Tag: Bluffing

Bluffing board games typically require players to lie to each other to gain a competitive advantage.

Equinox

| T3d-1978
Equinox

Equinox

In Equinox, mysterious creatures gather in the forest in an effort to write themselves into the legendary storybook and for tales to be shared for countless generations. However, there is room for only four more stories — not every story will be recorded, so the creatures have to be cunning and clever to outwit their opponents and make the cut.

Equinox is a deeply satisfying betting game that gives players agency to influence the outcome of this competition. Each round, players place numbered power cards in front of the creatures, with the lowest-valued creature being eliminated from play. Players also place bets on which creatures they think will make it into the storybook, and you can use the special powers of these creatures to ideally turn things to your advantage.

Fans of Dr. Reiner Knizia might recognize Equinox as a revised edition of the previously released game Colossal Arena, but with two new creatures. Of the fourteen unique creatures, only eight are played in a game, which means more than three thousand different combinations are possible. To celebrate the equinox occurring twice a year, players can select from two distinct box covers, but note that the contents in each box are identical.

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 40 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Dreadful Circus

| T3d-1978
Dreadful Circus

Dreadful Circus

No longer do you anxiously await the arrival of the wicked — for they have just arrived! In the dead of night, the gloom rolls in. Melodies whisper in slow rhythms as children wake from their slumber. Leaping from their beds, they rush to their parents and startle them awake. The mix of fear and excitement fills the room. The lure of exotic sweets wafts in on the warm summer wind. The lives of this dull, small town are revitalized with the anticipation of this dreadful circus.

Dreadful Circus is a set-collection card game in which players try to create the most successful circus! The game comes with an unique twist: Over the course of the game, players buy cards that have special final scoring rules. As the game progresses and more cards are gained, each player develops their very own final scoring rules. No game is the same, and no player at the table scores the same way.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Bluffing
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 4 – 8 Players
  • 30 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.33

Creature Feature

| T3d-1978

In this game of hand management and bluffing by Richard Garfield, you are a movie agent representing actors who excel at particularly monstrous roles. Try to get them the part in the feature film! Or, failing that, at least a part in SOME film.

Each round you will assign a Co-star and a Star (cards with a number value and possibly a special ability) to audition for a role (a tile worth points). Everyone will reveal their co-stars and then have the opportunity to change what they are auditioning for and instead try for lesser films worth fewer points. Winning a part scores points – but there’s a twist! If your star has a lower value than your co-star, you can’t win unless everyone else stops competing for that film… but if everyone DOES back off, you score extra points!

The game ends after a fixed number of rounds, and the player with the most points wins!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 6 Players
  • 15 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

The Court of Miracles

| T3d-1978
The Court of Miracles

The Court of Miracles

In The Court of Miracles, lead a guild of beggars, plot, use trickery and opportunism to build your renown and take over the old 16th century Paris.

Your goal is to establish your renown in Paris or to be the most influential when the Penniless King would have reached the end of his path…

At your turn, you may play a plot card, you have to place one of your (3) Rogue tokens, face down (secret ability), on any available spot in a neighborhood, and benefit from the effect of your spot (receive coins, draw plot cards or move the Penniless King forward along his path). You may then perform the action of the neighborhood.

When a neighborhood is fully occupied, settle a standoff revealing each player’s Rogue(s) token to know which player takes control of the neighborhood. Controlling a neighborhood will reward you each time another player performs its action.

You will be allowed to buy a 4th Rogue, cards or move the Penniless King Forward at the Renown Square.

Unless the Penniless King reaches the last space of his path before, the first player to place their 6th Renown token wins. Otherwise, the player with the most Renown tokens placed on the board wins the game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Bluffing
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.22

Cosmic Encounter

| T3d-1978

Players represent alien races that are seeking to spread themselves onto five foreign worlds. To accomplish this, they make challenges against other players and enlist the aid of interested parties. But alien powers, which are unique to each race, give players ways to bend or outright break some rule in the game.

The game continues until one player occupies five planets in other systems to win. Shared victories are possible, and a player need not occupy one’s own system to win.

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Hand Management
  • Negotiation
  • Racing
  • Take That
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.58

Citadels

| T3d-1978

In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects his/her eighth building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.

Players start with a number of building cards in their hand; buildings come in five colors, with the purple buildings typically having a special ability and the other colored buildings providing a benefit when you play particular characters. At the start of each round, the player who was king the previous round discards one of the eight character cards at random, chooses one, then passes the cards to the next player, etc. until each player has secretly chosen a character. Each character has a special ability, and the usefulness of any character depends upon your situation, and that of your opponents. The characters then carry out their actions in numerical order: the assassin eliminating another character for the round, the thief stealing all gold from another character, the wizard swapping building cards with another player, the warlord optionally destroys a building in play, and so on.

