Tag: Modular Board

Botanicus

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

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:

  •  Rondel
  • Modular Board
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

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

Cosmoctopus

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
  • Race

Game Specifications:

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

Conflict of Heroes: Guadalcanal – the Pacific 1942

Step back in history, in the midst of the Pacific Campaign during World War II over the battle for Guadalcanal! The incredibly important Japanese-controlled strategic island blocked off Allied supply lines from Australia, and it is imperative for both sides to not lose their foothold on the island. Recreate the 4-month struggle over air, land, and sea with gorgeous maps, amphibious landing craft, the USMC, Japanese Banzai Charges, night combat, and much more.

Game Mechanics:

  •  Action Points
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hexagon Grid
  • Modular Board

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.06

Come Sail Away!

In Come Sail Away!you are in charge of facilitating the boarding process on your luxury liner. Ensure that your passengers are guided as smoothly and quickly as possible to their preferred cabins, and make sure you don’t run out of space! This game is simple to learn but has plenty of strategy that it’ll offer a new challenge every time you play!

Game Mechanics:

  •  Closed Drafting
  • Mancala
  • Modular Board

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 25 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11

Colonists, the

You and your opponents will take on the role of mayors of different villages forming in a newly established colony. The goal is to have the highest level of employment, and as mayor you’ll have to create jobs, educate your people, and strategically use your limited resources to expand your city and sow the seeds for greatness in the future.

Game Mechanics:

  •  Area Movement
  • Hand Management
  • Modular Board
  • Open Drafting
  • Solo/Solitaire
  • Tile Placement
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 360 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.06

Clue Escape: The World’s Fair Board Game

The crew from Clue is back, and this time they’re at the World’s Fair. But trouble seems to follow them as a brilliant scientist winds up dead. Uncover clues, solve puzzles, find out who, what, and where the murder happened, and see if you can escape!

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative Game
  • Modular Board

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Clue Escape: Treachery at Tudor Mansion

It’s the classic clue game – in an escape room board game! You and your acquaintances have all been invited to Tudor Mansion for dinner by Boddy Black, who dramatically dies after he threatens to blackmail all of you. Now you must discover who killed him where and with what, and escape the mansion before it’s too late.

Game Mechanics:

  •  Cooperative Game
  • Modular Board

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Civolution

Hello, student beings! The cosmic faculty of the Technical Academy of Creation is delighted to welcome you to your Civolution, the final exam in Civilization Design!

For this occasion, we prepared a humanoid scenario on an isolated continent. Here, each of you holds the rank of a local deity which is closely linked to its very own civilization and must lead it to success over the other civilizations. Your developmental possibilities are endless and reach from cultural and technical progress to evolutional adaptations. For example, what would you consider more beneficial to your tribes: inventing the wheel or growing wings? Demonstrate your ability to operate your civilization console and show us how well you can adjust to changeable environmental conditions and mild creational chaos.

When the exam ceases after four eras, whoever managed to gather the most success points will not only pass the exam but will become a full member of the Technical Academy of Creation and garner the opportunity to be promoted to the next instance.

Civolution is a medium heavy to heavy euro-style game that utilizes a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. As you figure out how to best use your dice and put your unique cards into play, tons of strategies and paths to victory emerge, though each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.

Game Mechanics:

  • Events
  • Modular Board
  • Open Drafting
  • Pattern Building
  • Tech Trees / Tech Tracks
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 90 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.22

CATAN: New Energies

It’s the 21st Century, and Catan is at a crossroads. Long gone is the agrarian society of the island’s Viking ancestors. Today’s Catanians need energy to keep society moving and growing, but pollution is wreaking havoc on the island.

You must decide: Invest in clean energy resources, or opt for cheaper fossil fuels, potentially causing disastrous effects for the island?

CATAN: New Energies is a new standalone game rooted in classic CATAN mechanisms of harvesting, trading, and building. New gameplay elements including power plants, energy tokens, and environmental events that add new strategies and stories to a familiar foundation.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Majority / Influence
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hexagon Grid
  • Modular Board
  • Trading
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.40