Tag: Hand Management

Hand Management is a game mechanic in which players are rewarded for playing cards in a specific order. This mechanic often encourages players to hold cards for later turns.

Smash Up: The Big Geeky Box

Smash Up: The Big Geeky Box

Smash Up: The Big Geeky Box

Smash Up: The Big Geeky Box is a storage case for Smash Up cards that also contains a single faction deck for the game: “The Geeks”, based on the characters and shows on the online Geek and Sundry channel, including TableTop.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Hand Management
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.32

Skull Canyon Ski Fest

Skull Canyon Ski Fest

Skull Canyon Ski Fest

Prove you’re the ultimate skier by taking on the most difficult runs, collecting the best gear, and earning the highest score!

To get your ski on in Skull Canyon: Ski Fest, you need to collect and turn in matching sets of slope cards. Each set you turn in lets you ski a run on the mountain, earning victory points, fame, and a spot on the run scoreboard that tracks who performed best on each run. The higher a run’s difficulty rating, the more cards you need to collect to complete it — but you’ll also score more points and earn more fame.

At the end of each day of skiing, you take a break at the Ski Village, where you can take bonus actions and acquire gear to prepare for the next day of skiing. At the end of the third day, players score for the number of easy, advanced, and expert runs they control, then whoever has the most victory points wins!

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Skulk Hollow

Skulk Hollow

Skulk Hollow

​Over generations and generations the ancient woodland of Børe prospered and grew. The world was bestowed with great spirit, which lifted the animals of the land to new heights. Unfortunately, over the years these clans lost touch with the spirit of the land and faction warring developed. The Foxen Kingdom of Skulk Hollow in the South, The spiritual Red Pandas of Cupboard in the North, the Mischievous Mice of Multon in the West, and the colony of Blackheart Bunnies in the East. As skirmishes started breaking out across the continent, lives lost, there was a monstrous shake and then The Great Return. No one quite knows why, but the Guardians have risen – but not the kind, life-giving Guardians of spiritual legend. Dark, ferocious, versions that are now attacking all the kingdoms of the land.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.26

The Shores of Tripoli

The Shores of Tripoli

The Shores of Tripoli

From the end of the American Revolution, commercial vessels of the young United States republic were easy prey for the pirates of the Barbary coast. In 1801, newly inaugurated President Thomas Jefferson was eager to put an end to this threat and sent a “squadron of observation” to the Mediterranean. As the squadron arrived in Gibraltar, they learned that the bashaw of Tripoli had already declared WAR!

The Shores of Tripoli plays out this exciting episode of Early American military history. As the United States, one player will pressure Tripolitania to allow the free movement of American merchant vessels – or face the consequences. As the bashaw of Tripoli, the other player will continue the lucrative piracy of the fearsome corsairs while countering the American threat on land and sea.

Beautiful and informative cards represent historical events and leaders from the First Barbary War. Players can move ships, start battles, go on pirate raids, engage in diplomacy and receive reinforcements. Includes over 80 wooden playing pieces, 24 dice and a premium mounted map.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Wargame

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 2 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11

Shelfie Stacker

Shelfie Stacker

Shelfie Stacker

So you’ve picked up a new game, eh? Or did you finally get your eager hands on that expansion you’ve been waiting on for the past year? Well now the real game begins — how on Earth will you fit it into your alphabetized, colour coordinated and divinely crafted new board game shelf? Well, what does it really matter? It’s probably going to just sit there in shrink for the next six months anyway — sorry, too real? Let’s just move on then…

In Shelfie Stacker, players compete to accumulate the most illustrious board game collection, by carefully filling their shelf with their most recent purchases.

The game is played over the course of 7 rounds. Each round, groups of 3 dice are randomly rolled and placed into piles. These dice represent groups of board games. From their hand of 8 action cards, players must select 1 card to play facedown. These cards will not only determine turn order, but also provide a one-time ability to help players better stack their shelf.

There are specific rules around how dice can be placed into players’ shelves, so careful planning is required. At the end of 7 rounds, the player with the best shelfie wins!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Pattern Building

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.10

Shamans

Shamans

Shamans

Shamans try to restore harmony in a world threatened by Shadows. You’ll need to pick a side.

