Jocuri noi 2013

[DanielIndru]

Uwe Rosenberg revine:

The Glass Road is a game that commemorates of the 700 year old tradition of glass making in the Bavarian Forest. You must skilfully manage your glass and brick production in order to build the right structures that help you to keep your business flowing. Cut the forest to keep the fires burning in the ovens, spread and remove ponds, pits and pastoral forests to supply yourself with the items you need. 15 specialists are there at you side to carry out your orders...

The game consists of four building periods. Each player has an identical set of 15 specialist cards and each specialist comes with two abilities. At the beginning of each building period, each player needs to choose a hand of 5 specialists. If he then plays a specialist that no other player has remaining in his hand, he may use both abilities of that card. If two or more players play the same specialist, each of them may only use one of the two abilities.
Exploiting the abilities of the specialists lets you collect resources, lay out new landscape tiles (for example ponds and pits) and lets you build a variety of buildings. There are three types of buildings:
1) Processing buildings
2) Immediate buildings with a one-time effect
3) Bonus buildings providing bonus points at the end of the game for various accomplishments

Mastering the balance of the best specialist card to play and being flexible about the time to play it, together with a clever combination of buildings is the key to this game.

Today the Glass Road is a route through the Bavarian Forest that takes visitors to many of the old glass houses and museums of that region.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1688465

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1688490

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1688471

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1688473

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1688466

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1692644

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1692655

[DanielIndru]

Imi place foarte mult jocul, dar sunt destul de sceptic in ce priveste jocul de carti:

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1695107

In Florenza, the players are the heads of the most powerful families in Florence during the Renaissance period. The goal of the game is to become the most famous patron of the arts by hiring the most famous artists of the period and financing their works.

Players gather the needed resources or money from central or district workshops. To build district buildings (cards in hand) or embellish city monuments (cards in play) they will need the resources and to hire one of the available artists. Sometimes the artists paint their masterpieces sometimes they just do a good job (flip the artist card to see how many points it's worth). Other cards in hands are personal district buildings (three different colors), homes (which give you additional cards and actions) and corporations (for points in final scoring or benefits during the game).

Florenza: The Cards game is a game for 2-4 players and lasts about 60 minutes. All the "feelings" of Florenza in a shorter and more accessible game.

[DanielIndru]

Un proiect ambitios, un nou joc in seria 18xx - 18OE :

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1697021

A monster 18xx game covering entire European continent. There are five types of companies - Private, Minor, Regional, Major, and National.

As in every 18xx game players invest in railway companies by buying stock, with the majority stock holder of each company deciding how the company acts on the game board. Depending on companies' actions value of stock changes, and players might receive dividends for stock held. The winner is the person with most money after adding the value of his stock holdings.

This game is notable for its size, that is rivaled only by 18C2C. The focus of the game is making the Orient Express run - having a train travel from one of the western capital cities to Constantinople.

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1707412

Theseus: The Dark Orbit puts players in the heart of a conflict between five factions trapped on the eponymous space station in deep space. Only one can survive...

Command the marine forces! Use deadly weaponery, setting traps and mines in corridors to defend the human race.
Command the alien race! Use secret passages and ventilation ducts to launch surprise attacks and grow small aliens to take control of the station.
Command the scientists! Use computers and technological devices to gather data and record information about other inhabitants of the station.
Command the Greys race! Use their mind powers to control the enemy and use them for your own purposes.

The fifth faction? It's a mystery. It's precisely why you made the trek to Theseus, and it's precisely why you will die...
In Theseus: The Dark Orbit, players move their pawns around the space station and activate the abilities of different rooms. Every move you take changes the movement possibilities of your opponent. On your turn, you need to think about which room you want to reach and (in addition) how to mess your opponent's movement, which leads to great choices and meaningful decisions.

Rooms abilities change during the game as players install trait cards that give rooms new abilities and skills. Players create Theseus during gameplay by placing traps, smart guns, secret passages and many other features. In every game Theseus looks different; in every game it's deadly for you in a new way...

Rules for team play allow players to engage in incredibly emotional 2-vs-2 battles. With perfectly balanced factions, players will be able to fight engaging and deadly battles as a teams. Each faction has a unique deck of cards, and before the game starts, you discard ten cards from the deck. In basic mode you discard at random, while in tournament (master) mode you choose cards and build your deck. With five factions and 110 cards, the game can provide years of unique experiences.

