Tag: Bluffing

Bluffing board games typically require players to lie to each other to gain a competitive advantage.

Stratego

Stratego

Stratego

The gameboard is your battlefield. You have an army of men at your disposal and six bombs. Your mission–protect your flag and capture your opponent’s flag.

Secretly place your men, bombs, and flag on the gameboard with these objectives in mind. But remember your opponent is doing the same thing, so you must plan a defense as well as an offense.

Once the armies are in place, advance your men. When you’re one space away from an enemy, attack. You and your opponent declare ranks. The lower-ranking man is captured and out of play.

You control your pieces and risk your men in battles where the strength of your enemy is unknown. The suspense builds as your men move deeper into enemy territory. Move with caution and courage. The next piece you attack could be a bomb. And when attacked, it could “blast” your man off the board and out of play.

The first to capture an enemy flag is the winner!

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Bluffing
  • Deduction
  • Grid Movement
  • Memory

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Spies & Lies

Spies & Lies

Spies & Lies

The head-to-head game of deployment, deduction and deception

Break the deadlock in the final days of war. Victory will hinge on the actions of a handful of men – and we women spies… Go head-to-head as you secretly select soldiers with different abilities to engage the enemy.

Each of you will have the opportunity to sabotage your opponent’s missions – using careful deployment, clever deduction and surprising deception. With every enemy soldier you identify, with every advance you rebuff, you’ll tighten the noose, infiltrating further into the enemy camp and taking the Double Agent a step closer to capturing the enemy flag!

Spies & Lies is played in 3 rounds. Each round consists of 3 phases (Deploy, Intel and Mission) which will determine which player can move the Double Agent into enemy territory on the game board. The first player to land on the enemy’s flag with the Double Agent wins (or the player who is closest to doing so when the third round ends).

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Deduction
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot is a cooperative/semi-cooperative hand-management and deduction-based board game for 3–7 players.

Each player represents a knight of the Round Table and they must collaborate to overcome a number of quests, ranging from defeating the Black Knight to the search for the Holy Grail. Completed quests place white swords on the Round Table; failed quests add black swords and/or siege engines around Camelot. The knights are trying to build a majority of white swords on the Table before Camelot falls.

On each knight’s turn, the knight takes a “heroic action”, such as moving to a new quest, building his hand, or playing cards to advance the forces of good. However, he must also choose one of three evil actions, each of which will bring Camelot closer to defeat.

Moreover, one of the knights may be a traitor, pretending to be a loyal member of the party but secretly hindering his fellow knights in subtle ways, biding his time, waiting to strike at the worst possible moment…

But enough words… don your cloak, climb astride your warhorse, and gallop into the Shadows to join us in Camelot!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Hand Management
  • Limited Communication
  • Player Elimination
  • Set Collection
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 7 Players
  • 60 – 80 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.57

Obscurio

Obscurio

Obscurio

The Sorcerer is out to get you! Find your way among the illusions, but beware of the traitor in your ranks!

The Grimoire guides their team towards the exit using images, upon which they point at certain details. Working together, the other players have to find the exit as quickly as possible while avoiding picking the wrong cards. However, a member of the team is a traitor looking to lead the other players astray. A wide variety of traps are on your way to the exit of the library, making player communication harder!

Obscurio is a family game, an original mix between an image-based communication game and a secret role game in which the players have to be careful when sharing ideas with their team. Supported by rich contents, Obscurio proposes a fresh new experience in its genre by putting the emphasis on the details of the images and the constant doubt created by the presence of the traitor.

Communicate efficiently and avoid the illusions on your way to escape the Sorcerer’s library!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Party Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.90

Nanty Narking

Nanty Narking

Nanty Narking

Immersed deeply in the world of Dickens’s and Doyle’s literature, Nanty Narking moves you into the realities of the myths and legends of the Victorian era. The events in the game are tied to real and fictional characters and places in Victorian London The same London which inspired so many stories…

The action takes place on the city map, with players placing their agents and buildings on the board through card play. Every card is unique. The cards bring the game to life as they include most of the famous characters who have appeared in the various books. The rules are relatively simple: Play a card and do what it says. Most cards have more than one action on them, and you can choose to do some or all of these actions. Some cards also allow you to play a second card, so you can chain actions.

