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.

Great Dragon Race, the

| OTSG Staff

Players compete as dragon riders using special cards to advance to the finish, while dodging attacks like ballista bolts and flaming balls. The victor wins the treasure – and even more priceless – a place in dragon-racing history!

The goal is to race from start to finish using a handful of cards to make strategic choices. Special cards that block other players’ actions mean you must pay attention – even when it is not your turn.

With the ability to steal other players’ cards and cards that are character-specific, sudden and significant reversals of fortune are common. Winning is never a foregone conclusion.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 25 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33

Grand Carnival, The

| OTSG Staff

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up — the carnival is coming to town! In The Grand Carnival, players compete to create the most impressive carnival this town has ever seen. You’ll need to carefully plan your carnival’s layout, build attractions, hire staff, and manage the crowds, all while learning a few tricks of the trade.

Each turn, players cover a number on their player board, then select an action. The covered number determines the effectiveness of their action — and won’t become available again until the next round — so players need to think carefully about which number to use. Possible actions include:

• Place a Foundation Tile: Select a foundation tile to place on your fairground. The higher the number you cover, the more tile options you have. Each tile is a 2×2 grid and is made up of construction sites and walkways. Attractions can be placed only on construction sites, whereas guests can move only on walkways, so place your tiles carefully.

• Build an Attraction: Select a polyomino attraction and place it on the construction sites on your fairground. The size of the attraction you can select depends on the number you cover. Larger attractions can collect more tickets (and can be worth more points), but can be difficult for guests to move around.

• Move a Guest: Select a guest token and move it along the walkways on your fairground. The distance a guest can move depends on the number you cover. If a guest moves next to an attraction, place a ticket token on that attraction. If you move enough guests, you can hire a carnival barker; barkers help guests move quickly through your carnival, but take up precious space in your fairground.

After taking your action, see whether you qualify for any of the three “Tricks of the Trade” cards. Each trick has a requirement that must be met before you unlock its unique ability. Once a player unlocks a trick, each of their opponents has one turn to meet the same requirement or lose access to that trick for the rest of the game.

After seven rounds, the game ends. Players earn points from sets of the same size attractions, sets of each size of attraction, carnival barkers, guests that move all the way through your park, and their tickets. The player with the most points wins!

—description from the designer

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.21

Graft

| OTSG Staff

Graft is a card-drafting game in which 3-5 players race to collect sets of valuable goods and ship them back to Zenith.

Players simultaneously draft and play cards into their cargo manifest. Push your luck and chain combos of cards for high scores! But beware the cargo restrictions on some cards that limit what additional goods you can play – you’ll bust if your next hand has no valid option.

Ship your cargo to score points and claim bonus badges for specific sets of goods. Prepare additional groups of cards until the deck runs out. The player with the most points is recognized as the best pioneer by Zenith.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 5 Players
  • 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Aquatica: Duellum

| OTSG Staff

Aquatica in a duel format: deeper, meaner and more intense.

Choose a Turtle King or a Squid Queen and improve your underwater realm by playing action cards and assembling locations on three-layered boards. After decades of turbulent times, it is time to unite the underwater world under the fin or tentacle of a single ruler!



New layer of depth is brought to the game by the dynamic market on a vortex board.



Be careful! The game can end not only when all players achieve their goals but also based on who is the fastest to collect the crowns. Tension is added by the tug of war mechanic.

Also, mantas will finally have the company of equally charming squids and turtles.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 2 Players
  • 30 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.00

Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends

| OTSG Staff

In the standalone card game Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends, you build your realm, one card at a time, as you collect heroes, quests, monsters, and more! Each card is unique, and scores points based on the other cards in your hand. You start with seven cards, and each turn, you draw a new card from the deck or discard area, then discard one card from your hand, always trying to improve your realm. Whoever’s realm scores the most points wins.

Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends takes the classic Fantasy Realms formula and adds new twists to match its theme. In addition to combining the right suits and attribute tags, you will:

  • Send cards to the afterlife, costing precious points but unlocking powerful abilities
  • Complete quests with unique card combinations
  • Vanquish legendary monsters with the right heroes

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Ghosts Galore

| OTSG Staff

In Ghosts Galore you’re helping monsters to build a fun ghost train in an abandoned mineshaft. Every monster want’s the track tiles laid their way – so YOU have to keep them calm, coordinate and optimize their track. Over the course of 8 rounds, each player builds a unique track on their 3×3 playground for the ghost train.

