Category: Ω Board Games

Evolution: Climate

| T3d-1978
Evolution: Climate

Evolution: Climate

Evolution: Climate is a standalone game that introduces climate into the Evolution game system.

In Evolution: Climate, players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce, predators lurk, and the climate can swing between scorching hot and icy cold. Traits like a Hard Shell and Horns can protect your species from Carnivores while a Long Neck will help them get food that others cannot reach. Heavy Fur and Migratory can protect your species from the cold while being Nocturnal or Burrowing will provide protection from the cruel desert sun. With over 200,000 ways to evolve your species, every game evolves into a different adventure.

The Climate standalone game dramatically changes game play with several simple additions to the Evolution base set:

  • Players draw 4 cards +1 per species per round (instead of 3 cards + 1 per species).
  • Each species may have up to 4 traits (instead of 3).
  • The climate moves along a Climate Track based upon the food cards played each round.
  • There are additional trait cards that provide protection from the heat and cold.

Evolution: Climate changes Evolution from a two-dimensional game (dealing with the threat of Starvation and Carnivores) into a three-dimensional game (dealing with the threat of Starvation, Carnivores, and Climate effects) while increasing the vividness of the theme. It adds additional layers into what was already a dynamically strategic game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Hand Managment
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.77

Everdell

| T3d-1978
Everdell

Everdell

Within the charming valley of Everdell, beneath the boughs of towering trees, among meandering streams and mossy hollows, a civilization of forest critters is thriving and expanding. From Everfrost to Bellsong, many a year have come and gone, but the time has come for new territories to be settled and new cities established. You will be the leader of a group of critters intent on just such a task. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?

Everdell is a game of dynamic tableau building and worker placement.

On their turn a player can take one of three actions:

a) Place a Worker: Each player has a collection of Worker pieces. These are placed on the board locations, events, and on Destination cards. Workers perform various actions to further the development of a player’s tableau: gathering resources, drawing cards, and taking other special actions.

b) Play a Card: Each player is building and populating a city; a tableau of up to 15 Construction and Critter cards. There are five types of cards: Travelers, Production, Destination, Governance, and Prosperity. Cards generate resources (twigs, resin, pebbles, and berries), grant abilities, and ultimately score points. The interactions of the cards reveal numerous strategies and a near infinite variety of working cities.

c) Prepare for the next Season: Workers are returned to the players supply and new workers are added. The game is played from Winter through to the onset of the following winter, at which point the player with the city with the most points wins.

Game Mechanics:

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

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 40 – 80 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.81

Eternal Palace

| T3d-1978
Eternal Palace

Eternal Palace

In Eternal Palace, you are a noble family who has pledged to help the Emperor rebuild his palace left derelict for centuries so that you may gain his favor. You must send your team to collect resources and rebuild monuments. You will also honor the Emperor by painting a beautiful picture of his beloved gardens and palace — but others are trying to impress him, too, and only one will have the honor of being chosen as the Emperor’s favorite.

In this game, your team of workers is represented by dice, and by placing them on the game board you contribute towards rebuilding the different parts of the Eternal Palace. Each location is reached based on dice rolls, but if others have gone to an otherwise inaccessible location, you may visit it too by paying fish, one of the resources in the game. Complete tasks first — or contribute more than your competitors to these monuments — to earn tokens reflecting your overall effort. Recruit new workers to your team, and use the painting pieces you receive as each location is unlocked to “paint” a record of your work, layer by layer.

Who will contribute the most to the reconstruction and gain the favor of the Emperor? Find out in this tense and highly interactive Eurogame!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Programmed Movement
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.63

Eschaton

| T3d-1978
Eschaton

Eschaton

In the game of Eschaton, players seek to lead the most favored cult in the final days before Armageddon. As the world crumbles, the Dark One will favor only a single unholy mass to be his Chosen in the vastness of eternity following the cataclysm. All others will be obliterated by his depraved will. Through bloodshed on the field of battle, divination of the unholiest arcana, and initiation of powerful cultists, you will build your cult and earn your rightful place.