At the beginning of the game, each player draws a secret personality with specific victory conditions, which means that you can never be sure what the other players need to do in order to win. You need to fulfill your goal while also trying to prevent others from winning!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Bluffing
  • City Building
  • Deduction
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Hidden Roles
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.27

Naga Raja

Naga Raja

Naga Raja

Twin temples of two forgotten divinities containing ancient relics have been discovered in India. You set off on a treasure hunt, racing to find them before your rival, but your progress is slowed by a constantly shifting maze of paths… And eternal damnation awaits anyone foolish enough to uncover the three cursed relics of Garuda!

MOVE QUICKLY… CHOOSE WISELY! A treasure race packed with tough choices, twists & turns!

In this 2-players game, each player moves around their own temple, which has spaces for room tiles and hiding places for 9 sacred and cursed relics around. These relics are placed randomly, face-down, around the temples and worth victory points once flipped face-up.

The first player to score 25 victory points wins the game. However, a player loses if they reveal all three cursed relics! Each round, the players compete to win a new room tile by using cards allowing them to throw fate sticks. The player with the most fate points showing on their sticks wins the room tile and places it in their temple. Each player attempts to create paths leading to their relics, enabling them to flip them face up and score victory points. Yet, Naga symbols on some sticks let you activate cards with powerful effects, so that you can never take anything for granted.

A GAMEPLAY WITH DUAL-USE CARDS AND STICKS

Players must decide how to use the cards in their hands: for throwing sticks or activating their effects? Card effects can be applied on you or opponent’s game and are relating to:

  • Sticks results
  • Relic positions
  • Room positions
  • Card drawing

Results on Fate sticks can be used to win the room at stake (using their Fate points) or to activate cards (using their Naga symbols). There are 3 types of sticks (number of Fate points or Naga faces are different for each type).

DILEMMAS, TWISTS, LOW BLOWS!

No temple room or Relic is locked in place, they can be moved/removed as you or your opponent activate cards… You could turn everything upside-down! For example:

  • Make the maze slide
  • Swap the positions of relics
  • Place a Trap room in your opponent’s Temple
  • Change the results of the sticks
  • Discard action cards from your opponent’s hand
  • Make him throw again his sticks…

IF YOU…

  • Have ever dreamed of being an Indiana Jones, chasing relics in an Indian modular temple…
  • Adore putting a spoke in the wheels of your opponent…
  • Love gameplays balanced between strategy (cruel choices, anticipation) and fun…

then Naga Raja is the perfect game for you!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.02

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom

It's a Wonderful Kingdom

It's a Wonderful Kingdom

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is a standalone solo or 2-player game in a Low-Fantasy universe. Inspired by the core mechanics of its predecessor “It’s a Wonderful World”, this new game offers more interaction, a bluff mechanism and new challenges.

The game is played using modules, each different and offering mechanical twists. Each game, players will choose one of the different modules to compete against each other. The game is divided into 4 rounds. Each round having 3 phases.

Split & Trap
Players take turns offering their cards to one another in two areas in the center of the table.

One player picks 2 cards from their hand and either places them in the same area or splits them between the two areas. The other player chooses an area and claims the card(s) in it. The players take turns repeating this step until both players have offered all of their cards. Each player has 2 Trap tokens which can be used to place cards face down, otherwise all cards are played face up.

Planification
Each player chooses which of the cards they have collected to build and which ones to recycle for immediate resources.

Sequential Production
Each player produces their Kingdom’s resources sequentially. Since resources are produced in a specific order, it is important to plan ahead to optimize your production and development.

