Tag: Set Collection

Games with Set Collection mechanics require players to collect resources in sets to achieve various rewards.

The Ancient World

The Ancient World

The Ancient World

In an ancient world forgotten by time, enormous titans terrorize the land. Five tribes have been fleeing from the titans for centuries, but things are about to change. Growing city-states pledge to end the reign of terror, determined to take on the titans and make the world a safer place for all. Each city-state competes to attract the tribes, eager for the strength of the combined peoples, who are now leaving behind old traditions with the hope that the titans can be defeated once and for all.

In The Ancient World, players compete to grow the largest and most influential city-state by managing citizens, treasury, and military and by defeating titans. Players take turns sending citizens to take special actions or using military cards to attack titans. One of the actions a citizen can perform is to build Empire cards, which give more citizens, money, and abilities.

A city-state’s influence in the world is measured by sets of tribe banners that it owns. Each Empire card has one or more tribe banners, and tribe banners can also be gained by defeating titans. Players gain victory points (VPs) for sets of tribe banners. After six rounds, the player with the most VPs from sets of tribe banners wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Civilization
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.72

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein 🟡

It’s been twenty years since Victor Frankenstein died on a ship in the arctic, but his vengeful creature lives on, as does Robert Walton, the sea captain who vowed to kill the fiend before mercy stayed his hand. It’s now 1819, and a sinister darkness descends upon the city of Paris. A mysterious benefactor of gigantic stature has emerged in the scientific community, never showing his face, claiming to possess the late Frankenstein’s research. He sponsors a grand competition, offering an even grander prize: unlocking the mystery of mortality!

Renowned scientists from around the world come to take part: some drawn to solve this eternal riddle, others coerced against their will. But a certain captain comes as well, one deeply suspicious of the secretive patron, hoping to finally fulfill his vow.

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is a competitive game of strategic monster building for 2-4 players, inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic novel of gothic horror. In the game, the creature demands your help to accomplish what his own creator would not: to bring to life an abomination like itself, a companion to end its miserable solitude. Through worker placement and careful management of decomposing resources, you’ll gather materials from the cemeteries and morgues around the city, conduct valuable research at the Academy of Science, hire less-than-reputable associates, and toil away in your lab — all in an effort to assemble a new form of life and infuse it with a “spark of being”. Do well, and the creature may reward you during one of its surprise visits; do poorly, and you may come to regret not putting forth more effort. Narrative elements come into play throughout the game, guided by your decisions, leading to potentially unsavory outcomes.

The game ends when you succeed in bringing your creation to life or when the Captain kills the creature, whichever happens first. Then the player with the most points fulfills Frankenstein’s dark legacy, becoming his heir, for good or ill…

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Narrative Choice
  • Set Collection
  • Storytelling
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 90 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.25

Zoom in Barcelona

Zoom in Barcelona

Zoom in Barcelona

Travel around the city of Barcelona and take the best photos to win the game!

In Zoom in Barcelona, players compete in a photo contest to try to take the best photos of the city. Hop on a bike, catch a taxi or a bus to get to the best spots before the other players. During the game you will take photos of its beautiful locations, the iconic structures that create the skyline of Barcelona, and… dragons!

Find the best views of the city, from its seashore to the mountains of Collserola and Montjuïc. Discover its incredible architecture, and the outstanding Modernist sites including those of visionary architect Gaudí.

Did you know that you can find more than 400 dragons in the city of Barcelona? Many artists and architects have included dragons in their works, and dragons and other fantastic beasts are at the centre of cercaviles and correfocs (traditional fire parades). Barcelona is a city of dragons!

Are you ready? Grab your camera and win the game!

The goal of this board game for 2-6 players is to score the highest number of points to win the photography contest. When a player takes their 8th landmark photo the game will end, and the photographer with the most points will win.

Points can be scored by:

  • Taking photographs of the landmarks selected by the judges, with bonus points awarded if the photos contain the relevant themes of the game (different themes will be revealed for each game)
  • Taking photographs of the different buildings of the skyline of the city.

This game contains 86 landmark cards with beautiful illustrations of locations of the city of Barcelona.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Managment
  • Open Drafting
  • Pattern Building
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.82

Zooloretto

Zooloretto

Zooloretto

In Zooloretto, each player uses small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try to attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo – but be careful! The zoo must be carefully planned as before you know it, you might have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand. A zoo of a family game in which less is sometimes more…

Game Mechanics:

  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.86

World’s Fair 1893

World’s Fair 1893

World’s Fair 1893

The World’s Fair of 1893 in Chicago was a spectacular international exhibition that showcased many great achievements in science, technology, culture, and entertainment. Acting as organizers of the fair, players work diligently to increase their influence throughout the fair and obtain the grand exhibits that will be put on display. The organizer who has earned the best reputation when the fair begins will emerge the victor.

On each turn of World’s Fair 1893, the active player sends a supporter to one of the five areas and gathers all of the cards in it. New cards are then added to some of the areas, and the next player takes a turn.

The five areas represent sections of exhibits, like Fine Arts and Electricity. Cards may represent exhibit proposals in one of those five areas, influential people who provide bonus supporters, or tickets for attractions and concessions along the Midway.

