Author: T3d-1978

Decrypto

| T3d-1978

Players compete in two teams in Decrypto, with each trying to correctly interpret the coded messages presented to them by their teammates while cracking the codes they intercept from the opposing team.

Each team has their own screen, and in this screen they tuck four cards in pockets numbered 1-4, letting everyone on the same team see the words on these cards while hiding the words from the opposing team. In the first round, one team member from each team takes a code card that shows three of the digits 1-4 in some order, e.g., 4-2-1. They then give a coded message using synonyms of the code words so that their teammate can guess the sequence. If the teammates guess incorrectly, the team receives a black mark of failure.

Subsequent rounds have the same structure, except now the other team can attempt to guess your code. If they’re correct, they receive a white mark of success; if not, then the first team must guess the number correctly or take a black mark of failure. (Guessing correctly does nothing except avoid failure and give the opposing team information about what our hidden words might be.)

The rounds continue until a team collects either its second white mark (winning the game) or its second black mark (losing the game). Games typically last between 4-7 rounds. If neither team has won after eight rounds, then each team must attempt to guess the other team’s words; whichever team guesses more words correctly wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Communication Limits
  • Paper and Pencil
  • Team-Based Game

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 8 Players
  • 15 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.83

Deadwood 1876

| T3d-1978

There’s gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and you’ve come to find (or steal) your share. You’re staying at one of the three major establishments in Deadwood where you and your associates are working together to steal some of the gold-filled safes floating around town. But you suspect that the “friends” you’re working with are secretly plotting to keep all the gold for themselves. Will you be ready to turn on them before they shoot you in the back?

In Deadwood 1876, you use cards from your hand to try to win Safes from other players. Safes contain Badges, Gold, or Showdown Guns. Near the end of the game, players with Badges get extra turns. After the final turn, the team with the most Gold will advance to the Final Showdown. There, teammates will have to fight each other to the death using Showdown Guns. The last person alive is the winner!

The game is a balance between teamwork and selfishness. If a player uses all of their best cards to hunt down Gold for their team, they’ll be defenseless to fight against their teammates if they go to the Final Showdown. But if a player only goes after Guns and saves all of their best cards, their team might not have enough Gold to actually reach the Final Showdown. If someone on your team doesn’t seem to be pulling their weight, they might be plotting to steal your gold after using you to get to the Finals! There may come a point where you need to gather Showdown Guns instead of Gold, or attack, mislead, frame, abandon, or banish your own teammates.

Deadwood 1876, volume 3 in the “Dark Cities” series from Facade Games, can have 2-9 players. Learn in 20 minutes, play in 20-40 minutes.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Team-Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 9 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.90

Dead Eye, the

| T3d-1978

Buckle up your Rad Suit.
Fire up the Rig.
Beware the Tox.

The Dead Eye is an adventure card game for one player.

Assume the role of a lone thermo-bandit downed on a hostile backwater planet.
Your mission? Find the next safe haven before you lose all hope and strength… and maybe, just maybe, find a way off of this desolate rock.

Cards in The Dead Eye represent Encounters that can have one of two Outcomes: Good or Bad. A Bad Outcome is triggered by a buildup of dangerous Heat while a Good Outcome is triggered by a buildup of valuable Juice. Your starting Draw Deck includes 6 cards with Juice and 6 cards with Heat. As you play through the deck, some of these cards will raise your Heat and Juice levels, while at other times the cards will be used as the Encounter itself.

Face dangerous Encounters, salvage useful Parts and reach safe Haven.

The Dead Eye includes a 12 page prelude comic book, 20 page rule-book, 1-fold double-sided game board, 2 pairs of stereoscopic-3D glasses, 1 pair of “hook-behind” stereoscopic-3D glasses and 54 unique cards.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  •  Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Multi-Use Cards
  • Solo/Solitaire

Game Specifications:

  • 1 Player
  • 15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.08

DC Forever

| T3d-1978

In the deck-building game DC Forever, you pick two iconic characters pulled from the pages of DC Comics to form your own squad of heroes or rogues. These characters have unique powers that form the starting cards of your deck, along with basic resource cards.

During play, you recruit new characters to your team, each with unique decks and gameplay, and choose which of their cards to add to support your strategy as the game progresses. Heroes and rogues will clash at classic DC Comics locations from the shadowy alleyways of Gotham City to the subaquatic depths of Atlantis.

Rogues want to achieve their master plan by completing five schemes, but they’ll be equally happy to knock out all of the heroes since no one will remain to oppose them. For their part, the heroes want to either capture all of the rogues or place thirty citizens in sanctuary; you may not be able to stop the schemes, but if people are safe, then you’ll still call this a victory.

