Tag: Area Control

When playing games with an Area Control aspect, players are typically rewarded for controlling the majority of a particular space.

Small World

| T3d-1978
Small World

Small World

In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all.

Designed by Philippe Keyaerts as a fantasy follow-up to his award-winning Vinci, Small World is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans, who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth.

Picking the right combination from the 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, players rush to expand their empires – often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory!

On each turn, you either use the multiple tiles of your chosen race (type of creatures) to occupy adjacent (normally) territories – possibly defeating weaker enemy races along the way, or you give up on your race letting it go “into decline”. A race in decline is designated by flipping the tiles over to their black-and-white side.

At the end of your turn, you score one point (coin) for each territory your races occupy. You may have one active race and one race in decline on the board at the same time. Your occupation total can vary depending on the special abilities of your race and the territories they occupy. After the final round, the player with the most coins wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Area Movement
  • Dice Rolling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 40 – 80 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.35

Risk: Call of Duty Zombies

| T3d-1978
Risk: Call of Duty Zombies

Risk: Call of Duty Zombies

The legendary zombie demolition crew is back in a classic game of strategic conquest. This custom RISK edition features factions led by “Tank” Dempsey, Edward Richtofen, Takeo Masaki, and Nikolai Belinski as they vie for control over familiar maps. Use Pack-a-Punch cards to gain an advantage against opponents and fend off wave after wave of zombie threats. Experience one of the first Call of Duty table top games that combine the legendary atmosphere of the license with the strategic competition of RISK.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Renature

| T3d-1978
Renature

Renature

Renature is a majority game with dominoes for 2-4 players.

Each player gets a board with large pieces of wood in the form of turf, bushes, pines and oaks. These plants are used for the majorities on the large valley board and are available in a neutral color and in the respective player color. In addition, each player gets a stack of dominoes with two out of ten animal motifs on each of them.

On your turn, place one of the three dominoes in your hand on two brook spaces of the valley board. Of course, the domino must be adjacent to another domino that shows the same animal. If the placed domino borders a free space of a brown area, you can decide whether a tuft of grass or any other of your plants should be placed on that space. Tufts of turf have a value of 1, bushes of 2, pines of 3 and oaks of 4. After placing the plant, you score points for it and every plant piece that is already in this brown area and has the same or a lower value.

Once a brown area is framed with dominoes, the majority is scored and the player with the highest total plant value in the area gets the points that are printed as a large number on that area’s flower token. Whoever has the second highest value gets the lower number. Two things make this especially tricky: The neutral pieces count as their own color and not among the majority of the player who has used them. Also, if colors are tied, they a treated as though they are not present at all in the area. After the area has been scored, the player who framed the area receives its flower token, which will give them extra points at game end.

In the course of the game, you may run out of plants, but these can be bought back from the game board with clouds. Clouds can also be used to buy another turn and to appoint a new joker animal. This animal then counts as all animals and makes it easier to put on. At the end of a player’s turn, a domino is drawn and it is the next player’s turn.

Once all players have run out of dominoes, the game ends with a final scoring.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Hand Management
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.20

Red Outpost

| T3d-1978
Red Outpost

Red Outpost

A top secret Soviet space mission set out to colonize a planet in a remote galaxy, far away from home. The settlers built there a small communist heaven which exists to this day. As one of the leaders, your goal is to guide the settlers on this new, yet strangely familiar terrain.

In Red Outpost, players get to control all of the settlers, each time a different one. You must expertly manage the resources and choose the jobs carefully so as not to upset the settlers: Keeping up morale is of utmost importance if you want to become the most prolific leader!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.40

Rattus: Big Box

| T3d-1978
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

Power Plants

| T3d-1978
Power Plants

Power Plants

Every wizard in the neighborhood knows that the best spell components are grown fresh. Unfortunately, only one particular plot of fertile soil in the area is the best for growing magical plants. Everyone agrees to “share” the garden, but you have a plan: Your team of loyal sprites will use the powers of the plants to infiltrate the garden as it grows, so that when everything is in full bloom, the most potent patches will belong to you!