[DanielIndru]

The Nobles of Paris si-a schimbat numele in The Legacy: Testament of Duke de Crecy:

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1707413

It is 1729 in pre-revolution France, a time when the aristocracy has all the power and the means to rule the country. As a wealthy, well-educated aristocrat, you have travelled the world and had the fortune to enjoy your life to the fullest – but you see that history is about to change course and you know that in order to stay strong, your family must prepare well. You need to find new allies. You must absorb smaller families and use their potency to strengthen your kin. You have to arrange wise marriages, nurture strong connections at court, obtain titles, build mansions, and find the right spouses for your daughters and sons...

The Legacy: Testament of Duke de Crecy enables you to build a powerful dynasty in 18th century France as you step into the shoes of a French noble and compete for lasting honor. Over three generations, you – a resourceful patriarch or matriarch – will attempt to create a lasting legacy by establishing a house with ties to many different wealthy and powerful families from France and abroad (Spain, Italy, Russia and other countries).

This card game offers endless possibilities. Each time you build a family, you write a unique story, bringing to life the diverse relationships between parents and their children, between cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Whether you are looking for the best husband for your only daughter or a suitable wife for one of your two sons, whether you are looking to add new blood to your family by marrying into foreign nobility – you will be working to make your family rise in status through prestige and wealth, new skills and abilities.

In The Legacy: Testament of Duke de Crecy – known previously as Nobles of Paris and winner of Ducosim Spelontwerp in 2009 – you will find 75 spouse cards with unique traits, more than twenty secret missions, nine titles, and nine "contribution to the family" cards. This all culminates in a highly thematic card game that will satisfy players who enjoy exploring many different paths to victory.

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1708327

Harbor life, merchant ships, and boxes full of valuable goods in the heyday of the Hanseatic League – this is the setting for Nauticus from designers Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. Each player runs a shipyard and tries to assemble ships of various sizes in order to ship goods with those same vessels. Time is short as each action can be executed only once per round, assembly of the masts and sails must be precisely coordinated, and the ship can be loaded only when complete. Thanks to the customized action wheels, everyone is always involved in the game's rapid sequence of actions.

Whoever builds the biggest ships and ships the most valuable goods will be the winner in the end.

[DanielIndru]

Glück Auf, named after a greeting German miners use when wishing one another luck, has players sending meeple miners underground to dig tunnels and acquire coal, which comes in four levels of quality and which is used to fulfill contracts.

The game lasts three rounds, and in each round players take turns placing their workers on action spaces; you can go on a space occupied by another player, but you need to place additional workers in order to do so. Each player has an individual elevator shaft, and he'll need to use workers to extract coal and bring it to the surface, while also competing for contracts and scrounging for cash in order to do everything else that needs to be done!

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1680497

[DanielIndru]

Welcome to the Rococo era during the reign of Louis XV when it's safe to say that holding lavish balls is quite trendy. Important personalities wrap up in noble coats and dresses, anxious to outshine one another. As the biggest event is coming up in just a few weeks, everyone is turning to you with their requests: an elegant coat here, a stunning dress there, or a donation to fund the fireworks at the event. Soon you realize that it's not just about your dressmaking business anymore – it's about managing the most prestigous ball of the era...and now it's time to ro(c)k!

Rokoko is a Eurostyle board game with an interesting take on deck-building. Each turn you play one of your employee cards and let that employee perform a task: hire a new employee, buy resources, manufacture a coat or dress, or invest in the ball's decorations. But not every employee is up to every task, so you must choose and lead your employees wisely – especially since each employee grants a unique bonus and some of these bonuses generate prestige points.

After seven rounds, the game ends with the big ball and a final scoring. Then you gain prestige points for certain employee bonuses and for coats and dresses that you rent out to guests at the ball as well as for decorations that you funded. The player who collected the most prestige points wins.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1710753

[DanielIndru]

Central Italy in the year 753 B.C.: Many new villages have been founded in the region of Latium. This land is prosperous and a strong city here can easily control the trades between the Etruscan cities of the North and the Greek colonies of the South. The region is also rich in salt ponds, and the salt in this period is worth more than gold. There doesn't exist a better place for a new city!

The two grandsons of the King of Albalonga – the twins Romolo and Remo, descendants of Enea of Troy – don't want to miss an opportunity to dominate the region and, acting against each other, try to establish two cities close to the Tiber river. Their enterprise is not easy as the King of Antemnae and the King of Crustumerium will also fight to dominate this area! Who will prevail?

