Category: Ω Board Games

Hidden Leaders

| OTSG Staff

The island of Oshra is in turmoil. Following the death of the Emperor, the conflict between the Hill Tribes and the Imperial Army escalated. While the Water People try to maintain balance between the old rivals, the Undead aim to escalate the war. All hope rests on the six children of the Emperor: Who of them will claim the throne?

In Hidden Leaders, you take the role of one of six secret leaders, each of them is allied with two of the four factions/colors. By playing heroes into your tableau, either openly or secretly, you influence the outcome of the conflict.

At the end of the game, one of the four factions will win:
Red leading > Red victory
Green leading > Green victory
Tie between Red & Green > Blue victory
Red & Green in War Zone > Black victory
Each player who is aligned with the winning faction can claim the victory. However, they must have more heroes of this color than any competitor.

Hidden Leaders is a quick, light strategy card game with direct player interaction. It combines tableau building and deduction elements with its unique winning mechanism. This is a game of great tension with no-down time, that’s fast to learn. Its distinctive artwork and character names will make you smile.

—description from designer

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.82

Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game

| OTSG Staff

Do you stand beside Queen Catherine Ironfist and vanquish the lurking chaos? Do you help the power-hungry Mutare fulfill her plans and turn her into a dragon? Or, maybe you despise all of this and want, together with Sandro, to cover the whole world with the shadow of death? Move through the beautiful land of Antagarich, plunge into adventures and strategic battles with endless possibilities.

Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Board Game is an adventure-driven strategy game set in the cult fantasy universe. The game includes competitive, cooperative, and solo scenarios to battle and explore your way through. The adventure maps will be represented by tiles, with each tile divided into seven hexagonal fields.

Play different scenarios with different victory conditions, explore the adventure map to discover various locations, and play out epic battles using the unique miniature models that represent the iconic units from the original game. All battles will be performed with models on separate boards.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 3 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.48

Here to Slay

| OTSG Staff

Here to Slay is a competitive role-playing fantasy strategy card game that’s all about assembling a party of Heroes and slaying monsters (and sometimes sabotaging your friends too) from the creators of Unstable Unicorns.

In this game, you’ll assemble a full party of heroes to slay dangerous monsters while working to avoid the sabotage of your foes. The game also includes items you can equip to your heroes, 1V1 challenge cards, and roll modifiers to tip the odds in your favor.

The first person to successfully slay three monsters, or build a full party with six classes, wins the game!

Every player gets to choose a party leader character to represent them throughout the game. Each party leader card has a class and a skill that gives you an edge over your opponents. Whether you enjoy fighters, bards, wizards, or thieves, you’ll find a party leader that’s right for your play style – but choose wisely, because you only get one party leader for the whole game!

Your heroes are brave adventurers, ready to attack monsters and go head to head with your foes! The game includes over 40 unique heroes. Each hero card has a class and an effect, and each hero’s effect has a roll requirement. In order to use a hero’s effect, you must roll two dice and score equal to or higher than that effect’s roll requirement. Heroes take advantage of items, magic and modifiers to increase their chances of making their dice rolls.
In order to slay that monster, you must roll two dice and score equal to or higher than that monster’s roll requirement. Be warned: Each monster has a roll range in which they’ll fight back, and if you score within that range, your party might be in grave danger…

Don’t like what your opponent just played? Throw down a challenge! Challenge cards can be played instantly to try to stop another player from playing a hero, item, or magic card. Playing a challenge card initiates a 1V1 challenge in which you and another player both have to roll the dice. If they win the challenge, they still get to play their card, but if you win the challenge, you get to send their card directly to the discard pile!

— description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.68

Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory

| OTSG Staff

The Nation is in disarray and a war is waging between the classes. The working class faces a dismantled welfare system, the capitalists are losing their hard-earned profits, the middle class is gradually fading and the state is sinking into a deep deficit. Amidst all this chaos, the only person who can provide guidance is… you. Will you take the side of the working class and fight for social reforms? Or will you stand with the corporations and the free market? Will you help the government try to keep it all together, or will you try to enforce your agenda no matter the cost to the country?

