Tag: Constrained Bidding

Faraway

| T3d-1978

Welcome to Alula, a mysterious continent with ever-changing geography, shaped after the rhythm of the seasons. Beyond the Sea of Mists lies the mysterious continent of Alula. Roam across the land in search of its secrets, meet its inhabitants, and list its wonders in order to gain more fame than your opponents.

Throughout a game of Faraway, you will play a row of 8 cards in front of you, from left to right. These cards represent the regions you will come across while exploring the lands. Characters on these cards will grant you victory points if you later fulfill the conditions they demand. At the end of the game, you walk back the same way, scoring cards in the opposite order you played them. There lies the heart of the gameplay. Throughout the game, the cards you play will serve both to set new objectives, and to meet the ones you played previously.

Each turn, you play a card from a hand of 3. Then you pick a new card from a face-up river. As play is simultaneous in Faraway, you must take into account a clever priority system in all of your choices – being last to pick a card leaves you with fewer options and often less profitable choices for the next turns.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Constrained Bidding
  • End Game Bonuses
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Selection Order Bid
  • Set Collection
  • Simultaneous Action Selection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 15 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.91

Empire’s End

| T3d-1978

You lead a grand civilization at the height of its influence, but can you save it from collapse? In Empire’s End, 2-4 players compete to keep calamity at bay. Empire’s End marries the intuitive and elegant mechanism of reverse-bidding with engine-building, long-term planning, and strategic depth. The result is a game with a quick tempo, abundant tension, and multiple challenging paths to victory.

Players begin with a civilization at the height of its power. Play proceeds through a series of phases, varying as you progress through the game. During the Disaster phase, players face a common threat such as famine, a flood, or barbarians. The player who ends the bidding must take the disaster, which devastates one of their territories.

With each disaster that befalls an empire, its people grow in wisdom and resilience. In the style of the modern classic game No Thanks, resources bid by all players will end up in the hands of the player who ultimately takes the disaster card. That player also gains a new ability, an innovation that reflects their empire’s ability to adapt in the face of challenging times.

Each turn, players move along a progress track that dictates whether they will face a disaster or another type of phase. Players can gain new resources during Production phases, rebuild lost territories during Industry phases, and challenge one another during Military phases. At the end of the progress track, the game is concluded and the winner is the civilization with the greatest number of victory points. Intact territories contribute points, but innovations and military successes can provide alternative ways to win.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction / Bidding
  • Auction Compensation
  • Auction: Multiple Lot
  • Auction: Turn Order Until Pass
  • Closed Economy Auction
  • Constrained Bidding
  • End Game Bonuses
  • Events
  • Hand Management
  • Income
  • Increase Value of Unchosen Resources
  • Turn Order: Auction

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.40