Religious

Ierusalem: Anno Domini

Jerusalem, spring 33 AD: A crowd gathers at the city gates to welcome Jesus of Nazareth as he prepares to celebrate the Passover seder with his apostles and followers. With a revolutionary message, he has garnered supporters everywhere but also looks of suspicion among religious authorities. The Last Supper will soon be celebrated, and the fate of one of the most influential characters in human history will be sealed.

In Ierusalem: Anno Domini, we represent one of the communities of followers of Jesus of Nazareth who, coming to Jerusalem from nearby towns and villages, want to approach the place of the Last Supper and position ourselves as close as possible to the seats of Jesus and his apostles. The closer we are, the more points we earn at game's end. We also score for offering tokens and parable tiles we've accumulated.

Different locations are shown on the board: the market, the desert, the mountain, the lake, and the temple. After sending our followers to one of these locations, we obtain stones, bread, and fish, as well as denarii or cards that allow us to do more than one action. Among these actions, players can choose between listening to a parable, going to the table, changing seats, or doing a favor, among other things. All this happens while the patience of the Sanhedrin runs out. When this happens, as symbolized by a tile moving in a marker, the endgame is triggered.

However, the main element of the game is the cards. Each card has a symbol corresponding to one of five key locations in the game. As we play them, we form combinations that allow us to bring the apostles to the table of the Last Supper. The optimal placement of our followers around Jesus and the apostles will also be done through the management of letters, as well as various resources at our disposal.

Behind a very immersive theme, Ierusalem: Anno Domini will not disappoint lovers of good challenges. Players have a wide range of possibilities at their fingertips and multiple ways to earn points. Preparing the best strategies to get the most out of your followers will be one of the keys to victory. Devout gamers don't need to look further: Here is your game!

—description from publisher

Maharaja

Maharaja is a new edition of the classic game by the authors Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. In this new version of the game which supports 1 to 4 players and is enriched with new graphics and components, you build statues of your God of reference to please the Maharaja during their visit and score victory points at the end of the game depending on the majority you reach.
During the game, players take the role of priests who travel to different cities in India, building statues and shrines dedicated to their favorite Gods to expand their worship. To do so, they are assisted by several characters with different abilities. Every year, the Maharaja, the great king of India, will change his residence and players will receive rewards according to their Gods' worship value. At the beginning of each year, players plan their actions in a secret phase to be played simultaneously.

At the end of the seventh year or when a player builds their seventh statue, the game ends, then the player with most prestige wins.

Aside from the new graphics and components and from players now building statues instead of palaces, this new edition of Maharaja includes new characters to use during the turn that change turn order, additional ways to earn victory points, an additional bonus each time you score a city after the Maharaja's visit depending on the assistant you chose, and additional modular rules that can be added during the game and in the final scoring.

—description from the publisher

Includes solo mode by Dávid Turczi & Simone Luciani

The Settlers of Canaan

Settlers of Canaan takes place in the territory of Canaan off the coast of the Great Sea. Each Player represents a tribe of Israel as they seek to settle the land of Canaan. The time period of the game spans the time of Joshua's conquests of Canaan (Joshua), the turbulent years ruled by judges (Judges) through the choosing and crowning of King David (I & II Samuel).

The game uses the same basic mechanics as Settlers of Catan but adds some unique elements, similar to the Historical Scenarios. In the case of this game, players build the wall of Jerusalem by contributing bricks. The player who contributes the most bricks earns victory points and the right to use a special "rule-breaking" power of his/her choosing. This is contested in the same manner as "the longest road" from Settlers.

The German version does not use the build Jeruselem and stones mechanisms. Instead there are 13 hero cards that generate God's help. There are events (cards) that take place. Also the German board has 5 hexes not on the English board and one changed hex as well.
Belongs to the Catan Series.

A Column of Fire

A Column of Fire is an adaptation of the third novel in Ken Follett's "Kingsbridge" series following The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. (The novel is titled A Column of Fire in English, and Das Fundament der Ewigkeit ("The Foundation of Eternity") in German.)

In the game, set in Europe during the time of Elizabeth I, Catholics and Protestants compete for power and influence in England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. In this politically unstable environment, resourceful operatives and courageous secret agents plot to secure power for their rulers. The balance of power shifts back and forth amidst foiled assassinations, successful rebellions, and futile invasions — and not infrequently, those who sympathize with the weak are expelled from the country.

The real enemies, then as now, are not the rival religions. The true battle pits those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else — no matter what the cost. Who will best exploit the changing power conditions in Europe to win the game?

Recess!

French - German - Spanish

Recess!

A board game of pain and loss in a rough parochial school ...

Growing up is never easy ... especially in a rough parochial school where scores are settled on the playground. Between bullies stealing your lunch money, fights breaking out left and right, and schoolmates tattling to the ever-present nuns, a kid just can't catch a break ... or a kiss, as the case may be. Because you're a lover as well as a fighter, and all you really want is to steal a kiss from your sweetheart across the blacktop before the school bell rings and recess is over. The fact that you've bet the last of your lunch money on being the first do it makes it all the more risky. Of course, might makes right here on the playground. If you can't win your money back from the other kids, you can always beat it out of them.

Recess is a strategy board game for three to five players. Players each start with two boy figures and two girl figures on opposite sides of the grid-marked modular board, which is dotted with playground-themed obstacles. Children move like a rook in chess, while nuns move like a queen. A child that lands on a space occupied by another child starts a fight and takes a coin from him. Other children can break up a fight by landing on that same space, or tattle by landing on a nun's space. If a nun moves onto the fight space, the attacker is sent back to the entrance for detention. Finishing thirty of the minute-long turns marks the end of the game, or it ends immediately when one player's boy and girl figures meet on the same space while out of sight of the nuns. The resulting kiss earns two coins from each player, but to win you still have to end up with the most coins.