limit
creativity! Time's up! All players, all at the same time, pass their sketch to the next player, who must
guess what's been drawn. Players then simultaneously pass their guess -- which hopefully matches the
original word (or does it??) -- to the next player who must try to draw the word they see -- and so on.
Telestrations contains eight erasable sketchbooks and markers, a die, a 90 second sand-timer and
2,400 words to choose from."
A: 12+
T:
In Bohnanza the cards are colorful depictions of beans in various descriptive poses, and the object is to
make coins by planting fields (sets) of these beans and then harvesting them. To help players match
their cards up, the game features extensive trading and deal making. One of the most unique features
of the game is that you cannot rearrange your hand, as you need to play the cards in the order that you
draw them. P: 2 to 7
A: 13+
T: 25 to 45min.
Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by
their Codenames. Two teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first.
Spymasters give one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates try to
guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. And everyone
wants to avoid the assassin.
P: 2 to 8 A: 14+
T: 15 to 20 min.
Incan Gold is a quick, fun and tense game in which you and other adventurers explore an old Incan
temple in search of gold and treasure. In each of the five rounds, you secretly choose if you want to
continue exploring the temple in search of more treasure or retreat to the safety of your camp with
your share of the treasure that has been discovered so far. Each time that an explorer braves new
territory, more treasure or a danger appears. When a second card of the same type of danger is
turned over, all exposed treasure is buried, leaving the remaining adventurers with nothing. Do you flee the dangerous
temple with your portion of the treasure that has been uncovered so far or do you venture into the exciting temple in
search of more hidden valuables? After five rounds of exploration, whoever has the most treasure is the ultimate
explorer and winner!
P: 3 to 8
A: 8+
T: 20 to 40 min.
All of the eligible young men (and many of the not-so-young) seek to woo the princess of Tempest.
Unfortunately, she has locked herself in the palace, and you must rely on others to take your romantic
letters to her. Will yours reach her first? Love Letter is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2–4
players. Your goal is to get your love letter into Princess Annette's hands while deflecting the letters
from competing suitors. From a deck with only sixteen cards, each player starts with only one card in
hand; one card is removed from play. On a turn, you draw one card, and play one card, trying to expose
others and knock them from the game. Powerful cards lead to early gains, but make you a target. Rely
on weaker cards for too long, however, and your letter may be tossed in the fire! P: 2 to 4 A: 8+ T: 15 to 20 min.
In King of Tokyo, you play mutant monsters, gigantic robots, and strange aliens—all of whom are
destroying Tokyo and whacking each other in order to become the one and only King of Tokyo.
At the start of each turn, you roll six dice, which show the following six symbols: 1, 2, or 3 Victory
Points, Energy, Heal, and Attack. Over three successive throws, choose whether to keep or discard
each die in order to win victory points, gain energy, restore health, or attack other players into
understanding that Tokyo is YOUR territory. The fiercest player will occupy Tokyo, and earn extra
victory points, but that player can't heal and must face all the other monsters alone! Top this off
with special cards purchased with energy that have a permanent or temporary effect, such as the growing of a second
head which grants you an additional die, body armor, nova death ray, and more.... and it's one of the most explosive
games of the year! In order to win the game, one must either destroy Tokyo by accumulating 20 victory points, or be
the only surviving monster once the fighting has ended.
P: 2 to 6
A: 8+
T: 25 to 35 min.
Ah, the great pyramids! Full of treasures, just waiting for you! It would be so easy without the other
explorers waking up the Mummies, Werewolves, and Franks, and sending them after you. But you
are quick and clever, so it shouldn't be a problem, right? Loot N Run is a subtle bluffing game in
which you have to know when to take risks. On your turn, take one of these three actions:
(1) Loot: Draw a card and keep it in front of you. (2) Run: Score all of your cards. You score 1 point
for each treasure on it. Double your score for a type of treasure if it is present on two or more cards.
