Tag: Set Collection

Games with Set Collection mechanics require players to collect resources in sets to achieve various rewards.

Broken and Beautiful

| T3d-1978
Broken and Beautiful

Broken and Beautiful

“Kintsugi” is the Japanese art of using golden lacquer to repair broken pottery.

In Broken and Beautiful, players draft cards like bowls, cups, and tea jars to create high-scoring sets. As some pieces inevitably break, players must judiciously repair what has been shattered.

Whole pottery is valuable. Broken dishes are worthless. That which has broken and been repaired is uniquely precious.

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.29

Bohnanza

| T3d-1978
Bohnanza

Bohnanza

In the game, you plant, then harvest bean cards in order to earn coins. Each player starts with a hand of random bean cards, and each card has a number on it corresponding to the number of that type of beans in the deck. Unlike in most other card games, you can’t rearrange the order of cards in hand, so you must use them in the order that you’ve picked them up from the deck — unless you can trade them to other players, which is the heart of the game.

On a turn, you must plant the first one or two cards in your hand into the “fields” in front of you. Each field can hold only one type of bean, so if you must plant a type of bean that’s not in one of your fields, then you must harvest a field to make room for the new arrival. This usually isn’t good! Next, you reveal two cards from the deck, and you can then trade these cards as well as any card in your hand for cards from other players. You can even make future promises for cards received right now! After all the trading is complete — and all trades on a turn must involve the active player — then you end your turn by drawing cards from the deck and placing them at the back of your hand.

When you harvest beans, you receive coins based on the number of bean cards in that field and the “beanometer” for that particular type of bean. Flip over 1-4 cards from that field to transform them into coins, then place the remainder of the cards in the discard pile. When the deck runs out, shuffle the discards, playing through the deck two more times. At the end of the game, everyone can harvest their fields, then whoever has earned the most coins wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Negotiation
  • Set Collection
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 7 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67

Boba Mahjong

| T3d-1978
Boba Mahjong

Boba Mahjong

Boba Mahjong is a 2-player mahjong variant card game using set collection and rummy mechanics. In the game, players create sets of three cards during their turn. After creating a set, the player keeps one of the cards as an ingredient card. When a player has five sets of ingredient cards, the round ends. Players will use the best six ingredients to make their boba drink and collect points based on the freshness, smoothness, complexity, and presentation of their drink. The game will continue for several rounds until a player has 30 or more points, and the player with the most points wins the game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.00

Bites

| T3d-1978
Bites

Bites

New version of the Spiel des Jahres Recommended Big Points with a new theme, more engaging components, and rule tweak cards to make sure every play is different.

Four page illustrated rulebook. 20min play time. Highly interactive with no direct conflict.

Players move ants along a trail and collect food as they go. However, the value of that food depends on how the other ants move.

Shared incentives mean you are always trying to figure out what the other players are up to. Variable “rules cards” tweak the rules to every game so that each play is fresh.

During setup, a trail of food is laid out. On each player’s turn, they can move any ant to the next food in the trail that matches their color (red ant to apple, purple ant to grapes, etc). Then the player takes the food token directly in front of or behind the ant, saving it to score at the end of the game.

However, players don’t know for sure how much the food is going to be worth until the matching ant makes it to the ant hill at the end of the trail. This creates shared incentives as players work together to advance some ants and hold others back.

Along the way players also have the chance to pick up chocolate, which can be turned into special actions, and wine, which provides a way to score bonus points.

There are four decks of cards that define the rules for the game. Each game, one card is chosen from each deck to provide a unqiue combination. Players have to adapt their strategy to the actions the other players are taking and the unique rules for this game. The “rule decks” are:

  • Ant Hill – Food tokens are worth more points if the matching ant gets to the hill FIRST. Or, food tokens are worth more points if the matching ants get to the ant hill LAST.
  • Wine – The wine tokens have a different way of scoring in every game.
  • Chocolate – The chocolate tokens provide a different special power in every game. And, the best way to use that power will change based on the other special rules in play.
  • Variant – One special rule that applies to this game which offers an extra twist.

Your actions will change the incentives for the other players. Can you manage these cascading effects to collect the most valuable food collection?

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.50

Biblios

| T3d-1978
Biblios

Biblios

THE GAME CONCEPT
You are an abbot of a medieval monastery competing with other abbots to amass the greatest library of sacred books. To do so, you need to have both the workers and resources to run a well-functioning scriptorium. To acquire workers and resources, you use a limited supply of donated gold. In addition, you must be on good terms with the powerful bishop, who can help you in your quest.