In Romolo o Remo?, players act as Kings of the new cities in the Latium and have to compete with each other in order to gain control of the whole Region. Players must manage their kingdom and their growing settlement. Two aspects are crucial: the citizens, as players act with citizens to take many different actions, and the territory, as players can act only in the territories they are able to control – excluding when they go to war, of course! If the population grows, they can take more actions, but they must feed all of them as well. Money, resources, trades, city buildings, and specialized characters increase a player's possibilites, and soldiers, mercenaries, and war declarations can change the game's storyline at any moment. Who will able to build the strongest city? Who will be the founder of a new civilization – or perhaps even an Empire?

[DanielIndru]

Up to five players lead their Roman families to wealth and glory in Concordia!

Colonists are sent out from Rome to settle down in cities which produce bricks, food, tools, wine, and cloth. Each player starts with an identical set of playing cards and acquires more cards during the game. These cards serve two purposes:

They allow a player to choose actions during the game.
They are worth victory points (VPs) at the end of the game.
Concordia is a strategy game which requires advance planning and consideration of your opponent's moves. Every game is different, not only because of the sequence of new cards on sale but also due to the modular layout of cities. (One side of the game board shows the entire Roman Empire with 30 cities for 3-5 players, while the other shows Roman Italy with 25 cities for 2-4 players.) When all cards have been sold, the game ends. The winner is the player with the most VPs from the gods (Jupiter, Saturnus, Mercurius, Minerva, Vulcanus, etc.)

Jocul mai e cunoscut si sub numele Oppida: Cities of the Roman Empire sau Roma Caput Mundi.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1555769

[DanielIndru]

It is the early 20th Century, and the great museums of Europe and America compete for artifacts from around the world in order to fill their museums with the most prestigious exhibitions. In Artifact, players are archaeologists researching sites around the globe to search for artifacts, which are then shipped back to the museums in order to produce exhibitions that increase funding for future digs and earn prestige to win the game. Actions and funds are limited, however, and competition is fierce. Sometimes it is even necessary to deal on the black market in order to generate extra income or to acquire the one artifact that will complete a valuable exhibition.

The player who earns the most prestige points through producing exhibitions and managing his budget best wins the game.

Artifact is a rich gaming experience that provides players with many options to think about. In order to make it easier to learn the game, the rules have been separated into the Base Game, followed by rules for the two expansions that, when added, make up the Complete Game. The game can be played and enjoyed as the base game or by including any one of the expansions, but the complete game is highly recommended for experienced players.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1698945

[DanielIndru]

In Kohle & Kolonie, which is set in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the players run small coal mines in the German Ruhr area (Essen, Hattingen, Bochum, Witten) during the age of industrialization. They need to modernize these mines so that when these smaller mines are merged into larger ones, they can be prepared to take control of the auction and therefore the larger mine. Additionally, players have to ensure the availability of workers for their mines, while also constructing and caring for a railway system that comprises infrastructure in the mines. Finally, if players don't invest money or workers in their mines in order to secure them, they increase their chance of suffering a mining accident, which will lead to negative fallout when it comes time to bid for consolidated mines. Whoever best manages these tasks wins.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1654440

[DanielIndru]

Set in a mythical land of the same name, Hyperea is a light civilization game that plays in ninety minutes during which players start with a small tribe with basic knowledge (housing, trade, movement, basic warfare, basic knowledge, growth) and one advanced knowledge (customized for every tribe and chosen by the player); during the game the tribe will grow in numbers, extend its territory, explore and conquer, learn new technologies, etc...

The game is about building your pool of "civilicubes". Each cube represent specializations for your tribe-people: war, trade, movement, building, knowledge, corruption-waste, growth. Each turn players draw three random cubes from their supply, then use them to activate technologies they own. The most developed tribe at the end of the game will prevail, but multiple paths to victory are open, from warfare and trade to science and development.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1509576

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1717367

You're the leader of a great nation which is currently expanding. Over the course of the seven decades covered by the game, you will have to invest in infrastructures and industries, provide your country with energy and finance the mercurial forces of research in order to remain competitive.

But prosperity has a price. You owe it to future generations to leave them a healthy world. Pollution lurks, but will you be able to limit it?

Prosperity has players building up their countries on a grand but abstract scale, with them needing to balance concerns over energy and ecology with the constant need for capital and the long-term goal of prosperity points.

