Tag: Open Drafting

Games with Open Drafting mechanics allow players to choose new resources from a shared pool. The pool of resources is public, meaning all players will see available options.

Ticket to Ride

| T3d-1978
Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride

With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Open Drafting
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.84

Tang Garden

| T3d-1978
Tang Garden

Tang Garden

The Tang dynasty was considered the first golden age of the classical and now iconic Chinese gardens. Emperor Xuanzong built the magnificent imperial Garden of the Majestic Clear Lake as an homage of life itself and from where he ruled. Players will act as Imperial Garden Designers and they will be called to build the most incredible garden while balancing the elements of Nature.

Tang Garden is a Zen-like game that will take you to the first golden age of China, where players will progressively build a garden by creating the landscape, placing the scenery and projecting their vision through vertical panoramas. During the construction, noblemen will visit the garden to admire the surroundings and the way the natural elements coexist in the most breathtaking scenery humankind has ever laid their eyes upon.

Players will take turns by playing one of the two actions available in the game:

1) Placing tiles and matching the elements to increase their personal nature balance and unlock more character miniatures.

By balancing the nature elements on the player boards, players will attract new characters into the garden. On each player turn, if the elements are balanced, the player will have to choose one miniature from the ones available and finally decide which one of the characters will be placed in the garden, orienting them towards their favorite background, while keeping the other with you to keep exploiting its ability.

2) Draw decoration cards and place one on the board to get prestige by completing collections.

Players will draw a quantity of cards based on the board situation and choose one to keep. Players will then have to place the chosen decoration in one of the available spots in the garden, creating a unique and seamless scenario that will never be the same.

During the game, by placing tiles on special parts of the board, you will be able to place a panorama tile, a new element that adds a never ending perspective for the visitors. Both small and big panoramas will be placed perpendicularly to the board by attaching it to the board insert by creating a seamless look on the four sides of the board. The Panoramas will interact with the characters at the end of the game by giving prestige points based on what your visitor sees and likes.

At the end of the game, the player with the most prestige will be the winner.

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 40 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.60

Studies in Sorcery

| T3d-1978
Studies in Sorcery

Studies in Sorcery

Studies in Sorcery is an engine building and drafting game in which players are trying to complete projects in Alchemy, Reanimation, and more to finally complete their thesis statement and graduate from the Academy of the Dark Arts.

Each field of study at the Academy of Dark Arts is different and requires different skills. Alchemy takes time but can grant you abilities instantly. Reanimation requires just the right ingredients if you want to really impress the professors and can help you build future projects even faster. Sorcery takes work, but can grant you new abilities depending on the phase of the moon.

On their turn, players can choose to scavenge for ingredients or to go get more projects to work on. At the end of each round, players can commit their ingredients to projects and hopefully finish a project so they can reap the rewards of a job well done.

The game ends after four semesters have passed and players present their projects for review. Choose your thesis and fields of study wisely and even you can get your degree in darkness!

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Push Your Luck

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.50

Stockpile

| T3d-1978
Stockpile

Stockpile

Stockpile is an economic board game that combines the traditional stockholding strategy of buy low, sell high with several additional mechanisms to create a fast-paced, engaging and interactive experience.

In Stockpile, players act as stock market investors at the end of the 20th century hoping to strike it rich, and the investor with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. Stockpile centers on the idea that nobody knows everything about the stock market, but everyone does know something. In the game, this philosophy manifests in two ways: insider information and the stockpile.

First, players are given insider information each round. This information dictates how a stock’s value will change at the end of the round. By privately learning if a stock is going to move up or down, each player has a chance to act ahead of the market by buying or selling at the right time.

Second, players purchase their stocks by bidding on piles of cards called stockpiles. These stockpiles will contain a mixture of face-up and face-down cards placed by other players in the game. In this way, nobody will know all of the cards in the stockpiles. Not all cards are good either. Trading fees can poison the piles by making players pay more than they bid. By putting stocks and other cards up for auction, Stockpile catalyzes player interaction, especially when potential profits from insider information are on the line.

