Patchwork
Take a needle and thread in your hands and start sewing! A dueling game about how two tailors decided to make the most beautiful patchwork quilt. Wait, one of the masters is you!
Patchwork – a kind of needlework, in which the product is sewn from pieces of cloth (shreds). In the old days, people used pieces of cloth left over after sewing clothes to create new things. Today patchwork technology has become not only a hobby for millions of people but also a form of design art.
Brave tailors. In the Patchwork board game, you and your tailor have to sew patchwork quilts, but this will take not only time but also spatial imagination, savvy, and prudence. Try to overtake the opponent and create a real mosaic masterpiece!
Cutting and sewing. Each player receives a box marked with squares; by the end of the party, it needs to be filled with scraps – tiles of different shapes and sizes – so that, if possible, not one empty cell remains. But tiles do not go to tailors just like that – they need to be bought for buttons that are a game currency.
Rush order. Laying out shreds-tiles takes a certain time, which is marked on a special Field. Having reached some divisions, players replenish their stock of buttons or can get valuable pieces of leather that make it possible to close a single empty cage. When the chips of both players reach the end of the track, the game will be finished and the points will be counted. Whose blanket will be the most beautiful?
The board game Patchwork has already won a large number of awards including the International Gamers Awards 2015, the Winner Spiel der Spiele Special Prize 2015.
Sewing casket. The composition of the Patchwork board game includes: 1 common time record, 2 blankets, 1 neutral chip, 2-time tokens, 5 special leather flaps, 1 bonus tile, 33 flaps, button tokens
Battle Line
Having built a line of battle with flags of chips, having mixed the general deck of soldiers and tactics, and also handing out seven cards of soldiers, players start the fight.
The deck of soldiers is divided into six colors, each of which cards is numbered from 1 to 10. Tactics allow you to perform special actions. The game in the Battle Line consists of alternating moves, and the active player starts the move, playing the card on the table, and ends – retrieving the card from either the deck of the warriors or from the deck of tactics.
Playing the card, the player spreads it around any of the flags on his side of the battle line. The goal of Battle Line is to capture five flags. The flag is given to the player who has laid out a stronger combination of three cards. Combinations resemble poker, for example, the red three, the four and the five make up the battle system “wedge” in the language of the game.
Experienced players of Battle Line can apply a variant of rules, in which the capture of the flag takes place at the beginning of the turn, before the draw of the card, and not in the middle, before replenishing the hand. This approach gives the opponent more time to respond and allows you to change the situation around the flag with a tactical map.
Lost Cities
Lay out new expedition routes that will take you to the remote and mysterious corners of the Earth: the Himalayas, rainforests, deserts, volcanoes, and the underwater world. Whose expedition will be more successful?
The game is of the famous German author of table games Rainer Knizia. The game “Lost Cities” is quite popular abroad, there is even its online version.
So, you will have to route your expeditions to remote corners of the planet: in the Himalayas, rainforests, deserts, to volcanoes and the underwater world, to find the mysterious Lost Cities of ancient civilizations. The bravest travelers even make bets, whose expedition will be more successful …
However, as in most other games of Knizia, the stated subject is not too much related to the mechanics of the game, but in this case, the chosen theme is organically combined with the game mechanism, and the very nice graphic design of the game makes it quite convincing.
The game consists of 60 cards and a small playing field, and its essence consists in laying out certain sequences of cards. Board game Lost city (card) is very easy to learn – the rules are explained in 2 minutes, or read independently for 5 minutes. The game itself is also quite fast – one batch can last from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how seriously you are set up. However, despite the simplicity, the game is not boring and not “one-off”.
Playing the board game Lost Cities (card game), you’ll always have to choose whether to wait in the hope of a good card or build a route before it’s too late. Each player builds his own routes, and competition between players is only for cards that can potentially be pulled out of the pack. However, each player can somehow influence the game of another: to reset the card to the playing field now or to hold back, and also to draw with the end of the game in order to complete their routes (which means giving the same opportunity to the opponent), or finish the game as quickly as possible with damage to yourself … In general, there is not much interaction, but it is there, and due to the ease and speed of the game, you always want to play another game (“Well, now I will definitely win!”)
Jaipur
Mighty Maharaja decided to choose the main supplier of gold, jewelry, spices, leather and silks for his palace. You, in the role of merchants of the Jaipur Oriental bazaar, strive to deserve his favor. And it’s not easy to do this – you need to earn two Signs of Excellence, which only get to the one whose trade this week was the most profitable!
Jaipur – a new board game of the talented Swiss author Sebastian Poschon (author of the games Metropolis, Esfahan, Jamaica). Jaipur is recognized as the best game of the previous years by Fairplay magazine.