(3) Awaken the monster guardians: Look at an opponent's cards. If you find guardians, that player loses all unscored
cards and you get the bonus from the guardians! The first player to score 35 points wins! P: 2 to 6 A: 8+ T: 20 min.
In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best
combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full
set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your
meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be
just what they need to beat you! Sushi Go! takes card-drafting and distills it into a twenty-minute game
that anyone can play. The dynamics of "draft and pass" are brought to the fore, while keeping the rules to
a minimum. As you see the first few hands of cards, you must quickly assess the make-up of the round and
decide which type of sushi you'll go for. Then, each turn you'll need to weigh which cards to keep and which to pass on.
The different scoring combinations allow for some clever plays and nasty blocks. Round to round, you must also keep
your eye on the goal of having the most pudding cards at the end of the game!
P: 2 to 5
A: 8+
T: 15 min.
When you die, you can take it with you!
Take on the role of Egyptian nobles at the time of the pharaohs, preparing for death and burial in
the Valley of the Kings. Players want to fill their tombs with food, canopic jars, statues, amulets and
other treasures, and to do so they acquire cards that are laid out in the shape of a pyramid;
purchase cards at the base of the pyramid, and it "crumbles" to bring cards higher in the pyramid to
the base where they can be bought. The pyramid resets each round with new offerings. You score only for cards that
you remove from your deck and stash in your tomb, so if you keep using valuable cards for their effects and don't
entomb them before the game ends, you could lose out on big points! Whoever collects the most valuable artifacts in
her tomb wins.
P: 2 to 4
A: 14+
T: 45 to 60 min.
Everybody is fond of teasing and challenging each other from time to time. In this game you try to saddle
opposing players with negative cards, and every little devil scores a penalty point. But take care: You will
not escape the "diabolical" plans of your opponents either. Little Devils is a devilishly fun trick-taking game
with simple rules. Players don't need to follow trump or suit and can play higher or lower than previously
played cards. The second card played – and not the first – determines the goal for that round.
P: 3 to 6
A: 8+
T: 10 to 15 min.
Timeline: Inventions is a card game played using 109 cards. Each card depicts an invention on both
sides, with the year in which that invention was created on only one side. Players take turns placing a
card from their hand in a row on the table. After placing the card, the player reveals the date on it. If
the card was placed correctly with the date in chronological order with all other cards on the table, the
card stays in place; otherwise the card is removed from play and the player takes another card from the
deck. The first player to get rid of all his cards by placing them correctly wins. If multiple players go out in the same
round, then everyone else is eliminated from play and each of those players are dealt one more card for another round
of play. If only one player has no cards after a bonus round, he wins; otherwise play continues until a single player goes
out. Timeline: Inventions can be combined with any other title in the Timeline series. Other Timeline games include:
Music & Cinema, American history, Americana, Discoveries, Events, Diversity, Challenge, and Animals.
P: 2 to 8
A: 8+
T: 15 min.
In The Builders: Middle Ages, the cards represent buildings or workers. Players score points (and gain
money) by completing the construction of buildings, while placing a worker on a construction site
costs money. Each building has four characteristics (carpentry, masonry, architecture, tilery) rated
between 0 and 5, and the workers have the same characteristics valued in the same range. To
complete a construction, the player must add enough workers to cover the four characteristics of the
building. As soon as a player completes enough buildings to reach 17 points, players finish the round
so that everyone has the same number of turns, then you tally points, with each completed card having a point value
and each 10 pieces of money being worth 1 point. Whoever has the most points wins.
P: 2 to 4
A: 10+
T: 30 to 45 min.
Game description from the publisher:
A beautiful and beautifully simple game of laying a tile before your own token to continue its path on
each turn. The goal is to keep your token on the board longer than anyone else's, but as the board fills
up this becomes harder because there are fewer empty spaces left... and another player's tile may also
extend your own path in a direction you'd rather not go. Easy to introduce to new players, Tsuro lasts a
mere 15 minutes and actually does work for any number from 2 to 8. Theme: Tsuro has an Asian
spiritual theme - the lines representing the "many roads that lead to divine wisdom", and the game as a whole
representing "the classic quest for enlightenment". This theme is very light and the game essentially plays as an
abstract.