Both of these mechanisms are combined with some stock market elements to make players consider multiple factors when selling a stock. Do you hold onto a stock in hopes of catching a lucrative stock split or do you sell now to avoid the potential company bankruptcy? Can you hold onto your stock until the end of the game to become the majority shareholder, or do you need the liquidity of cash now for future bidding? Do you risk it all by investing heavily into one company, or do you mitigate your risk by diversifying your portfolio?

In the end, everyone knows something about the stock market, so it all comes down to strategy execution. Will you be able to navigate the movements of the stock market with certainty? Or will your investments go under from poor predictions?

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Open Drafting
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11

Starship Captains

| T3d-1978
Starship Captains

Starship Captains

Welcome aboard and congrats on the promotion! Your “new” starship is ready to embark on its first big voyage. Just scrape off some of the rust, and she’ll do fine. And that crew? Might look a little green around the edges, but they’re your crew now. Make us proud.

The stars are calling…and adventure awaits!

As newly promoted Starship Captains, players are in command of their first starship and hungry to prove themselves in a galaxy full of space pirates, grumpy old androids, ancient artifacts, and interplanetary adventures.

In this 1-4 player Eurostyle game, which mixes action selection and engine building, you’ll manage a diverse crew of cadets, ensigns, androids, and officers — each with different special roles and capabilities. By earning medals, you can promote and train your crew for even greater effectiveness. Similarly, you can upgrade your ship with powerful engine building technology for maximum synergy.

What will you do with this enhanced crew and ship? Explore an ever-shifting galaxy full of dangerous pirates and interplanetary missions in order to boost your reputation with three distinct galactic factions for bountiful rewards.

Do you have what it takes to deftly command your crew and become the best captain in the cosmos? We’ll see!

Game Mechanics:

  • Open Drafting
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 40 – 100 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.36

Star Wars Deck Building Game

| T3d-1978
Star Wars Deck Building Game

Star Wars Deck Building Game

The Rebel Alliance fights valiantly against the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. Each new victory brings the Rebels hope, and each heroic sacrifice strengthens their resolve. Still, the Empire’s resources are vast, and the firepower of its Empire Navy is unmatched. With neither side willing to accept defeat, their war rages across the galaxy…

In Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game, a head-to-head game for two players, the galaxy-spanning war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance comes alive on your tabletop. In this easy-to-learn game, you and your opponent each choose a side, playing as either the Empire or the Rebels, and as the game progresses you both strengthen the power of your starting decks and work to destroy each other’s bases. The first player to destroy three of their opponent’s bases wins.

In more detail, each player starts with a unique ten-card deck, with seven of those cards providing only resources to acquire new cards. Six cards from a galaxy deck are always on display, with Rebel cards facing the Rebel player, Empire cards the Empire player, and neutral cards turned sideways. You can spend resources to acquire cards in the galaxy row that don’t belong to the opponent, and you can use attack power to take out cards that do belong to them, gaining a reward in the process.

Each player starts with a base that lacks abilities (Dantooine for the Rebels and Lothal for the Empire), but when that base is destroyed, you get to choose a replacement from your base deck, with each base having a special ability. Choose wisely to counter your opponent’s plans! In addition to having special abilities, capital ships absorb damage meant for your base.

Players also fight for control of a Force track to gain additional resources or make use of “If the Force is with you…” abilities on their cards.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Open Drafting
  • Tug of War

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.01

Star Trek Deck Building Game

| T3d-1978
Star Trek Deck Building Game

Star Trek Deck Building Game

In Star Trek [Deck Building Game]: The Next Generation, players take on the role of Captain of a salvaged Starship. They will search for new allies such as Picard, Data, and other famous Characters. They will Explore space to complete Missions, Encounter Events, and meet Starships that could be friend or foe.

The game features three separate scenarios of play:

  • Explorations [Free For All]: Explore Space to complete Missions, Encounter Events, and Engage Starships.
  • Borg Invasion [Cooperative]: The Borg have come to Assimilate you and everything you know. Band together with your fellow Captains to defend your world and fend off the Borg.
  • Klingon Civil War [Teams]: A rift in power has been created in the Klingon Empire. Form an alliance, gather support, and defeat your enemies to obtain control of the Empire.

