Tag: Area Control

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

Memoir ’44

| T3d-1978
Memoir '44

Memoir '44

Memoir ’44 is a historical boardgame where players face-off in stylized battles of some of the most famous historic battles of World War II including Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge, Operation Cobra and the Ardennes.

Memoir ’44 includes over 15 different battle scenarios and features a double-sided hex game board for both beach landings and countryside combat. Each scenario mimics the historical terrain, troop placements and objectives of each army. Commanders deploy troops through Command and Tactic cards, applying the unique skills of his units — infantry, paratrooper, tank, artillery, and even resistance fighters — to their greatest strength.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Control
  • Campaign
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Team Based
  • Wargame

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.27

Make Make

| T3d-1978
Make Make

Make Make

In the strategy game Make Make, each person represents the chief of one of the clans that inhabit Rapa Nui. Each clan seeks control of the island’s territories, which will allow them to perform the ceremonial rites dedicated to the god Make Make, who will then make the chief of the clan the new Ariki of the island that will govern and give prosperity to the Rapanui people.

Each player starts the game with one chief token, five Tangata Manu tokens, and eleven dominance tokens. Twelve Moai tokens are placed to the side, and the Make Make figure is placed in the center of the game board, which has a trapezoidal-shaped hex grid on it, with the intersection of any three hexes (called “territories”) being marked as a ceremonial ground. The six territories surrounding Make Make are “sacred territories”.

A turn consists of a dominance phase, then a ceremonial phase. In the dominance phase, each player takes one of three actions:

  • Take control of a neutral territory by placing one or more of your dominance tokens on this hex, whether with or without your chief; a chief is worth three dominance tokens.
  • Take control of a territory owned by another player by placing more dominance tokens in this hex than they have; the other player returns all of their tokens to their reserve.
  • Withdraw from a territory by returning all but one dominance token to your reserve.

If you ever control at least three sacred territories and more sacred territories than each other player, then you gain control of Make Make (possibly from another player), placing the figure in front of you. No player can place tokens in the central space, even after Make Make has been claimed.

During the ceremonial phase, if you control a territory and control all of its surrounding territories and have your chief token and at least Tangata Manu on these territories, then you return tokens on this surrounded territory to your reserve and place a Moai on this territory instead. A territory with a Moai on it is considered to be controlled by all clans, and a Moai cannot be removed from the game board.

Next in the ceremonial phase, if you have control of three territories surrounding a ceremonial ground, you place one of your Tangata Manu tokens on this ceremonial ground. If you lose control of one of these territories, remove the Tangata Manu from the board and return it to your reserve.

If you have all five of your Tangata Manu tokens on the board and you have the Make Make token in front of you, you win instantly.

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Area Control

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 4 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Lords of Vegas

| T3d-1978
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

| T3d-1978
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

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale

| T3d-1978
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

Kiwi Chow Down

| T3d-1978
Kiwi Chow Down

Kiwi Chow Down

Control your ravenous kiwi flock to outnumber your opponents and claim dominance over island sections.

Kiwi Chow Down is played over four seasons with each season having a different objective to earn rewards. Each season has three rounds and you can either build, move or feed depending on the cards in your hand and the strategy you want to adopt.

When you build you claim benefits for your kiwi flock both immediately and at the beginning of each season.

Kiwi birds are hungry and love to be fed. When you feed them, they grow and can push other smaller kiwi out of the way, or even off the island. Be careful though – too much food and they explode!

Move your kiwi flock to strategic areas to outnumber your opponents. Use your leader or larger kiwi birds to push other players kiwis out of the way or off the board.

At the end of each season place domain markers to claim your territory. Domain markers = victory points. When the game ends, the player with the most victory points wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Grid Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~50 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.40

Kitara

| T3d-1978
Kitara

Kitara

Kitara is a strategy game that mixes conquest, movement, and battle. Manage your cards to plan your actions: the more territories you control, the more options you get! Strengthen your army of hunters, cheetah-centaurs, and heroes! Protect livestock and crops, move your troops, and go to war. Kitara is a dynamic strategy game, full of tension and suspense.

