Category: Ω Board Games

The Ancient World

| OTSG Staff
The Ancient World

The Ancient World

In an ancient world forgotten by time, enormous titans terrorize the land. Five tribes have been fleeing from the titans for centuries, but things are about to change. Growing city-states pledge to end the reign of terror, determined to take on the titans and make the world a safer place for all. Each city-state competes to attract the tribes, eager for the strength of the combined peoples, who are now leaving behind old traditions with the hope that the titans can be defeated once and for all.

In The Ancient World, players compete to grow the largest and most influential city-state by managing citizens, treasury, and military and by defeating titans. Players take turns sending citizens to take special actions or using military cards to attack titans. One of the actions a citizen can perform is to build Empire cards, which give more citizens, money, and abilities.

A city-state’s influence in the world is measured by sets of tribe banners that it owns. Each Empire card has one or more tribe banners, and tribe banners can also be gained by defeating titans. Players gain victory points (VPs) for sets of tribe banners. After six rounds, the player with the most VPs from sets of tribe banners wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Civilization
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.72

Ahoy 🟡 IMAGE CHECKED

| OTSG Staff

Ahoy is a lightly asymmetrical game where two to four players take the roles of swashbucklers and soldiers seeking Fame on the high seas.

One player controls the Bluefin Squadron, a company of sharks and their toothy friends, who patrol these waters and keep order with shot and sword. Another player controls the Mollusk Union, an alliance of undersea creatures and their comrades-in-arms, who fight to reclaim their ancestral home. In games with more people, some players control Smugglers, maverick captains who run blockades to smuggle luxuries and essentials, delivering them to those with the most need—or the most coin. Explore the seas. As you play, you’ll make a unique map full of treasure troves, dangerous wreckage, and mighty sea currents, using deluxe double-layer region tiles.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 75 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.86

Aftermath 🟡

| OTSG Staff

Aftermath is an Adventure Book Game in which players take on the role of small critters struggling to survive and thrive in a big, dangerous world. Humans have mysteriously vanished, and the remnants of civilization are quickly being reclaimed by nature and the animals who still remain.

In the game, you play as a misfit band of critters known by their colony as “providers”. There’s the guinea pig with anger issues, a hamster that talks fast and drives faster, a small mouse with keen eyes and a lot to prove, and a mysterious vole who’s borderline feral. These characters each have their own personalities, play-styles, and personal goals.

You’ll leave the safety of your colony and venture out into the abandoned world on one of 20+ story-driven missions and side missions. Scavenge the ruins of mankind in search of food and supplies for your colony, but beware — the world is filled with bandits and predators, and you must fight or flee to stay alive.

Return to your colony with resources and information that will help your friends and family survive. Grow your colony and keep it safe by building structures and improvements with the spoils of your adventures, but plan accordingly, for the colony will face hardship each time you leave it…

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.88

Aeon’s End 🟡

| OTSG Staff

The survivors of a long-ago invasion have taken refuge in the forgotten underground city of Gravehold. There, the desperate remnants of society have learned that the energy of the very breaches the beings use to attack them can be repurposed through various gems, transforming the malign energies within into beneficial spells and weapons to aid their last line of defense: the breach mages.

Aeon’s End is a cooperative game that explores the deckbuilding genre with a number of innovative mechanisms, including a variable turn order system that simulates the chaos of an attack, and deck management rules that require careful planning with every discarded card. Players will struggle to defend Gravehold from The Nameless and their hordes using unique abilities, powerful spells, and, most importantly of all, their collective wits.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.79

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein 🟡

| OTSG Staff

It’s been twenty years since Victor Frankenstein died on a ship in the arctic, but his vengeful creature lives on, as does Robert Walton, the sea captain who vowed to kill the fiend before mercy stayed his hand. It’s now 1819, and a sinister darkness descends upon the city of Paris. A mysterious benefactor of gigantic stature has emerged in the scientific community, never showing his face, claiming to possess the late Frankenstein’s research. He sponsors a grand competition, offering an even grander prize: unlocking the mystery of mortality!

Renowned scientists from around the world come to take part: some drawn to solve this eternal riddle, others coerced against their will. But a certain captain comes as well, one deeply suspicious of the secretive patron, hoping to finally fulfill his vow.

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is a competitive game of strategic monster building for 2-4 players, inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic novel of gothic horror. In the game, the creature demands your help to accomplish what his own creator would not: to bring to life an abomination like itself, a companion to end its miserable solitude. Through worker placement and careful management of decomposing resources, you’ll gather materials from the cemeteries and morgues around the city, conduct valuable research at the Academy of Science, hire less-than-reputable associates, and toil away in your lab — all in an effort to assemble a new form of life and infuse it with a “spark of being”. Do well, and the creature may reward you during one of its surprise visits; do poorly, and you may come to regret not putting forth more effort. Narrative elements come into play throughout the game, guided by your decisions, leading to potentially unsavory outcomes.

The game ends when you succeed in bringing your creation to life or when the Captain kills the creature, whichever happens first. Then the player with the most points fulfills Frankenstein’s dark legacy, becoming his heir, for good or ill…

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 90 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.25

Zoom in Barcelona

| OTSG Staff
Zoom in Barcelona

Zoom in Barcelona

Travel around the city of Barcelona and take the best photos to win the game!

In Zoom in Barcelona, players compete in a photo contest to try to take the best photos of the city. Hop on a bike, catch a taxi or a bus to get to the best spots before the other players. During the game you will take photos of its beautiful locations, the iconic structures that create the skyline of Barcelona, and… dragons!

