Hand Management

Neotopia

In Neotopia, a competitive fast paced tile placement pattern building game, you are part of a team of Visionaries who are building a futuristic pilot city focused on the fields of Energy, Technology, Community and Sustainable food.

You will be building elements on the three regions of the city in order to complete feature cards that you have in hand. A good combination of tile placement and card management can result in very impactful turns, where several cards are completed and the city expands. Interaction between players is important, because all players are building on the same board and can take advantage of what other players have built on their previous turns.

You will try to build the most harmonious city possible, because that will be vital for your score: in the end of the game you will score normally the regions where you have your two highest scores but you will triple the score of your lowest scoring region. So be aware! Even if it’s tempting to build on regions that are more developed and where you have already scored a lot points, if you don’t start working on the development of the other regions you will not be able to win the game. Balance is the key point on Neotopia, just like the type of future that the players are trying to build.

—description from the designer

Bohnanza: Dahlias

Bohnanza: Dahlias is a special edition of Bohnanza for 3-5 players that features the same gameplay as the original design.

In the game, you plant, then harvest flower cards in order to earn coins. Each player starts with a hand of random flower cards, and each card has a number on it corresponding to the number of that type of flower in the deck. Unlike in most other card games, you can't rearrange the order of cards in hand, so you must use them in the order that you've picked them up from the deck — unless you can trade them to other players, which is the heart of the game.

On a turn, you must plant the first one or two cards in your hand into the "fields" in front of you. Each field can hold only one type of flower, so if you must plant a type of flower that's not in one of your fields, then you must harvest a field to make room for the new arrival. This usually isn't good! Next, you reveal two cards from the deck, and you can then trade these cards as well as any card in your hand for cards from other players. You can even make future promises for cards received right now! After all the trading is complete — and all trades on a turn must involve the active player — then you end your turn by drawing cards from the deck and placing them at the back of your hand.

When you harvest flowers, you receive coins based on the number of cards in that field and the "meter" for that particular type of flower. Flip over 1-4 cards from that field to transform them into coins, then place the remainder of the cards in the discard pile. When the deck runs out, shuffle the discards, playing through the deck two more times. At the end of the game, everyone can harvest their fields, then whoever has earned the most coins wins.

Romi Rami

Romi Rami is a game that feels like it’s been around forever, with thousands of people quietly and gradually polishing it over time.
Falling squarely in the family of ‘Rummy’ games, Romi Rami features a double market.
The first one has number cards, and the second one has contracts to complete.

The goal of the game: Make the most points by optimizing the combinations required by the contracts. Keep an eye on the trophies (they change from game to game) which will propel you to to the top spot on the podium!

Snakes of Wrath

In the world of Snakes of Wrath, two players or teams battle to build, and steal, the largest snakes. Traps are laid, enemies are flayed, and snakes are combined and captured as the tangled, hedonistic ouroboros grows. Will you build methodically or go on the offense by attacked your enemies and attempting a chain reaction steal.

Each player has 7 randomly selected tiles with which they can:

-Build a new snake from any open head
-Grow an existing snake in their color
-Injure an opponent's snake with an injury tile
-Steal an opponent's snake by connecting to it

Lay your tiles strategically, incapacitate your opponent, and close all ends of your snakes to emerge victorious. Players must plan ahead, guess their opponent's moves, and deploy tiles carefully. Two-sided tiles mean the tides can change at any moment with a sinister steal or a well-laid trap. One mistake and a chain reaction can be set off, flipping tiles in your opponents favor.

Forest Shuffle

In Forest Shuffle, players compete to gather the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thus creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna.

To start, each player has six cards in hand, with cards depicting either a particular type of tree or two forest dwellers (animal, plant, mushroom, etc.), with these latter cards being divided in half, whether vertically or horizontally, with one dweller in each card half.

On a turn, either draw two cards — whether face down from the deck or face up from the clearing — and add them to your hand, or play a card from your hand by paying the cost, then putting it into play.

During set-up, three winter cards were placed into the bottom third of the deck. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately, then players tally their points based on the trees and dwellers in their forest. Whoever scores the most points wins.

Forest Shuffle is the first in a line of Lookout games sporting the Lookout Greenline label, produced on FSC certified paper and avoiding plastic completely.