Category: Ω Board Games

Adventures of Robin Hood, the 🟢

| kithorning

Take on the roles of Robin Hood and his companions as you struggle against Prince John and the sheriff in this innovative cooperative board game. Your adventures will take place on a “living” game board, that “remembers” what you have accomplished in previous missions and unveils new secrets and actions as you further the campaign. Everything is easy to assemble and disassemble, making set up and clean up as quick as can be!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.82

Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance, The 🔵

| kithorning

The Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance, based on the very popular podcast and series of graphic novels of the same name, lets players embark on their own adventure as they attempt to rescue various artifacts of immense power. Battle a myriad of enemies, from scary to sarcastic, as you and your friends work through a dynamic dungeon made from numerous decks of cards – ensuring that each game will be different!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.71

Adventure Party: the Role-Playing Party Game 🟢

| kithorning

Adventuring Party takes your favorite moments from RPG’s and puts them into a great guessing game! Over the course of 3 Adventure Scenarios, players will take on the role of a brave adventurer and describe in epic detail their plans for that adventure. Of course, however, the dice always have different plans, and after making a secret d20 roll, you will then recount what actually happened. The goal of the game is to have the GM guess what number you rolled as accurately as possible, thereby earning the most Experience Points possible.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 8 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Touch of Evil, A: The Supernatural Game

| kithorning

‘Tis the dawn of the 19th century; an age of science, superstition, and witchcraft. Howling fills the night as a full moon rises over the small, secluded village of Shadowbrook. Gruesome murders have become a daily occurrence and terror haunts the streets at night. An evil creature has taken up residence here and the countryside is engulfed by a tide of darkness.

But all is not lost…not yet.

A small group of heroic individuals, with the courage and strength to fight, have arrived in town. Some just passing through while others have come with a purpose; but all will be put to the test as they race to save this cursed town from falling into darkness. It will take a cunning mind and strength of spirit to determine who is friend and who is foe… to solve the mysteries and hunt the beast to its lair. But the secrets of Shadowbrook run deep. Gossip and rumors run rampant and these few Heroes may soon discover that they are outsiders here and this town is already so rotten from within there is little left to save.

“A Touch of Evil, The Supernatural Game” is a fast-paced game of fiendish creatures, dashing Heroes, and high-adventure. Each player takes on the role of a unique monster-hunting Hero, racing against time to stop the forces of darkness from claiming another foothold in the world of man. Only by investigating the town and building your Hero’s strength can you hope to hunt down the Supernatural Villain to his Lair and defeat him in an epic Showdown. Players can race Competitively to be the first to defeat the Villain and save the town, or they can work together Cooperatively to defeat a much stronger Villain.

Featuring a gameboard map of Shadowbrook and its surrounding countryside, eight Heroes to choose from, and four different Supernatural Villains to hunt; each with its own host of unique Minions and powers to drastically change the game. A Touch of Evil is designed to create an adventurous cinematic feel as the story and game unfolds.

So grab up your Wooden Stake, stuff some shot in that Musket, and hold onto your Tri-corn Hat; no one is safe from the creatures of the night and no one can be trusted…for inside everyone lies A Touch of Evil.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • 60-120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.56

1961 🟢

| OTSG Staff

In 1961, you can invest in your space program, establish diplomatic relationships, and, most importantly, launch missiles as you and your components strive to win the Cold War. You can play cards in three different ways – as an action, a building, or a supply. But in a Cold War world, nothing is safe for long, and you have to balance internal development with defensive (and offensive) strategies.

There are three ways to win the game: win the Space Race, achieve diplomatic world peace, or be the sole survivor in a nuclear Armageddon. Do you have what it takes to come out on top in 1961?

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 5 – 20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67

300: Earth & Water 🟢

| OTSG Staff

Step back into history during the Greco-Persian war as you and a friend choose a side in this historic conflict. Will you be the great Persian Empire, seeking to maintain its hold over the eastern Mediterranean, or the Greeks rallied around Athens, defending your home? In this card driven game, you will raise armies, play events, and maneuver your troops to defeat the other player and claim victory for youself!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.36

Earth

| OTSG Staff

Earth is a tableau builder with simple rules and countless strategic possibilities. With its encyclopedic nature and a near-infinite number of tableau combinations, every single game will allow you to discover new synergies and connections, just as our vast and fascinating world allows us to do!

It’s time to jump into these rich environments and create some amazing natural synergies that replicate and extrapolate on Earth’s amazing versatility and plethora of natural resources. Over thousands of years of evolution and adaptation the flora and fauna of this unique planet have grown and developed into amazing life forms, creating symbiotic ecosystems and habitats.

Players create a self-supporting engine of growth, expansion and supply where even your unused plants become compost for future growth. They use their cards to choose actions (which affect all players) and gain resources. The first player to complete their Tableau triggers the end of the game. The player with the most points wins.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.91

Broken and Beautiful: A Game About Kintsugi

| OTSG Staff

“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 1.36

Bristol 1350

| OTSG Staff

The dreaded Black Death has descended upon the town of Bristol. You are racing down the streets in one of the three available apple carts, desperate to escape into the safety of the countryside. If your cart is the first to leave the town and it is full of only healthy villagers when you leave, you and your fellow cart-mates successfully escape and win the game!

However, some villagers on your cart may already have the plague! They are hiding their early symptoms from you so that they can enjoy their last few days in peace. If you leave town with a plagued villager on your cart, you will catch the plague. You must do whatever is necessary to make sure that doesn’t happen!

On the surface Bristol 1350 is part co-operative teamwork, part racing strategy, and part social deduction. In reality, it’s a selfish scramble to get yourself out of town as quickly as possible without the plague, by any means necessary.

The game comes in a magnetic book box and includes a rubber playmat, 9 wood pawns, 3 miniature carts, 6 rat/apple dice, a linen bag, and 64 cards. The deluxe version adds 6 coins, 6 cards, and 3 metal carts. This standalone game is Volume 4 in the “Dark Cities Series” by Facade Games following Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667, and Deadwood 1876.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Hidden Roles
  • Player Elimination
  • Race
  • Semi-Cooperative Game

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 9 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67

Bohnanza

| OTSG Staff

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