Category: Ω Board Games

Phantom Ink

| T3d-1978
Phantom Ink

Phantom Ink

Renowned mediums are competing to figure out a secret object and prove they can connect with the “World Beyond”. The first team to figure out the secret object wins!

To set up Phantom Ink, divide players so that the Sun team and the Moon team each have one Spirit and up to three Mediums. The mediums on a team share a hand of seven question cards, and the spirits begin the game by choosing one of the five objects on a card as the secret object. On a turn, the mediums pass two question cards to their spirit, with sample questions like “What color is it most commonly?”, “What fictional character has it or uses it?”, and “If it were a musical instrument, what would it be?”

The spirit discards one question card face up, then returns the question card it’s going to answer to their mediums, then slowly writes the answer one letter at a time for all to see. As soon as the mediums think they know what this clue word is, they yell “Silencio”, and the spirit stops writing. The other team of mediums might see only the letter “Y”, but if you know the question is “What color is it?”, then you know the clue must be “yellow”. To end your turn, draw two new question cards.

On a turn, instead of handing over question cards, you can attempt to guess the answer — and to do so you write like the spirits, one letter at a time. If you write an incorrect letter, the spirits will stop you, marking out your error, with your partial guess giving the other team more information. If you guess the entire word correctly, you win!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Party Game
  • Puzzle
  • Targeted Clues
  • Team Based
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 4 – 8 Players
  • 10 – 15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Parcheesi: Vintage Game Collection

| T3d-1978
Parcheesi: Vintage Game Collection

Parcheesi: Vintage Game Collection

Pachisi, the national game of India, dates back to 4 AD and remains popular today. Each player has a set of pawns that start in his or her corner of the board. The goal is to move the pawns around the board to the “home” section. Movement is controlled by dice. All players move around the same board, so they may capture each others pawns. Captured pawns are returned to their player’s corner and must start their journey over. The winner is the first player to move all pawns “home”.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Racing
  • Take That
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.20

Paranormal Detectives

| T3d-1978
Paranormal Detectives

Paranormal Detectives

You open your eyes to discover the most horrible truth of a lifetime… It has just come to an end and you are a ghost, floating in the air! Terrified, you look at your own body. A group of strange individuals have gathered around your mortal remains, watching it closely with sparks of fascination in their eyes. They want to communicate with you to discover how your life ended. You need to talk to them and reveal the truth so the culprit can be judged!

Paranormal Detectives is a deduction party game. One player takes the role of a Ghost. All other players work as Paranormal Detectives and need to discover how the victim died. Using paranormal abilities they will communicate with the Ghost, asking open questions about the details of the crime. The Ghost answers in a variety of ghostly ways – by arranging a hangman’s knot, playing chosen tarot cards, creating a word puzzle on a talking board, drawing by holding the hand of a detective and many more!

Game Mechanics:

  • Acting
  • Deduction
  • Hand Management
  • Line Drawing
  • Party Game
  • Pattern Recognition

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 50 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.69

Orchard

| T3d-1978
Orchard

Orchard

Orchard is a cooperative game for two or more players aged 3 and up. Only a quick harvesting of the trees carrying crunchy cherries, juicy apples, sweet pears and marvelous plums prevents the snitching of fruits by the impudent and insatiable raven. All players work together to harvest the fruits.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • ~10 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.04

One Card Wonder

| T3d-1978
One Card Wonder

One Card Wonder

In One Card Wonder, each player receives a card that shows a wonder of the ancient world and a set of support buildings. The multiple stages of the wonder must be built from the ground up, while the buildings may be built in any order. Players have four worker meeples and a personal supply of resources, and a general supply of resources also exists. The resource supply bag moves from player to player to indicate who is the active player.

On a turn, you take one of four actions. You may draw three cubes from the cloth supply bag, then add two to your personal supply, placing the other one in the general supply. You may take all resources of one type from the general supply. (You may hold only eight resources at a time in your supply, so if after drawing or taking you have more than eight resources, you must return some to the general supply.) You may build a level of the wonder or a building by paying its resource cost from your supply; your workers mark individual buildings as you build them, unlocking abilities. Finally, you may sell pairs of matching goods to the supply in exchange for coins. Coins can be used as a wild resource, but they also appear in the cost of some wonders. Resources sold or used to build are returned to the supply bag.

In games of four or more players, players may also trade. Trading occurs off-turn, that is, it can involve anyone except the active player. You may negotiate and trade freely with other players, but you must stop negotiating once you receive the supply bag and become the active player. The longer you spend on your turn, the more opportunity your opponents have to make deals.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 10 – 15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Nut Hunt

| T3d-1978
Nut Hunt

Nut Hunt

Nut Hunt is a fast-paced squirrel placement game where 1-5 players battle for control of the forest.