P: 2 to 8
A: 8+
T: 15 to 40 min.
Game description from the publisher:
Dare to enter Dragonwood! Deep in the heart of this mythical forest lurk angry ogres, giggling goblins, and
even the famed and fearsome fire-breathers themselves! In Dragonwood, you collect sets of adventurer
cards to earn dice, which you then use to roll against your foes. Stomp on some fire ants, scream at a
grumpy troll, or strike the menacing orange dragon with a magical silver sword. Choose your strategy
carefully because the landscape of Dragonwood is ever-changing. Only the bravest will overcome the
odds to emerge victorious! ….The Dragonwood deck has 42 cards, 5 of which are displayed in the
landscape at any time. In addition to creatures, this deck also has enhancements that are captured in the same way as
creatures which assist players in capturing creatures, and contains events that also impact play. When both dragons
have been defeated, the game is over and the player with the most victory points wins! Is the best strategy to go for
several smaller creatures or save up for larger attacks? Should you grab some enhancements hoping they will pay off, or
go immediately for creatures? Do you take chances on some rolls or go for sure things? Every time you play Dragonwood
the deck is different, so no two games are the same!
P: 2 to4
A: 8+
T: 15 to 30 min.
Tem-purr-a. The theme of the game is an eating contest in a Taiwanese Snackbar. "In this competition
you will eat more than you can imagine as your competitors continually challenge you to shove even
more in. Play your cards cleverly or the servers will serve you food until you fall from your seat. Let the
competitors be the ones to fill up until they drop and the snack bar throne will be yours!"
The players add "dish"-cards or special cards to a common "order"-pile until one of them can´t (or won´t)
add any more cards. Then that player has to "eat" the whole order by drawing the appropriate amount of
cards from a draw pile. If he draws one (or more) of the "No More!"-cards, he accrues negative points and
the round ends. The played cards are then set aside and new "No More"-cards are shuffled into the (now smaller) draw
pile, making for an ever more tense experience as the contest goes into the later stages. When one player has collected
3 negative points the game ends and the player with the smallest amount of negative points wins the game.
P: 3 to 7
A: 8+
T: 20 min.
GUBS: A Game of Wit and Luck invites you to partake in the secret struggle of the Gubs. Each player
competes to build the largest, strongest colony by the time the three dreaded Letter Cards emerge from
the deck and end the game. Their world is a place filled with danger; from giant Omen Beetles who
consume the delicate Gub Cities to Flash Floods to deadly Wasps, your gubs hardly stand a chance on their
own... but arm them with Spears, let ride the valiant Toad Riders, build Mushroom Barricades and lead
your colony through the forest underbrush and to victory. Wit and Luck. You'll need them both. The gubs
are counting on you. P: 2 to 6
A: 10+
T: 20 min.
The Caribbean islands were once a lawless cove run by merchant marines transporting stolen treasures.
When news reached the King that these pirates were amassing great riches, he ordered a cut of their loot.
Now in King's Gold, it's your turn to be a pirate, and you must try to pillage ships and other pirates along
the way. How far will you go to deceive the greedy King and become the richest pirate on the coast and at
sea? On a turn, the active player rolls the five dice up to three times. If a die shows crossbones, it's locked
until the end of the turn; otherwise, a player can roll or leave dice as he wants. After he stops, he takes or
loses gold as follows:
1 coin face + 1 cannon: Take this many coins from the box, then place this many coins in the King's pile.
1 coin face + 1 skull: Steal this many coins from the player of your choice.
Coins on all five dice: Take all of the coins from the King's pile.
Skulls on all five dice: Take all of the coins from another player.
Cannon on all five dice: Take all of the coins from the box, ending the game.
3+ crossbones or any non-scoring combination: Place three coins from your stash in the King's pile.
When all sixty coins in the box have been removed, the game ends and whoever has the most coins wins.