At the end of the fourth round, the player with the most victory points wins the game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 2 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.57

Hellapagos

Hellapagos

Hellapagos

Hellapagos is a “co-opetition” game in which players struggle to survive on a desert island and build a raft to escape before a hurricane devastates them. While players need to work together, it’s not likely that everyone will survive this backstabbing negotiation game for up to twelve players.

After becoming shipwrecked, your group of castaways finds themselves on a desert island. At first, the surroundings seem like paradise, but life soon proves difficult. Water and food are scarce. It’s doubtful whether everyone can survive this diet. There is only one solution: Construct a large raft together. But don’t waste any time, because the clouds on the horizon suggest the arrival of a dangerous hurricane! At the end of the game, the players who manage to leave the island in time will win (assuming anyone survives that long!).

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Cooperative
  • Negotiation
  • Party Game
  • Player Elimination
  • Set Collection
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 12 Players
  • 20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Four Humours

Four Humours

Four Humours

In Four Humours, you are a doctor in medieval times, and everyone knows that your personality is determined by an imbalance of your bodily fluids, a.k.a., the four humours:

  1. Choleric (Yellow bile) – Goal-oriented, decisive, ambitious.
  2. Sanguine (Red blood) – Talkative, enthusiastic, social.
  3. Melancholic (Black bile) – Analytical, detail-oriented, reserved.
  4. Phlegmatic (White phlegm) – Relaxed, peaceful, easy-going.

The kingdom — composed of six map tiles with various locations — is filled with all types of personalities, from choleric sorcerers to phlegmatic peasants. ​Prove you’re the best medieval doctor by visiting citizens throughout the kingdom so they can live out their life’s ambitions…or lack thereof.

Each turn, you play a personality potion from your hand onto a citizen on a scene card to determining that citizen’s personality. Each citizen can have one of two potion types played onto it, and you play each token face down so you know the personality of the citizen, but none of the other players do. Once all citizens on two of the scene cards are covered with potions, all potions are resolved in the following order:

  • A lone choleric wins, whereas two or more are discarded, after which…
  • Two or more sanguines win, whereas a single one is discarded, after which…
  • Exactly two melancholics win, whereas more than two are discarded and a single one sneaks away, after which…
  • Any number of phlegmatics win.

Place winning potions on the corresponding scene in the kingdom.. If a melancholic token sneaks away, place the potion on an adjacent scene connected by a path or bridge. After all potions have been placed, see whether you’ve completed any of the four randomized goals on display, such as having a potion on each of the six map tiles or occupying two pairs of locations that are connected by bridges. Then reveal four new scene cards and begin another round.

When a player completes an objective, the first party tile is resolved. Party tiles are similar to scenes with citizens, but they are available to play onto on your turn at any point in the game. Once the players at the table have completed six total objectives, the last party tile is resolved and the game ends. The player with the most objectives completed wins!

Alternatively, instead of using a shared kingdom board, you can play in “Fiefdom Mode”, with each player having their own fiefdom board. After resolving scene cards, players place their winning personality potion covering a matching character in your fiefdom. The objectives now encourage you to cover all characters of certain types or to create a specific pattern within your Fiefdom.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Bluffing
  • Deduction
  • Network Building
  • Pattern Building

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Fog of Love

Fog of Love

Fog of Love

Fog of Love is a game for two players. You will create and play two vivid characters who meet, fall in love and face the challenge of making an unusual relationship work.

Playing Fog of Love is like being in a romantic comedy: roller-coaster rides, awkward situations, lots of laughs and plenty of difficult compromises to make.

Much as in a real relationship, goals might be at odds. You can try to change, keep being relentless or even secretly decide to be a Heartbreaker. It’s your choice.

The happily ever after won’t be certain, but whatever way your zigzag romance unfolds, you’ll always end up with a story full of surprises – guaranteed to raise a smile!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Hand Management
  • Limited Communication
  • Role Playing
  • Storytelling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.25