The game starts with 24 tiles available, half on the energy side of the shared game board and half on the ecology side. Two tiles on each side are placed on levels 1-6, with the players each having two research markers – energy and ecology – that start at level 1. Each player has an individual game board with color-coded spaces for tiles, a pollution track, and tracks for energy and ecology. A stack of 36 tiles – with tiles arranged by decades: the six from 2030 on the bottom, then the five from 2020, and so on to the five from 1970 – is set up during the playing area.

On a turn, a player draws the top tile from the stack, then everyone resolves the symbol highlighted on the tile:

Energy – for a positive value, earn money; for a negative value, lose money or increase your pollution
Ecology – remove or add discs to your pollution track
Capital – earn money for each capital symbol on the tiles you own
Research – advance one research marker one space for each research symbol on tiles you own
Prosperity – score points for each prosperity symbol on tiles you own, but only if your pollution isn't maxed out
Once everyone has done this, the active player takes two actions, repeating an action if desired. The possible actions are:

Take money.
Remove one pollution marker.
Move forward one space on one research track.
Buy a tile, with the amount owed being based on whether the tile is energy or ecology and the level of your corresponding research marker. If you buy a tile of the same level, the cost is €100; if the tile is of a higher level, you pay €100, plus €100 for each level; and if the tile is lower, you pay a flat €50.
Players have limited space for tiles on their individual boards, especially since the tiles and spaces are color-coded, but players can cover existing tiles, if desired, losing any benefits (or penalties) in the process. Some parts of the individual board are off-limits to new infrastructure until you first provide transport; toll roads, highways and even train systems have drawbacks of their own, but ideally you'll be able to build your way past those trouble spots without causing too much pollution.

When the final tile is drawn, that player finishes his turn, then everyone scores: twice for their energy and ecology levels, one for capital (with money being converted into prosperity points), once for research on both tracks (with points for those researching the most), and once for prosperity. Whoever tallies the most prosperity points wins!

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1722651

Twelve spiritual leaders, known as the Masters of Brilliance, have gained a great influence and many followers. At the night of solstice, they brought an unexpected end upon the world, precisely by the rules they had foretold. Anything that people could imagine happened on that night. During that tragic spectacle, the Masters of Brilliance separated wheat from chaff, taking the chosen ones to a new nice little hell they had built in a higher dimension somewhere at the doorstep of afterlife. No one knows how they got there or how they managed to affect reality. Anyway, only rigorous cooperation could grant them enough power.

The end of the world brought about by these wise guys was not as perfect as they had planned. Soon it turned out that some men left in the ashes of the past world could enter the realm of the Masters of Brilliance. Perhaps the power they cast upon the world to destroy it left a solid print? Or perhaps the transition was not that difficult?

The first man to discover he possessed this ability was Jonas Arvani. When he found out he was not the only one, he founded a guild. The boarding ability – that is, the ability to jump into a much higher plane, where the Masters of Brilliance have their twisted utopia – soon turned into an enormous business. Not everyone managed to follow the guild's strict rules. Therefore competitive undertakings began to appear that were less able and less honest. Now retrievers have been trained by guilds to steal inventions and devices from the enclave of the Masters of Brilliance. Those items become artifacts in the ruined world. The most valuable prizes are schematics that allow mankind to recreate lost devices, so that they can serve people again.

In the board game Enclave: Zakon Krańca Świata, each player starts with a retriever card along with the machine that boosts their boarding ability. During the game, which lasts six turns, players are allowed to:

Upgrade their retriever (mental and physical condition)
Upgrade their jump machine (sarcophagus and sesame)
Buy items to protect themselves from deadly traps in the enclave of the Masters of Brilliance
Buy medication needed to heal their mental damage and physical wounds
Boarding the enclave of the Masters of Brilliance to find valuable prizes and knowledge
Do the job for the "Shepherd" without any risk, but with fewer profits
Visit the oracle to peek at the future and gain initiative in the next turn
Use the character or location card on the path "to the tree"

This path is the main way to victory, known as becoming "the chosen of the Tree".

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1727138

Oranges or lemons or both? Create a new plantation or extend an existing one? Collect landscape tiles or rather build onto a finca in order to cultivate the most points during the next evaluation?

Citrus provides players with new challenges, and little is left to chance. The moves are simple, but the decisions are tricky. Players build citrus plantations for points, yet in order to build, it's essential to harvest your plantations from time to time as this is the only way to bring new income into your account – but when is the timing right? And most importantly, which plantation should you harvest, thus taking it out of the race for the important points during the finca scoring?

Citrus is a tile-laying game for 2-5 players ages 10 and up with a playing time of about 50 minutes. The game contains a simplified family variant as well as a short version of the game. Citrus is particularly suitable for two players.

