Tag: Push Your Luck

In games with a Push Your Luck mechanic, players must decide when to settle on existing resource gains for a turn, or risk those gains for further rewards.

Port Royal: Big Box

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Port Royal: Big Box

Port Royal: Big Box

The merchant players in Port Royal, which won the Austrian Game Designers Competition under the title Händler der Karibik, are trying to earn as much as they can out of the Caribbean Sea, but if they set their goals too high, they might take home nothing for the day.

The 120-card deck depicts a coin on the back of each card — with players earning and paying coins throughout the game — and different items on the card fronts. On a turn, a player can first draw as many cards as he likes, one at a time from the deck, placing them in the harbor (an area near the deck). Each card shows one of the following:

  • Person, who stays in a face-up row next to deck.
  • Ship, which the player can attack immediately if he has enough swords on his people cards, after which the ship is discarded; otherwise, the ship stays in the harbor.
  • Expedition, which remains above the harbor until a player fulfills it by discarding people who have the items required for the expedition.
  • Tax Increase, which forces everyone with twelve or more coins to discard half their money, after which the card is discarded.

If the player draws a ship with the same name as a ship already in the harbor, he’s spent too much time dilly-dallying and his turn ends (after using the ship to attack, if possible), with all the cards in the harbor being discarded. Otherwise, the player can stop whenever he likes, then use/acquire one card if three or fewer ships are in the harbor, two cards if four ships are present, and three cards if five ships are present. Players rob ships, collecting the number of coins shown on them, then discarding the card, while they hire people, paying the number of coins depicted. After the active player takes his 1-3 cards, each other player may pay the active player one coin in order to take one card in the same way.

When one player has at least twelve influence points — which are on both people and expedition cards — the game is played to the end of the round, giving everyone the same number of turns, then the player with the most influence points wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Economic
  • Move Through Deck
  • Open Drafting
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 20 – 50 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67

Nut Hunt

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Nut Hunt

Nut Hunt

Nut Hunt is a fast-paced squirrel placement game where 1-5 players battle for control of the forest.

But watch out!

The wily fox roams the board scattering squirrels.

Clever players will use the fox to their advantage, positioning their critters to scatter onto favorable territories, or strategically hassling the fox to foil their opponents’ plans.

Turns in Nut Hunt are fast paced and intuitive with one mandatory action: Move the Fox (causing squirrel scattering, and nut foraging), followed by your choice of one optional action: Recruit a Squirrel, Hassle the Fox, or Scout an Objective.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Network Building
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.80

Meeple Circus

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Meeple Circus

Meeple Circus

You have only one goal in Meeple Circus: Entertain the audience. The competition is tough, but you can create the most amazing circus by proposing incredible acts! Acrobats, horses, and many accessories are at your disposal. Be sure to undertake a good rehearsal, then with your remarkable dexterity, you can give them the show of their lifetime. Once the circus music starts, all eyes will be upon you!

In short, Meeple Circus is a dexterity game in which you do what all gamers do when setting up a game: Pile up your meeples!

Game Mechanics:

  • Dexterity
  • Open Drafting
  • Pattern Building
  • Push Your Luck

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.45

King of Tokyo: Monster Box

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King of Tokyo: Monster Box

King of Tokyo: Monster Box

The fight for dominating the city of Tokyo has never been so competitive! This explosive Monster Box is filled with fun and adrenaline! Get King of Tokyo and all of its indispensable Power Up! and Halloween expansions for hours and hours of smashes. Use your Monster’s Evolution Cards to get even more special properties, and dress them up for even more fun! The Monster Box also comes with a brand new version of Gigazaur, exclusive cards and a new dice tray, some much needed bonuses to destroy Tokyo in style!
With the Monster Box awesome content, smash like never before!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Player Elimination
  • Push Your Luck
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.40

King of Tokyo: Dark Edition

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King of Tokyo: Dark Edition

King of Tokyo: Dark Edition

King of Tokyo: Dark Edition is a collector’s edition [limited edition: 100 000 copies in 12 languages] of King of Tokyo, with the fight taking place in an alternative and darker world in which the struggle for control of Tokyo has never been so fierce…and wicked!

This edition includes deluxe components (such as an embossed box and lightning-bolt-shaped energy) and all-new art by Paul Mafayon. The game is based on the classic KoT rules, with the addition of a new mechanism exclusive to this edition to offer a fresh gaming experience.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Player Elimination
  • Push Your Luck

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.65

Codenames: Marvel

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Codenames: Marvel combines the hit social word game Codenames, while featuring characters and locations from the Marvel Universe including, Spider Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers and Doctor Strange.

