Tag: Modular Board

Fallout Shelter: The Board Game

| T3d-1978

Build a better future underground in Fallout Shelter: The Board Game, a post-nuclear worker-placement board game for two to four players. Based on the hit mobile game from Bethesda Softworks, Fallout Shelter sees you take on the role of a vault officer fostering happiness among the citizens of your vault. With the election of a new Overseer looming, the officer who can gain the most happiness among the dwellers is sure to lock up the election and attain victory.

As an officer, you’ll have to direct your dwellers to where they’ll spend their time in the vault, whether it’s spending some time relaxing in the lounge, gathering vital resources like food in the community gardens, or battling a radroach infestation in the game room. The choice is always yours, but remember, you’ll have to balance happiness and efficiency to lead your people to a brighter future underground!

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • End Game Bonuses
  • Layering
  • Modular Board
  • Turn Order: Claim Action
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.03

Fairy Ring

| T3d-1978

A ray of moonlight shines in the clearing. The fairies wake up and stretch their wings. Mushrooms pop up from the ground, forming a circle. The first fireflies start to land. Magic is returning to the forest, and now it’s time to prepare for winter…

In Fairy Ring, you want to create a mushroom village to house the fairies in the clearing. Guide your fairy carefully, from village to village, through the fairy ring to gather as much mana as possible. You have two seasons to develop your village before winter begins. Each decision counts towards winning the game.

Game Mechanics:

  • Closed Drafting
  • Modular Board

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.80

Expeditions

| T3d-1978

The sequel to Scythe sends players on a new adventure into Siberia, where a massive meteorite crashed near the Tunguska River, awakening ancient corruption. An expedition led by Dr. Tarkovsky ventures into the taiga to learn about the meteorite and its impact on the land. Itching for adventure, heroes from the war privately fund their own expeditions to Siberia, hoping to find artifacts, overcome challenges, and ultimately achieve glory. Expeditions has completely different mechanisms than Scythe, though the goal was to capture some of the same feelings that Scythe evokes, with a slightly darker, more supernatural theme.

Expeditions is a competitive, card-driven, engine-building game of exploration. Play cards to gain power, guile, and unique worker abilities; move your mech to mysterious locations and gain cards found among the tiles; use workers, items, meteorites, and quests to enhance your mech; and use power and guile to vanquish corruption.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Retrieval
  • Deck Building
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Melding and Splaying
  • Modular Board
  • Multi-Use Cards
  • Solo / Solitaire Game
  • Tags
  • Variable Player Powers
  • Variable Set-up
  • Victory Points as a Resource
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.05

Epochs: Course of Cultures

| T3d-1978

In Epochs: Course of Cultures, you will lead your civilization and plan a path through the crossroads of history across three epochs. Be a pioneer to expand territories, be an innovator to foster study and research, or be a warmonger to raid using superior armaments. The choice is yours, and it is your strategic acumen that will shape the course of cultures and lead your people toward victory.

Within the game, you will compete with other leaders to become the most prestigious civilization over three epochs: ancient, medieval, and modern. You will introduce a total of nine inventions to customize your civilization. On your turn, you can choose to expand your territories on the shared map, build a city, establish a trade route, do academic research, change the form of government, and build magnificent wonders to consolidate your authority. Unfortunately, being peaceful is not always the best way to benefit your people as leaders can choose to declare war on others within an epoch. A wise leader may have to prepare for war by improving military units…just in case.

Immerse yourself in a re-imagination of human history in which every decision carries weight and every action shapes the course of your civilization. Will you be remembered as a benevolent ruler, revered for your cultural achievements? Or will you carve out a legacy through conquest, leaving a trail of triumph in your wake? The fate of your people rests in your hands. Be a visionary leader, and create a civilization that will stand the test of epochs.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Hexagon Grid
  • Modular Board
  • Open Drafting
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 120 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.57

Endeavor: Deep Sea

| T3d-1978

Plunge into the modern era, where our planet’s vast interconnected ocean scape is one of the last frontiers to discover and explore. Experience a deep new ever-changing adventure in this followup to the smash hit Endeavor: Age of Sail!

In Endeavor: Deep Sea, you head an independent research institute with the goal of developing sustainable projects and preserving the fragile balance of marine life. Throughout the game, you’ll recruit field experts and use their abilities to explore new locations, research dive sites, publish critical ecological papers, and launch conservation efforts.

Expand your expertise, develop your team, and learn as much as possible about the sea. The action your institute takes now, could mean a healthy ocean and a sustainable future for the planet.

Endeavor: Deep Sea is designed by the same creative team behind Endeavor: Age of Sail and Endeavor. This edition is set in a new era of nautical discovery, but uses streamlined rules which will be familiar to fans of the original game.

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Action Retrieval
  • Chaining
  • Cooperative Game
  • End Game Bonuses
  • Grid Movement
  • Map Addition
  • Modular Board
  • Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game
  • Solo / Solitaire Game
  • Tech Trees / Tech Tracks
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.91

Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game

| T3d-1978

Castle Ravenloft Boardgame by Bill Slavicsek, Mike Mearls and Peter Lee
The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner – and you are invited!
Evil lurks in the towers and dungeons of Castle Ravenloft, and only heroes of exceptional bravery can survive the horrors within. Designed for 1-5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative gameplay.