Eschaton is a strategy game driven by a deck-building mechanic. All players begin with the same basic cult (deck) and an equal presence on the realm map. As the game progresses, each player utilizes the evil Influence of their existing Cultist cards to initiate new Cultists into their deck as they seek to earn the most Points of Favor from the Dark One. These Cultists carry different specialties: some are masters at arms, others strong wielders of arcane magics, and others provide even greater Influence to recruit stronger members.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 60 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.80

Endless Winter

| T3d-1978
Endless Winter

Endless Winter

Designed by Stan Kordonskiy (Dice Hospital, Rurik, Lock Up), developed by Jonny Pac (Coloma, Sierra West, Lions of Lydia), solo mode by Drake Villareal (Solani, Spook Manor), and illustrated by The Mico (Raiders of the North Sea, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Valeria), Endless Winter: Paleoamericans takes place in North America, around 10,000 BCE. Players guide the development of their tribes across several generations—from nomadic hunter-gatherers to prosperous tribal societies. Over the course of the game, tribes migrate and settle new lands, establish cultural traditions, hunt paleolithic megafauna, and build everlasting megalithic structures.

Endless Winter is a euro-style game that combines worker placement and deck building in an innovative way. Each round, players send their tribe members to various action spaces, and pay for the actions by playing cards and spending resources. Tribe cards grant additional labor, while Culture cards provide a variety of unique effects. As an alternative, cards can be saved for an end-of-round Eclipse phase, where they are simultaneously revealed to determine the new player order, and trigger various bonus actions.

The game features a novel blend of interwoven systems and mechanisms, such as multi-use cards, area influence, tile placement, and set collection. Plus, there are many viable paths to victory. After four brisk rounds, scores are tallied, and the tribe with the most points wins!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.22

Endeavor: Age of Sail

| T3d-1978
Endeavor: Age of Sail

Endeavor: Age of Sail

In Endeavor: Age of Sail, players strive to earn glory for their empires. Sailing out from Europe and the Mediterranean, players will establish shipping routes and occupy cities the world over. As they do so, players will leverage their growing industry, culture, finance, and Influence, building their engine and extending their reach into the far-flung regions of the world.

In this second edition, players will experience:

  • Double-sided board to accommodate different player counts
  • Variable starting set ups with new buildings
  • Exploits to enhance the mechanisms and story of the different regions
  • Updated visuals by the original artist and graphic designer, Josh Cappel

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.81

Eleven

| T3d-1978
Eleven

Eleven

Eleven — the number of players you have on the pitch at any given time, with those players making all the difference between being the best team and the worst. But every team knows that to be the best in the league it takes a lot more than players; it also takes an incredible manager.

Eleven: Football Manager Board Game is an economic strategy game set in a world of sport. Your task is to manage and grow your own football club over the course of a season. During the game, you hire staff members, including trainers, physical therapists, PR specialists, and directors. You acquire sponsors, expand the stadium infrastructure, and take care of your club’s position in social media. Among the many tasks on the list are transferring new players and choosing the right tactics for each of the upcoming matches.

Eleven can be played multiplayer or solo. The solo mode includes six different scenarios that challenge players with different starting situations and goals for the season. In the beginning, the task is simple: You have to climb the steps of the football leagues and achieve the appropriate experience. You may have to manage the club in a crisis, and at other times you will have to rejuvenate a football team of players that are not so young anymore. You may also have to fight against time to try to complete the stadium before the deadline!

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Closed Drafting
  • Dice Rolling
  • Economic
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.27

Eldritch Horror

| T3d-1978
Eldritch Horror

Eldritch Horror

Across the globe, ancient evil is stirring. Now, you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to hold back the approaching horror. Foul monsters, brutal encounters, and obscure mysteries will take you to your limit and beyond. All the while, you and your fellow investigators must unravel the otherworldy mysteries scattered around the globe in order to push back the gathering mayhem that threatens to overwhelm humanity. The end draws near! Do you have the courage to prevent global destruction?

Eldritch Horror is a co-operative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas.

While the tasks on these Mystery cards (along with the locations of otherworldly gates, menacing monsters, and helpful clues) will often inform both your travel plans and the dangers you confront, you can find adventure anywhere in the world…even where you least expect it. It is during the Encounter Phase of each turn that players resolve combat or, alternatively, build their investigators’ personal stories by reading an encounter narrative from one of several types of Encounter cards. You might go head to head with a monster in Istanbul or find yourself in a tough spot with the crime syndicate in a major city. Maybe you will embark on an expedition to the Pyramids or research a clue you uncover in the unnamed wilderness. You may even find your way through a gate and explore a dimension beyond time and space.

