Category: Ω Board Games

Grifters: Nexus

| OTSG Staff

Grifters operate on the fringes of The Dystopian Universe, eager to take advantage of every opportunity to profit from the chaos caused by the resistance. Players take on the role of powerful crime bosses, building their criminal organizations by carefully recruiting new operatives with specialized skills. During the game, the players’ criminal teams will steal ISK from the government, powerful corporations, and each other via cons, blackmail, daring heists, and a multitude of other nefarious deeds. As always, money is power in The Dystopian Universe and the player with the most ISK at the end of the game is the winner.

Grifters: Nexus is a standalone game that is also an expansion for Grifters, which was released by Indie Boards and Cards in 2016. Nexus uses the same core “cool down” mechanisms found in Grifters, and introduces 15 new specialist cards, new mechanisms and a new job card system.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Grifters

| OTSG Staff

Grifters is a hand-building game that has all the fun of deck-building games, without the deck. Set in the Dystopian Universe, players take on the role of powerful crime bosses, building their criminal organizations by carefully recruiting new operatives with specialized skills and directing their team’s nefarious deeds. All of your specialists are either in play or in your hand, ready to be used as you command. This unique hand-building mechanism gives you total control of your strategy.

Grifters is all about stealing as much money as you can from the corrupt government, malicious corporations, and your rival players. Each player starts the game with a hand of six Specialist cards, each with unique abilities. Your objective is to use this team of six Specialists to recruit more criminals, complete jobs, steal from the government coffers and swindle your opponents.

Each specialist has a special ability and skill. On your turn you can play a single specialist to perform their ability, or you can play a team of specialists to use their combined skills to complete a job. This means every specialist is a valuable asset to your criminal enterprise, earning immediate benefit through abilities and valuable end-game bonuses by completing jobs against the same target. And because all the cards in your deck are always available, you decide how to maximize your play.

Grifters uses a unique card “cooldown” system to control the use of your cards. On your turn, you play one or more specialist cards into the first “Night” of your hideout. If you already have a specialist card, or a team of specialist cards, in night one those cards advance to night two and push other cards through your hideout.

When a card is pushed out of the third night of your hideout it enters the refresh area. Any cards in your refresh area will return to your hand at the end of your turn.

The game ends when the coffers run out of money, there are no more jobs left to complete, or if there are no more specialists cards left for recruiting. End game bonuses are calculated for completing multiple jobs against the same target. The player with the most money wins.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.79

Green Team Wins

| OTSG Staff

The game is played over 15 rounds, where players will simultaneously answer one question at a time.

There are three types of questions: Fill in the Blank, This or That, and Multiple Choice. To set up the game, randomly choose 5 cards from each type and shuffle them.

Everyone will be asked the same question, then writes down their responses at the same time. All players with the winning answer join the Green Team and score points. If your answer is not the most popular among the other players, then you join the Orange Team and score zero points for that round. Players joining the Green Team from the Orange Team will score one point. Players who are on the Green Team and stay on it will earn two points.

But it’s not about having the best answer, or the smartest answer, or the funniest answer. Only the most popular answer wins – the one that the most players at the table wrote down.

To win, get on the Green Team, stay on the Green Team, and win – because that’s what the Green Team does. They win.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 12 Players
  • 15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.05

Great Western Trail: New Zealand

| OTSG Staff

Kia ora, and welcome to Great Western Trail New Zealand!

Towards the end of the 19th century, you established yourself as a runholder (owner of a sheep station) on the South Island of New Zealand. Recent years have seen your family farm prosper by diversifying your breeds of sheep and increasing the value of your wool.

With the dawn of the new century, difficult challenges have arisen. You must acquire improved and valuable breeds of sheep to ensure the prosperity of your family business and the labourers who work for you. Decide whether to focus on your past strengths or to diversify into new ventures. Will the beginning of the 20th century be as rewarding as earlier years, or will the efforts of others surpass your strategy? Good luck, and kia kaha!

In Great Western Trail New Zealand, you move your runholder along a trail that winds and forks from the lower left corner of the game board to Wellington in the upper right. Along your path, you perform actions that provide you with various ways to earn victory points.

Each time your runholder reaches Wellington, you deliver sheep to a local or foreign trading post, which may also be worth victory points. Afterwards, your runholder continues its movement again.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 75 – 150 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.01

Great Western Trail: El Paso

| OTSG Staff

El Paso at the end of the 19th century: Five railroad companies have connected the Sun City to their network and made it a major hub for the cattle trade. Ranchers from the surrounding parts of Texas and Mexico drive their cattle into the city to send them on their long journey to the north, east, and west of the United States.

In Great Western Trail: El Paso, you take on the role of the ranchers of that time and bring your best cattle to El Paso to earn money and victory points. Hire more cowboys, builders, and engineers to get closer to your goals:

Buy cattle to increase the value of your herd!
Construct buildings to unlock more actions!
Participate in the expansion of the railroad and secure the most attractive contracts!
El Paso is mechanically based on its predecessors in the Great Western Trail trilogy. It can serve as an introduction to the series and is the perfect game for game nights when there is not enough time for its big brothers!