The powerful Maharaja of Indian Rajasthan decided to choose the main supplier for his palace. Only he will receive the right to bring gold and jewelry, silver and spices, leather and silk on the camels to the palace. Here also it is necessary for merchants to change bags of spices on chests with jewels, to sell gold jugs for rupees and to drive camels in the herds.
Jaipur – an entrepreneurial board game for two. You act as merchants of the eastern bazaar, who have to organize the business in a constantly changing situation in the markets. The main goal of the game is to earn as many points as possible. To do this, you need to sell products on the market, that is, change cards with goods tokens with rupees. In each move, you can make only one action: either sell one type of goods on the market, or exchange some goods for others, or increase your herd of camels (camels are used as a reserve in the exchange) and thereby “revive” the trade. And it may be that the next turn your opponent will do exactly what you were going to but did not have time.
In this game situation in Jaipur is replete with a variety of nuances that provide an ambiguity of almost every move. For example, on the one hand, for the sale of three or more goods at the same time you will receive a bonus token. Therefore, it makes sense to save up goods of one kind on their hands, and sell them in bulk. But on the other hand, it is important to have time to sell the goods first because the prices in the market are steadily decreasing, and for the next unit of the goods you will receive less than for the previous one. And at the end of the Jaipur board game demand in the market, in general, will run out, and you risk to stay with unnecessary goods on hand.
Pandemic: Legacy
The most difficult year in the history of mankind is coming … Act harmoniously and save the world! Decisions made in each party of “Pandemic: Legacy “will affect all subsequent games. Characters will change. Some of you are even lost … Real heroes can prove themselves. Will you succeed in saving humanity?
The world is falling apart. The four diseases pose a mortal threat to the whole of humanity, and your team is on the front line in the fight against this threat! But what’s even worse: one of the diseases seems to be beyond treatment …
The most difficult year. The events of the board game Pandemic: Legacy span twelve game months. For a whole year, brave and selfless professionals will have to fight the diseases that are inexorably spreading around the planet, not only dealing with insidious and volatile viruses but also with panic that covers the population of cities, as well as with the devastation that follows the riots.
All in your hands. During each game month, the team is given two attempts to take the global epidemiological situation under control. This means that in the event of a failure, your team can play the second game, the results of which will be counted victory or defeat – after which the next month will come with its goals and objectives. The consequences of your decisions will affect in the future, every attempt to defeat a pandemic changes the game itself, its rules and even characters who acquire new skills and scars.
Top secret. Keeping the basic principles of the cooperative board game Pandemic, its new version of the Pandemic: Legacy challenges players, offering them a completely unique experience full of surprises. Heritage cards will open as your team progresses, adding new events and conditions in which you have to save humanity, and giving access to new components of the game. Warning signs on the cards will help you avoid the “spoilers”, each card should be open in its hour. The same applies to stickers, for the time being, stored in 5 dossiers, the gradual opening of which will add special effects to the game.
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island tells the story of the miracle survivors of the shipwreck. But this salvation is only the beginning of the thorny path of survival on the previously uninhabited island.
Players have to build houses, get food, protect themselves from predators and bad weather, wall the settlement with walls, tame animals, create weapons and tools from what they could find on the island, from what else you can stumble upon. Players decide how their settlement will become and in what direction the game will go. Will they disclose the main secret of the island? Will they be able to find treasures hidden by pirates or an abandoned village? Will the underground city or the accursed temple, that is on the bottom of the volcano, learn? The answers to all these and many other questions are in hundreds of game cards.
The game is based on the mechanics of exhibiting workers: players from one move to another distribute their chips between the fields of the playing field in order to obtain the given game features. The author of the game tried to get rid of the two main problems of cooperative games: the problem of the leader, when in fact all decisions are made by one player, and the rest is only to perform mechanical actions with chips and cards, and the problems of a stupid player, which leads to incessant arguments and proofs of his false right, as well as grievances. In this game, the decision of one player does not create problems for the rest, and the game itself reacts to all the actions taken by the players.
Tides of Madness
The board game Tides of Madness is a continuation of the popular card table game Tides of Time. Absolutely identical game mechanics is surrounded by a more fantasy entourage, in contrast to Tides of Time, where the basis of the game is still a historical component. But this is not the main thing! The concept of insanity is introduced into the game! Participants in the game Tides of Madness will build the kingdoms, and not only that it is the greatest and most powerful, it is very important that its master is not distraught, in other words, not “out of the reel”, otherwise he will lose.