The game consists of three scoring rounds, each triggered when players collectively gather a certain number of Midway tickets. Players gain reputation points for leading in number of supporters in an area and for gathering the most tickets in each round. The leaders in an area also receive approval for exhibit proposals they have gathered that match the area. Players gain reputation points at the end of the game based on the breadth and diversity of their approved exhibits.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 35 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, players journey to the frozen continent of Northrend to face the armies of the Lich King. This “Pandemic System” game showcases familiar mechanisms and gameplay, now tweaked to embrace the setting of the Wrath of the Lich King. Forts, temples, battlegrounds, and more populate the game board as you and your fellow heroes journey across the cold landscape. Along the way, you’ll set up strongholds, complete quests, and do battle with legions of undead.

In more detail, players team up as legendary heroes from across Azeroth, each with their own unique abilities to help in and out of combat. Heroes such as Thrall, Warchief of the Horde; Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind; Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the Forsaken; and many more are at your fingertips. As the Scourge grows, more undead will populate the board. Throw dice as you enter into battle against the hordes of ghouls and ferocious abominations, using hero cards to add power to your attacks, block incoming assaults, heal wounds, take mounts to far off spaces, and so much more.

As you fight your way to the Lich King, all manner of dark magic and terrible creatures under his control need to be neutralized. This comes in the form of quests, a brand-new mechanism that can be completed as a team through a combination of dice rolls and the hero cards at your disposal. However, each quest comes with its own dangers and hindrances. Complete these quests to move closer to the final assault on Icecrown Citadel, where the Lich King himself resides.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Cooperative
  • Hand Management
  • Set Collection
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.18

Wingspan

Wingspan

Wingspan

Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game from Stonemaier Games. It’s designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and features over 170 birds illustrated by Beth Sobel, Natalia Rojas, and Ana Maria Martinez.

You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats (actions). These habitats focus on several key aspects of growth:

  • Gain food tokens via custom dice in a birdfeeder dice tower
  • Lay eggs using egg miniatures in a variety of colors
  • Draw from hundreds of unique bird cards and play them

The winner is the player with the most points after 4 rounds.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Managment
  • Open Drafting
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 40 – 70 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.45

WildStyle

WildStyle

WildStyle

Welcome to Wildstyle, where the city is your canvas and the streets belong to the people. Rock to the beat of your favorite pirate radio station while you and your crew tag the city. Make sure your rivals know where their turf ends and where yours begins. Watch out for the man though, because not everyone in the city appreciates your artistic endeavors and they might call the fuzz on you!

The goal of the game is to tag locations across the city’s districts with your crew’s color. You’ll do this by collecting sets of cards with matching location icons. Each time you collect a set of 3 cards that all have the same icon, you get to place a tag on a hex with that icon anywhere on the map.

The game is played over 3 rounds and there are no turns! Once a round has started everyone takes their actions at the same time in any order they choose. There are 5 main actions:
– Draw a card: Draw the top card from any draw pile into your hand.
– Add to a set: Play a card from your hand or from the top of the share pile onto a set pile on your crew mat.
– Share a card: Play a card from your hand onto a share pile that is empty or has the matching color or icon on top.
– Complete a set: Clear a set of 3 cards from your crew mat and place a tag on a matching map hex.
– Rush a set: Take a cop car token to clear an incomplete set and place a tag on a matching map hex.

The end of the round is triggered either when all draw piles are empty or once only 1 player has tags remaining on their map. Each player gets 6 crew tags from the supply and another round commences. The game ends after 3 rounds and you’ll score for objectives and for each map hex where you have a tag AND lose points for cop cars and solo tags. The crew with the most points wins!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Set Collection

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Wasabi!

Wasabi!

Wasabi!

Wasabi! is a light and fast game where you compete against other players to assemble your quota of unique sushi recipes in a rapidly dwindling space. Players draw a variety of delicious ingredients into their hand from the pantry and play them one at a time onto the board, building off of each other’s previously-placed ingredients in the attempt to complete recipes of varying difficulty.

Completing a recipe earns you your choice of special actions from the kitchen to perform later (Chop!Stack!Switch!Spicy!, and the dreaded Wasabi!) that will help you in your efforts or disrupt your opponents’ carefully arranged creations-in-progress.

Completing a recipe with style will earn you bonus points, but you might not always have the time to set up such stylish maneuvers… balancing speed with technique will be crucial if you plan to win the game!

Victory comes as soon as the board fills up with ingredients. Points for completed recipes plus bonuses are tabulated, and the winner is the player with the most points. An extremely skilled player might score an instant victory by completing their quota of recipes before the board fills up.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Pattern Building
  • Set Collection
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.90

Waggle Dance

Waggle Dance

Waggle Dance

Build a beehive, collect nectar, and make honey while also being efficient, being strategic, and outmaneuvering your opponents!

In Waggle Dance, a Euro-style worker-placement dice game for 2-4, players control worker bees to build their hive, produce more bees, collect nectar, return it to the hive and make honey! (What is a “waggle dance” you ask? It’s a series of patterned movements performed by a scouting bee to tell other bees in the colony the direction and distance of a food source or hive site.)

Players need to organize their bees to make as much honey as possible to see the hive through the coming winter. The winner is the first player to successfully create 7 or more honey tokens in their hive. It’s up to you how to achieve this: Do you focus on nectar collection, increasing your bee population, expanding your hive, seeking favor with the queen, or splitting your resources to accomplish all of these? Whatever you choose, the natural world is a competitive environment and you can be sure the other players will be looking to maximize their advantage.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Set Collection
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.31