Components: Gems/Crystals

Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden, first released as Indigo, is a tile-laying game along the lines of Metro, Tsuro, and Linie 1 in which players build paths bit by bit, with no player owning the individual paths and everyone trying to exploit the paths already present. Unlike those earlier games, however, your goal is to move butterflies from their starting locations on the board to your designated flowerbeds, with the player who scores the most points winning the game.

To set up the game board, place the central fountain tile, then place five pink butterfly figures and one purple butterfly figure to it. Place six fountain tiles on their designated locations on the outer edge of the game board, then place a blue butterfly figure on each fountain tile. Each player places player tokens on flowerbeds between these butterfly tiles on the edge of the game board. Depending on the player count, each player places their player tokens on the designated flowerbeds.

On a turn, a player places a path tile on any space on the game board, with the only restriction being that a player cannot create a route directly from one flowerbed to another. Players always have two path tiles on hand. Each path tile has three route segments on it, connecting one pair of edges. If a player places a path tile next to a butterfly, that butterfly flies as far as possible along the path so that all players can see where to place path tiles to next move that butterfly (thus, players avoid the mental gymnastics required in Metro and Linie 1 in which nothing moves until a route is complete). When connecting to the central fountain tile, the pink butterflies move off first, with the purple butterfly moving only with the sixth connection.

If a player places a path tile so that one butterfly would fly into another, both butterflies fly away and are removed from the game!

When a butterfly is moved to a flowerbed owned by only one player, that player keeps the butterfly. If two players own the flowerbed, then both players collect a butterfly of that color, taking the extra butterfly needed from the reserve. Once all the butterflies have been claimed, the game ends, with players earning 3 points for a purple butterfly, 2 for a pink butterfly, and 1 for a blue butterfly. The player with the most points wins.

Fantastiqa: The Rucksack Edition

Welcome to the wild, weird world of FANTASTIQA!

Fantastiqa is a deck-building board game set in a fantastical landscape of dark forests, mist-shrouded highlands, and frozen wastes. As you and your foes journey around the board, you will subdue strange creatures and fulfill fabulous quests.

Each creature you encounter has both an ability and a vulnerability. By playing card symbols to which a creature is vulnerable, you can subdue it and recruit it as an ally. Each creature you defeat is added to your expanding deck of cards, making its special ability into an ability of your own! A defeated Enchantress will wield her beguiling charms to help you overcome wandering Knights. Knights in turn subdue Dragons, adding their fiery breath to your cause. By combining the powers of different creatures you can fulfill curious quests, for example:

Send forth your Rabbits of Unusual Size to Nibble Through the Violin Strings of the Violent Vampire Volnar!
Deploy a party of web-slinging Spiders to String a Bridge Across the Chasm of Chaos!
Send your Dragons and Vampire Bats together on a mission to Ignite the Whisker-Wick'd Candle Guarded by the Ice Cats of Kituviel!

Some of the creatures you encounter carry precious gems, which you can spend to purchase powerful artifacts or to summon mythical beasts to your aid. You begin with a handful of household items, but you will grow in power as you adventure and gather allies! By completing quests you score victory points and claim other special rewards. The board changes every time you play, so prepare for a new, exciting adventure each time you enter the world of Fantastiqa!

Fantastiqa is easy to learn but challenging to master – a game for families and gamers alike. Additional simplified rules are included for beginners and children.

The components are lavishly illustrated with fine art by Caspar David Friedrich, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Arthur Rackham, John William Waterhouse, John Bauer, Edward Burne-Jones, Francisco Goya, and others.

River Valley Glassworks

Welcome to River Valley! The beautiful pieces of glass that can be found along the river here have attracted the most entrepreneurial of woodland creatures to set up shop.

In River Valley Glassworks, you play as one of these pioneers, drafting glass from the market of river tiles. To do so, you have to play a piece from your inventory into the river. Each river tile can take only a specific shape, and you must play into a space adjacent to where you want to draft from. After you pick up your glass, the river shifts forward, revealing new pieces and new opportunities.

Store the glass you pick up strategically in your shop. Depending on how the glass pieces are placed, your score will change drastically. Fill in rows and columns to gain bonus points, but don't draft too many of one type to avoid negative points!

-description from publisher

Winter Queen

In one faraway land, there is always winter. Once a year Winter Queen announces a special competition for her court sorcerers. Using enchanted crystals they create magical ornaments and the Queen pays for them with golden coins. The one to collect the most coins till the end of the competition is to become the next Queen’s advisor.

In the abstract family game Winter Queen, you take on the roles of Winter Queen's sorcerers, creating magical ornaments out of enchanted crystals. Each turn, you either place a new crystal onto the board or use already placed crystals to score victory points depending on the spell books you and your opponents have.

Not Enough Mana

Not Enough Mana is a "potion" drinking card game for 3-6 fearless wizards (legal potion drinking age may vary depending on your kingdom’s laws). You’ll be destroying each other using epic spells, curses and artifacts while replenishing your mana by drinking magical potions*.

Your goal is to eliminate all other wizards from the game, either through depleting all their health points or by K.O. (also known as Too Much Mana).

In their turn, players cast spells and curses, equip artifacts and face epic events by drawing and playing cards. Spells require mana points, which the player can replenish at any point in the game by drinking mana potions.

If a player loses all health points or is incapable of making a move in his turn, he is removed from the game. The last player wins.