WHAT IS IN THE BOX
And again, we are waiting for the minimum number of components: 18 kingdom cards with a delightful art, a notepad and a pencil for scoring, and from a brand new: 20 counters of insanity. The rules are simple, built on the mechanics of the draft. The winner is the player who scored the most points for the third round.
HOW TO PLAY
Before the game, the participants receive five cards of the kingdoms, and the rest are laid aside. In their turn, the players spread one of the cards from their hands on the table, with their shirt facing up, and then open them at the same time, leaving them in front of them. This is the beginning of their kingdom.
Next, players exchange all their cards on their hands, and they also put the next card on the table. And so on, until all five cards are placed, which means the end of the first round. Now we count victory points.
HOW TO COUNT SCORES
In contrast to the Tides of Time game, here each card has not 4, but 5 characteristics:
- A property by which the player receives points.
- The number of points that a player will receive when the specified property is executed.
- Type of structure, buildings of the Kingdom.
- The number of points of insanity. 8 of 18 cards have a special badge of insanity.
- By placing all five maps of your kingdom, players are asked to check whether the properties on the cards are executed and to count the points.
FOR WHOM THE GAME IS
Tides of Madness – a simple duel card game, which is always nice to put at least at home, even on a trip. Unambiguously like the fans of beautiful and atmospheric games. The simplest rules and short games make the Tides of Madness board game friendly to novice players but “experienced” players the game is unlikely to surprise but we must say that “experienced” in general is hard to be surprised.
7 Wonders Duel
A new version of the legendary game 7 Wonders. This time is a duel variant for two players.
In the world of the board game 7 Wonders, a duel ripens! Who of the opponents can bring his civilization to a military, scientific or economic victory? 7 Wonders Duel is a game for two players, in which the basic mechanics of the basic game are preserved and new nuances are added. The duel will be hot!
Throughout the three eras. Playing cards of buildings and wonders of the world, during three rounds (three epochs), players build their city. Each age has its own set of maps. Some cards bring coins, others strengthen the army or allow you to make scientific discoveries and equip cities.
In the 7 Wonders Dueltable game, each player starts the game at once with 4 cards of the wonders of the world. The cards of the era at the beginning of the game are laid out in a certain way on the table, in their turn the player can play any of the top cards. As in the base version, any of the cards can be built, deposited for 3 coins or used to build a miracle of the world. Missing resources for construction can be purchased at the bank.
You can win in three ways: military or scientific superiority, and if you failed to achieve superiority in the course of the party, then at the end of the third era all the points earned are calculated.
The composition of the board game 7 Wonders Duel: 1 playing field, 23 cards of the I era, 23 cards of the II era, 20 cards of the III era, 7 cards of the guilds, 12 cards of the wonders of the world, 4 military tokens, 10 development tokens, 1 conflict marker, 31 coins, 1 notepad for scoring, 1 memo.
Twilight Struggle
Twilight Struggle – one of the most famous in the world of wargames. The game simulates the events of the Cold War between the two superpowers – the US and the Soviet Union. Conflicting parties need to establish relations with other states, gain control over the territories and at the same time prevent the outbreak of nuclear war.
The game contains 103 cards, each of which can be used in two ways: as an event, or as a source of points of operations. Points of operations are used to increase the influence of a player in one or several countries, make attempts to reduce the influence of the enemy, carry out coups, and also to advance in the Space race.
The gameplay in Twilight Struggle is divided into 10 rounds, each of which corresponds to a certain time interval. During the round, players take turns playing the cards on hand, while doing various actions, for example, increasing their influence in certain countries, organizing coups or trying to outrun the opponent in the “space race”. In addition, participants have to monitor the important parameter “DEFCON”, reflecting the tension of the relationship. If it decreases to one, a nuclear war begins, and the player who unleashes it is immediately considered a loser. Also in the game, you can win ahead of schedule, gaining 20 victory points or gaining full control over Europe.
As it may seem, the Twilight Struggle is not very designed for beginners and, rather, it will suit those who have already mastered more than one board game. However, this statement can be argued. Rules in Twilight Struggle, although are voluminous, but very logical and elegant. After some explanations and examples to play the game is not difficult. Moreover, the player does not need any hints or excerpts from the rules book – all the small amount of necessary reference information is present on the playing field.
Twilight Struggle is dynamic and has a high level of interaction between players. It can be attributed to those games in which it is easy to learn how to play but it is difficult to learn how to win.
Memoir ’44
Memoir’44 is a unique strategy game that allows players to reproduce the military battles of World War II. The battles presented in the scenario section are recreated in the scale of the game system, taking into account the characteristics of the terrain and the historically reliable location of the armed forces of the opponents. The game has a special mechanism, not complicated at all, and you can easily remember the tactical characteristics of different units, their advantages, and disadvantages, depending on the type of terrain where the battle will take place.