This family friendly tile placement game comes with a unique drafting mechanism and is quick to play while offering various strategies​: Will you stick with your drafted tile or go for a bold move which brings you even more scares?

After only 8 rounds, all tracks are set and the project is done. Sounds easy? Well, only the master who lines up the best scares, wins!

Ghosts Galore is another addition to the Lookout GreenLine, manufactured 100% eco-friendly.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.38

Borealis: Arctic Expeditions

| OTSG Staff

Become the leaders of scientific teams venturing into uncharted boreal territories to observe and photograph the Arctic’s most adorable inhabitants.

Play cards from your hand to one of 3 locations on your player board to snap a photo and send your scientists sliding to the left and to the right – but only if their colors match the ones printed on your card!

Line up vehicle symbols, race to claim objectives, and arrange animals in pre-determined end-game scoring patterns to earn the most points and gain everlasting fame at the Society for Polar Inquiry. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even get your own tiny snow-covered island named after you.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

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

Gallerist, The

| OTSG Staff

This age of art and capitalism has created a need for a new occupation – The Gallerist.

Combining the elements of an Art dealer, museum curator, and Artists’ manager, you are about to take on that job! You will promote and nurture Artists; buy, display, and sell their Art; and build and exert your international reputation. As a result, you will achieve the respect needed to draw visitors to your Gallery from all over the world.

There’s a lot of work to be done, but don’t worry, you can hire assistants to help you achieve your goals. Build your fortune by running the most lucrative Gallery and secure your reputation as a world-class Gallerist!

Maximize your money and thus win the game by:

  • having visitors in your gallery;
  • exhibiting and selling works of art;
  • investing in artists’ promotion to increase art value;
  • achieving trends and reputation as well as curator and dealer goals.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 150 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.21

Galactic Cruise

| OTSG Staff

Hello, and welcome to Galactic Cruise. Here, we offer our guests something special: the comfort of a luxury cruise with the innovation of space travel. As the first company to offer extended-stay space vacations, we are excited to have you working for us! As a supervisor of this company, you’ll be expected to not only build these ships and satisfy our guests, but also to help the company thrive by enhancing our company network, inventing new technologies, and growing our workforce. We are a united company, and you’ll often find that what another supervisor does will make your job easier. Let me be clear, though, this is a competition. Our current CEO will be stepping down in three years, and the supervisor who comes out on top will take his place.

On your turn, you will either place a worker to take two actions in the ever-expanding network, launch a ship and send one of your workers to space as a pilot, or recall all your earthbound workers to collect funding bonuses. Actions include acquiring blueprints, constructing ships, attracting guests, and building developments–connections between locations that increase action selection throughout the game. You will also be affecting resource markets that ebb and flow with the actions of all the players.

Throughout the game, you will also be competing with your fellow supervisors to complete company goals, which will earn you progress cubes throughout the game. Progress cubes are also placed when you launch ships, and when a certain number of cubes are placed onto the company’s progress track, the game ends, and the player with the most Victory Points becomes the new CEO of Galactic Cruise.

Do you still think you have what it takes to work for us? You do? Great. Let’s get started.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1- 4 Players
  • 90 – 150 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.99

FUSE Countdown

| OTSG Staff

FUSE Countdown is a new entry in the FUSE family, one that’s playable both standalone or as an expansion for the original FUSE!

Originally launched in 2015 as one of Renegade’s very first games, Kane Klenko’s FUSE brought the tense action of bomb defusal to the tabletop, in a quick and simple, but extraordinarily challenging cooperative game! Taking just ten minutes to play and minutes to teach, FUSE has appeal for all types of gamers!

Veteran FUSE bomb-disposal techs may think they have the original game down to a science, but FUSE Countdown will throw some new obstacles in their way while also providing some great new tools! Multi-colored dice, Spark cards, new configurations, and Roles all add new elements to the game! Multi-colored dice can fill spots of either color, allowing a new level of flexibility AND challenge!

FUSE Countdown Includes:

  • Multi-colored Dice – can fulfill either color
  • Spark Cards – When you can’t place a die, instead of rolling it and removing a related die, you draw a Spark card. They work like a mini-bomb card for you to fulfill. You cannot win the game unless all active Spark cards are resolved.
  • Roles – Each player has a special player power.
  • New Cards! New bomb cards using some of the new features/icons. *New Fuse cards featuring multiple colors/numbers

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • ~10 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.14