Hegemony is an asymmetric politico-economic card-driven board game for 2-4 players that puts you in the role of one of the socio-economic groups in a fictional state: The Working Class, the Middle Class, the Capitalist Class and the State itself.

The Working class controls the workers. The Capitalist class controls the companies. The Middle class combines elements from both the Working class and the Capitalist. It has workers who can work in the Capitalist’s companies but it can also build companies of its own, yet smaller. Finally the State is trying to keep everyone happy, providing benefits and subsidies when needed but trying also to maintain a steady income through taxes to avoid going into debt.

While players have their own separate goals, they are all limited by a series of policies that affect most of their actions, like Taxation, Labor Market, Foreign Trade etc. Voting on those policies and using their influence to change them is also very important. Through careful planning, strategic actions and political maneuvering, you will do your best to increase the power of your class and carry out your agenda. Will you be the one to lead your class to victory?

Hegemony is heavily based on actual academic principles such as Social-Democracy, Neoliberalism, Nationalism and Globalism, and allows players to see their real world applications through engaging gameplay. There are many ways to achieve hegemony- which one will you take?

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 90 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.26

Heart of Crown

| OTSG Staff

They were tough times, the days when swords and magic still ruled the world. A long, destructive war had ended, and the entire continent had been unified. Before the empire’s subjects had even come to know peace, however, their great emperor fell victim to disease, having never declared a successor…

We must not return to that war-torn world! Thankfully you are an influential figure in the empire. Quickly lay claim to the throne and ensure the rock-solid unity and peace of the continent. Though the emperor had no son, there are seven candidates for succession, starting with the two lineal princesses. Now, let’s get your favorite princess on the emperor’s throne! Garner support from all over the country, clash with rival candidates and depend on your special skill!

Heart of Crown is a deck-building card game. Each player starts with the same deck, strengthens that deck with strategic cards, and finally one player will declare victory by throning the princess he controls. Each player’s deck starts with seven “Rural” territory cards and three “Apprentice Handmaid” succession cards (an unreliable subject). Using the currency (coins) generated by your “Rural” territory cards, you incorporate cards from the market into your deck according to your own strategy.

Each player’s main goal is to give the princess he’s fielded the throne. First, collect stronger territory cards such as “City” and “Metropolis” to increase your coins, and declare fielding a princess using these coins. There are five princesses and one set of twin princesses, totaling six princess cards. Each princess has special support abilities, but with only one of each, you need to be quick to field the right princess and get the support you need!

For your princess to take the throne, you must collect Succession Points, which represent the support of your loyal subjects and influential figures in the empire. Once you control 20 Succession Points, you may declare a coronation. Your opponents get one more turn to interrupt your coronation, but if your points remain at or above 20 by your next turn, the coronation succeeds and your princess takes the throne!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.50

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – Defence Against the Dark Arts

| OTSG Staff

Harry Potter™ Hogwarts™ Battle Defence Against the Dark Arts is a competitive deck-building game for two players, inspired by Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle. In this fast-paced game, players take turns playing cards, taking actions and acquiring new cards to build a more powerful deck as their defensive skills improve. Stun your opponent three times to win!

With the noticeable rise in Dark Arts activity, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has authorized practical Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons to ensure that students are prepared to defend themselves. Under the supervision of Hogwart’s teachers, students will cast Spells and Hexes, use Items, and gain Allies to stun their opponents and protect themselves from evil forces.

THIS IS A STAND-ALONE GAME. While inspired by Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, none of the content in this game is designed to be incorporated into that game.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.77

Harrow County: The Game of Gothic Conflict

| OTSG Staff

A witch named Hester was hung, burned, and buried under a tree. Some time later, the family of Hester came to Harrow County to destroy it, but standing in their way is eighteen-year-old Emmy who mysteriously has powers of her own.

In the asymmetric combat game Harrow County: The Game of Gothic Conflict, players can play as one of the Protectors, trying to rescue townsfolk, or as one of the family, trying to destroy Harrow County. You can instead play as a third faction that originates from the surprise return of Emmy’s twin sister, Kammi, who wants to rule Harrow County. Players activate mason jars to move their haints (undead creatures) around the hex-based board as they try to accomplish their missions. Combat is resolved using a never-before-seen cube tower that’s built into the actual box.

