Economic

After one hundred years in service, the Panama Canal still is one of the most important and impressive engineering achievements in modern times.

Built in 1914, it held a prominent role in the deployment of military vessels during WWI and in the conflicts that have followed. Nowadays commercial usage is the core business of the Channel; its economic impact is profound and has not only developed the region, but in fact helped define shipping throughout the world.

In the wake of the Canal’s opening hull designs were influenced accordingly; ships fell into three categories, those that could travel through easily and in groups (Feeder class), massive ocean going ships too big to enter the Canal (ULCV or Ultra Large Container Vessels), and the new standard - designed to the maximum limits of the Panama Canal. These ships are called PANAMAX.

In Panamax each player manages a shipping company established in the Colón Free Trade Zone. Companies accept contracts from both US coasts, China and Europe and deliver cargo in order to make money, attract investment and pay dividends. At the same time the players accumulate their own stock investments and try to make as much money as possible in an effort to have the largest personal fortune and win the game.

Panamax features several original mechanisms that blend together; an original dice (action) selection table, pickup-and-deliver along a single bi-directional route, a chain reaction movement system – “pushing” ships to make room throughout the Canal and a level of player interaction that is part self-interest, part mutual advantage and the freedom to choose how you play.

On their turn, players remove a die from the Action table to select Contracts and Load Cargo or Move ships until the pool of dice is emptied ending the Round. Over the course of three rounds these actions are blended during the turn to create a logistics network which each player uses to ship their cargo, minimize transportation fees and increase the net worth of their Company. Each Company has a limited amount of Stock that the players can purchase in exchange for investing – receiving a dividend each round. The questions for the players will be which companies are likely to yield higher dividends?

There's more to explore and several ways to win, but we ask that you join us at the table and celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Panama Canal with a session of Panamax!

Agricola: Farmers of the Moor is the first big expansion for Agricola.

This expansion adds to the base game with a large set of new improvements, and adds a number of new features. Horses are introduced as a new type of animal. In addition, you not only have to feed your family, but you must keep them from becoming "ill" by heating each room in your house. You can get fuel to heat your home by chopping down the forests on your farmyard, or by harvesting peat.

Agricola: Farmers of the Moor was released at Essen 2009.

Welcome to the Rococo era during the reign of Louis XV when it's safe to say that holding lavish balls is quite trendy. Important personalities wrap up in noble coats and dresses, anxious to outshine one another. As the biggest event is coming up in just a few weeks, everyone is turning to you with their requests: an elegant coat here, a stunning dress there, or a donation to fund the fireworks at the event. Soon you realize that it's not just about your dressmaking business anymore – it's about managing the most prestigous ball of the era...and now it's time to ro(c)k!

Rokoko is a Eurostyle board game with an interesting take on deck-building. Each turn you play one of your employee cards and let that employee perform a task: hire a new employee, buy resources, manufacture a coat or dress, or invest in the ball's decorations. But not every employee is up to every task, so you must choose and lead your employees wisely – especially since each employee grants a unique bonus and some of these bonuses generate prestige points.

After seven rounds, the game ends with the big ball and a final scoring. Then you gain prestige points for certain employee bonuses and for coats and dresses that you rent out to guests at the ball as well as for decorations that you funded. The player who collected the most prestige points wins.

Note: Due to rarity, this is a protected game and requires a membership to play. Please see a game associate for assistance.

Democracy: Majority Rules is a game of debate, diplomacy and deal-making from Mark Rein•Hagen of Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse fame. Mark has taken his love and study of politics to create a game of power struggles, back door deals, and unscrupulous actions.

You play an activist, a power broker, or the leader of a political party – in any case, someone who organizes campaigns, games the system and wins elections. Your job is to make compromises, yet always stand by your principles, form coalitions yet still achieve your agenda. To succeed you must herd cats, spin facts into a web of deception, and speak truth to power.

Enter a world of mudslinging, dirty tricks and the crooks and liars who manipulate the masses, juke the system and corrupt the true believers in order to throw out the tyrants, make the world a better place, and save us all from ourselves. A canny and calculating political operative, you are battling to take over a country in crisis. The old-line political parties are weak and divided, primed for being taken over from within or pushed out of the way. Your movement has captured the imagination of a small but loyal few and now it's your job to grow it into a national force. The goal is to put your handpicked candidate into high office, lead the country, and put your mark on history.

Democracy: Majority Rules is focused on the retail work of politics at every scale: making friends, forging alliances, outmaneuvering rivals, deceiving enemies, building consensus, selling your point of view, creating a coalition, hiding resentment, feigning weakness, blindsiding foes, and turning doubters into believers. It's all in the game.

While the game plays 3-5, there is a Party Expansion pack that adds extra components, super supporters worth five normal supporters, and enough materials for up to 15 people. Currently, the Party Expansion is available only on the Kickstarter campaign.

Game description from the publisher:

In the Martian mining colony of ARES-6, crime pays. Three factions vie for control of this corrupt new world and everything within it. You are a mercenary known as a "freelancer", here to profit off the conflict, to make a name for yourself – but ambition alone isn't enough. A network of seedy contacts will assist you in undertaking the dangerous missions necessary to bolster your rep. Whether it's hiring henchmen to carry out your dirty work or plotting with secret schemes, you'll let nothing stand between you and your squalid goals.

In Infamy, players find that nearly anything can be bought for the right price. Players attempt to win the game by being the first to reach 15 Infamy points or by reaching the highest reputation level in any one of three factions: the Harada Cartel, the Trust Megacorp, or the PKD Militia. The core of this auction and influence game is the "Pay to Play" mechanism in which players must sacrifice bidding power in order to place any bids at all. Spend too much time bidding against an opponent, and your currency will dwindle – but if you refuse to bid, you'll be forced to watch your opponent acquire all those things that only the criminal underworld can deliver.

Here at the end of the world, where everyone and everything has its price, there is but a single ambition that endures: Infamy.