But watch out!

The wily fox roams the board scattering squirrels.

Clever players will use the fox to their advantage, positioning their critters to scatter onto favorable territories, or strategically hassling the fox to foil their opponents’ plans.

Turns in Nut Hunt are fast paced and intuitive with one mandatory action: Move the Fox (causing squirrel scattering, and nut foraging), followed by your choice of one optional action: Recruit a Squirrel, Hassle the Fox, or Scout an Objective.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.80

New York Slice

| T3d-1978
New York Slice

New York Slice

You’ve just been given a shot at being the head chef at the prestigious New York Slice pizza parlor. Now you and your fellow pizza chef wannabes have to make the most amazing pizzas…one slice at a time!

In New York Slice, each player slices pizzas into portions, giving their opponents first choice, while they take the leftovers. There are a dozen kinds of pizza to work with, from veggie to hawaiian to meat lover’s, and each player decides if they want to eat or keep some of the slices, building the best collection of pizzas possible!

Each time a player slices a pizza, there’s a different special to go along with it, whether it’s allocated to one of the portions or placed on its own. Specials provide the player with special powers or points, such as calling dibs on a slice before the pizza is divided, getting one of the normally-out-of-the-game “mystery slices’, having an opportunity to “sneak a slice” by moving it from one portion to another when they choose, and many more—there are 14 different “Today’s Specials” in the game.

Some slices have anchovies on them (yuck!), which are worth negative points to anyone who collects them — but anchovies might show up on different pizza types you’re collecting, so in order to have the majority of a type, you just might have to collect one with anchovies on it!

If you tie another player for the most slices of a type, neither of you gets any points — but a bunch of slices have two types of pizza on them, with each combo slice being worth half a slice of each type, which is great for breaking ties.

Most slices have pepperoni on them, which you can eat for points (instead of collecting to go for the majority of each slice type).

Game Mechanics:

  • Party Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.43

Mystic Paths

| T3d-1978
Mystic Paths

Mystic Paths

In the deduction game Mystic Paths, players are challenged to navigate paths through a labyrinth called the Eternal Forest. Each player’s path is unique — and only you know the way. However, you cannot traverse the forest alone. Your teammates are needed to open the sealed portals along each step. Give clever clues, hope your teammates can read your mind, and complete your journey!

To complete the journey, each player takes a turn providing clues about which portal is their next step. Each step can have up to five different portals, but only one is the correct one, so players give clues that relate (hopefully) to the correct next step.

The challenge is that the only clues available are cards that have been dealt, so sometimes the clues may not relate to the next portal of a journey, which means you have to get creative. This is where you need to try to read the minds of your teammates. For example, the next portal on your journey could be the word “anteater”, and your clues are limited to cards you are dealt, like scary, or tall, or handsome. Which would you choose as your clue?

The game takes place in five rounds. Beat the game by having everyone complete their own journey before the five rounds are over.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Party Game
  • Targeted Clues
  • Team Based
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.70

Mysterium Kids

| T3d-1978
Mysterium Kids

Mysterium Kids

Legend has it that the old mansion on the outskirts of the city is home to a fabulous treasure! Hoping to find it, you decide to spend the night there. You are about to give up when the ghost of Captain Echo appears to help you find his treasure. He isn’t much of a talker, but he plays a mean tambourine, and he’s going to use it to tell you which rooms to search in!

Players cooperate to find Captain’s treasure before the moon has traveled across the sky and the night is over. Each round, one player becomes the Ghost of Captain Echo. The Ghost must use a tambourine to give clues that help the other players guess the correct Noise card. If they do, they get to reveal a piece of the Captain’s treasure.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Limited Communication

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 21 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.50

Museum Suspects

| T3d-1978
Museum Suspects

Museum Suspects

DRRRiiiiiiiiinnnnng! Hurry, close the doors, a museum piece has been stolen! The director calls in a number of highly skilled investigators to find the thief or thieves amongst the 16 suspects held inside the building. Some clues are more valuable than others. Find the best ones to solve the case while obstructing your competitors’ investigations!

The culprit and his possible accomplices may still be around!

  1. Look for a clue in one of the museum’s rooms.
  2. Cover your tracks to deceive your opponents.
  3. Accuse a suspect by deduction.

What will be the outcome of this case? Will you find the culprit(s), unless they have escaped before the closing of the doors?

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Deduction

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 20 – 25 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.00