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.84

Great Wall, the

| OTSG Staff

The Great Wall is a new asymmetric worker/soldier placement game with engine building themes and a twist in form of a constantly attacking AI (Mongolian Horde) that requires players to sometimes cooperate in order to defeat it. This is a new major board game from Awaken Realms.

Players will control ancient clans in China trying to defend against invading Mongolian hordes and build a Great Wall. While every player will want to win (by earning VP = Honor) they also need to sometimes cooperate to defend against the hordes. Each clan will be asymmetric through its chosen Leader (resource production/starting resources/starting workers and units) and this asymmetry will increase as the game progresses (players will hire Advisors with unique skills, often creating unique engines).

In The Great Wall, the players take the role of Generals defending the Wall against the Mongol Horde. The game is played over a series of turns called Years, each divided into 4 parts called Seasons.

During Spring, new barbaric hordes invade the fields in front of the Great Wall and prepare to launch their assault. Summer is the time when generals prepare for the assault and mobilize their forces. During Fall, players take their turns, playing Command cards, resolving their effects and Activating Locations to gain various benefits. In Winter, the last layer of Defense is activated, then, the hordes try to assault the Walls.

During the course of the game, players will create their own unique engines based on their clan strength as well as interact with other players during all phases of the game, trying to get the most Honor points, which can be gained in a lot of different ways.

At the end of the game, the player with the most Honor wins.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 120 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.91

Great Split, the

| OTSG Staff

In The Great Split, you draft cards to collect riches such as gems, gold, artwork, and tomes, adding them to your collection to make it the most prestigious of all!

You start each round by splitting your cards into two groups, then you pass your wallet to the player on your left — but only one group of cards will be given back to you. You split, they choose! Don’t despair, though, because while your opponent is looking at your split, you also receive a similar offer from the player on your right, so choose wisely. When your hand is complete, play your cards to add all those riches to your collection.

Each type of riches awards you prestige points in different ways, so maintain a balanced collection of gems, keep an eye on the value of the art market as it evolves, and pile up priceless tomes. Depending on how each player builds their collection, different riches will take on a different value for each of them. Show off your best haggling skills in crafting your split, and create the perfect offer to push your opponent to take what you want them to take…leaving you with the tastiest loot!

Be prepared for when the mid-game scorings are triggered. Manage your gold reserves sensibly to get additional riches, and make your collection just right!

—description from publisher

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 7 Players
  • 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.06

Great Dragon Race, the

| OTSG Staff

Players compete as dragon riders using special cards to advance to the finish, while dodging attacks like ballista bolts and flaming balls. The victor wins the treasure – and even more priceless – a place in dragon-racing history!

The goal is to race from start to finish using a handful of cards to make strategic choices. Special cards that block other players’ actions mean you must pay attention – even when it is not your turn.

With the ability to steal other players’ cards and cards that are character-specific, sudden and significant reversals of fortune are common. Winning is never a foregone conclusion.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 25 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Grand Central Skyport

| OTSG Staff

In Grand Central Skyport, you want to efficiently operate your airship station and attract the most prestigious tycoons to your city. During the game, you attract new airships to your skyport, and each airship has a color and an initial slotting movement. Try to maneuver your airships to group them by color so that they stack to score increasingly more points. Unfortunately, with each new ship entering your station, its movement will trigger the rearranging of previously placed airships, so ideally you can race other skyport owners around a central rondel to choose the incoming airships that are best for you.

Drafting tycoons to your skyport will bring unique advantages in manipulating your docked airships, as well as additional scoring opportunities at the end of the game.

Do you have the operational skills to handle the airships arriving at your station as efficiently as possible? If so, you may very well crown yours the grand central skyport.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Grand Carnival, The

| OTSG Staff

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up — the carnival is coming to town! In The Grand Carnival, players compete to create the most impressive carnival this town has ever seen. You’ll need to carefully plan your carnival’s layout, build attractions, hire staff, and manage the crowds, all while learning a few tricks of the trade.

Each turn, players cover a number on their player board, then select an action. The covered number determines the effectiveness of their action — and won’t become available again until the next round — so players need to think carefully about which number to use. Possible actions include:

• Place a Foundation Tile: Select a foundation tile to place on your fairground. The higher the number you cover, the more tile options you have. Each tile is a 2×2 grid and is made up of construction sites and walkways. Attractions can be placed only on construction sites, whereas guests can move only on walkways, so place your tiles carefully.

• Build an Attraction: Select a polyomino attraction and place it on the construction sites on your fairground. The size of the attraction you can select depends on the number you cover. Larger attractions can collect more tickets (and can be worth more points), but can be difficult for guests to move around.

• Move a Guest: Select a guest token and move it along the walkways on your fairground. The distance a guest can move depends on the number you cover. If a guest moves next to an attraction, place a ticket token on that attraction. If you move enough guests, you can hire a carnival barker; barkers help guests move quickly through your carnival, but take up precious space in your fairground.

After taking your action, see whether you qualify for any of the three “Tricks of the Trade” cards. Each trick has a requirement that must be met before you unlock its unique ability. Once a player unlocks a trick, each of their opponents has one turn to meet the same requirement or lose access to that trick for the rest of the game.

After seven rounds, the game ends. Players earn points from sets of the same size attractions, sets of each size of attraction, carnival barkers, guests that move all the way through your park, and their tickets. The player with the most points wins!

—description from the designer

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.21