Author: T3d-1978

Flick’em up! Dead of Winter

| T3d-1978
Flick'em up! Dead of Winter

Flick'em up! Dead of Winter

Flick ’em Up!: Dead of Winter pits players against zombies in a dexterity game that has you using tools in various ways to take out the undead while they in turn shamble somewhat randomly in your direction.

Based on the best-selling Dead of Winter, form your group of ten survivors and explore the city with ten scenarios. Shh! The slightest sound will wake the zombies! With the new — and terrifying — zombie tower, you’d better be ready and rearing to go when the zombies attack! Will you be able to flick some zombies?

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Dexterity
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 10 Players
  • 30 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11

Flash Point

| T3d-1978
Flash Point

Flash Point

The call comes in… “911, what is your emergency?” On the other end is a panicked response of “FIRE!” Moments later you don the protective suits that will keep you alive, gather your equipment and rush to the scene of a blazing inferno. The team has only seconds to assess the situation and devise a plan of attack – then you spring into action like the trained professionals that you are. You must face your fears, never give up, and above all else work as a team because the fire is raging, the building is threatening to collapse, and lives are in danger.

You must succeed. You are the brave men and women of fire rescue; people are depending on you. This is what you do every day.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a cooperative game of fire rescue.

There are two versions of game play in Flash Point, a basic game and expert game.
In both variants, players are attempting to rescue 7 of 10 victims from a raging building fire.
As the players attempt to rescue the victims, the fire spreads to other parts of the building, causing structural damage and possibly blocking off pathways through the building. Each turn a player may spend action points to try to extinguish fires, move through the building, move victims out of the building or perform various special actions such as moving emergency vehicles. If 4 victims perish in the blaze or the building collapses from taking too much structural damage, the players lose. Otherwise, the players win instantly when they rescue a 7th victim.

The expert variant included in the game adds thematic elements such as flash over, combustible materials, random setup, and variations on game difficulty from novice to heroic. The game includes a double sided board with two different building plans and several expansion maps are available.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Pick-Up and Deliver

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.20

Flamecraft

| T3d-1978
Flamecraft

Flamecraft

Artisan dragons, the smaller and magically talented versions of their larger (and destructive) cousins, are sought by shopkeepers so that they may delight customers with their flamecraft. You are a Flamekeeper, skilled in the art of conversing with dragons, placing them in their ideal home and using enchantments to entice them to produce wondrous things. Your reputation will grow as you aid the dragons and shopkeepers, and the Flamekeeper with the most reputation will be known as the Master of Flamecraft.

In Flamecraft, 1-5 players take on the role of Flamekeepers, gathering items, placing dragons and casting enchantments to enhance the shops of the town. Dragons are specialized (bread, meat, iron, crystal, plant and potion) and the Flamekeepers know which shops are the best home for each. Visit a shop to gain items and a favor from one of the dragons there. Gathered items can be used to enchant a shop, gaining reputation and the favors of all the dragons in the shop. If you are fortunate enough to attract fancy dragons then you will have opportunities to secure even more reputation.

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Hand Management
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.17

First Rat

| T3d-1978
First Rat

First Rat

For generations, the rats in the old junkyard have been telling each other the great legend about a moon made out of cheese and they want nothing more than to reach this inexhaustible treasure. One day, the little rat children discovered a comic in the junkyard that described the first landing on the moon, and thus the plan was born: Build a rocket and take over the cheese moon!

Fortunately, the junkyard has everything the rats need to build their rocket, and the other animals are willing to support this daring venture — at least if they’re well paid. Of course, all the rats work together to achieve this mighty goal. However, each rat family competes to build the most rocket parts and to train the most rattronauts so they can feast on as much of the lunar cheese as possible.

In First Rat, each player starts with two rats and may raise two more. On your turn, you either move one of your rats 1-5 spaces on the path or move 2-4 of your rats 1-3 spaces each as long as they end up on spaces of the same color. Your rats can never share the same space, and if you land in a space with another player’s rat, you must pay them one cheese, borrowing cheese from the back as needed. After movement, you collect resources (cheese, tin cans, apple cores, baking soda, etc.) matching the color of the space you occupy or move your lightbulb along the light string, which will boost your income in future turns. (More lights in the junkyard makes it easier for you to find things!)

If you end movement near a store, you can spend resources to buy a backpack or bottle top — or you can steal an item instead, with the rat then returning to the start of the movement track. You can also spend resources to build rocket sections (and score points) or spend cheese in bulk as a donation (and score points).

When you pick up apple cores, you move around the rat burrow to pick up comics or stored food or raise one of your rats from the nursery. Alternatively, you automatically get a new rat when one of your rats reaches the launch pad and boards the spaceship. When a player places their fourth rat on the spaceship — or places their eighth scoring marker on the board — the game ends, and the player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the tied player with the most rattronauts in the rocket wins.

First Rat includes a solo mode as well as variable game set-ups described in the rulebook.

Game Mechanics:

  • Racing
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 75 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.36

The Few and Cursed

| T3d-1978
The Few and Cursed

The Few and Cursed

The Few and Cursed is a deck-building adventure game based on the Comic Series of the same name. It takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where most of the water on the planet has been gone for seventy years.

Even though what was left of mankind found a way to adapt using water, the most valuable asset on the planet, as currency, survival turned the world into a wicked wasteland where it’s either kill or be killed. And evil not only endured, it won.

People turned to dark arts, old tales of mischief and curses to survive. Death is everywhere. But for every darkness there is light – and among the few and cursed are those willing to fight to bring balance to the land: the Curse Chasers.

