Organizations: Game Designers of North Carolina

It's Restaurant Week in Bistro Bay! Restaurants are competing in food challenges, while also planning an epic meal to impress a celebrity critic. As one of 1-5 players in Critter Kitchen, you'll send your chefs into the city to gather ingredients to create amazing meals and demonstrate that your restaurant is the best in town.

Each round, new random ingredients are placed in locations throughout the city. Players simultaneously and secretly plan which locations to send their three chefs to, hoping to collect the best ingredients. Some chefs are fast, but can gather only one item, while others can carry three items but arrive late. Rumors are also available at locations and provide guidance on what the critic desires.

Challenges revealed in rounds 1-6 offer the players opportunities to earn stars for crafting dishes with specific ingredient requirements. After round 7, the players must create an epic meal to impress the celebrity critic and cater to their appetites. A multitude of different critics, rumors, and restaurateurs mean every game is fresh!

—description from the publisher

Astronauts love floating in space, but not all by themselves. Tether them together so they don't drift through the galaxy alone.

Each card in Tether has a two-digit number in the top corner, and when you rotate the card 180 degrees, the number in the opposite corner has the same two digits, but the positions are swapped. For instance the card with a 68 in one corner has 86 in the opposite corner. Opponents sit across the table from each other, which means that when you play a card each player sees a different number.

You can connect astronauts together if they have consecutive numbers. One player (or team) connects astronauts together horizontally on the table and the other connects them vertically. Since each side sees a different number and connects in a different direction, but is playing with the same astronauts, you have an asymmetric puzzle with a lot of interaction between players.

—description from the designer

Flags of all colors dance in the wind as Navirians converge to Trawl for the long-awaited Banner Festival.

Generate the most profits for your trading house by selling goods, befriending the right suppliers, and making bets at the watercraft race. Opportunities abound in the floating market, but only the keenest trader will prevail!

Each turn, aim to play the highest, mid, or lowest Merchandise card to unlock different actions.
Utilize multi-use cards in dynamic trick-taking bouts to gain an advantage over your rival merchants.
There are numerous paths to victory, but reading your opponents and timing your moves is the key to success!

All set in the glorious world of Tidal Blades created by Mr. Cuddington.

—description from the publisher

In Cartagena, Colombia, the doors speak. Not with words, but with the grandiose knockers that adorn them. In Spanish colonial times, the knockers announced your job and your social status with the design and detail. Lions, lizards, sea creatures, and hands proclaimed the homes' occupants as soldiers, nobles, fishermen, and clergy.

Aldabas is a puzzley tableau-builder in which you you seek to fill your neighborhood with the most influential citizens. On each turn, players will take actions to build their neighborhood or increase their wealth. Clever placement will unlock bonuses, but only if you build in the right way.

Those who keep the best company (and the fullest coffers) will surely be held in highest regard.

—description from the publisher

In HOLI: Festival of Colors, players gather to celebrate the end of winter as they spread colorful powder on each other, dancing and celebrating new beginnings.

Mechanisms & Features
Area Control - Colored powder tokens spread across the board and onto other players, covering the board in the pattern selected
3-Tier Board - Players ascend to have their powder fall from above, giving up victory points for better control
Puzzle-like Action Selection - Color cards determine the pattern colored powder will fly in, giving players room to select the pattern that works best for them.
Variable Scoring Condition - Each game can have slightly different scoring conditions, adding depth and replayability