OUTLINE OF GAME PLAY
The object of the game is to score the most Victory Points. You win Victory Points by winning any of the 5 categories: Illuminators, Scribes, Manuscripts, Scrolls, and Supplies. You win a category by having the highest total number of workers (Scribes, Illuminators) or resources (Manuscripts, Scrolls, Supplies) in that category. This is determined by the numbers in the upper left corner on the cards. At the start of the game, each category is worth 3 Victory Points. As the game progresses, the values on the Value Board will change and some categories will become worth more or fewer Victory Points than others. The game is divided into 2 stages: a Donation stage and an Auction stage. During the Donation stage, players acquire free cards according to an established plan. In the Auction stage, players purchase cards in auction rounds. After the two stages, winners of each category are determined and Victory Points awarded. The player with the most Victory Points wins.

GAME CHARACTERISTICS
The game involves a good deal of strategic planning, some bluffing, and a little bit of luck. The rules are easy to understand, but you have to play it a few times to develop a playing strategy. It plays differently from 2-4 players, but each game is equally fun and challenging.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Closed Drafting
  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.68

Bearly Working

| T3d-1978
Bearly Working

Bearly Working

Welcome to your City! As the newly elected Mayor it is your duty to attend and bid at a 5-day bear auction in hopes of creating a prosperous society with a diverse workforce. Watch out though because you’ll be facing rival Mayors with the same objective! Bearly Working is an “auction-based card collecting game” where the end goal is to have more points than your opponents while managing your resources wisely. Develop your city by purchasing bears with special skills and hire covert criminals to sabotage your opponents! Whatever your strategy…

Running a city is grizzly business!
—
This is an auction-based game for two to four players and takes around 20 to 30 minutes to play.
The game lasts 5 days and each day is broken into 3 phases.
The first phase is the auction, where you will face off against the other mayors in an open bidding system. One by one, a bear is showcased and then auctioned off. The winning bidder hires the worker into their city. The second phase is payday. There are two types of bears. One provides victory points and the other provides income. Mayors with income bears in their city will collect their total paycheck from the bank. The third phase is the action phase. Mayors will have three opportunities to either collect five coins from the bank or enlist the help of criminals.

These crooks will be essential in sabotaging your competition. They do devious things such as fixing the auction, stealing some money or kidnapping bears. At the end of the third phase, the day is complete, and this cycle is repeated for a total of 5 times. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game, is the winner!

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Set Collection
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 20 – 35 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Ankh’or

| T3d-1978
Ankh'or

Ankh'or

Ankh’or is a quick-playing resource management game in which each player on their turn either collects three types of tokens (with an ankh being a supplemental resource) or buys a tile from a marketplace and adds this tile to their structure, trying to connect tiles of the same color or bearing the same scarab while doing so. By spending an ankh, you can shift tiles in the marketplace and change the cost and type of goods needed to purchase them.

Each player’s structure will have at most thirteen tiles, so don’t wait too long to start building!

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Pattern Building
  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.71

Agatha Christie’s Death on the Cards

| T3d-1978
Agatha Christie's Death on the Cards

Agatha Christie's Death on the Cards

In Agatha Christie: Death on the Cards, which consists of a deck of eighty cards, players work co-operatively to solve a murder, using their detective skills to unmask the culprit and prevent their escape. The twist is that one of the players is the murderer and must work against the group to keep themselves hidden. Players also have dark secrets from their past they want to keep hidden from the other players. Who can you trust?

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Hidden Roles
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.25

5211 Azul

| T3d-1978
5211 Azul

5211 Azul

5211 is a fast-playing card game with a unique scoring method that rewards clever play!

This game has cards 1-6 in five colors. Each player starts with a hand of five cards. Players play two cards face-down, then simultaneously reveal them. They refill their hand, then repeat this process two more times, but only with one card.

The cards of the majority color will score — unless too many are present, in which case the color busts and the second most color scores. In case of a tie for majority, the tied colors are also out. These rounds are repeated until the deck runs out. The player with the most points wins.

5211 is a new edition of 5 COLORS that has all new art.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 20 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.22

10 Minute Heist

| T3d-1978
10 Minute Heist

10 Minute Heist

In 10 Minute Heist: The Wizard’s Tower, players take turns moving their pawns from room to room stealing items. Players compete for most paintings, artifacts, jewels, and fossils. Players also compete for the most items valued at 3, 4, and 5. The first player to exit receives bonus points, so it’s a race to the finish while simultaneously trying to get sets of items to maximize points. Be careful not to accumulate too many cursed items because they’re worth negative points at the end of the game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 10 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.21