Tag: Take That

Games with a “Take That” mechanic allows players to take actions that actively hinder an opponent’s progress in-game.

Gloom

| OTSG Staff

The world of Gloom is a sad and benighted place. The sky is gray, the tea is cold, and a new tragedy lies around every corner. Debt, disease, heartache, and packs of rabid flesh-eating mice—just when it seems like things can’t get any worse, they do. But some say that one’s reward in the afterlife is based on the misery endured in life. If so, there may yet be hope—if not in this world, then in the peace that lies beyond.

In the Gloom card game, you assume control of the fate of an eccentric family of misfits and misanthropes. The goal of the game is sad, but simple: you want your characters to suffer the greatest tragedies possible before passing on to the well-deserved respite of death. You’ll play horrible mishaps like Pursued by Poodles or Mocked by Midgets on your own characters to lower their Self-Worth scores, while trying to cheer your opponents’ characters with marriages and other happy occasions that pile on positive points. The player with the lowest total Family Value wins.

Printed on transparent plastic cards, Gloom features an innovative design by noted RPG author Keith Baker. Multiple modifier cards can be played on top of the same character card; since the cards are transparent, elements from previously played modifier cards either show through or are obscured by those played above them. You’ll immediately and easily know the worth of every character, no matter how many modifiers they have. You’ve got to see (through) this game to believe it!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.63

Courtisans

| OTSG Staff

Tonight, the queen holds a banquet that everyone will attend. Will they leave a good impression? Backstabbing is fair game, and no trick is too dirty if it allows you to place your favorite families in the spotlight.

In Courtisans, you receive and play three cards on each of your turns. One is played at the Queen’s table to sway a family’s influence, whether in a positive or negative manner. The two other cards are played in your domain and in an opponent’s domain, and they can be worth positive or negative points, depending on their family’s status at the end of the game. Choose where best to place your three cards if you want to end up with the most points and win.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 20 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.30

For All Mankind

| OTSG Staff

For All Mankind is a fast-paced game of strategic exploration, clever trades, and diplomatic shenanigans. Build your empire across the ever-changing solar system. (Careful, the planets move!) Gather, trade, and invest your resources — and do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the competition.

Expand: Grow your empire with colonies (more loot!), research (more power!), and espionage (more nukes!).

Scheme: All is fair in interplanetary domination, but you would never double-cross a friend…right?

Profit: Be the first to reach 10 points, and see your name etched in the stars forever!

Learn to play in about 15 minutes.
Finish a game in about 60 minutes.
The most fun you’ll ever have blowing up your friends in space, guaranteed!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • `1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

For a Crown

| OTSG Staff

Coming from noble families, you are ready to do anything to accede to the throne…except that the competition between the pretenders is fierce!

For a Crown is a single-deck, deck-building game. Players recruit new characters, such as mercenaries, then place these cards within a sleeve of their own color. All cards — individual player cards and common event cards — are shuffled into a single deck, which is then drawn card by card, with the relevant player resolving the effect of their card when it’s revealed.

After four rounds, the player with the most rubies wins.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 5 Players
  • 30 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.40

Flip 7

| OTSG Staff

Flip over cards one by one without flipping the same number twice.

Sound easy? Think again! This isn’t just any deck of cards… In Flip 7 there’s only one 1 card, two 2’s, three 3’s, etc plus a bunch of special cards that can score you extra points, give you a second chance, or freeze you or your opponents in your tracks.

Are you the type of player to play it safe and bank points before you bust, or are you going to risk it all and go for the bonus points by flipping over seven in a row? Press your luck meets strategy in this addictive card game that’s sure to be the greatest card game you’ve ever played!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 18 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.03

Fire In The Hole

| OTSG Staff

Fire In The Hole is a multi-generational game with a comedy punch. Part carrrd game, part dexterity game, it’s simple enough to entertain the young landlubbers (7+), but has the strategic twists to trick even the saltiest of ol’ seadogs!

Players lay a card, roll dice to determine effects and fire yer cannonball! First to link 4 cannonballs in a row in the 3d ship is the WINNER!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 15 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.00

Dice Throne: Outcasts

| OTSG Staff

Dice Throne is a combat game, whether 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all. Select from a variety of heroes that play and feel completely distinct from one another. Attack opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero’s unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly whether yours, your teammate’s, or even your opponent’s.

Outcasts is the newest edition of the Dice Throne universe introducing 4 new heroes: Pale Lady, Headless Horseman, Raveness, Necromancer.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Re-rolling and Locking
  • Take That
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.15

Family Plot

| OTSG Staff

In Family Plot, each player strives to build their perfect family while keeping other players by killing them off one by one.
Gameplay begins by a player laying out any “Family Members” in their hand that match their Family Tree. Afterwards a player can launch an assault using REAPERS and ACTION CARDS that could unleash anything from a Zombie Apocalypse to a Psycho Killer, sending their opponents family members to the graveyard! The chosen victim can block the attack on their “Family” by using ANGELS, WEAPONIZED FOOD, or even TEARS OF A UNICORN that they have in their hand. That way when it gets to your turn simply complete your unique Family Tree and YOU WIN!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.13

Exploding Kittens

| OTSG Staff

Exploding Kittens is a kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck.

The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~15 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.08

Estates, the

| OTSG Staff

The City Council recently approved the zoning map for a new urban development — The Estates — featuring high-end infrastructure and a modern atmosphere for its citizens. Soon after, the banks awarded millions of dollars in loans to six real estate investment firms to help develop this new area. The zoning map for The Estates calls for two rows of four buildings each, located between the River and Main Street. The meadows on the other side of the River are to remain a recreational area for the City.

But, with hopes of larger profits, investors and building tycoons entirely ignore the City Council’s demands and begin developing three rows of buildings instead. The Mayor catches wind of the potential for profit and begins planning a new mansion in The Estates, which would double the value of one of the building rows! With some sketchy building permits, investors begin developing buildings on the other side of the River, beyond the designated building zone. However, the City Council takes rigorous steps to put an end to the racketeering with an ultimatum: As soon as the first two rows are completed, the buildings in the uncompleted row will be torn down, resulting in a huge loss for all who invested there. At the end of the day, the investor with the highest-valued buildings will come out on top.

The players take on the role of investors seeking to make the most money by developing buildings in The Estates. Players will bid for the various building pieces and place them in The Estates to their benefit. All buildings in completed rows score positive points, while all buildings in incomplete rows score negative points. It is possible to have zero completed rows of buildings.

A game of The Estates lasts around 40 minutes and can be played in several rounds to experience a shifting economy.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 40 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.31