Hey PI-Fans,
We though we might start this week with a few abstract titles.
Here’s a wave of light strategy to get the week going.
Crabz is an aggressive little strategy game about stacks of crabs. With the tide coming in, crabs scuttle to safety, inadvertently piling on top of each other in a bid to escape the waves. With large crabs happily plonking themselves on top of smaller ones, players work to immobilize opponents by pinning their crabs underneath crabs of their colour in an attempt to have the last available free crabs when the tide comes in.
Despite it’s obviously punny name, Battle Sheep is a light and fast playing territory control game. In Battle Sheep, players control flocks of sheep trying to sieze the biggest chunk of a pasture for themselves. Each flock consists of a stack of sheep, which slowly splits into smaller stacks as they control ground, becoming less and less flexible the fewer sheep there remain in the pile, making it a balancing act between grabbing ground early or keeping your options open to cut off other players later on.
A unique take on the card-draft mechanic, Sushi Draft has players battling over plates of sushi as they strive to collect the largest sets in a winner take all rush to secure points. With flexible scoring that rewards both specialization in individual sushi types as well as rewarding the biggest spread of food consumed and nasty tiebreaker mechanics (neither player in a tie scores), players must make an effort to balance their consumption to come out ahead of the competition in this light 15 minute card game.
It’s hard to describe Okiya as anything besides addictive. While easily dismissed as yet another line building type game, Okiya is unique in the ability of players to force an opponent to choose their next placement based on the Japanese themed illustrations on the tile they previously chose. Players must therefore not only plan their own moves, but also take into consideration the options opened up to their opponents in this light and fast two-player game.
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New Board Game Releases
Battle Sheep
Crabz
Flash
King’s Gold
Nada
New York 1901
Okiya
Rings Up!
Sushi Draft
Wakanda
Board and Card Game Restocks
7 Wonders
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Cranium
Hanabi Deluxe
Hive
Resistance Avalon
Risk 2210
Mage Knight – The Board Game
Alternatively described as a gripping co-operative game of supernatural deduction and a “
In Shakespeare, players are theater managers who must recruit actors, craftsmen, jewelers and others in order to assemble everything needed for the play’s performance at week’s end. Each day players recruit one new character and take actions with the characters they have. After the actions, they must check the ambience level in their theater, hoping to gain gaining points and rehearsal time. Players must juggle the balance between earning revenue to pay their actors and at the same time ensure the artistry of their plays to maintain their credibility.
The Audience has spoken – in the Room 25 Season 2 expansion for the claustrophobic Room 25 survival game, new arrivals have been tossed into the labyrinthine survival game – and the existing cast has gotten all new power boosts. Of course, the complex hasn’t stayed the same either, and the players will have to face more hazards and traps in their bid for survival.
The latest addition to the Smash Up “shufflebuilding” game: Take two twenty-card decks and shuffle them into a forty-card deck, then compete to smash more Bases than your opponents! Smash Up Munchkin brings Clerics, Halflings, Orcs, Warriors, Elves, Thieves, Dwarves and Mages to your Munchkin game, and bring the wacky antics of Steve Jackson’s Munchkin card game to your Smash Up table.
The latest titles in Seiji Kanai’s smash hit Lost Legacy series, Lost Legacy: Vorpal Sword & Whitegold Spire and Lost Legacy: Third Chronicle – Sacred Grail & Staff of Dragons continue the ongoing search for ruined components of the alien starship. Take charge of all new casts of characters and join the quest to find the Lost Legacies as you race to hold your discoveries against the prying eyes of the other players.
Coup Rebellion G54 uses the same lightning fast rules found in Coup – claim, counter, challenge and bluff – and then adds an exciting strategic layer through character selection. Before each game starts, five character roles are chosen randomly from 25 different cards. Each of the five characters has a unique ability – the combination of abilities and interplay between them makes each game unique. Will your bluffing, deduction, negotiation and luck be enough to carry you through the rebellion? Or will your influence crumble in the face of your foes?
In Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game, the cake is no lie. Your team of test subjects has entered the Lab and is ready to perform all sorts of important, dignified, and dangerous testing procedures… all in the pursuit of cake! Do you risk gathering moist slices of industrial-grade cake early for a quick win? Or do you bide your time and wait until you can protect it better? It’s a fun and funny fast-paced fight to the finish — and by finish, we mean your team probably died.
The battle between the Informants and the Resistance has led to one final battle. In One Night Revolution, the resistance has prepared to strike, yet the Informants pose an ever looming threat within their tanks. Every player starts with a specialist role and an ID (either Government Informant or Rebel Fighter). Using their Specialist actions to gather information, switch roles, and share info, the resistance has to suss out the spies before the day is over, or all is lost.
As seen in Wil Wheaton’s Titansgrave RPG, Green Ronin’s Adventure Game Engine or AGE system is a robust, simple RPG system perfect for both new players and jaded veterans alike. Jump into the AGE with both the Fantasy AGE Core Book and the Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana Setting Book, or just head back to Thedas to revisit the game that launched it all with the all new Dragon Age Core Rulebook.
You’ve fought Aliens aboard the Nostromo, now face down the Predators out to kill you in Legendary Encounters: A Predator Deck Building Game. Using the elegant Legendary Encounters deck building mechanics, fight a hopeless struggle to bring your strike team back alive, or harvest grim trophies as a Predator on the prowl. And just to kick it up a notch, this is fully compatible with the Alien set. AVP? Yes please.
In Empire Engine, players take on the role of a mighty empire, powered by rotating gears. During the game, players simultaneously rotate their dials to choose their actions allowing them to collect resources, attack their enemies and defend, salvage, export, or collect resources. The player who scores the most points for the goods, soldiers and inventions in their score pile at the end of the game is the winner in this 30 minute game of interstate conflict.
In Alchemists, two to four budding alchemists compete to discover the secrets of their mystical art. Players gain knowledge by mixing ingredients and testing the results. Players can also earn money by selling potions of questionable quality to adventurers, but money is just a means to an end. The alchemists don’t want riches, after all. They want respect, and respect usually comes from publishing theories. What arcane secrets do these strange ingredients hide? Now it is time to find out.