Find the best views of the city, from its seashore to the mountains of Collserola and Montjuïc. Discover its incredible architecture, and the outstanding Modernist sites including those of visionary architect Gaudí.

Did you know that you can find more than 400 dragons in the city of Barcelona? Many artists and architects have included dragons in their works, and dragons and other fantastic beasts are at the centre of cercaviles and correfocs (traditional fire parades). Barcelona is a city of dragons!

Are you ready? Grab your camera and win the game!

The goal of this board game for 2-6 players is to score the highest number of points to win the photography contest. When a player takes their 8th landmark photo the game will end, and the photographer with the most points will win.

Points can be scored by:

  • Taking photographs of the landmarks selected by the judges, with bonus points awarded if the photos contain the relevant themes of the game (different themes will be revealed for each game)
  • Taking photographs of the different buildings of the skyline of the city.

This game contains 86 landmark cards with beautiful illustrations of locations of the city of Barcelona.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Managment
  • Open Drafting
  • Pattern Building
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.82

Zooloretto

| OTSG Staff
Zooloretto

Zooloretto

In Zooloretto, each player uses small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try to attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo – but be careful! The zoo must be carefully planned as before you know it, you might have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand. A zoo of a family game in which less is sometimes more…

Game Mechanics:

  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.86

Zombie 15′

| OTSG Staff
Zombie 15′

Zombie 15′

In an apocalyptic world in which everyone over the age of 18 has turned into a bloodthirsty, flesh-hungry zombie and most youngsters have been served as meat to quell their elders’ appetite, a small team of kids and teenagers tries to survive on their own. As part of that small group of survivors, you must unite to escape the relentless horde of undead. Run across town to find shelter or food, hold a strategic position, meet with new survivors, and discover the truth about this terrible and mysterious disease!

Zombie 15′ is a frantic, scenario-based survival game in which time is scarce and cooperation is key. The game features easy rules but real choices to be made as quickly as possible if you don’t want to get overwhelmed by zombies!

Zombie 15′ features a team of 15-year-old teenagers; a 15-minute soundtrack to give each game its tempo; a 15-scenario, progressive campaign; and much more than just 15 zombies…

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Cooperative
  • Grid Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.22

Zombicide: Night of the Living Dead

| OTSG Staff
Zombicide: Night of the Living Dead

Zombicide: Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game is a standalone game in the Zombicide franchise based on the George A. Romero movie of the same name.

In Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game, players take on the role of the movie’s main characters, holed up in an isolated house while the dead come to life all around them. The original movie sees the few survivors hunkering for safety in the house as the ghouls (as they’re called in the film) pose a continuous threat from outside. It’s a tense psychological thriller full of gritty moods and dark themes, but the game lets the survivors take the fight to the hordes of the undead. The game uses standard Zombicide mechanics.

There are two variants included in the game: Romero – where the characters have the attributes from the original movie and Zombicide: where the movie characters have had their attributes amped up to meet the Zombicide world – but always have the chance of regressing to their original Romero character.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.43

Zombicide: Green Horde

| OTSG Staff
Zombicide: Green Horde

Zombicide: Green Horde

This sequel to the Zombicide: Black Plague will bring players back into a world of deadly medieval fantasy, this time filled with infected orcs and goblins who will put survivors to the ultimate test. This green menace is not only stronger than their human counterparts, but they also tend to gather into massive hordes that ambush the survivors when they least expect it.

Set in the same medieval era as Black Plague, players will take on the role of Survivors looking to defeat the shuffling, undead menace by any means possible.

In Green Horde, up to six players can join the battle for survival. They’ll combine forces and work cooperatively to accomplish their goals, and against all odds, stay alive. Fans of the Zombicide series have become familiar with the Walkers, Runners, Fatties, and Abominations that shuffle around, looking for victims. But the creatures they will face are not just zombie humans, they’re zombie orcs! The Survivors will have to gear up with a wide variety of medieval equipment if they hope to outlast these fearsome foes. Zombie Orcs are stronger than the classic zombie and represent a stiffer challenge to even seasoned undead-hunting veterans.

A new challenge for the Survivors is the Horde. It represents a growing group of Orc zombies that are ready to enter the board in an unexpected location and ambush the Survivors. As zombie cards with the Horde symbol are drawn, one extra zombie miniature of the same type is set aside, collectively forming the Horde. They will be locked into place until an “Enter the Horde!” card is drawn, spawning the Horde on the board. Any Survivor caught on their own near this roving menace would best beat a hasty retreat.

With such menacing new foes, the Survivors are going to have their hands full dealing with the Green Horde. Luckily, they’ll have some new weapons and spells on their side to help combat the rotting masses. Things like the Lava Burst, the Norse Sword, and the Bone Kukri will all be helpful when hacking through a pack of the undead. Oh, and if they should gather together too tightly, the Survivors can always hit them with the catapult…(did we not mention the catapult?).

Zombicide: Green Horde includes ten new challenging quests, featuring some of the toughest scenarios a Survivor has ever had to face. With new terrain, like ledges and water holes, and the ever-present threat of the Green Horde making an appearance, the team will have to plan their routes carefully. Sometimes avoiding trouble is better than facing it head on! Zombicide: Green Horde is the next chapter in the ever-evolving world of Zombicide. There’s no rest for the Survivors if they hope to battle their way to a new hope and a new beginning.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.49