On a turn, a player earns two or more gold (or draws two building cards then discards one), then optionally constructs one building (or up to three if playing the architect this round). Buildings cost gold equal to the number of symbols on them, and each building is worth a certain number of points. In addition to points from buildings, at the end of the game a player scores bonus points for having eight buildings or buildings of all five colors.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Drafting
  • Bluffing
  • City Building
  • Closed Drafting
  • Deduction
  • Set Collection
  • Tableau Building
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.01

A War of Whispers 🟢

| T3d-1978

A War of Whispers is a competitive board game for 2 to 4 players. Five mighty empires are at war for the world, but you are no mighty ruler. Instead, you play a secret society that is betting on the results of this war while pulling strings to rig the results and ensure their bets pay off. A War of Whispers is a game of deep strategy, hidden agendas, and shifting loyalties.

You start the game with five loyalty tokens, each corresponding to one of the five different empires, bet randomly on a loyalty value. Your primary goal is to ensure that when the game ends, the empires you are most loyal to control the most cities across the globe. Gameplay consists of turns broken down into four phases:

  1. Deploy agents phase: In player order (starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise), each player removes, then deploys agents to empire councils, the positions on the board marked Sheriff, Steward, Marshall, and Chancellor.
  2. Empire turns phase: Each council position on each empire council will take an action. If a player has acquired cards, they may play them during this phase.
  3. Cleanup phase: Add the turn marker to the next space on the turn tracker, then each player discards down to the hand limit of five cards.
  4. Swap phase: In player order, each player may swap two of their unrevealed loyalty tokens. If you choose to do so, you must reveal both of the swapped loyalty tokens. They remain revealed for the rest of the game.

Gameplay repeats itself in this order four times. When the last space on the turn track is filled, the game ends immediately and scoring commences. The player with the most points based off their empire loyalties and the cities they control wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Bluffing
  • Take That
  • Wargame
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.57

3000 Scoundrels 🟢

| T3d-1978

“The Traveler brought much change to our small frontier town in the last five years. He showed us marvels beyond imagination and taught us how to use his strange machines. Now that the Traveler has vanished, a storm is coming. Who will control the destiny of the American Frontier?”

In 3000 Scoundrels, players assume the roles of rival leaders attempting to steal precious technology left behind by the Traveler. By overlaying clear cards, you create unique scoundrels and use them to outsmart your foes. In short, hire scoundrels to build powerful combos, steal technology, and outsmart your foes.

Each turn, you play a poker card from your hand face down in front of your player board, then use all abilities matching your claimed number. You don’t need to tell the truth when claiming a number, but if an opponent catches you bluffing, it will damage your reputation and decrease your odds of winning the game.

Each leader has a unique perspective and motivation in the conflict of Graystone Gulch. Are you driven by money, fame, or the deep-seated desire to improve the world? Advanced rules add unique strategies to each leader that reflect their unique strengths and cunning tricks.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.18

Wits & Wagers Family

| T3d-1978
Wits & Wagers Family

Wits & Wagers Family

Wits & Wagers Family is the family version of the most award winning party game in history.
This edition is more simple, has less down time, and is more portable than the original Wits & Wagers. It also removes the “gambling” element and has questions that are appropriate for kids and the whole family. Most importantly, Wits & Wagers Family makes use of the beloved Meeple playing piece!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Paper and Pencil
  • Party Game
  • Trivia

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 10 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.10

Ultimate Werewolf: Deluxe Edition

| T3d-1978
Ultimate Werewolf: Deluxe Edition

Ultimate Werewolf: Deluxe Edition

Ultimate Werewolf is an interactive game of deduction for two teams: Villagers and Werewolves. The Villagers don’t know who the Werewolves are, and the Werewolves are trying to remain undiscovered while they slowly eliminate the Villagers one at a time. A Moderator (who isn’t on a team) runs the game.

Ultimate Werewolf takes place over a series of game days and nights. Each day, the players discuss who among them is a Werewolf and vote out a player. Each night, the Werewolves choose a player to eliminate, while the Seer learns whether one player is a Werewolf or not. The game is over when either all the Villagers or all the Werewolves are eliminated.

Ultimate Werewolf: Deluxe Edition features all new artwork, a great new design, totally rewritten and more comprehensive rules, and an even better moderator scorepad. What’s more, it supports more players than ever: 75 of your closest friends can converge on one or more villages using the components in this box.

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Deduction
  • Negotiation
  • Party Game
  • Player Elimination
  • Role Playing
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 5 – 75 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.47