In Codenames, two teams — S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra in this case — compete to see who can guess all of their field agents (identified by either a word or picture) correctly first — but those field agents are hiding in plain sight in a 5×5 grid that includes the agents of the other team, neutral words, and an assassin that will cause you to lose the game immediately if you guess it. One person on each team is a spymaster and only these two know which agents belong to each team. Spymasters take turns giving one-word clues that can help their teammates identify multiple agents on the board. Their teammates try to guess agents of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team — and everyone wants to avoid the assassin.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Memory
  • Party Game
  • Push Your Luck
  • Team-Based Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.17

Codenames: Duet

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Codenames Duet keeps the basic elements of Codenames — give one-word clues to try to get someone to identify your agents among those on the table — but now you’re working together as a team to find all of your agents. (Why you don’t already know who your agents are is a question that Congressional investigators will get on your back about later!)

To set up play, lay out 25 word cards in a 5×5 grid. Place a key card in the holder so that each player sees one side of the card. Each player sees a 5×5 grid on the card, with nine of the squares colored green (representing your agents) and three squares colored black (representing assassins). Three of the nine squares on each side are also green on the other side, one assassin is black on both sides, one is green on the other side and the other is an innocent bystander on the other side.

Collectively, you need to reveal all fifteen agents — without revealing an assassin — before time runs out in order to win the game. Either player can decide to give the first one-word clue to the other player, along with a number. Whoever receives the clue places a finger on a card to identify that agent. If correct, they can attempt to identify another one. If they identify a bystander, then their guessing time ends. If they identify an assassin, you both lose! Unlike regular Codenames, they can keep guessing as long as they keep identifying an agent each time; this is useful for going back to previous clues and finding ones they missed earlier. After the first clue is given, players alternate giving clues.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Memory
  • Push Your Luck
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • 15 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.36

Codenames: Disney – Family Edition

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In Codenames, two teams compete to see who can guess all of their words correctly first — but those words are hiding in plain sight in a 5×5 or grid that includes the words of the other team, neutral words, and an game over card that will cause you to lose the game immediately if you guess it. One person on each team is a spymaster and only these two know which words belong to each team. Spymasters take turns giving one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates try to guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team — and everyone wants to avoid the game over card. This version also comes with 4×4 grid cards with no game over spot to make it more accessible for families and children.

The Disney Family Edition of Codenames combines the hit social word game with some of Disney’s most beloved properties from the past 90 years. Including both pictures and words, it’s family fun for Disney fans of all ages.Codenames: Disney Family Edition keeps the Codenames gameplay, while featuring characters and locations from over 90 years of Disney and Pixar films..

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Memory
  • Party Game
  • Push Your Luck
  • Team-Based Game
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.23

Codenames

| OTSG Staff

Codenames is an easy party game to solve puzzles.

The game is divided into red and blue, each side has a team leader, the team leader’s goal is to lead their team to the final victory.
At the beginning of the game, there will be 25 cards on the table with different words. Each card has a corresponding position, representing different colors.

Only the team leader can see the color of the card. The team leader should prompt according to the words, let his team members find out the cards of their corresponding colors, and find out all the cards of their own colors to win.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Limited Communication
  • Memory
  • Party Game
  • Push Your Luck
  • Team-Based Game
  • Word Game

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.26

Cindr

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Date Dragons, Without Getting Burned!

Are you a dragon looking for companionship?
Or just the adventurous type, looking to join the exciting dragon dating scene? Cindr is a ‘push your luck’ dice and card game that allows players to set up a dating profile and then thumb through potential matches, seeing if a given dragon sounds compatible.

If so, Meet Up and say hello – and if that goes well, push your luck, and take the Next Step. You never know, before the date is over you may just take things to the Next Level! The better the dates go, the more Love points you earn – but watch out, just 3 Flames will leave you burned, scoreless and searching for love all over again. Will you be the first of your friends to find love and fulfillment?

  • A 30-minute, push your luck dice game for 1-5 players, where the more compatible you are, the better the odds get of not getting burned.
  • A fun, light-hearted send-up of dating apps like Tinder, with tarot-sized cards as the app deck and date locations with special bonuses provided by the “Whelp” app deck.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Push Your Luck
  • Re-rolling and Locking

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.33