The goal of each game varies. While some simply require a point threshold, another game’s goal might be to simply survive.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Deck Building
  • Open Drafting
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.48

Star Realms

| T3d-1978
Star Realms

Star Realms

Star Realms is a fast-paced deck-building card game of outer space combat. It combines the fun of a deck-building game with the interactivity of Trading Card Game style combat. As you play, you make use of Trade to acquire new Ships and Bases from the cards being turned face up in the Trade Row from the Trade Deck. You use the Ships and Bases you acquire to either generate more Trade or to generate Combat to attack your opponent and their bases. When you reduce your opponent’s score (called Authority) to zero, you win!

Multiple decks of Star Realms and/or Star Realms: Colony Wars, one for every two people, allows up to six players to play a variety of scenarios. Also, in the newest version, there are new ways to play that allow up to 6 players with modes like Boss, Hunter, and Free for All. You can also add Star Realms Colony Wars to the deck to make it 4 players. This is the first game of the Star Realms series. When you play Star Realms, you will be able to acquire and use Ships and Bases of any and all of the four factions. Many cards have powerful Ally abilities that reward you for using Ships and Bases of the same faction together, however.

As you acquire cards using Trade, you put them into your discard pile, to be later shuffled into your personal deck. When you draw Ships, you do what they say and they get placed into your discard pile at the end of your turn. When you draw a Base, you play it face up in front of you and may use its abilities once every turn. In addition to Combat being the way you reduce your opponent’s Authority to zero and win the game, it’s also useful for destroying your opponent’s Bases. Some Bases are designated as Outposts. Your opponent’s Outposts must be destroyed before you can use Combat to attack your opponent’s Authority directly.

Star Realms is easy to learn, especially if you’re familiar with deck-building games, but it’s a game that takes time to master. Each time you play, the game is filled with various strategic decision points. Should I take the best card for me or the best card for my opponent? Should I focus on taking cards of a particular faction or on taking the best card available? Should I be focusing on acquiring more Trade or more Combat? Should I attack my opponent’s Base or their Authority? These are just some of the many choices you’ll be faced with. New players needn’t agonize over these choices just to play, but as they become more advanced players, they will find this depth of strategy leads to great replayability.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Splendor: Marvel

| T3d-1978
Splendor: Marvel

Splendor: Marvel

Bring together a team of super heroes and prevent Thanos from ending the world!
The Infinity Stones are scattered throughout the Multiverse. Use their essence to recruit heroes and villains and gain Infinity Points.

Assemble the Avengers, acquire locations and when ready, claim the Infinity Gauntlet!

Pick your tokens carefully, recruit characters to gain Infinity Points and bonuses. These bonuses help you recruit more powerful heroes and acquire locations… until you gather enough characters, power, and Infinity Points to trigger the endgame!

Even though Splendor Marvel uses Splendor’s core rules and high-quality materials, it has a different color structure, a new endgame trigger, and new victory conditions. You can also gain Infinity Points with the Avengers Assemble tile that can be passed from one player to another several times during the game!

If you are keen on Splendor, learning the rules will be easy, but mastering the game may take you a while.

And if you don’t know Splendor, soon you will enjoy its quick and simple rules and become addicted to this game without even realizing it!

Game Mechanics:

  • Economic
  • Open Drafting
  • Racing
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.91

Space Base: Command Station

| T3d-1978
Space Base: Command Station

Space Base: Command Station

Following the events surrounding “Shy Pluto,” two new zones within known space have opened up. The Admiral has promoted two new Captains to the rank of Commodore to command these new space bases and work their sectors!

The Space Base: Command Station expansion allows players to expand their games of Space Base to include two more players and adds “pre-deployed” ship cards to adjust for balance and gameplay with more than five players. Now six or seven Commodores can compete for the promotion to become the Admiral of the U.E.S. Fleet!

The Space Base: Command Station box is designed to be large enough to hold the Space Base base game, the Shy Pluto expansion, and additional future expansions in one convenient storage box!

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Tableau Building

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11