In the game, players take on the role of a “Curse Chaser” looking to make a name for themselves by searching for supernatural artifacts, completing jobs, or bounty hunting. Players traverse the desert of the Pacific Ocean as they improvise and acquire new cards for their deck on their quest for fame or infamy.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Movement
  • Deck Building

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.59

Fertility

| T3d-1978
Fertility

Fertility

You are a Nomarch in Ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh put you in charge of a Metropolis and its region. The flooding of the Nile is coming to an end and the lands of the Valley are ready to offer their riches. Organize the collection of resources, build districts with the most lucrative shops, supply them with goods and earn the most Debens for the glory of the Pharaoh. The player who will make the best use of the resources of the Nile Valley will win the game.

Fertility is a simple resource management game that raises tough decisions for you to take. Each turn, you collect some of the riches of the Valley of the Nile and immediately decide how to use them : supply one of your Shop to earn money, or spend them to build new districts, offering you new opportunities. Be wise because your choices are irreversible. None of the resources already stocked in your shops can be moved or reused until the end of the game. But any resource unspent by the end of your turn will be definitively lost. Optimize your turns and choices if you want to win.

A player’s turn goes through three fast and simple steps. They start by placing one of their Valley tile on the central board in order to collect resources : alabaster, bovines, papyrus flowers, grapes or wheat. They then have the opportunity to spend these resources to build a new District tile on their Metropolis board, for opening new opportunities. Lastly, they supply their Shops in their Metropolis by stocking the remaining resources. Any resource that a player has left unused at the end of their turn is lost. So, the aim is to collect as many resources as possible, but even more to be able to optimize how to use them. The game ends after 9 turns and each totally supplied Shop is worth money for their owner. The player with the highest amount of money is the winner.

Game Mechanics:

  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 25 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.97

Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates

| T3d-1978
Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates

Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates

While playing Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates, you become a pirate captain sailing three ships through the Caribbean in search of rich merchants to plunder and friendly ports in which to trade your booty for riches.

In more detail, you have one ship on each of the three “tracks”, i.e., pathways through the Caribbean Sea. On each turn, you play three cards from your hand to move your ships. Your cards have a basic movement number, and often a secondary action. You may use one or the other to move your ships down the track or gain special advantages.

Each of the three tracks winds through the Caribbean islands toward your ultimate goal: the Spanish Treasure Galleon at Trinidad. Along the way, there will be detours that lead to merchant ships that may be plundered, and towns that may be visited to cash in your plunder for treasure. Plundering merchant ships and visiting towns also allows you to recruit more crewmen (cards) for your crew (deck). The better your deck is, the faster that your ships are able to move, so deciding when to take detours for plunder and recruiting and when to sail on toward your ultimate goal is an important decision that every pirate captain must make.

The first pirate captain to reach the Treasure Galleon at the end of any track ends the game. Each pirate ship scores points based on what place they finished on each track, as well as for the treasures earned by selling plunder. The richest captain goes down in history as the Pirate King!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Racing
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.29

Ex Libris

| T3d-1978
Ex Libris

Ex Libris

In Ex Libris, you are a collector of rare and valuable books in a thriving gnomish village. Recently, the Mayor and Village Council have announced an opening for a Grand Librarian: a prestigious (and lucrative) position they intend to award to the most qualified villager! Unfortunately, several of your book collector colleagues (more like acquaintances, really) are also candidates.

To outshine your competition, you need to expand your personal library by sending your trusty assistants out into the village to find the most impressive tomes. Sources for the finest books are scarce, so you need to beat your opponents to them when they pop up.

You have only a week before the Mayor’s Official Inspector comes to judge your library, so be sure your assistants have all your books shelved! The Inspector is a tough cookie and will use her Official Checklist to grade your library on several criteria including shelf stability, alphabetical order, and variety — and don’t think she’ll turn a blind eye to books the Council has banned! You need shrewd planning and cunning tactics (and perhaps a little magic) to surpass your opponents and become Grand Librarian!

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.55

Evolution: New World

| T3d-1978
Evolution: New World

Evolution: New World

The diversity of living organisms inhabiting our planet is astonishing. According to the theory of evolution, random mutations occur all the time, granting new traits to animals and plants. These traits are then tested through natural selection. Animals with beneficial traits propagate more successfully than others, expand their habitat areas, and effectively protect themselves against predators and unfavorable conditions. Such species dominate the ecosystem, while poorly adapted animals become extinct.

Evolution: New World is an updated and extended version of the basic Evolution: The Origin of Species game. It includes both well-known animal traits and new ones, complete with refined descriptions and colorful illustrations. Food is now generated using Area cards, and animals can use shelter to hide from predators.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.33

Ethnos

| T3d-1978
Ethnos

Ethnos

In Ethnos, players call upon the support of giants, merfolk, halflings, minotaurs, and other fantasy tribes to help them gain control of the land. After three ages of play, whoever has collected the most glory wins!

In more detail, the land of Ethnos contains twelve tribes of fantasy creatures, and in each game you choose six of them (five in a 2/3-player game), then create a deck with only the creatures in those tribes. The cards come in six colors, which match the six regions of Ethnos. Place three glory tokens in each region at random, arranging them from low to high.

Each player starts the game with one card in hand, then 4-12 cards (double the number of players) are placed face up on the table. On a turn, a player either recruits an ally or plays a band of allies. In the former case, you take a face-up card (without replacing it from the deck) or the top card of the deck and add it to your hand. In the latter case, you choose a set of cards in your hand that match either in tribe or in color, play them in front of you on the table, then discard all other cards in hand. You then place one token in the region that matches the color of the top card just played, and you use the power of the tribe member on the top card just played.

At the end of the first age, whoever has the most tokens in a region scores the glory shown on the first token. After the second age, the players with the most and second most tokens score glory equal to the values shown on the first and second tokens respectively. Players score similarly after the third age, then whoever has the most glory wins. (Games with two and three players last only two ages.)

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.04