Category: Ω Board Games

Lost Empires

Lost Empires

Lost Empires

Welcome to 581.

On this distant planet, four factions battle for control of alien artifacts left behind by an advanced and ancient civilization. The warring factions are Terra Corps, Scion Imperium, Neo Human Republic, and Feng. With Earth in near ruins, 581 provides the chance for a second Earth, but who will rule? Who will be the first to build a Wormgate and transport their armies through it to conquer the dust of 581?

During the invasions of 581, the factions built large, interstellar bases to house, control, and deploy troops. These bases are known as Hives. As a player, you take on the role of a commander of one of these Hives, from which you deploy your forces in the fight for control of the ancient alien artifacts and dominance over 581 itself.

Lost Empires is a head-to-head, card-driven area control game with a focus on tactical movement and deck design. Each player chooses a faction to play, and using the cards available to that faction, constructs an 18-card deck with which you do battle. You earn artifacts by controlling objectives and destroying elite enemy units augmented with alien technology. Once you have collected sufficient artifacts, you use them to construct a Wormgate. The first person to build a Wormgate, wins the war for the new sun.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.50

Lords of Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep

Waterdeep, the City of Splendors – the most resplendent jewel in the Forgotten Realms, and a den of political intrigue and shady back-alley dealings. In this game, the players are powerful lords vying for control of this great city. Its treasures and resources are ripe for the taking, and that which cannot be gained through trickery and negotiation must be taken by force!

In Lords of Waterdeep, a strategy board game for 2-5 players, you take on the role of one of the masked Lords of Waterdeep, secret rulers of the city. Through your agents, you recruit adventurers to go on quests on your behalf, earning rewards and increasing your influence over the city. Expand the city by purchasing new buildings that open up new actions on the board, and hinder – or help – the other lords by playing Intrigue cards to enact your carefully laid plans.

During the course of play, you may gain points or resources through completing quests, constructing buildings, playing intrigue cards or having other players utilize the buildings you have constructed. At the end of 8 rounds of play, the player who has accrued the most points wins the game.

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Hidden Roles
  • Set Collection
  • Take That
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.46

Lords of Vegas

Lords of Vegas

Lords of Vegas

You and your opponents represent powerful developers in a burgeoning Nevada city. You will earn money and prestige by building the biggest and most profitable casinos on “The Strip,” the town’s backbone of dust and sin. You start with nothing but parking lots and dreams, but from there you build, sprawl, reorganize and gamble your way to victory. Score the most points investing in the most profitable development companies and putting the best bosses in control of the richest casinos. Put your dollars on the line . . . it’s time to roll!

The game board is broken into 6 different areas, each consisting of a number of empty ‘lots’. Players build lots by paying money and placing a die of the value matching the one shown on the lot’s space onto the lot, along with a casino tile of one of 7 colors. Adjoining lots of the same color are considered a single casino. The casino’s boss is the player whose die value is higher than any other in the casino. On each players turn, players turn over a new card representing a new lot they get. The card also is one of the casino colors. Any built casinos of the matching color will score both money and points. Money is earned for each lot in the casino, where each lot may be owned by a different player. Points go only to the casino’s owner. Players can expand their casinos; try to take over casinos owned by other players; make deals to trade lots, casinos and money; or gamble in opponents’ casinos to make more money. Ultimately, though, only points matter, and that means making yourself boss of the biggest casinos.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • City Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Economic
  • Tile Placement
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.34

Lords of Vaala

Lords of Vaala

Lords of Vaala

A game of power based in the universe of Dragonbond.

Raid as a dragon or raise armies as a general, destroy your enemies, and cast mighty spells, all to collect power. The player who collects 10 Power tokens, wins.

During the game, a general and a dragon entering to the same region peacefully, have a chance of becoming Dragonbonded to unlock a unique ability that interacts with each other, and playing as a team for the rest of the game.

In the planning phase players secretly play action cards in a face-down pile to program their actions across the board until one player passes; in the resolution phase, actions are resolved in order. Through these actions, players move to different regions, attack, collect power or cast spells by spending the Power collected.

Combat has a wargame feel into it due to the dice-based resolution with critical hits, counterattacks and retreats. If Power is scarce on the board, you can steal a Power token from another player entering into combat and dealing more hits than they can take.

Dragons and generals play entirely different in strategy and actions. Generals raise armies and customize them in different regions around the board to control them and harvest Power. Dragons can gain Power by devouring units, they also have a health track and must rest and recover if they get wounded too much. All characters in the game have a unique Vaala deck of spells.

In a world without gods, only you may claim your destiny.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Programmed Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.33

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

Embark on your own adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic world with The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth, a fully co-operative, app-supported board game for one to five players! You’ll battle villainous foes, make courageous choices, and strike a blow against the evil that threatens the land — all as part of a thrilling campaign that leads you across the storied hills and dales of Middle-Earth.