In Power Plants, you are a wizard growing a shared garden of magical plants with your rivals. Each turn, you choose one of the patch tiles from your hand and add it to the growing garden. You can activate the added tile for its dynamic “plant” power or activate all the tiles it touches for their slightly weaker (but still very cool) “grow” powers. As the fields expand, you strategically deploy your sprites to gain control of more and more of the fantastic flora. Will your magical horticulture skills pay off?

Manipulate the garden’s growth, gather magical gems, and deploy your team of loyal sprites to repel your competition and be in control of the most valuable fields when the garden is complete!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Puzzle
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.35

Plague Inc.

| T3d-1978
Plague Inc.

Plague Inc.

Each player is a deadly disease and they must battle against each other to spread their plagues, develop new symptoms and ultimately wipe out humanity.

Starting with Patient Zero, you spread your infection across the world by placing tokens in cities – earning DNA points and preventing other players from becoming dominant. Players choose which countries are placed on the board but you must be both climate resistant and connected to a country before you can infect it. Eventually, as countries become fully infected – you try to kill them using the Death Dice.

Each player’s unique pathogen can be upgraded by evolving trait cards onto an evolution slide (with DNA points). At the start, your disease is weak and unspecialised, so you will need to add new symptoms to make it stronger. Choose carefully and plan ahead in order to react to the changing world and exploit opportunities created by other player’s actions.

A simple nosebleed could accelerate things early on, whilst diarrhea will help you thrive in hot countries. Sneezing can infect new continents by air but Total Organ Failure would allow you wipe out multiple countries each turn.

As countries start to fall, use powerful event cards to alter the balance of power. You might try to eradicate a dominant player by bombing their diseased cities, or hold the Olympics to cause huge numbers of infected people to travel to a healthy continent.

When the world collapses, who will be the ultimate plague?

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Take That
  • Tile Placement
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.15

Photosynthesis

| T3d-1978
Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

The sun shines brightly on the canopy of the forest, and the trees use this wonderful energy to grow and develop their beautiful foliage. Sow your crops wisely and the shadows of your growing trees could slow your opponents down, but don’t forget that the sun revolves around the forest. Welcome to the world of Photosynthesis, the green strategy board game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Action Points
  • Area Control
  • Economic

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.07

Papillon

| T3d-1978
Papillon

Papillon

A butterfly garden requires vision and a caring hand. Spring has arrived, and the world is in bloom. As your garden grows, caterpillars will congregate and morph into beautiful butterflies eager for nectar.

Papillon is a tile-drafting, tableau-building, and area majority game for 2-4 players. Over 8 rounds, you will bid for flower tiles to build your garden, attract butterflies to flowers with valuable nectar, and of course, every garden looks better with a gnome. Collect the most nectar at the end of the game and you’ll win!

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Area Control
  • Auction/Bidding
  • Open Drafting
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.06

Order of the Gilded Compass

| T3d-1978
Order of the Gilded Compass

Order of the Gilded Compass

Order of the Gilded Compass is a dice assignment game for 2-5 players. In this game, each player takes on the role of a treasure hunter seeking invitation to join the most prestigious of archaeological secret societies. Players scour the globe to unearth fantastic and valuable artifacts. By assigning their archaeologist dice to the right locations at the right time, players acquire treasure maps and specialists to follow them, dive for sunken treasure, acquire rare finds at the auction house, and even enlist the help of the Illuminati. The player who has the most treasure at the end of the game earns an invitation to The Order of the Gilded Compass and wins.

Order of the Gilded Compass uses a variable set-up in order to create fresh and interesting game play experiences. Each game has five locations in play to which players may assign their dice for various kinds of treasures and bonuses, and the game includes nine different buildings to allow for many unique combinations.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.23