Hand Management

Raiders of the North Sea

Raiders of the North Sea is set in the central years of the Viking Age. As Viking warriors, players seek to impress the Chieftain by raiding unsuspecting settlements. Players will need to assemble a crew, collect provisions and journey north to plunder gold, iron and livestock. There is glory to be found in battle, even at the hands of the Valkyrie. So gather your warriors, it’s raiding season!

Aim of the Game

The aim of Raiders of the North Sea is to impress the Chieftain by having the most Victory Points (VP) at the game’s end. Victory Points are gained primarily by raiding Settlements, taking Plunder and making Offerings to the Chieftain. How players use their Plunder is also vital to their success. The game ends when either only 1 Fortress raid remains, all Valkyrie are removed, or all Offerings have been made.

Gameplay Overview

Proceeding clockwise from the starting player, each player takes his turn in full. On his turn, a player may choose to Work or Raid. Players continue to take turns until 1 of the 3 end-game conditions has been met. Regardless of choices, each turn follows the same pattern:

1. Place Worker and resolve its action
2. Pick up a different Worker and resolve its action

Working
Having a good Crew and enough provisions are vital to successful raiding. So before making any raids, players will need to do some work to prepare their Crew and collect supplies. This is all done in the Village, at the bottom of the board. There are 8 different buildings, with various actions. Players must first place their one and only Worker in an available building (where there is no Worker present), before picking up a different Worker from a different building (where there is a Worker present).

Raiding
Once players have hired enough Crew and collected Provisions, they may choose to raid on their turn. To raid a Settlement (Harbour, Outpost, Monastery or Fortress), players need to meet 3 requirements. They must have:

1. A large enough Crew.
2. Enough Provisions (and Gold for Monasteries/Fortresses).
3. The required Worker colour.

Raiding offers various ways of scoring (Military Strength, Plunder, Valkyrie, etc.). This is also how Grey and White Workers enter the game.

End of the Game

There are 3 ways the game can end:

1. There is only 1 set of Plunder left in the Fortresses (1 of the 6 Fortress raids remains).
2. The Offering Draw Pile has been emptied.
3. There are no Valkyrie left on the board.

Funny Friends

Each player plays a character who starts the game as a teenager and then must choose the cards that will make his life take shape. He can repeat a school year and get new friends, start smoking, take part in a Bible discussion group and have his first sexual intercourse during Oktoberfest – all very realistic. Every event in the life of a character has some effect on his main characteristics - tobacco addiction, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, wealth, health, sadness, spirituality and wisdom. Excess comes at a price, though, and when a characteristic gets too high, it cancels another one – if you smoke too much, you get thin; if you get too fat, you must stop drinking; if you drink too much you lose your wisdom, and so on – once more, very realistic. During game, you can get friends, and often more, with other player’s characters. This is an important feature in the game, since what happens to you usually affects, in good or bad, your friends, and this is one of the main interaction aspects of the game.

Description from Bruno Faidutti's ideal game library.

Not Alone

It is the 25th century. You are a member of an intergalactic expedition shipwrecked on a mysterious planet named Artemia. While waiting for the rescue ship, you begin to explore the planet but an alien entity picks up your scent and begins to hunt you. You are NOT ALONE! Will you survive the dangers of Artemia?

NOT ALONE is an asymmetrical card game, in which one player (the Creature) plays against the stranded explorers (the Hunted).

If you play as one of the Hunted, you will explore Artemia using Place cards. By playing these and Survival cards, you try to avoid, confuse or distract the Creature until help arrives.

If you play as the Creature, you will stalk and pursue the shipwrecked survivors. By playing your Hunt cards and using the mysterious powers of Artemia, you try to wear down the Hunted and assimilate them to the planet forever.

NOT ALONE is a immersive, thematic card game, where you use guessing, bluffing, hand management, and just a pinch of deck-building to achieve your goal, which is survival for the Hunted... or total assimilation for the Creature!

Honshu

Honshu is a trick-taking, map-building card game set in feudal Japan. Players are lords and ladies of noble houses seeking new lands and opportunities for fame and fortune.

One game of Honshu lasts twelve rounds, and each round is divided into two phases. First, map cards are played in a trick, and the player who played the highest valued card gets to pick first from those cards played. Then the players use the map cards picked to expand their personal maps. Each player must expand their personal maps to maximize their scoring possibilities.

Manipulating your position in the player order is crucial for mastering Honshu.