P: 2 to 6
A: 8+
T: 15 min.
The abstract game of Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six different
colors. There is no board, players simply use an available flat surface. Players begin the game with six
blocks. The start player places blocks of a single matching attribute (color or shape but not both) on the
table. Thereafter, a player adds blocks adjacent to at least one previously played block. The blocks must
all be played in a line and match, without duplicates, either the color or shape of the previous block.
Players score one point for each block played plus all blocks adjacent. It is possible for a block to score in
more than one direction. If a player completes a line containing all six shapes or colors, an additional six points are
scored. The player then refills his hand to six blocks. The game ends when the draw bag is depleted and one player plays
all of his remaining blocks, earning a six point bonus. The player with the high score wins.
P: 2 to 4
A: 6+
T: 45 to 60 min.
Lost Cities is a card game in the Kosmos two-player series. The game consists of a single deck of cards
of rank 2–10 in 5 different colors with 3 special "handshakes" ("HS" cards in scoring examples below)
in each suit. There is also a board which functions only to hold and organize discarded cards and is
largely superfluous. Games last around 15 minutes. This is generally considered a good "couples"
game and is often recommended for people with non-gamer partners.
The object of the game is to gain points by mounting profitable archaeological expeditions to the
different sites represented by the 5 colors. On a player's turn they must always first play one card,
either to an expedition or by discarding it to the appropriate discard pile, and then draw one card. There is a separate
discard pile for each color and a player may draw the top card of any discard pile or the top card of the deck. Cards
played to expeditions must be in ascending order but they need not be consecutive. Handshakes are considered lower
than a 2 and represent investments in an expedition. Thus, if you play a red 4, you may play any other red card higher
than a 4 on a future turn but may no longer play a handshake, the 2, or the 3.
The game continues in this fashion with players alternating turns until the final card is taken from the draw pile. The rest
of the cards in hand are then discarded and players score their expeditions. Each expedition that has at least one card
played into it must be scored. Cards played into an expedition are worth their rank in points, and handshakes count as a
multiplier against your final total. Expeditions start at a value of -20 so you must play at least 20 points of cards into an
expedition in order to make a profit. If you are left with a negative value and have a handshake, the multiplier still
applies. A 20-point bonus is awarded to every expedition with at least 8 cards played into it. The player with the most
points wins the game, but it is typical to play 3 matches and add your score from each to see who wins.
P: 2
A: 10+
T: 30 to 45 min.
Qwixx is a quick-playing dice game in which everyone participates, no matter whose turn it is. Each player has
a scoresheet with the numbers 2-12 in rows of red and yellow and the numbers 12-2 in rows of green and
blue. To score points you want to mark off as many numbers as possible, but you can mark off a number only
if it's to the right of all marked-off numbers in the same row. On a turn, the active player rolls six dice: two
white and one of each of the four colors listed above. Each player can choose to mark off the sum of the two
white dice on one of their four rows, then the active player can choose to mark off the sum of one colored die
and one white die in the row that's the same color as the die. The more marks you can make in a row, the higher your
score for that row. Fail to cross off a number when you're the active player, however, and you must mark one of four
penalty boxes on your scoresheet. If you mark off the 2 or 12 in a row and have at least five numbers marked in that
row, you get to also mark off the padlock symbol in that row, locking everyone else out of this color. When either a
player has four penalty boxes marked or a second color is locked, the game ends immediately. Players then tally their
points for each color, sum these values, then subtract five points for each marked penalty box. Whoever has the highest
score wins. P: 2 to 5
A: 8+
T: 15 min.
In Zombie Dice, you are a zombie. You want braaains – more brains than any of your zombie buddies. The 13
custom dice are your victims. Push your luck to eat their brains, but stop rolling before the shotgun blasts end
your turn! Whoever collects 13 brains first wins. Each game takes 10 to 20 minutes and can be taught in a
single round. Each turn, you take three dice from the box and roll them. A brain symbol is worth one point at
the end of the round, while footsteps allow you to reroll this particular dice. Shotgun blasts on the other hand
are rather bad, cause if you collect three shotgun blasts during your turn, it is over for you and you get no
points. After rolling three dice, you may decide if you want to score your current brain collection or if you want to push
your luck by grabbing new dice so you have three again and roll once more.