Should you fail an encounter, the cost is steep. If you are fortunate, you will merely incur physical or mental trauma. However, you might also be compelled to take a Condition card, which represents a specific injury or restriction gained throughout your journey, such as a Leg Injury or Amnesia. You could find yourself getting in over your head to acquire assets and receive a Debt condition – or maybe you’ll owe a favor to something far more insidious than a debt collector, and enter into a Dark Pact! Whatever your condition, you would be wise to find a resolution with haste; many conditions have a “reckoning effect” which, if triggered, ensure a much more sinister fate.

All the while, the arrival of the Ancient One approaches. Its malign influence is manifested in Eldritch Horror as you draw Mythos Cards, which govern the appearance of otherworldly gates, fearsome monsters, and other ominous elements. Mythos cards keep your investigators under pressure, introducing new threats, even as the arrival of the Great Old One draws nearer! Since the investigators draw a new Mythos card each round, they’re certain to have their hands full battling foul creatures and following up on strange rumors, even as they work to solve their three all-important mysteries.

With twelve unique investigators, two hundred-fifty tokens, and over three hundred cards, Eldritch Horror presents an epic, world-spanning adventure with each and every game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Role Playing

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 8 Players
  • 120 – 240 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.32

El Grande Big Box

| T3d-1978
El Grande Big Box

El Grande Big Box

In El Grande, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king’s power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various regions. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights in the form of meeples) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of regions. After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner.

In each of the nine rounds, you select one of your 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply).

A turn then consists of selecting one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the castillo—a secretive tower). Normally, you may only place your caballeros into regions adjacent to the one containing the king’s pawn. The one hard and fast rule in El Grande is that nothing may move into or out of the king’s region. One of the five action cards that is always available each round allows you to move the king to a new region. The other four action cards vary from round to round.

The goal is to have a majority of caballeros in as many regions (and the castillo) as possible during a scoring round. Following the scoring of the castillo, you place any meeples you had stashed there into the region you had secretly indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually according to a table printed in that region. Two-point bonuses are awarded for having sole majority in the region containing your Grande (large meeple) and in the region containing the king.

El Grande Big Box, the 20th anniversary edition of El Grande, includes all previously published expansions: Grand Inquisitor & Colonies, Grandissimo, King & Intrigant, King & Intrigant: Players’ Edition and King & Intrigant: Special Cards as well as something currently known only as the “Anniversary Extension”.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Area Movement
  • Auction/Bidding
  • Hand Management
  • Memory
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.80

Egizia

| T3d-1978
Egizia

Egizia

Egizia: Shifting Sands is an updated version of the beloved strategy game Egizia. Players travel down the Nile, placing boats as they go, to collect resources that will help them construct some of Egypt’s most famous monuments. With new monuments to build, new cards to collect, and a constantly shifting river, Egizia: Shifting Sands Edition is a streamlined, modern update that both longtime fans and new players can easily pick up and enjoy.

In Egizia, players must place their pawns following the course of the Nile, moving northwards. In this way, each placement not only blocks the opponents from choosing the same square (except monuments, where multiple players are always allowed), but also forces the player to place their remaining pawns only on the squares below the one they just occupied.

When the placement phase is over, the workers of the players (which are separate from the pawns) must be fed with the grain produced in the fields. The production of each field is based on the floods of the Nile, so some fields may not give grain each turn. If a player doesn’t have enough grain for all their workers, they must buy it with victory points. After that, stones are received from the owned quarries and used to build the monuments (if the right to do so was reserved earlier) along with the workers.

In this new edition, players each get a chance to build across the Colonnade, a new monument. The more columns you build, the better powers you unlock to help you on the river. Perhaps once per turn you can place boats on occupied river spaces or upstream, or gain an extra point each time you place bricks in monuments. With randomized rewards from game to game, the Colonnade is a dynamic new monument to shake up traditional gameplay.

Below the Colonnade, where the graves once stood, lie the mysterious statues — a new monument unlike anything else in Egizia. These tiny build sites are cheaper than any other monument, but they hold the potential for high reward if you fulfill their requirements. Players must plan early as they can place only one brick in a statue per round, and each level they build has more strenuous requirements for endgame bonuses.

Egizia: Shifting Sands keeps all the painstaking risk/reward decisions of the original Egizia and adds new depths of strategy, balance, and gameplay for a fresh twist on a timeless classic.

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.75