Tactical and cooperative card game for 1-2 players, you will fight your way through the well deck of challenge cards to reach Scorn, the Master of the Well, and face them in an epic final battle.
Nippon: Zaibatsu is a new edition of Nippon, a fast-paced, area-majority economic game. Players control "zaibatsu": massive conglomerates of interconnected companies driving Japan's economy in the Industrial Revolution era.
During the game, players invest in new industries, build factories and railroads, and produce goods to saturate local markets and fulfill contracts — all to grow their influence and power and to become rulers of the new modernized country. Players are free to choose their playstyle and winning strategy: They choose what they score victory points for, control the game's pace with income turns, and race each other to get the most beneficial factories, markets, and bonuses.
All the core mechanisms of the original Nippon are present, but the components, art, and design are upgraded, and many gameplay features are reworked to get the game in line with modern trends. Nippon: Zaibatsu features new resource types, ships are heavily revised with new Iwakura mission rules, factories are much more variable, consolidation turns provide players with new rewards, and much more. Also, the game now has an automa-driven solo mode.
Hot Streak is a game for hard luck gamblers who love to bet on and scream at the racers, who in this case happen to be mascots who may (or may not) keep running in the right direction.
At the start of the game, set up the racing deck with one card for each mascot and a number of random cards based on the player count. Reveal these cards to all players, after which players draft a betting ticket from those on display, then in reverse order draft a second bet. For each bet, you can play it safe — or flip it to the risky side, which might pay out more - or cost you money if you lose. After betting, each player chooses one of three cards in their hand to secretly add to the racing deck.
Shuffle the deck, burn three cards, then reveal cards one by one from the deck, moving the mascots along the track, with them sometimes swerving into another lane and knocking over another racer, sometimes turning around, sometimes all moving at once, and sometimes just going backwards! If a racer runs off the track or would be knocked over while already fallen, they're disqualified. If needed, shuffle all cards in the deck, burn three cards again, and keep racing until all four spots on the box podium are filled. Pay out bets based on these results.
For races #2-3, first deal each player a random card from the deck, then place bets again, then have each player contribute a card from their hand to the deck. After race #3, everyone tallies their money.
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.
Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their codenames — single-word labels like "disease", "Germany", and "carrot". Yes, carrot. It's a legitimate codename. Each spymaster wants their team to identify their agents first...without uncovering the assassin by mistake.
In Codenames, two teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first. Lay out 25 cards, each bearing a single word. The spymasters look at a card showing the identity of each card, then take turns clueing their teammates. A clue consists of a single word and a number, with the number suggesting how many cards in play have some association to the given clue word. The teammates then identify one agent they think is on their team; if they're correct, they can keep guessing up to one more than the stated number of times; if the agent belongs to the opposing team or is an innocent bystander, the team's turn ends; and if they fingered the assassin, they lose the game.
Spymasters continue giving clues until one team has identified all of their agents or the assassin has removed one team from play.
Claim the crown through merit and wisdom in this Celtic island struggle.
Nemed is the second expansion to Inis, the area-influence game rooted in Celtic history and Lore. Nemed incorporates three different modules that will change the dynamics of your game.
With the Nemetons module, try to gain control of these sacred sites. They will award you deeds based on various conditions and adjacency, as you can't enter the Nemetons!
With the Hollowed Sanctuaries module, dedicate your sanctuaries to legendary heroes! Give offerings to these particular sanctuaries, and receive special favours based on the hero you honored.
Finally, the Territories and Epic tales module will bring more variety to various element of the game. Discover 10 new epic tale cards, 5 new territory tiles, and new advantage cards.
