Adventure

Fangs

Fangs is a re-implementation of the social deduction game Shadow Hunters. Players are secretly dealt characters that belong to one of three teams: vampires, werewolves, or humans. The vampires and werewolves win by destroying the other team, while the humans are generally trying to simply stay alive (though some characters may end up aligning with one of the other two teams).

Since everybody starts knowing only who they are, they must start working on deducing who the other players are and whether they are friend or foe. Acting quickly may help you gain an advantage by weakening the opposing team before they realize which of the players fighting is their ally, but moving hastily with limited information may see you accidentally eliminate a teammate and set your side back in the conflict.

On each turn, players either try to gather information, find new equipment, or try to harm (or aid) another player. Different areas of the map influence what you may discover and who you may interact with while certain cards and abilities mean you can never be certain that things will go according to plan.

Sumatra

Join this expedition, and you will have the unforgettable opportunity to explore Sumatra, from the top of its majestic volcanoes to the depths of its tropical rainforest. Find the most exotic animals and the most exuberant flowers, and discover the endless variety of cultures that coexist on the largest island in Indonesia. Your expedition sets out with the mission of writing a travel notebook that will help raise awareness of one of the richest ecosystems in the world. Whoever makes the best contribution to this exciting mission will win.

In Sumatra, players move around the island to explore its multiple landscapes. On a turn, your possible actions depend on where you're located in relation to the travel notebook token that starts the game in base camp with all the players:

If you're one space behind the token, you move to the notebook's space and end your turn.
If you're on the same location as the token, either you move ahead one space or you stay put, take a tile from the pool of "available information" tiles, and add it to your personal notebook.
If you're one space ahead of the token, you move the token to your space, move all the "available information" tiles to the "known information" pool, draw tiles from the bag equal to the number shown at your location, add those tiles to the pool of "available information", then take one of these new tiles and add it to your notebook.

Thus, you're catching up with the group, researching with the group to add info to your notebook, moving ahead, or digging into new tiles ahead of everyone else.

Tiles score and have effects in various ways, for example, with players gaining or losing points for meeting the most or fewest inhabitants. Flora and fauna tiles score only if you have a pair in a column, but only the highest-valued of this pair scores. Villages score only if you have more pairs of reception and GPS tiles than the number of villages, while the reception and GPS pairs net you no points, but allow you to get a tile from the pool of "known information". Equipment makes it safe to explore volcanoes on the island, and if you don't have enough equipment, you might lose other tiles you've collected.

Sumatra also includes badges that players can collect. Be the first to collect, say, three flora tiles or a combination of two inhabitant and two craft tiles, and you can claim the badge for this, which is worth 3 points at game's end. You can also claim one diversity badge for having at least one tile in at least six rows of your notebook. The more rows you have a presence in, the higher the value of the diversity badge, but you can claim at most one during the game — and if someone else claims the six-row badge, then you'll need to have a tile in at least seven rows for the next one...

•••

Únete a esta expedición y descubre Sumatra desde la cima de sus majestuosos volcanes hasta las profundidades de su selva. Encuentra los animales más exóticos, las flores más exuberantes y conoce la interminable variedad de culturas que conviven en la isla más grande de Indonesia. La expedición parte con la misión de escribir un cuaderno de viaje que ayude a dar a conocer uno de los ecosistemas más ricos del mundo. Aquel que contribuya en mayor medida a esta apasionante misión se alzará con la victoria.

En Sumatra, los jugadores se irán desplazando por la isla para explorar sus múltiples parajes. En cada uno de ellos encontrarán información útil, representada por losetas, que deberán registrar en sus cuadernos de viaje colocándolas en su fila correspondiente. El jugador con el cuaderno de viaje e insignias de más valor al final de la partida se alzará con la victoria.

—description from the publisher (Spanish)

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a standalone game that takes place before the events of Gloomhaven. The game includes four new characters — Valrath Red Guard (tank, crowd control), Inox Hatchet (ranged damage), Human Voidwarden (support, mind-control), and Quatryl Demolitionist (melee damage, obstacle manipulation) — that can also be used in the original Gloomhaven game.

The game also includes 16 monster types (including seven new standard monsters and three new bosses) and a new campaign with 25 scenarios that invites the heroes to investigate a case of mysterious disappearances within the city. Is it the work of Vermlings, or is something far more sinister going on?

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is aimed at a more casual audience to get people into the gameplay more quickly. All of the hard-to-organize cardboard map tiles have been removed, and instead players will play on the scenario book itself, which features new artwork unique to each scenario. The last barrier to entry — i.e., learning the game — has also been lowered through a simplified rule set and a five-scenario tutorial that will ease new players into the experience.

Dungeon Party

Dungeon Party is a quick-play fantasy role-playing game played with coasters and a coin.

Dungeon Party is easy to learn, playable in a short time (or extended if that is desirable), has all of the aspects of a classic RPG adventure, and is playable in a bar, restaurant, or at home. The combat mechanism is fun and adds an element of luck and skill without much complexity. The game system is infinitely expandable.

Players will assemble a "dungeon" by creating a stack of coasters that includes rooms, monsters, and treasures. They then adventure through the dungeon by battling through each room, defeating the monsters, and looting the treasure. Along the way, they may pick up magical treasures or spells that can help them in their quest. If they survive the dungeon, the player with the most treasure points wins. If they do not, the dungeon wins. But either way, there will be laughs and maybe even a drink or two!

—description from the publisher

Galaxy Trucker (2021)

In the fast and goofy family game Galaxy Trucker, players begin by simultaneously rummaging through the common warehouse, frantically trying to grab the most useful component tiles to build their spaceship — all in real-time.

Once the ships are launched, players encounter dangerous situations while vying for financial opportunities, each hoping to gain the most valuable cargo and finish with as much of their ship still intact as possible. Of course, that's easier said than done since many hazards will send pieces of your ship, your cargo, and your crew hurling into the depths of space.

The goal is to survive the trek — hopefully with at least some of your crew and ship intact — and have at least one credit by the end of the game. (Profit, yay!) Players earn credits by delivering goods, defeating pirates, having the best-looking ship, and reaching their destination before the others.

This version of Galaxy Trucker is a relaunch of the original 2007 release by Vlaada Chvátil that features new art, more ship tiles, tweaked card effects, and streamlined gameplay that consists of only a single flight through space. That said, should you want a longer, more challenging experience, you can play a three-flight game known as the "Transgalactic Trek".