mythology

Yggdrasil is a co-operative game in which players are different gods of the Norse mythology: Odin, Thor, Tyr, Frey, Heimdall and Frejya. Monsters, the wolf Fenrir, the huge serpent Jormungand, the Fire Giant Surt, the Goddess of the Dead Hel, the traitor Loki and the cosmic dragon Nidhogg are moving forward in Asgard inescapably and announce the impending coming of chaos and destruction on the world tree Yggdrasil. Together the players have to resist to the impending coming of the Evil forces in Asgard, the gods' world.

Game flow
During his turn, the active player first draws an Enemy card, corresponding to one of the six Evil creatures. The corresponding counter is moved one space forward in Asgard and the associated effect applies. Then the active player performs three different actions among the nine at his disposal in order to resist to the advance:

Ask for the Elves' help
Get a Weapon from the Dwarves
Send the Valkyries looking for Vikings' souls on the mankind world Midgard
Fight the Giants and try to gather the parts of a magic rune
Negotiate with the Vanir
Get rid of the Fire Giants who invade Midgard
Get the Vikings back from Hel's world
Exchange forces with another god
Fight against the Enemies in Asgard

Each player, depending on the god he plays, has a specific power that allows him to perform some actions better. All of these actions have to be used in the right moment or the victory will be unreachable. The players will need cleverness, calm and team spirit to challenge the game.

Another challenging game of Gods, men, and their monuments from Reiner Knizia!

The game spans 1500 years of Egyptian history. The priests of Ra seek to extend their power and fame. They do this by directing farmers, warriors, merchants, and scribes. They cause others to build granaries, fortresses, markets, and libraries. And they erect a gigantic pyramid for the glory of the Sun God Ra!

This game is a rework of Ra, with most of the same rules but completely different scoring tiles that come up for auction, some of which are two-sided, requiring players to choose which side they will make available for themselves... and for their opponents.

Board & Pieces: The Board has 2 tracks, effectively time and auction. Also there is a space between the two track for a spare bidding tile. In a bag are all the Collectible tiles, some double sided, consisting of Sun of Ra, Priests, Plagues, People, Buildings & Pyramids. Bidding Tiles, used to win auctions. Auction Token, used to show active player to maintain play order.

Play: The game is played over 3 epochs (rounds). Each round ends when the Sun of Ra (time) track is filled.
Any non Sun tile is placed on the Auction track, in the case of double sided tiles the active player decides which side to use. Auctions can either be called by a player (instead of drawing a tile), or automatic when the auction track is filled. Each player may make one open bid, or pass. The winner takes the tiles in the auction track and swaps his bidding tile with the one in the middle. If all players pass (for example to avoid Plague tiles) then these tiles are taken out of play.

Scoring: At the each epoch VPs, or Ankhs, are awarded for most of a type or a variety of People & Buildings. Penalties are awarded for Plagues (which can be offset by a number of Priests). People and Priest tiles are then taken out of play, Buildings, Pyramids & Plagues are carried over into the next epoch, so can be scored again. At the end of the 3rd epoch, Pyramids are also scored by construction height and tiles used. Ankh collections are now converted to points. Finally a bonus & penalty is also awarded depending on a players bidding tiles.

From BGG News (Eric Martin): "In Pantheon, players enact the comings and goings of various peoples in the Mediterranean: Egyptians, Romans, Iberians, Germans, etc. They accumulate as many raw materials as possible to build monuments to the gods, but the ways of the gods are unpredictable.

"On a turn, a player has a number of options. He can choose to travel with his people by using the big wooden footprint piece, then smaller footpints to mark their path and block other players. He can buy materials to worship the gods: dancers, farm produce, impressive temples, or prayers. He can use these offerings to take a god token, which may grant him special abilities as well as victory points. Finally, he may build monuments that are worth victory points at the end of the game. The game lasts six rounds with two scoring periods."

Zeus, the greatest of all gods, has decided to build a universe that he can gaze upon from high atop Mount Olympus. He has enlisted the help of several unknown gods to do this for him - and they have 5 days to finish the job. The god who performs the best while building this universe will be elevated in status and receive admission into Mount Olympus.

The game progresses over the course of 5 rounds or "Days". Each day has three phases (a morning, an afternoon, and an evening). During these phases, players will select actions such as making planets, placing planets, etc. After these three phases are completed, night happens in which scoring occurs and Zeus gazes upon the work of the players. Players receive Prestige Points for things such as having the most planets in an orbit and for constellations (connections of planets) they have built.

At the end of the 5th day, whoever has earned the most prestige wins.

The players are gods at the dawn of time, creating earth's landscape and inhabiting it with people. They can command the creation and destruction of continents and the rise and fall of civilizations.

As gods, players seek to gain followers among the civilizations. They offer those followers luxuries, and oversee the building of pyramids and temples on their continents. In the end, the god with the most loyal, wealthy, and powerful followers will become ruler of gods, and wins the game...

Play involves placing triangular tiles to form islands, coastlines and continents. Players can also replace tiles to reform the topography of the planet.

Each civilization is represented by a color, and once a civilization is “born” a player can gain worshipers in that civilization, which in turn may score points for that player in various ways.

The placement or replacement of tiles may result in civilizations migrating, or going to war with other civilizations. These things are resolved by the various icons on the tiles.

The game is fairly simple, but offers quite a lot of tactical possibilities.