Hand Management

Beyond Baker Street

A heinous crime has been committed. A team of the Kingdom's finest detectives has been assembled and put on the case. They have a prime suspect, they have a motive, and they know what the opportunity to commit the crime was. Now all they have to do is prove it.

Using powers of deduction and communication, the players work as a team to eliminate dead leads and find clues to prove who, how, and why. All the relevant clues are available to them to do so. They just won't know it. On top of that, Sherlock Holmes himself is already on the case. Can they solve the crime before he does?

At the start of Beyond Baker Street, players select one of the crimes to solve, and a number of suspects, motives, and opportunities will be available for the players to convict of the crime. Each player holds a set of clues, but they won't be able to see their own clues — only those of their counterparts. Each turn, a player must take exactly one of the following actions:

ASSIST another detective
INVESTIGATE crime scene
CONFIRM evidence
ELIMINATE dead leads
PURSUE new leads

Players win together if they can gather enough evidence to make a conviction before Holmes does; otherwise, they crumble under the stress of the case.

Maiden's Quest

In Maiden's Quest, a maiden — tired of waiting to be rescued — takes it upon herself to fight her enemies and escape.

Maidens use cards from their hands to attempt to defeat an enemy or obstacle. As you play, the game's difficulty grows as enemies of increasing ferocity become active! An innovative turn-and-flip mechanism allows each card to represent up to four items, encounters, or allies.

This fun and easy-to-learn game takes 10–30 minutes if you play non-stop. However, since each encounter is resolved separately, you can stop and stow away the deck at any time, returning to play when and where you left off at a later time! Since no surface is required, you can play while standing in line to get your morning coffee, while you wait for an appointment, or while sitting on the couch at home! Contents include enough for true solo play, co-op, or competitive two-player games, and, with multiple copies, more players can join in!

—description from the publisher

Knuckle Sammich: A Kobolds Ate My Baby! Card Game

Knuckle Sammich is a small card game, originally made available to Kickstarter backers of KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY! IN COLOR!!! by 9th Level games.

The object of the game is to fill your stomach with all manner of items that kobolds eat...especially babies!!

From the publisher:

YOU ARE LATE FOR LUNCH! By the time that you get to the Kitchens, lunch is nearly over! You and the other slowpokers and lateniks are going to have to make your own, with some KNUCKLE SAMMICHES!

YOU ARE A KOBOLD trying to tooth and claw your way to a full belly by grabbing the last few sandwiches. Along they way, you may just give up the pretense of making sandwiches and eat your friends instead. Watch out for King Torg (ALL HAIL KING TORG!) and maybe you will survive lunch and wind up with a fresh, tasty baby to eat.

KNUCKLE SAMMICH is a fast card game for 2-7 players that involves a little strategy, a little luck, a few cards, and occasionally shouting at the top of your lungs. Great for any age or gamer type. Based on the popular RPG KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY! and featuring the art of JOHN KOVALIC (of Munchkin and Dork Tower and Kobolds Ate My Baby! fame).

Arctic Scavengers: Base Game+HQ+Recon

In the year 2097, the entire Earth was enveloped in a cataclysmic shift in climate, plunging the globe into another ice age. Nearly 90% of the world’s population was eliminated, driving the survivors to band together into loose communities and tribes.

In Arctic Scavengers, you are the leader of a small tribe of survivors. Resources, tools, medicine, and mercenaries are all in scarce supply. You and your tribe are pitted against up to four other tribes in a fight for survival. Build up your tribe, skirmish against other players head-to-head, or even bluff your way to victory. The player with the largest tribe at the end of the game is declared the winner!

As the competing tribes develop and grow, headquarters are established for each tribe thanks to the components in the included HQ expansion. This base camp consists of a Tribal Leader (complete with special abilities) and the potential to construct buildings that can be used strategically during game play. Additionally, the game introduces alternative victory paths, new mercenaries, new tools, and the addition of the "engineering schematics" pile.

As the tribes evolve further and struggle for dominance, information becomes the most valuable currency. In the new world mapped out in the Recon, deception reigns, leading to a need for reconnaissance. This expansion adds new tribe leader roles, new mercenaries, new equipment, and new levels of player interaction (i.e., new ways to make your opponents feel pain).

Arctic Scavengers: Base Game+HQ+Recon comes with a plastic insert to organize all your cards for ease in play setup.

Magic: The Gathering

GAME SYSTEM

This entry is to allow for discussion/rating of the game system as a whole. It is not for a specific product or release. Versions will appear on the individual item pages.

From the official website: In the Magic game, you play the role of a planeswalker—a powerful wizard who fights other planeswalkers for glory, knowledge, and conquest. Your deck of cards represents all the weapons in your arsenal. It contains the spells you know and the creatures you can summon to fight for you.

This is the grandfather of the collectible card game (or CCG) genre. Cards are categorized as common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. Players collect cards and build decks out of their collection.

Players build a deck of cards and duel against an opponent's deck. Players are wizards attempting to reduce their opponent's life total to zero. The first player to reduce his opponent's life to zero (or meet another set win condition) wins the game.

An important part of the game is deck construction, which is done prior to the actual game by selecting what cards are included in a particular deck. There are nearly 20,000 different cards from which to build your deck!

Cards can be lands, which usually generate mana of various colors, or spells, which require a certain amount of mana to be used. Some cards (creatures, artifacts, and enchantments) stay on the board and continue to affect the game, while others have a one-time effect.

Players randomly draw spells to see what they get and can play each turn. Although this limits your choices, there is a lot of strategy in how you play those spells. A robust list of game mechanics, including intricate rules for reactive card play called "the stack," provide for rich tactics and tough choices each turn.

Though traditionally a two-player duel, there are several casual and tournament formats to Magic that allow more players to play.