The publication of the Memoir’44 game is timed to the 60th anniversary of Day D and the liberation of occupied France. This simple, but fascinating board game for the whole family was created in memory of the heroic efforts and sacrifices of millions of people during the Second World War. In many respects, it is historical, which also contributes to the emergence of a natural desire for knowledge and study of history. The game is mainly focused on ground battles between the forces of fascist Germany and the allied forces of the anti-Hitler coalition. The gameplay is simple enough, it includes a strategy for using cards, throwing dice in the attack, but it will require you to have a flexible and decisive plan for achieving victory.
Memoir’44 is rightfully considered one of the simplest, but at the same time, profound military strategies. The BGG website includes the game not only in the 50 best wargames but also among the 50 best games in general. It is based on the Command and Colors system, invented by Richard Borg. The main elements of this system are special battle cubes and a deck of command cards, which is divided into zones maps and tactics cards. The game field itself is divided into 3 sections: the central, left and right flanks, orders in which are given, guided by the played cards of the zones. Tactical maps, on the contrary, allow you to conduct some kind of special attack, be it artillery fire, a tank break or an air strike. All fights are dealt with by dice rolls, on the edges of which possible events are indicated, such as the defeat of the target, a slip or a retreat.
The game itself unfolds on dozens of scenarios of all kinds because they are the heart of the game. Scenarios were developed based on historical facts, which gives some advantage to one of the parties, but it is completely invisible and does not harm the game. In order to win, you must first get the number of medals specified in the scenario that you receive for a completely destroyed detachment of the enemy or the fulfillment of historical conditions. The author of the game after the scenario recommends to swap parties and repeat it already for the opponent’s side and only based on the results of the two games to compare the number of medals you earned.
The success of the game spawned many additions. It is understandable because the Second World was not limited to the year 1944 and the Second Front. Began to appear sets of the Red Army, British troops and a whole galaxy of additional scenarios and rules. If you liked the Memoir’44 game, pay attention to other games of the Memoir’44 series.
War of The Ring
Before you – the perfect representative of a successful combination of dueling military strategy (optionally can be played with two teams), with a honed control system that connects you with the work of John Tolkien, and even if you are not a fan of his creations, you will not leave indifferent to the contents of the box.
The plot is connected with the delivery of the Ring of All-Power to Mordor and the war, against its background. Evil will be able to win if it manages to gain control of several cities (by 10 points) or lure to the dark side the Guardian with the help of spoiling. The good will win if it can deliver the Ring to the mountain and throw it into the maw with the lava, well, or take the fortress from the dark lord (4 points). That is in the book, that here the aggressor prevails over the champions of freedom, and therefore the “light” side should rather put hopes on the hobbits and as much as possible to restrain Sauron’s attacks.
Again, the filling of the box is very impressive, starting from the big plan of Middle-earth and up to a couple of hundred different miniatures of soft plastic. The rules are voluminous, but believe, having understood them, you will understand that it was worth it! Throwing dice with action icons, players begin to perform actions one by one in turn (moving, fighting, hiring troops, drawing cards, hunting for the Ring, advancement to the volcano). Event cards can rightly be considered one of the key elements that significantly affect the course of the game (and in different ways from time to time).
The game contributes to a deep atmospheric immersion in the process and generates incredible emotions: these are the dice rolls, and the complexity of choosing their application in a particular region, waiting for the arrival of the event, thinking through the field, etc. You will feel yourself and a real commander, able to move troops, and marvel at how thoroughly worked the journey of the Brotherhood.
The War of the Rings will appeal to the soul and the fan of this universe, will not disappoint the true wargame, along with a simple lover of the table, especially if you like the paired options, which are always easier for you to choose your companions.
Equipment:
- A large field of 70×100 cm. Consists of two parts.
- 205 plastic figures, representing the army and characters (about 30 miniatures, 16 bones of action, 5 battle bones, cardboard chips).
- 110 event cards and characters.
- 2 brochures to help players.
- The rulebook.
Star Wars: Armada
Have you flown in on this?
A huge Imperial fleet is approaching a defenseless blossoming planet … But here the rebel ships are already running across it! It seems that there will be a great battle. Who will win? In the game Star Wars: Armada, it’s up to you! The fleets of the rebels and the empire came together in battle for the fate of the galaxy in the tactical table game for two players…
The name of the board game Star Wars: Armada speaks for itself because, in the game, you have to manage an armada of spaceships of the rebels or the Empire.
