Tag: Take That

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

Res Arcana

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Res Arcana

Res Arcana

Prepare Your Place of Power!

In a high tower, an Alchemist prepares potions, using vials filled with otherworldly fluids. In a sacred grove, a Druid grinds herbs for a mystical ritual. In the catacombs, a Necromancer summons a bone dragon… Welcome to the world of Res Arcana!

In it, Life, Death, Elan, Calm, and Gold are the essences that fuel the art of magic. Choose your mage, gather essences, craft unique artifacts, and use them to summon dragons, conquer places of power, and achieve victory!

A game typically lasts 4-6 rounds. In each round, players do these steps:

  • Collect essences: performs any Collect abilities, and may take essences from components.
  • Do actions, 1 per turn, clockwise from the First Player: place an artifact, claim a monument or Place of Power, discard a card for 1 Gold or any 2 other essences, use a power on a straightened component, or pass: exchange magic items and draw 1 card. Play continues until all players have passed.
  • Pass procedure: If you are first to pass, take the First Player token, swap your magic item for a different magic item, draw 1 card.
  • Check victory points (10+ VPs). If no one has won: straighten all turned components, and begin the next round.

Game Mechanics:

  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Racing
  • Tableau Building
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.62

No Honor Among Thieves

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No Honor Among Thieves

No Honor Among Thieves

No Honor Among Thieves is a competitive/cooperative game for three to six players, in which each player assembles a crew of thieves and sets out to see who can steal the most from the rich and powerful of the kingdom.

Each player is the head of their own crew, which consists of different character cards recruited from an array of thieves available for hire. These characters are then sent on heists to try and overcome defense cards in front of objectives, using their different sets of skills to bypass guards, traps and walls to get to the filthy lucre that they’re after. Players not involved in the heist will, of course, try and stop the thieves in their tracks by playing Scheme cards, which represent the quirks of fate which might cause a heist to fail–unexpectedly alert guards, City Watch patrols, or the simple mistake that leads to disaster.

Staging a heist alone is difficult, but working together with other players leaves you open to betrayal by your so-called allies, or gives you the chance to betray them, and take it all for yourself. Once any player has been betrayed, the game changes, and more dangerous abilities on different cards can now be played. The Assassin begins killing other characters, the Pickpocket starts stealing from players, the Fall Guy takes the blame, and the whole table becomes a little more vicious. Thieves like to believe they have a code of honor, but once that illusion is broken, there is no going back.

What will you risk to be the richest and cleverest thief in this city of rogues?

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Bluffing
  • Deck Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Take That
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 6 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.67

League of Infamy

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League of Infamy

League of Infamy

League of Infamy is an occasionally co-operative dungeon crawler for 2-5 players in which it pays to commit dastardly deeds and partake in foul thievery — often against your own party.

Join a rogue’s gallery of misfits, ne’er-do-wells, and miscreants on a disgraceful mission to kidnap cute little baby drakons, steal their eggs, and viciously wipe out any irritating, goody-goody elves who try to stop your nefarious schemes.

But it’s not just the elves you need to keep a wary eye on. Your fellow (mis)adventurers are just as likely to betray you and steal your loot, shove you into harm’s way, or just leave you in a dungeon full of unbeatable foes. As they like to say in the League of Infamy, “keep your enemies close, but keep your friends at knifepoint”.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.00

Kami-sama

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Kami-sama

Kami-sama

A gentle breeze… The soothing sounds of a flowing river… The glow of the moon… A bountiful harvest… Fear… Rage… and even death. Each of these forces affect the world around us and are in fact personified by a spirit. These Kami work together to form the natural order of things, but each aspires for influence over those that worship them.

Kami-sama is a beautiful and intuitive strategy game set in rural Japan during the Edo period. You assume the role of one of the many Kami, the spirits of the land. Using a combination of asymmetrical powers, area control, set collection, pattern building, and light card drafting, you will work to balance your Favor with the people and your connection to Nature in order to be crowned Kami-sama, the chief deity of the land.