Each player selects a hero; a ranger, rogue, warrior, cleric, or wizard. On their turn, each player can explore further into the dungeon (turn over new tiles), move through the already explored parts of the dungeon, and fight monsters. When a new dungeon tile is revealed, there is typically an encounter of some sort, and new monsters to fight are added. Slain monsters reward the players with treasure, and experience points, allowing them to level up and increase their skills during play. Players must cooperate to stay alive, slay the monsters, and achieve the goal of their quest. Each scenario has a different goal – from retrieving a relic, to slaying a vampire lord.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative Game
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Modular Board
  • Role Playing
  • Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game
  • Solo / Solitaire Game
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.50

Djinn

| T3d-1978

Once your ancestors found or created a source of magic – the exact knowledge of its origin, as far as you know, has long been lost. A small community has developed around the source, which seeks to protect this place and keep it as secret as possible.

Unfortunately, some magical beings — half corporeal, half ethereal — have now tracked down this source. These beings of dubious character, which you call “Djinn”, have appeared in various places of the city to dispute your access to the source. You are young members of the Magic Guild, and to prove your abilities, you are tasked with capturing the Djinn so that they can do no harm. You can control them permanently only if you catch them in special Djinn bottles. To seal these bottles, you also need corks made from the bark of a tree near the magic source.

Whichever of you succeeds best in protecting your small town will be accepted into the inner circle of the Magic Guild and will soon be allowed to learn even more secrets…

In Djinn, you take turns moving across a map that shows thirteen locations. These locations are linked to actions where you can get the resources you need and catch the Djinn that are in six locations. In those locations you can do things like receive bottles and corks, collect magical power, buy magical items, hire mages to accompany you, discover secret passages, and more.

In each round, you can reach only one of two or three of the locations, so you must plan carefully to have all the resources you need in time to catch the Djinn. The game ends when all six “Boss Djinn” have been captured and removed from the map, then you score points for all captured Djinn.

-description from developer

Game Mechanics:

  • End Game Bonuses
  • Grid Movement
  • Modular Board
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection
  • Variable Player Powers
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.92

Botanicus

| T3d-1978

How about creating your own botanical garden? As an aristocrat in the late 19th century, you have bought land, hired a gardener and set out to find the best plants there are.

As you know, the visitors are very picky about the plants they want to see, so your job is not only to acquire the plants, but also to sort them according to the visitors’ preferences.

In Botanicus, you compete for the best action-spots in a unique selection mechanism, and then make the most of the options available to you. You have to collect new plants, take care of them, water them and keep an eye on the gardener. Last but not least, you have to collect some money along the way to pay for all this.
In the end, what counts is how many visitors you satisfy and how beautiful your garden is. Will you be able to outdo the gardens of your competitors?

Game Mechanics:

  • Modular Board
  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

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

Daitoshi

| T3d-1978

We have finally perfected the power of steam, and we can now use it to our advantage! We live in an unprecedented era of progress, and new steam-powered inventions are developed faster than ever. Cities are growing, trade is flourishing, and we are developing our most ambitious machine ever: a giant contraption that will bring even more progress to the city. Yes, some trees are being cut down, and the river doesn’t flow as plentifully as before, but there’s still an abundance of trees and water, and we can use the extra space to expand our city — and it’s not like the old creatures on those forests can do anything about it.

On your turn in Daitoshi, you either produce or move your magnate to a new district in which you will be able to send your workers to work, command the exploit of forest or river hexes to fuel your endless need for steam, and perform an action to expand and show your greatness to the city.

These actions not only help you in your search for acknowledgement, but help all the inhabitants of the big city. You will expand the city and electrify its districts, discover and develop new steam-powered inventions, and trade with faraway cities. You may even help the city build its gargantuan project: the mega-machine. Some forests might be cut down, and some rivers may be dried up, but in your generosity, you will help the displaced workers from those areas by giving them new jobs at your service.

Old legends suggest the forests and rivers are guarded by Yōkai, but progress can’t be stopped because of some old fairy tales. Just in case, though, it could be wise to participate on some reforestation projects and hide your participation in the abuse of the natural resources…

—description from the publisher

Game Mechanics:

  • Follow
  • Modular Board
  • Rondel
  • Variable Set-up
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.94

Cosmoctopus

| T3d-1978

In Cosmoctopus, you take on the role of a devotee guiding the great Cosmoctopus through the Inky Realm. Your goal is to gather resources, obtain powerful relics, scriptures, hallucinations, and constellations to create powerful combinations and gather the most sacred of item – the great tentacle. The first to eight tentacles will gain the Great Inky One’s favor and be declared the most dedicated follower. 

The turns in Cosmoctopus are simple, the fun and strategy lie in building your engine to best maximize your turns and take advantage of your hand of cards. Cosmoctopus is also an incredibly versatile game, allowing you to easily altar the difficulty along with optional cooperative and solo modes!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Movement
  • Cooperative Game
  • Hand Management
  • Modular Board
  • Open Drafting
  • Race
  • Solo / Solitaire Game
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.21