P: 2+
A: 10+
T: 12 to 18 min.
Strange noises are heard from the Mad Mansion of Doctor Gloom. Clouds of all colors come out of the chimney, and
people tell weird stories about crazy creatures seen in the forest around the mansion. Help Doctor Gloom
finish his extravagant experiments to create the world's wackiest and craziest creatures ever seen! In Crazy
Creatures of Dr. Gloom all players try to get rid of their cards as cards in hand score penalty points at the
end of a round. The player with the fewest penalty points at the end of the game wins and becomes Doctor
Gloom's new apprentice! P: 2 to 4
A: 7+
T: 20 min.
In Grandpa Beck's Cover Your A$$ets, a.k.a. Big Deal, players compete to collect items to become a
millionaire. The game consists of 110 cards, with each card being either an asset (e.g., home, yacht, stamp
collection) worth $5-20,000 or silver (worth $25k) or gold (worth $50k); silver and gold are jokers and can
represent any other asset. Each player starts with 4-5 cards in hand, and on a turn a player takes one of
four actions: Play a pair of asset cards (or an asset and a joker) from hand, placing it
on top of any other cards acquired earlier. Play a card from your hand that matches the top card of the
discard pile, then place this pair on your other assets. When trying to steal assets from another player,
point to the top assets you want to take, then place a matching card (or a joker) from your hand onto the table. The
player who owns these assets can then do the same thing. Players go back and forth this way, and the last player to play
such a card keeps all of the cards played and the original assets. At the end of each turn, players refill their hands to 4-5
cards as needed. Once the draw pile runs out and one player has no cards left in hand, the round ends. All players tally
the value of all cards in their collection and add this sum to their total score. If a player now has at least $1 million, she
wins; otherwise, players shuffle the cards and start a new round. P: 4 to 6
A: 7+
T: 30 min.
Your mission, Martians, is to swoop down on the pathetic denizens of the primitive planet Earth and scoop up
as many of the inhabitants as you can manage. We are interested in samples of the Chicken, Cow, and Human
populations so that we can determine which of them is actually in charge. The Earthlings might manage to
put up a feeble defense, but surely nothing that a small taste of your Death Rays can't handle. Make Mars
proud – be the first Martian to fill your abduction quota! In Martian Dice you will roll 13 custom dice in an
effort to set aside ("abduct") Humans, Chickens, and Cows. With each roll you must first set aside any Tanks,
representing the human military coming to fend off your alien invasion. Then you may choose one type of die
to set aside as well - one of the earthlings to abduct, or Death Rays to combat the military. At the end of your turn, if you
have at least as many Death Rays as Tanks, then you may abduct the earthlings you've been setting aside. You can't pick
any type of Earthling twice in one turn, but if you manage to abduct at least one of each you'll score a bonus! With each
roll you will ask yourself, do you feel lucky? P: 2 to 99
A: 8+
T: 10 min. (unless you have 99 players)
In Niya, each player tries to arrange her tokens to gain the favor of the emperor. Alternatively, you can
prevent your rival from placing a token in the Imperial garden, showing that you have more control than
your opponent. To set up the game, shuffle the 16 tiles and arrange them in a 4x4 square; each tile
shows one of four types of vegetation (maple, cherry, pine or iris) and one of four types of poetic symbols
(rising sun, bird, rain or tanzaku - the small pieces of paper on which people sometimes write wishes).