The game combines with ingenuity: hidden roles, competitive play and an original card playing mechanic.
Each played card allows you to stabilize the spirit world, perform a Ritual, acquire an Artefact; and together they will bring you closer to the final showdown between Shadows and Shamans.
When time comes, the victor will be the one who managed to read through his rivals and stuck to the right side in this never-ending confrontation.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Hand Management
  • Hidden Roles
  • Team Based
  • Trick Taking

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.85

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot

Shadows over Camelot is a cooperative/semi-cooperative hand-management and deduction-based board game for 3–7 players.

Each player represents a knight of the Round Table and they must collaborate to overcome a number of quests, ranging from defeating the Black Knight to the search for the Holy Grail. Completed quests place white swords on the Round Table; failed quests add black swords and/or siege engines around Camelot. The knights are trying to build a majority of white swords on the Table before Camelot falls.

On each knight’s turn, the knight takes a “heroic action”, such as moving to a new quest, building his hand, or playing cards to advance the forces of good. However, he must also choose one of three evil actions, each of which will bring Camelot closer to defeat.

Moreover, one of the knights may be a traitor, pretending to be a loyal member of the party but secretly hindering his fellow knights in subtle ways, biding his time, waiting to strike at the worst possible moment…

But enough words… don your cloak, climb astride your warhorse, and gallop into the Shadows to join us in Camelot!

Game Mechanics:

  • Bluffing
  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Hand Management
  • Limited Communication
  • Player Elimination
  • Set Collection
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 7 Players
  • 60 – 80 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.57

Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse

A mad scientist holds the world hostage with his terrifying inventions. An alien warlord from a far away galaxy brings his limitless army of bizarre minions to conquer the planet. A giant rampaging robot cuts a swath of destruction across the coast, destroying major population centers. And who will stand in their way? A team of heroes, all with impressive powers and abilities stand between the world and the forces of evil. Will you help them? Answer the call to protect the multiverse!

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative, fixed-deck card game with a comic book flavor. Each player plays as one of ten heroes, against one of four villains, and the battle takes place in one of four different dynamic environments.

Each player, after selecting one of the heroes, plays a deck of 40 cards against the villain and environment decks, which “play themselves”, requiring the players to put the top card of the appropriate deck into play on the villain and environment turns. On each player’s turn, they may play a card from their hand, use a power printed on one of their cards in play, and draw a card from their deck. Each round starts with the villain turn, continues clockwise around the table, then concludes with the environment turn. Each villain has various advantages, such as starting with certain cards in play, as specified by the villain character card. Play continues until the heroes reduce the villain to 0 or fewer HP, or until the villain defeats the heroes, either via a win condition or by reducing all the heroes to 0 or fewer HP.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.51

Scrabble

Scrabble

Scrabble

In this classic word game, players use their seven drawn letter-tiles to form words on the gameboard. Each word laid out earns points based on the commonality of the letters used, with certain board spaces giving bonuses. But a word can only be played if it uses at least one already-played tile or adds to an already-played word. This leads to slightly tactical play, as potential words are rejected because they would give an opponent too much access to the better bonus spaces.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Tile Placement
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Rune Stones

Rune Stones

Rune Stones

Rune Stones is a deck-building, hand management game by acclaimed designer Rüdiger Dorn. In Rune Stones, every card has a unique number on it. Two cards are always played together, and the higher numbered card is removed from the player’s deck. You have to be careful which cards you buy and how you play them to not lose your best cards. Players will use their cards to gather gems, forge them into Artifacts, then combine those into Rune Stones, which grants a special ability for the rest of the game. The more artifacts used in making a Rune Stone, the more points it scores, so players must decide whether it is best to gain abilities early or save to score more points.

On your turn, you may choose from one of three options:

1. Summon Creatures: Take new creature cards from the display by playing the appropriate amount of spell power from cards in your hand.

2. Play Cards: Play two cards from your hand, which will give you resources, new cards, or points. However, every card has a unique number, and the higher numbered card of the two is removed from the game (the other is placed in the player’s discard pile).

3. Forge Artifacts: Players spend gems at the 6 different Dwarf forges to make an artifacts. Once they have at least two artifacts of different colors, these may be made into a Rune Stone, which grants a special ability and a significant number of points.

The first player to 65 points triggers the end of the game, and then the player with the most points at the end of the round is the winner.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.35