A play turn consists of drafting kingdom cards, recruiting pawns, moving pawns and attacking neighboring areas. A successful attack garners one or more hero tokens which allots victory points. Attacking and retreating is based on the number of pawns in each group. The player with the most victory points wins the game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Area Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.31

Kingdom Builder: Big Box

| T3d-1978
Kingdom Builder: Big Box

Kingdom Builder: Big Box

In Kingdom Builder, the players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming to earn the most gold at the end of the game.

Nine different kinds of terrain are on the variable game board, including locations and castles. During his turn, a player plays his terrain card and builds three settlements on three hexes of this kind. If possible, a new settlement must be built next to one of that player’s existing settlements. When building next to a location, the player may seize an extra action tile that he may use from his next turn on. These extra actions allow extraordinary actions such as moving your settlements.

By building next to a castle, the player will earn gold at the end of the game, but the most gold will be earned by meeting the conditions of the three Kingdom Builder cards; these three cards (from a total of ten in the game) specify the conditions that must be met in order to earn the much-desired gold, such as earning gold for your settlements built next to water hexes or having the majority of settlements in a sector of the board.

Each game, players will use a random set of Kingdom Builder cards, special actions, and terrain sectors to build the map!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • City Building
  • Grid Movement
  • Network Building

Game Specifications:

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

Kero

| T3d-1978
Kero

Kero

June 2471, and kerosene – KERO – is scarce. Two clans are struggling to survive, exploring New Territories in their tanker trucks. Running out of fuel is a risk each time they leave camp! Fortunately, a local tribe of Tuareks can lend a helping hand…

Kero is a two-player game set in a future unfriendly world, where players will be clan leaders – managing a camp, a tanker truck and 7 Explorers – competing for the same lands. Their ability to win the game will be based on how much kerosene (Jerrycans) they can find and how they use it wisely… Collect as many resources as possible while using as little as possible of the KERO in your tanker-truck to upgrade your camp and claim New Territories! Score the more points (by adding up the points on cards and territories) and become the 2471 Badassest Clan!

The game is played in 3 rounds (ending when a Claim card is revealed), each comprising several turns. Making snap decisions and mistakes under time pressure is part of the game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Move Through Deck
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection
  • Take That
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.97

Iwari

| T3d-1978
Iwari

Iwari

Evermore have they walked the world of Iwari. Evermore have they embodied its spirit and shaped its lands. They are stewards of the earth. Five Titans that make the cosmos breath. On Iwari, there are no teeming masses, no continent-wide civilizations. Humanity is in its infancy, living in scattered tribes in forest, tundra, and desert.

Now we have left our ancestral homelands to explore the vast uncharted regions, encountering other fellow tribes and exchanging knowledge, culture and wisdom. In our journey, we all live in harmony with the Titans, and though distant to us, they decide our fate. And yet only we don’t know if they created us, or we created them.

Iwari is an abstract-like Eurogame in which players represent different tribes looking for their identity by traveling around far lands and expanding their settlements into five different regions on the board. In the game, players use cards for two different actions:

1) Place tents and expand their settlements into five different regions on the board in a majority game that scores on each territory.
2) Construct nature totems to bond with the Titans by placing them on regions and score points based on the totem majorities in adjacent territories.

During the game, players can complete missions that grant small perks and score points by having the majority of tents in each territory after the end of the first card cycle. At game end, the majority of tents will be scored again, along with the majorities of nature totems in two adjacent regions and settlements that players have created (i.e., four or more tents in an uninterrupted sequence along one of the roads on the board).

Iwari reimagines the award-winning game Web of Power by Michael Schacht by adding new layers of strategy, tribe player boards, different maps with their own set of rules, modules that can be added to the game, and unique co-operative and solo modes.

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Area Control
  • Cooperative
  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.15