Memory

First published in today's form by Ravensburger in February 1959.

There are versions known from Japan in the 16th century - matching pictures painted on shells. Known as Awase or Kai-awase.

In USA and England known as Pairs, Pelmanism, or Concentration. But these are played with simple playing cards.

In Switzerland was a domino-like game named Zwillingsspiel with the same roots.

In Czech Republic this type of game is known as Pexeso. It usually consists of 32 pairs of square cards. There are thousands of Pexeso sets with different themes.

There are hundreds of different Memory games - starting with 24 cards for the youngest, with all kinds of animals, art, about countries, also a gay and a "Breast Memory", several free giveaway Memory games published by companies.

The most famous publisher is Ravensburger - they have the rights for the brand name Memory.

The game's theme is based on answering questions relating to popular advertising logos and brands. Players move their pawns around a spiraling board for answering questions correctly relating to a logo, until they get to the Winning Zone at the centre of the board. Movement depends on the successful answering of questions to proceed to the next coloured area on the board.

Different countries have different versions of the game, with many local brands represented in each edition.

There are 400 cards with 4 questions on each card - blue, green, yellow and red.

The winning player is the first person to get around the board by answering the most questions correctly. They then win by answering all the questions on a card (blue, green, yellow and red question) whilst in the Winning Zone.

Game play alternates as players take it in turn to ask questions and move around the board.

In Alchemists, two to four budding alchemists compete to discover the secrets of their mystical art. Points can be earned in various ways, but most points are earned by publishing theories – correct theories, that is — and therein lies the problem.

The game is played in six rounds. At the beginning of the round, players choose their play order. Those who choose to play later get more rewards.
Players declare all their actions by placing cubes on the various action spaces, then each action space is evaluated in order. Players gain knowledge by mixing ingredients and testing the results using a smartphone app (iOS, Android, and also Windows) that randomizes the rules of alchemy for each new game. And if the alchemists are longing for something even more special, they can always buy magical artifacts to get an extra push. There are 9 of them (different for each game) and they are not only very powerful, but also very expensive. But money means nothing, when there's academic pride at stake! And the possession of these artifacts will definitely earn you some reputation too. Players can also earn money by selling potions of questionable quality to adventurers, but money is just a means to an end. The alchemists don't want riches, after all. They want respect, and respect usually comes from publishing theories.

During play, players' reputations will go up and down. After six rounds and a final exhibition, reputation will be converted into points. Points will also be scored for artifacts and grants. Then the secrets of alchemy are revealed and players score points or lose points based on whether their theories were correct. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.

Flavor text:
Mandrake root and scorpion tail; spongy mushroom and warty toad — these are the foundations of the alchemist's livelihood, science, and art.

But what arcane secrets do these strange ingredients hide? Now it is time to find out. Mix them into potions and drink them to determine their effects — or play it safe and test the concoction on a helpful assistant! Gain riches selling potions to wandering adventurers and invest these riches in powerful artifacts. As your knowledge grows, so will your reputation, as you publish your theories for all to see. Knowledge, wealth, and fame can all be found in the murky depths of the alchemist's cauldron.

Space Cadets: Resistance Is Mostly Futile is the first expansion for the original Space Cadets game.

A variety of new missions, map obstacles, and enemies are included to challenge both novice and veteran crews. Even missions for just two players! Blast parasites, save a space station and stop the mighty Star Kraken, an enemy unlike any you have faced before.

Also Cadets, be sure to welcome your new crew mate, the Science Officer! Any difficulty can be bested with one of his helpful inventions... If only they weren't made of parts of the ship.

Survive lasers and tentacles and the well-meaning Science Officer tearing apart your ship and prove that you deserve the title of a true Space Cadet!

Players in Mascarade start with six coins and a randomly dealt character card. Characters stay face up just long enough for players to more or less memorize them, then are turned face down. Your goal is to be the first player to hold 13 coins, and while you start nearly halfway to that goal, you can go down just as surely as you can go up!

On a turn you take one of three actions:

1) Announce your character: Claim the power of a certain character and take the associated action. You don't have to have that character card in front of you to take this action, but if someone else says that they're that character and reveals the card to prove it, that player takes the action instead while you lose one coin to the tribunal.

2) Swap cards or not: Take another player's character card along with yours, place them under the table, shuffle them around a bit, then give one card back to the other player while keeping one for yourself. You (presumably) know whether you changed characters and can have some idea of who you are now, but that other player might be in the dark.

3) Secretly look at your character: Look at your character card to make sure of who you are.

Play continues until one player obtains 13 coins and wins!

Mascarade includes more character cards than the number of players, so not all characters will be used in each game. The rules suggest that you use certain characters in your first games, but once you know the game, you can try many other distributions. The first edition of Mascarade contains 13 characters. The beggar (woman) has no special ability. Bruno Faidutti says on his blog: "...she has no ability so far. I always like to find blank cards in a game, for which I can imagine my own effects. Here, the card is not blank – it has a picture and a name, but you can devise its effect, and I'm sure there'll be some prize for the best idea."