[DanielIndru]

Ascension: Darkness Unleashed is both a standalone game for two players and an expansion that can be combined with Ascension: Rise of Vigil or other Ascension games.

Ascension: Darkness Unleashed features "Dark Energy Shards", a new take on the "Energy Shard" Treasure cards introduced in Ascension: Rise of Vigil. Like an "Energy Shard", a "Dark Energy Shard" allows a player to draw a new card while providing one energy to power up Energize cards. In addition, the Fate effect allows each player to banish a card in his discard pile whenever a "Dark Energy Shard" is placed in the center row.

This set also features new Energize cards, including Heroes, Constructs and Monsters that transform into new beings or more powerful versions of their original selves. If you would play a card that has a Transform ability and you've met the Energize threshold on that card (by having played a certain amount of energy that turn), then you ignore all the effects on the original card and place the transformed card in your hand, which can now be played this turn and on future turns for the remainder of the game. (Ascension: Darkness Unleashed contains both double-sided transform cards for those who play with card sleeves and single-sided transform cards for those who don't. In the former case, you remove the card from the sleeve, flip it to the transformed side, then resleeve it; in the latter, you remove the original card from the game and bring in the transformed card.)

Other cards – such as the monster "Erabus, the Exiled" – are transformed and added to your hand when you defeat them in the center row. At the end of the game, you score Honor for whichever version of the card is currently active in your deck.

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1727211

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1727212

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1736527

Welcome to the Rococo era during the reign of Louis XV when it's safe to say that holding lavish balls is quite trendy. Important personalities wrap up in noble coats and dresses, anxious to outshine one another. As the biggest event is coming up in just a few weeks, everyone is turning to you with their requests: an elegant coat here, a stunning dress there, or a donation to fund the fireworks at the event. Soon you realize that it's not just about your dressmaking business anymore – it's about managing the most prestigous ball of the era...and now it's time to ro(c)k!

Rokoko is a Eurostyle board game with an interesting take on deck-building. Each turn you play one of your employee cards and let that employee perform a task: hire a new employee, buy resources, manufacture a coat or dress, or invest in the ball's decorations. But not every employee is up to every task, so you must choose and lead your employees wisely – especially since each employee grants a unique bonus and some of these bonuses generate prestige points.

After seven rounds, the game ends with the big ball and a final scoring. Then you gain prestige points for certain employee bonuses and for coats and dresses that you rent out to guests at the ball as well as for decorations that you funded. The player who collected the most prestige points wins.

[DanielIndru]

from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1736462

It's the year 123 CE and the Roman Empire is at the peak of its glory. Caesar Hadrian is no longer waging war against the barbarians, but building cities and fortifications to ensure a lengthy domination of the Roman culture and wealth.

The southern part of Britain is under Roman domination, and Caesar has already begun the construction of Hadrian's Wall to protect the empire from invasions from the North. Together with the wall Caesar has ordered the founding of a new city which will remind the locals of the glory of Rome. He has appointed six of his most trusted men to take resources and workers from Rome and to build the city together – but in the end only one of them will be appointed Praetor and rule the Province in the name of Caesar.

In Praetor you will take the role of a Roman engineer and you will work together with the other players to build a magnificent city. You will manage your limited resources wisely and look for new ones, you will recruit new workers while you old experienced ones will retire, you will build settlements to keep the population happy and you will praise the Gods to earn their favor. Caesar will reward you if you give away precious resources to build Hadrian’s Wall thus increasing your chances of becoming Praetor.

Every turn you will place your workers on already built city tiles to gain resources, morale, new workers or victory points, you may assign workers to build new city tiles thus gaining Initiative and Victory Points and you may spend resources to meet some of Caesar's demands to get Victory Points. At the end of each turn your will pay your workers; otherwise the mood in the city will get worse and some of your workers may even go on strike.

With most of the actions they take your workers gain experience, becoming increasingly skilled in collecting resources. Your most experienced workers will end up retiring bringing you additional Victory Points but you will still have to show solidarity and pay them until the end of the game.

The game ends when there are no more available city tiles or when Caesar has no more demands for resources. The player with most Victory Points will be appointed Praetor and win the game.

[deeug]

Am jucat un prototip la "Praetor" mai prin iarna si mi-a placut. E un joc bun! Mai avea nevoie de mici ajustari atunci si banuiesc ca intre timp Andrei le-a facut.
Astept sa incerc si varianta finala