Each individual game of Journeys in Middle-Earth is a single adventure in a larger campaign. You’ll explore the vast and dynamic landscapes of Middle-earth, using your skills to survive the challenges that you encounter on these perilous quests. As you and your fellow heroes explore the wilderness and battle the dark forces arrayed against you, the game’s companion app guides you to reveal the looming forests, quiet clearings, and ancient halls of Middle-Earth, while also controlling the enemies you encounter. Whether you’re venturing into the wild on your own or with close companions by your side, you can write your own legend in the history of Middle-Earth.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Deck Building
  • Role Playing

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.60

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale

During the Dragul Invasion of Nalos, King Taron’s loyal soldiers throw captured minions into Kulbak Prison, where enchanted gates and Construct guards make escape all but impossible. Once each year, Taron releases the toughest gang of war prisoners into the royal Colosseum.

You command a squadron of these captured Dragul. Gather goons and craft contraband to raise your reputation. Keep your suspicion with the guards low while establishing yourself as the most powerful crew in Kulbak. In six short days, Taron may offer you the chance to fight for your freedom.

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale is a competitive worker-allocation game for one to five players. In the game, players manage groups of minions — gnolls, kobolds, bugbears, goblins, or insectoids — locked up in Kulbak Prison.

Each round, players try to keep their suspicion from the guards under control while allocating their crew to different locations within Kulbak. The player with the strongest crew in each location at the end of each round gains the most resources, hires the most powerful crew, and builds the most powerful items, increases their reputation. The player with the highest reputation at the end of six rounds, wins the game.

Lockup is a worker placement game set in the Roll Player universe.

Play takes place over three phases in each round:

  1. Roll Call – Players take turns placing their minions in different parts of the prison, some face up showing a unit’s strength and some face down, hiding the strength from the other players.
  2. Lights Out – Each area with minions is scored based on the strength of each player’s crew. Players receive resources and have the opportunity to recruit goons and build items.
  3. Patrol Phase – New resources are placed on the gameboard, and the guards patrol the dungeon. Players with high suspicion are raided, and their chambers are searched.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.31

Lizard Wizard

Lizard Wizard

Lizard Wizard

Astoria is a land pulsing with magic and intrigue! A handful of Arch-Mages are vying for the loyalty of wizards across the land so that they can wield ultimate power.

Lizard Wizard is a game from the team that brought you Raccoon Tycoon. Aspects of gameplay will be familiar to fans of RT, and will add a bit of extra depth and strategy.

In Lizard Wizard, players compete to recruit wizards from seven unique schools of magic, build mystical towers, research powerful spells, summon helpful familiars, and search dark dungeons for gold and items of power. Only one Arch-Mage will rise above the rest and control the land. Will it be you?

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.12

Living Forest

Living Forest

Living Forest

In Living Forest, you play as a nature spirit who will try to save the forest and its sacred tree from the flames of Onibi. But you are not alone in your mission as the animal guardians have come together to lend a hand around the Circle of Spirits where you progress. Each turn, they bring you valuable elements, so try to combine your team of animal guardians as best as possible to carry out your actions, but be careful: some of them are solitary and do not like to be mixed with others…

You have one of three ways to achieve your goal: by planting 12 different Protective Trees, by collecting 12 Sacred Flowers to awaken Sanki the great Guardian of the Forest, by extinguishing 12 Fires to permanently repel Onibi.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Push Your Luck
  • Racing
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.25

Lions of Lydia

Lions of Lydia

Lions of Lydia

The ancient world is changing. The kingdom of Lydia has minted the world’s first gold coin. Bartering and trading will soon be supplanted by coins as the dominant medium of exchange throughout civilization…

Lions of Lydia is a bag-management and engine-building game about the dawn of currency. As an influential leader, you send merchants out to barter for resources and increase your landholdings. When the nobles arrive, they bring their Lydian Lion coins into play—which have unparalleled buying power.

To achieve victory, you must manage the merchants in your bag and complement their abilities with the cards in your tableau. Traditional merchants produce basic resources, which are necessary to build your engine—but if you fail to convert your resources into coins, you will not be able to buy the most valuable cards! Thus, noble Lydian merchants—and their golden Lion coins—are the key to success. When enough properties are developed, the game ends, and a winner is declared!

Will you draft the best merchants to achieve your goals? Will you be the first to gain the most valuable properties? Will you master the new, golden currency: the Lions of Lydia?

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Deck Building
  • Economic
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.92

Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest

Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest

Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest

In the world of Galecrest, sky pirates set sail on the winds in search of adventure, treasure, and glory. As an admiral, you command a vast and varied crew…but so do your rivals sailing other ships in the pirate fleet. Each day the fleet lands on a different island where you’ll send a crew member to collect your share of the loot, hoping they’ll return to boost your growing group of characters.

Libertalia was originally released in 2012. Ten years later, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest celebrates the foundations of the original design with a revised and expanded edition that includes all-new art, 40 characters per player, a reputation system to resolve ties, deluxe loot tokens, a robust solo mode, and much more.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.13