educational

In this third expansion to Wingspan, we welcome new species to our habitats by exploring the vibrant, intriguing, and magnificent birds of Asia. These birds were chosen from the over 2,800 species that live in Asia.

Wingspan Asia is several different things: A stand-alone game for 1 player or 2 players (Duet mode that can be used with any bird/bonus cards), a card expansion to the original Wingspan (any bird/bonus cards across any Wingspan game or expansion can be combined), and a 6-7 player expansion via the new Flock mode (for which the player components from the core game are necessary).

—description from the publisher

The Atiwa Range is a region of southeastern Ghana in Africa consisting of steep-sided hills with rather flat summits. A large portion of the range comprises an evergreen forest reserve, which is home to many endangered species. However, logging and hunting for bushmeat, as well as mining for gold and bauxite, are putting the reserve under a lot of pressure.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Kibi, the mayor is causing a stir by giving shelter to a large number of fruit bats in his own garden. This man has recognized the great value the animals have in deforested regions of our planet: Fruit bats sleep during the day and take off at sunset in search of food, looking for suitable fruit trees up to sixty miles away. They excrete the seeds of the consumed fruit, disseminating them across large areas as they fly home. A single colony of 150,000 fruit bats can reforest an area of up to two thousand acres a year.

Just like that mayor, in Atiwa, you know that fruit bats — once scorned and hunted as mere fruit thieves — are in fact incredibly useful animals, spreading seeds over large areas of the country. By doing so, they help to reforest fallow land and, in the medium term, improve harvests. This realization has led to a symbiotic co-operation between fruit bats and fruit farmers. The animals are kept as "pets" to increase the size of fruit farms more quickly. Tall trees are left as roosts, providing shelter for them rather than hunting them for their scant meat. However, if you have a lot of fruit bats, you need a lot of space...

In the game, you will develop a small community near the Atiwa Range, creating housing for new families and sharing your newly gained knowledge on the negative effects of mining and the importance that the fruit bats have for the environment. You must acquire new land, manage your animals and resources, and make your community prosper. The player who best balances the needs of their community and the environment wins.

Museum: Pictura is a standalone set collection game for 2-4 players by Olivier Melison and Eric Dubus, in which you take on the role of an aspiring curator in an art museum.

Set in the roaring 20’s, the game is gorgeously illustrated in art deco style by French artist Loïc Muzy, while the 180 paintings featured in the game have been individually brought to life by Ekaterina Varlamov.

Your goal is to create collections of some of History’s most iconic works of art. To do so, you will be acquiring Painting cards and exhibiting them into your Museum, represented by your player board, to create Collections. These Collection can be based either on the painting’s Period (ranging from the Renaissance period all the way to Impressionism), or its Domain (Historical, Landscape, Mythological…). The Collections you create will earn you Prestige points, and the player with the most Prestige at the end of the game wins.

During play, you will have to deal with the changing trends of the art world, acquiring and exhibiting Paintings depending on what is currently in highest demand. Exhibiting Paintings of the types that are currently in fashion will gain you additional points!

As your Collections grow, you will be able to open them briefly to the public with a Temporary Exhibition, which allows you to immediately score that Collection’s value and obtain special bonuses for the rest of the game. But beware, your visitors will quickly grow tired of seeing the same types of Collection again and again, so timing your exhibitions correctly is essential!

Museum: Pictura brings exciting new mechanisms and strategies to the table, while maintaining a strong family connection to its predecessor.

-description from publisher

Combine forces to thwart evil in Outnumbered: Improbable Heroes, a math-based cooperative strategy game. Absolute Zero and his minions are loose in Megatropolis, trying to capture the powerful Infinity Generator! Assemble your team and strategically plan out your sequence of attacks together. As waves of Villains advance, you must use math skills and unique Hero Abilities to hit target numbers, repelling your nemesis and his minions. Overcome their counterattacks and impose order over chaos!

—description from the publisher

Outnumbered is a cooperative math strategy game for 1-6 players. Waves of oncoming minions are advancing, each one showing a number on it. On each player's turn, they will roll 3 dice, then use math operations and their "Hero Power" create the values shown on the minions, defeating them. Minions will continue to appear and move down the board, defeating the players unless they are stopped in time. Players also have the opportunity to earn Bonus Cards by targeting specific minions, and must withstand Events that will increase the minion forces.

Based on Eric Carle's best-selling book, players spend a fun-filled day Around the Farm helping baby animals find their way home. Help baby pigs locate the pigpen, baby ducks waddle to the pond, baby horses trot to the hayfield, and baby sheep back to their pasture. The game introduces children to counting and identifying baby and adult animals. Counting is especially fun as the players make animal sounds for each animal they move. Everyone wins in this cooperative game when each baby animal has been reunited with its adult animal!