DC Forever features eighteen playable characters and hundreds of cards from which to choose during play.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Delayed Purchase

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.20

DC Deck Building Game: Justice League Dark

| T3d-1978

ARE YOU READY TO GO DARK?
This entry in the DC Deck-Building Game series puts you in the supernatural shoes of the DC team that steps in when challenges arise that are too mystical for regular Super Heroes. Become a member of the Justice League Dark as you Seal the threats of magical Super-Villains and Transform your cards into more powerful forms!

Standalone game, but compatible with other games in DC Deck-Building Game series.

KEY FEATURES
Based on Justice League Dark comics, with original cover art by Ryan Benjamin
Play as Justice League Dark members like Wonder Woman, John Constantine, Zatanna, and Doctor Fate
Transform cards have the ability to change into other cards!
Seal your cards away to add to your score at the end of the game
New Weakness cards have a built-in way to get rid of them… if you are willing to pay the cost!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Blank Slate: Challenge

| T3d-1978

A game of anticipated predictions! Pick from the Word Cue Cards (150 cues in all), write the two words you think best completes the phrase – and try to match it exactly to your partner’s words without giving a single hint. How well can you put your finger on what they’re thinking?

Just grab a slate, write your words, and get ready to make a match! Who knows – if you get good enough at it, soon you might be finishing each OTHER’S ______.

Game Mechanics:

  •  Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.00

Anxiety Attack!

| T3d-1978

Play cards to move opponents closer to the Anxiety Spiral and yourself closer to safety.

Each turn, players play cards from their hand:

  • Trigger Cards are numbered 1-7 and move characters ahead toward the Anxiety Spiral.
  • Defuse Cards are numbered 1-3 and move characters back toward the Oasis. Play either card type on any player, including yourself. Playing one of these cards completes the player’s turn unless they want to play an Instant card.
  • Instant Cards can be played at any time according to the function on the card. Play them quickly before another card is played or a player moves.

If a player lands exactly on a space with an arrow, move to the space indicated. Landing on the same space as another player bumps the player who was there first ahead one space. Use Trigger and Defuse cards strategically to find safer routes for yourself and move opponents faster!

Red and Orange split paths may have certain advantages and disadvantages, choose wisely!

Landing on a Panic Room or Retreat space for the first time sends a player to a safe haven. For the next round, that player may not play nor can they be played on. After their next turn they are sent out according to the arrow, where they will be vulnerable to play. If all opponents are in safe havens a remaining player MUST play a card on themself.

The first player to be sent to the Anxiety Spiral loses. But they are not out of the game because misery LOVES company! The losing player may now move one space in either direction EVERY TIME a card is played. If the losing player lands on the same space as a remaining player, the remaining player is sent directly to the Anxiety Spiral and then begins to go after other players in the same fashion until there is only one active player.

The last person to be sent to the Anxiety Spiral is the winner!

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Player Elimination

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.00

Cat Between Us

| T3d-1978

Do you understand what the cat wants? Try to get as close to the cat as possible without passing it by.

Each round in Cat Between Us, you first draw a card from the deck, then place the cat token on the numbered space on the track matching the tiny number on the card. Shuffle the deck, then deal all players their current hand size.

Starting with the player who won the previous round, players take turns playing one card at a time under the six items laid out on the table until each item has two cards below it. The sum of these two cards is the value of this item. Each player sums the value of each item remaining in their hand to determine where they should place their token on the track. Whoever is closest to the cat without passing it has won the round; multiple winners are possible. (If all players have passed the cat, whoever passed it least wins.)

Winners move their personal token forward on their playing card, which indicates how many rounds they have won and how many cards they receive. Each time you win, you start the round with one more card in hand, making your next victory harder! Whoever first wins three rounds wins the game.

Game Mechanics:

  •  Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 15 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67

Boggle

| T3d-1978

Boggle is a timed word game in which players have 3 minutes to find as many connected words as possible from the face up letters resting in a 16 cube grid. When the timer runs out, players compare their lists of words and remove any words found by multiple players. Points are then awarded for remaining words, depending on how many letters are in the word. (In the original Boggle, all words must contain 3 or more letters to score points.)

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Spelling

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 8 Players
  • ~10 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.45

Bear Raid

| T3d-1978

In Bear Raid you’ll put on your power suit, pajamas, or prison jumper, and start buying, selling, and shorting stocks. Like every successful trader, your goal is to try and make the most money you can.

Players will buy, sell, and short stocks in the stock market during the action phase of the game. Forecast cards with clever news headlines will be used to determine how each stock is affected.

Through the use of dice that you can manipulate and clever play, you’ll influence the market, hopefully bending the stock prices to your advantage.

The winner is the one who’s made the most money!

Game Mechanics:

  • Commodity Speculation
  • Dice Rolling
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.88