Area Movement

Philippe Keyaerts scored gold with Small World, a new version of his Vinci that was released by Days of Wonder in 2009 to great acclaim and numerous awards. With Olympos, coming from French publisher Ystari Games, Keyaerts has another go at the simplified civilization game. The playing time for Olympos is only 60-90 minutes for 3-5 players, but says Ystari's Cyril Demaegd, "Even if it's a short game, it's a gamer's game."

Players take actions based on their position on a time track, along the lines of Peter Prinz' Thebes. (Says Demaegd, "This is mainly a coincidence because Philippe designed this game years ago.") By spending time, players take actions, with the choices being expansion or development. Expanding brings new settlers onto the game board, which depicts Greece and Atlantis, which lets you conquer territories and thereby acquire resources.

Development takes place on the game's discovery board, with players either buying new scientific discoveries – such as medicine or phalanxes – or building architectural wonders. Each discovery brings you new powers, such as an upgrade in military strength due to the phalanx, and each wonder earns you points.

A player's piety is measured by discoveries, and the most pious player might be rewarded during the game by one of the nine gods included. Similarly, the less pious players might be punished by those same gods.

The replayability of Olympos is huge, says Demaegd, as the discovery board and gods in play will be different each game, not to mention the territories you're able to conquer.

Battleship Galaxies is a space combat miniatures board game that is a distant cousin to the original Battleship game. The two opposing forces represented in the game, the human Intergalactic Space Navy and the alien Wretcheridians, are represented by 20 highly-detailed starship miniatures. There are figures for several different ship types and each has an individual reference card that defines the characteristics of that ship (e.g. weapons, movement, shields). The game is played on a star field hex board.

The game is scenario driven and each scenario will define the goal of the game as well as initial board set-up. Each turn, players have a certain number of energy points that can be spent to perform actions, such as movement or fire. Combat is resolved by rolling special dice, a ten-sided die with letters and an eight-sided die with numbers. The resulting letter-number combination is compared to the target ship’s reference card to determine the result. Hits on a ship are indicated by placing colored pegs in the figure’s base.

A tale of teamwork and betrayal!

The mole ogre howled out as it collapsed into a bloody pile of rent flesh and broken bone. The aging knight bent over, panting heavily, and gave his dwarven peer an approving nod. It had taken great effort between them both to slay the beast, and they had each taken their share of wounds. But in the end their cooperation had paid off and they both knew it. And then their eyes found the treasure chest sitting in the corner of the room.

They looked at each other. They looked back at the treasure... and then the real fight began.

The game where YOU are the final boss!

Dungeon Run is an exciting dash through a dungeon packed with monsters and traps. Each player controls a unique hero capable of great feats, and whose powers and abilities are upgradable and customizable throughout the game. Players can work together to overcome the perils of the dungeon, or they can betray and sabotage each other as they see fit. Because in the final room of the dungeon lurks a powerful boss with the ultimate treasure - a treasure that turns its owner into the most powerful warrior they can become! Slay the boss, steal the treasure, and then run for your life as your friends try to cut you down. In Dungeon Run only one hero can escape with the fabled Summoning Stone. Don't crawl - run!

Dungeon Run features a randomly assembled dungeon that changes each time you play, as do the monsters you face and the treasures you find. Eight different heroes each with unique options for customization further add to a wealth of game play options. Choose the vicious Tundra Orc and bash your way through everything that stands in your path. Play as the cunning Grounder Wizard and use your magic to cheat the laws of nature. Select the Guild Dwarf adventurer and lay traps to ensnare your friends. There are many paths to victory in Dungeon Run. Win by working with your friends or against them - just win!

Selection #3 of The Games Collection by Pin International.

A quick but treacherous game where speed and sacrifice count, as players maneuver to unite three pieces in a row of the central tic-tac-toe.
Type of game: Strategic movement with goal pattern.
A combination of checkers with tic-tac-toe.

One player takes on the role of the escaped student. He is the Human player, and he is trying to rescue his friends and escape Innsmouth. By playing movement cards, he moves his pawn around the board to visit various locations, fights any Deep Ones there, then searches those locations for his friends and equipment to help in their escape.

The other players play groups of Deep ones. They are trying to prevent the Human player from escaping. The Deep one players take turns moving their pawns around the board trying to trap the Human. Certain locations on the board also allow them to draw cards, spawn additional Deep Ones or even summon a terrible Shoggoth.