Finally, a third player can enter the game: Hester, the dead witch buried under the tree. She controls the roots of the tree and using the cube tower, Hester can infect haints on her roots, which causes a snake to be placed into its ear. That player can still control this haint, but now so can Hester. If Hester comes back to life, then she needs to eat the other legends to gain all her power back to win.

In short, Harrow County is a thematic, tactical game of territory control and enemy elimination to determine the fate of Harrow County.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 3 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.71

Harmonies

| OTSG Staff

In Harmonies, build landscapes by placing colored tokens and create habitats for your animals. To earn the most points and win the game, incorporate the habitats in your landscapes wisely and have as many animals as you can settle there.

Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player will choose a set of 3 terrain tokens from the central area to place on their personal board. They may optionally choose an Animal card from the 5 displayed and/or place an Animal cube from their Animal card(s) on any completed patterns on their board that match their personal Animal cards. There is a 4-card limit per player. After their turn, refill with a new set of 3 tokens and a new Animal card if needed.

Placement of the terrain tokens will depend on the personal Animal card goals, and scoring rules for the various terrain types (mountain, field, forest, etc). For example, mountain tiles score based on how high they are (1 tile scores 1, while 3 tiles stacked score 7), but the mountain scores zero if it is not adjacent to at least one other mountain. If all the cubes on a given Animal card have been placed, the card is set aside and a new card can be drawn. The cards are scored at game end based on the highest number that isn’t covered by a cube.

The games ends when there are no tokens left in the bag to refill the central area, or at least one players has 2 or fewer empty spaces on their player board. Play continues until all players have had an equal turn that round. The player with the highest points is the winner.

Optionally, you can use Nature’s Spirit cards for richer gameplay. During setup, each player chooses 1 of 2 spirit cards and places a Spirit cube on the card. They follow the same placement rules as Animal cards, but tend to have an ongoing effect once completed. The spirit card does count towards the 4-card hand limit.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.01

Hare & the Tortoise, the (Tales & Games)

| OTSG Staff

The Hare & the Tortoise, originally published as Royal Turtle, is a card-driven betting game about animal racing loosely based on one of Aesop’s Fables.

At the start of a race, each player secretly bets on up to two of five animals: turtle, rabbit, lamb, wolf and fox. One animal is chosen at random for each player, then after receiving a hand of seven cards, each player places one of his cards face-down (possibly the same animal) as an additional bet. Players then take turns laying down 1-4 cards, with all cards needing to show the same animal, then refilling the hand to five cards. As soon as eight total cards have been played or four cards of any one animal, the animals move (maybe).

Each animal has a distinct characteristic that players can use to their advantage. The turtle always moves one space, but it moves two if four of its cards were played. The rabbit always moves two spaces as long as cards are played. — unless four cards are played and it’s at the head of the pack, in which case it sleeps and doesn’t move. The fox moves as many spaces as the number of cards played. The lamb moves one more space than the number of cards played — but if it reaches water, it stops moving to take a drink. The wolf moves 1 space if one to two cards are played, and one less space than the number of cards if more are played. The wolf also has 3 cards with a howl, if one of these is played no one but the wolf moves.(The track consists of eleven road cards, two covered with water.)

After the animals move, players start a new round of card-playing. A round ends when three of the five animals reach the goal, after which each player scores points based on the ranking of the animals and how they bet. After three rounds, the player with the most points wins.

The original title of Royal Turtle is a homage to Reiner Knizia’s Royal Turf, another betting game about animals racing (albeit horses in that game).

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 15 – 20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.37

Happy Mochi

| OTSG Staff

Be the first to empty your hand!

In Happy Mochi, all cards must be played in pairs, and you can never rearrange your hand.

To play, you must follow value restrictions — unless you have two matching cards! In that case, shout “Happy Mochi!” and break all the rules!

Special abilities and color-matching add an extra layer to this strategic party game, where luck and tactics go hand in hand.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.20