Key Points
– Beautiful and intense area control game with set collection and light card drafting.
– Asymmetric Kami abilities allow you to play with a different strategy and tactics every game!
– Unique rotating board and elegant gameplay.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Control
  • Open Drafting
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.67

Imperium The Contention Deluxe Edition

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Imperium The Contention Deluxe Edition

Imperium The Contention Deluxe Edition

Only one may wield the Void Scepter.

Seize the Void Scepter in Imperium: The Contention, the 4X card game. Choose one of six factions, each with a preconstructed deck, or build your own from a complete collection of over 300 cards! Expand your empire, deploy your fleet, move your ships into position, and battle your enemies. Seizing the Imperial Capital may lead you to victory… or ruin.

There are many paths to ruling the Imperium. Your favor represents your Imperial influence. Gain 8 favor, or claim 8 worlds, and the Void Scepter will be yours! Gain the Imperium’s favor by destroying enemy worlds or through political intrigue. Employ politicians, spies, megacorps, and mercs. Take the Imperial Capital by force, and use the seat of power to convince the Imperium only you are worthy.

Now is the time! Lead your civilization to new heights and claim the Void Scepter!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Civilization
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.82

Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North

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Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North

Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North

 

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Civilization
  • Hand Management
  • Tableau Building
  • Take That
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.84

Imperial Settlers

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Imperial Settlers

Imperial Settlers

Settlers from four major powers of the world have discovered new lands, with new resources and opportunities. Romans, Barbarians, Egyptians and Japanese all at once move there to expand the boundaries of their empires. They build new buildings to strengthen their economy, they found mines and fields to gather resources, and they build barracks and training grounds to train soldiers. Soon after they discover that this land is far too small for everybody, then the war begins…

Imperial Settlers is a card game that lets players lead one of the four factions and build empires by placing buildings, then sending workers to those buildings to acquire new resources and abilities. The game is played over five rounds during which players take various actions in order to explore new lands, build buildings, trade resources, conquer enemies, and thus score victory points.

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Civilization
  • Closed Drafting
  • Hand Managment
  • Open Drafting
  • Tableau Building
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.77

Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala

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Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. The old sultan just died and control of Naqala is up for grabs! The oracles foretold of strangers who would maneuver the Five Tribes to gain influence over the legendary city-state. Will you fulfill the prophecy? Invoke the old Djinns and move the Tribes into position at the right time, and the Sultanate may become yours!

Designed by Bruno Cathala, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games that feature wooden meeples. Here, in a unique twist on the now-standard “worker placement” genre, the game begins with the meeples already in place – and players must cleverly maneuver them over the villages, markets, oases, and sacred places tiles that make up Naqala. How, when, and where you dis-place these Five Tribes of Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers determine your victory or failure.

As befitting a Days of Wonder game, the rules are straightforward and easy to learn. But devising a winning strategy will take a more calculated approach than our standard fare. You need to carefully consider what moves can score you well and put your opponents at a disadvantage. You need to weigh many different pathways to victory, including the summoning of powerful Djinns that may help your cause as you attempt to control this legendary Sultanate.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 40 – 80 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.84

Evolution: Climate

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Evolution: Climate is a standalone game that introduces climate into the Evolution game system.

In Evolution: Climate, players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce, predators lurk, and the climate can swing between scorching hot and icy cold. Traits like a Hard Shell and Horns can protect your species from Carnivores while a Long Neck will help them get food that others cannot reach. Heavy Fur and Migratory can protect your species from the cold while being Nocturnal or Burrowing will provide protection from the cruel desert sun. With over 200,000 ways to evolve your species, every game evolves into a different adventure.

The Climate standalone game dramatically changes game play with several simple additions to the Evolution base set:

  • Players draw 4 cards +1 per species per round (instead of 3 cards + 1 per species).
  • Each species may have up to 4 traits (instead of 3).
  • The climate moves along a Climate Track based upon the food cards played each round.
  • There are additional trait cards that provide protection from the heat and cold.

Evolution: Climate changes Evolution from a two-dimensional game (dealing with the threat of Starvation and Carnivores) into a three-dimensional game (dealing with the threat of Starvation, Carnivores, and Climate effects) while increasing the vividness of the theme. It adds additional layers into what was already a dynamically strategic game.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.73

Dune Imperium

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Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as a deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice must flow to lead your House to victory!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.07