The starting player removes one tile on the border of the square, sets this tile aside, then places one of
her tokens in this space. The opponent must then do the same thing, but can choose from only those tiles
that depict the same type of vegetation or poetic symbol shown on the tile first set aside. Play continues, with each setaside tile determining where the next player can go until: A player forms a line with four of her tokens in any direction,
A player forms a 2x2 square with four of her tokens, or A player chooses a tile which doesn't allow her opponent to
place a token. In any of these cases, the player has won the game. A match can be a single game, a "best of three"
series, or a point-based match, with the winner of a game earning as many points as the number of tiles remaining in the
grid when she wins; in this case, the player who first collects ten points wins the match.
P: 2
A: 7+
T: 10 min.
Game play in Coloretto is simple: Either draw a card to play to a row, or take a row of cards to add them
to your collection. A row can have at most three cards, so at some point everyone is forced to take a
row. Once all the rows have been claimed, players start a new round, drawing or taking once again.
What are you trying to do with these cards? Collect huge sets - but only in three colors as every color
beyond the third will cost you points. Jokers are highly-prized as they always match what you want, and
+2 cards provide sure points, giving you a back-up plan if everything goes south in terms of the colors
you're collecting. Once only a few cards remain in the deck, the round ends and everyone tallies their
score, choosing three colors of cards to score positively while any other colors count against you. Each color is scored
using a triangular number system: the first card in a color is ±1 point, the second card is ±2 points, and so on. The player
with the high score wins!
P: 2 to 5
A: 8+
T: 30 min.
Part of the Ravensburger Labyrinth Games series. Lay square labyrinth cards showing fantasy symbols
like a griffin, dragon, scroll, key, gems, etc. When a symbol on the card you just laid is directly connected
to one or more identical symbols on other cards, you can take those cards (but not the one you just laid),
as long as the labyrinth does not become disjointed. You only hold 2 cards and draw after laying. The
game ends when the draw pile is finished, most cards collected wins. A children's game that is fun
enough as a filler for adults.
P: 2 to 6
A: 7+
T: 20 min.
Rise and shine! The Pancake Queen, the Ladybug Queen, and ten of their closest friends have fallen
under a sleeping spell and it's your job to wake them up. In Sleeping Queens, players need to use
strategy, quick thinking, and a little luck to rouse these napping nobles from their royal slumbers. The
twelve queen cards lie face-down on the table. On a turn, you take one action from the cards in your
hand: play a king to awaken and claim a sleeping queen, play a knight to steal someone else's queen
(unless she has a dragon for protection), play a wand to send a queen to sleep once again, use a jester
to try our luck with the top of the deck, or discard one or more number cards to draw more cards. Each
queen card has a point value on it, and whenever all the queens have been awakened or one player hits
the point threshold, the game ends and whoever has the most points wins. P: 2 to 5
A: 8+
T: 20 min.
Your goal in Gobblet Gobblers is to place three of your pieces in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row.
Your pieces can stack on top of each other and they start the game nested, off the board. On a turn,
you either play one exposed piece from your three off-the-board piles or move one piece on the
board to any other spot on the board where it fits. A larger piece can cover any smaller piece. Your
memory is tested as you try to remember which color one of your larger pieces is covering before
you move it. As soon as a player has three like-colored pieces in a row, he wins — except in one case:
If you lift your piece and reveal an opponent's piece that finishes a three-in-a-row, you don't
immediately lose; you can't return the piece to its starting location, but if you can place it over one of the opponent's
two other pieces in that row, the game continues.
P: 2
A: 5+
T: 5+ min.
Why First? is a racing game in which players vie to be second in order to win. The game lasts five
races, with each race lasting five turns. At the start of each race, players receive a hand of five cards,
with each card bearing a value from -4 to +5. The players' pawns start each race on 0 of the racing
track. Each turn, players choose a card from their hands and choose which pawn to move with this
card, then reveal them simultaneously and move the selected pawns forward or backward based on
the cards they played. After five turns, the race ends and the player in second place on the racing
track wins, scoring a number of points equal to his position on the race track. All other players score
nothing. (If the winner is in the negative portion of the racing track, he loses points instead.) After
five races, sum all of the points scored; the player with the second highest total who has won at
least one race wins.
P: 2 to 6
A: 14+
T: 20 min.