In this game, you assume the role of admiral of the fleet, serving the Rebels or the Empire. You are responsible for managing the whole fleet. However, the larger and more powerful ships at your disposal are the more difficult to control, they can not change speed so quickly and execute orders as links of fighters. A successful admiral must be able to think through the course of combat in advance and skillfully use the strengths of his fleet.
For comfortable control in a huge box, you will find everything you need – a lot of miniatures of squads of ships, maneuver disks, templates, tokens, maps … In the box, there was a place even for the star destroyer! As you can guess, for the victory in the Star Wars: Armada game it is necessary to defeat the enemy fleet. For this each turn you and your rival will choose maneuvers for your ships, then move them, attack them and use special properties. In the process of the game, one could even hear the sounds of battle if the sound were propagated in space. In an amicable way, you will need to learn how to anticipate the actions of an opponent, because the effectiveness of shots depends on distance as well! Dispose of your fleet with the mind, open the opponent’s plans, and the victory in the game Star Wars: Armada will be yours!
The lack of faith raises fears
The Star Wars: Armada board game invites you to recreate the great battles of the world famous movie Star Wars. And may the Force be with you!
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small
In the game Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small you act as a livestock breeder. You will need to breed horses, cows, sheep, and pigs, trying to achieve maximum efficiency from their pastures. Players begin on the game fields 3×2, which during the game can be expanded to accommodate them more animals. The player is available 16 different actions but each of the 8 moves of the game you can choose to commit only 3 actions.
Game process
Each player has three workers (disks), which need to be put on a common field for acquiring resources (they are needed for construction) or obtaining new animals (sheep, boars, horses, and cows). The game lasts 8 moves, that is, for a game each player can make 24 moves. After each turn, the workers return home (the disks are taken from the field), the cells are replenished on the common field, and then the animals multiply (if at the end of the course you have at least 2 animals of the same type, you get another such animal). Then comes a new move and so on.
Victory is achieved by obtaining the greatest number of victory points. To do this, you need to fence your territory with fences, grow many heads of various livestock, and build many buildings.
There is another element of the game that deserves mention. There is no element of randomness here. There is no hidden information. Players can see each other’s fields, as well as all the resources on the common field. Accuse in their defeat unsuccessful dice rolls or the wrong cards that come out of the deck, will not work. For people who like intellectual fights and puzzling games, this is it – a truly strategic game.
Components
The components in the game are simply unearthly! In a small box, there are fine fields of solid cardboard players, a common field of action, farm extension fields and a notepad for calculating victory points, a color rulebook, and MANY wooden chips. The game has more than 65 small wooden animals plus wooden fences and feeders, and resource discs. Wooden animations add atmosphere to the game.
Android Netrunner
Android: Netrunner is an asymmetric LCD for two players. Performed in the scenery of the cyberpunk future of Android, the game will tell us about the confrontation of mega-corporations with single hackers, the so-called “running.”
The corporation receives points, developing projects. This requires time and credit investments. To gain time to earn loans, you need to ensure the security of servers with the help of “ice”. These are complexes of various protective programs, from conventional barriers to encrypted locks and aggressive “sentries.” It’s the eyes, ears, and turrets of the corporation in the messy information flow of the Web.
“Runners”, in turn, spend time and credits, acquiring and programming the equipment necessary for hacking, with the purpose to bypass corporate protection. Their work is always a shade of despair, surrounded by mystery and tight deadlines. When a hacker connects to the system, he runs the risk that his location will be calculated by the tracers, and the best programs are erased. Beginning crackers often get significant brain damage caused by an unsuccessful attempt to circumvent the defense. But only after getting inside the storehouse, “runner” can find out its contents. Sometimes he will get something really valuable. Sometimes the best thing that he can do is to destroy the unfinished corporate development.
Every step of the corporations is part of a global plan but can they defend themselves against the ingenuity of their enemies? Will the next layer of ice stop the foolhardy burglar, will he fall into the corporate security profession? Will he steal data about fraud or die in the web bindings?
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory is a strategic war game dedicated to the First World War in the European and Middle Eastern theaters of military operations, with card-driven mechanics. In the game, two players will assume the role of monarchs and marshals of that time from 1914 to 1918. Central Powers should take advantage as better trained soldiers, while the Entente takes the number to win in the Great War.
Each turn of the game consists of 6 sub-phases, during which players alternately play cards. Each card can be used in 4 different ways: troop movement, strategic relocation, historical events or reinforcements. The player constantly has to make difficult decisions, because every phase wants to do a lot, but it will be necessary to stop only on one action. And on how players play cards depends the outcome of the war.
This game for a long time already is in the TOP-3 ranking of the BGG wargames, and many players recognize it as the best game at the strategic level.
