Category: Ω Board Games

Rattus: Big Box

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Rattus: Big Box

Rattus: Big Box

It is the year 1347 AD, and a disaster is about to strike. The Black Death is approaching, and during the next few years, large parts of the population of Europe and Northern Africa will be killed by the plague.

In Rattus, the players settle in the various regions of Europe and Northern Africa, while the plague spreads through all these regions. The players gain help from the various professions of the middle ages. Some of these, like peasants and bakers, help the players grow their populations. Some, like the monks and nuns, use wisdom and faith to avoid the plague, while the warfare conducted by the knights and soldiers spreads the plague to new areas. However, the plague does not make any distinction. When the rats arrive, no one can feel safe. Finally, the plague withdraws and the game ends. Only then will it be clear who was able to keep their population alive — and win the game!

Rattus: Big Box includes not only several previous released expansions and promos, but also previous unpublished materials, modules, and bonus cards. More specifically, this renewed edition of the Rattus line contains all materials of the base game and the Pied Piper, Africanus, and Academicus expansions. Additional new content is included, and players can add the new “Guilds & Inns” and “Bonus” modules to create even more variety and challenge.

This edition also contains popular bonus cards like The Judge, The Jester, and Boccaccio, as well as all 27 level upgrade tiles.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Area Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Raptor

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Raptor

Raptor

Mamma Raptor has escaped from her run and laid her eggs in the park. A team of scientists must neutralize her and capture the baby raptors before they run wild into the forest.

Raptor is a card-driven board game with tactical play and some double guessing. Players use their cards to move their pawns — with the scientists on one side, Mother and baby raptors on the other — on the board. Every round, the player who played the lowest ranked card can use the corresponding action, while their opponent has movement or attack points equal to the difference between the values of the two cards. The scientists can use fire, can move by jeep on the tracks, and can even call for reinforcements, while the mamma raptor can hide in the bushes, yell to frighten the scientists, and call for her babies.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.07

Rapa Nui

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Rapa Nui

Rapa Nui

Universe


Between the 13th and the 17th century, more than 900 monumental statues, Moaï, were erected on the Polynesian island of Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island. Become a powerful tribal chief of Easter Island, and gather tribe members to best serve your village, and please the Gods. Carve, transport and erect Moaï to gather resources, and turn these into offerings to honor your ancestors and secure your spiritual and political prowess.

Gameplay


Each game turn takes place in 3 phases. During the first phase, each player sends one of his figurines on the board, each in turn, until all the figurines have been placed. The sorcerer will decide the order of the next turn, and the villagers are placed on the board to become transporters or sculptor. Thanks to the number of sculptors present in the Quarry, each player collects Moais of different sizes. Moai or Pukao must be transported through a continuous chain of transporters, whether they are from your clan or not. But be careful, you offer resource to your opponents when you use their transporter! Once arrived at your destination, you can erect the Moai, to take the Ahu tile you can play at your tune, as well as one or more Resources depending on the size of the Moai. Styling your Moais will allow you to exchange resources to acquire Offering tiles. At the end of a round, if the number of ahu with no Moai is less than or equal to the number of players, the game ends. The winner is the player with the most victory points earned thanks to the Offering and Outstanding Offering tiles.

Game Mechanics:

  • Network Building
  • Pick-Up and Deliver
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.25

Railroad Rivals

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Railroad Rivals

Railroad Rivals

While playing Railroad Rivals, you connect cities via one of the twelve great railroads that stretched across the United States, while simultaneously building your stock portfolio. You then use those railroads to make deliveries that drive up the price of your stocks. At the end of the game, the player who has run the most profitable railroad while also owning the most valuable stocks becomes the greatest of all of the railroad rivals!

In more detail, Railroad Rivals is a tile-drafting and -laying game in which you build a railroad empire that stretches across America…and across your table. Each turn you draft one new city tile and one new railroad stock tile. You then lay one of your city tiles next to a city tile that is already on the table to create a link between the two cities. The matching edges must both have the same railroad on them. Each newly laid city gets one or more randomly drawn colored cubes placed on it that represent the goods that can be delivered from that city. After all players have laid their city tile, you deliver one goods cube using one of that city’s railroad links. This gives you points and raises the value of that railroad stock.

At the end of the game, your score is the total of all of the points that you received from deliveries, from other players using your railroad links, and from the value of all of your railroad stock tiles.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Open Drafting
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.07

Raccoon Tycoon

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Raccoon Tycoon

Raccoon Tycoon

Astoria is a land bustling with productivity and growth! New towns, factories, and railroads are springing up across the land. A few savvy business tycoons (you and your opponents) are determined to make your fortunes on the crest of this wave. These tycoons start out as the producers of the key commodities: wheat to feed the growing towns and factories, wood and iron to build them, coal to fuel the trains and factories, and manufactured goods and luxuries to fill the insatiable demand of the animals of Astoria.

Cornering the market for the most valuable commodities can create small fortunes that can be invested in the new businesses, turning them into huge fortunes. The sky is the limit during this Gilded Age!

In Raccoon Tycoon, players try to produce the most valuable commodities in an ever-changing marketplace. They then use those commodities to build towns, or sell them at the best price to secure great profits that can be used to win auctions for the all-important railroads. The profits may also be used to buy powerful buildings that give the players power-ups or bonuses in production. Owning the best towns and railroads determines victory. There can be only one “top dog” in Astoria. Is it you?

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.10

Ra

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Ra

Ra

Ra is an auction and set-collection game with an Ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn players are able to purchase lots of tiles with their bidding tiles (suns). Once a player has used up his or her suns, the other players continue until they do likewise, which may set up a situation with a single uncontested player bidding on tiles before the end of the round occurs. Tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round (epoch), or give points after the final round. The game lasts for three “epochs” (rounds). The game offers a short learning curve, and experienced players find it both fast-moving and a quick play.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.34

Quirky Circuits

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Quirky Circuits

Quirky Circuits

Quirky Circuits is a game of robot programming silliness in which each player contributes to the programming of an adorable robo-friend. But be warned — no one knows which commands the other players will be tossing in! Will you be able to help the little robot complete its task, or will you unleash automated mayhem? Be careful, you’ll have to work together before your robot’s battery is drained! With 21 scenarios of increasing intensity, Quirky Circuits is guaranteed to provide hours of brain-bending fun.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Limited Communication
  • Programmed Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 15 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 0.00

The Quest for El Dorado: Golden Temples Adventure

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The Quest for El Dorado: Golden Temples Adventure

The Quest for El Dorado: Golden Temples Adventure

In The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples, which can be played as a standalone game or combined with 2017’s The Quest for El Dorado, players have now reached the legendary city of gold and they have started to explore it. What will they find there?

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Pick-Up and Deliver
  • Racing

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.88

The Quest for El Dorado

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The Quest for El Dorado

The Quest for El Dorado

In The Quest for El Dorado, players take the roles of expedition leaders who have embarked on a search for the legendary land of gold in the dense jungles of South America. Each player assembles and equips their own team, hiring various helpers from the scout to the scientist to the aborigine. All of them have one goal in mind: Reaching the golden border first and winning all of the riches for themselves. Whoever chooses the best tactics will be rewarded!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Racing

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.93

Queendomino

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Queendomino

Queendomino

Build up the most prestigious kingdom by claiming wheat fields, forests, lakes, grazing grounds, marshes, and mountains. Your knights will bring you riches in the form of coins — and if you make sure to expand the towns on your lands, you will make new buildings appear, giving you opportunities for new strategies. You may win the Queen’s favors … but always be aware of the dragon!

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Open Drafting
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~25 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.06