pattern building

Your task in the tile-laying game Sanssouci is to create a flower garden for the world-famous Sanssouci Palace. Competing against up to three other landscape architects, you'll have your own garden layout game board on which you'll build rose gardens and vineyard terraces, labyrinths and fountains – but not just anywhere, mind you. No, the landscapers must meet certain building requirements, and unfortunately you won't always have at hand everything that you might need.

In game terms, each player has a personal garden that's divided into rows and columns; each row shows a color, while each column shows one of nine garden elements, such as the wells or a pavilion. Players start with one noble at the top of each column. A shared tile supply board has five rows – with colored spaces matching the colors on each player board – and two columns, which are unlabeled. At the start of the game, ten tiles are placed on this supply board; each tile depicts one of the nine garden elements.

Each turn, a player plays one of his two cards in hand, which determines the tile he can take from the supply, e.g. take a pavilion tile, take a tile from the red or gray spaces, etc. The player has only a single card that lets him take any tile – but if he plays a card showing a garden element that isn't present, then he can instead take any tile! The player must place this tile on his player board in the column that matches the image on the tile and the row that matches the color from which the tile was taken. If this space is already filled, he flips the tile to show the gardener on the other side, then places this tile on any free space in the same row or the same column. After placing the tile, he may move one of his nobles along a path of placed tiles as long as the noble ends up in the same column in which it started, but on a lower row. The player scores points equal to the row reached.

The player then refills the supply and draws a new card. The game ends after 18 rounds. Each player then receives bonus points for each completed row and column. Furthermore, each player has received two order cards at the start of the game, each of which shows one of the nine columns; each player receives bonus points for the row reached by the noble in that column. The player with the most points wins.

Cube Quest is a dexterity game in which lightweight hollow cubic dice are flicked across custom rubber mats. Cubes that leave the mats are defeated. Play alternates until someone wins by defeating the enemy king. Cubes also risk defeat in enemy territory; if they land "shadow" side up, they have been captured and must be rolled, like dice, to determine whether they escape.

The cubes have different strengths and special abilities, such as taking extra flicks, immobilizing enemy cubes, reviving lost cubes, and hiding before strategic re-positioning.

The game allows for custom army building using a simple point system. Pre-battle setup involves a tactical selection of cubes worth a total of 40 points maximum to fight alongside their king. Each player also chooses how to position their cubes, creating individual attack and defense formations and structures!

Tic Tac Ku is played on a game board which is a 3 x 3 grid of Tic-Tac-Toe boards. In the simple game, the object is to get a Tic-Tac-Toe on any of the 9 boards. In the advanced game, the object is to get 5 Tic-Tac-Toes.

Need a jolt to get your day off to a great start? Jump into the game of Caffeine Rush for a latte fun! You share a workspace with your fellow baristas and orders are flying in fast and furious. Grab the ingredients you need to pump out orders and rake in the tips! But be careful — if someone else finishes your work, they'll get the tips!

As each drink is served, you'll pull a new order and shout it out. You will definitely need a double shot of espresso to compete in this hilarious game of battling baristas!

The abstract game of Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six different colors. There is no board, players simply use an available flat surface.

Players begin the game with six blocks. The start player places blocks of a single matching attribute (color or shape but not both) on the table. Thereafter, a player adds blocks adjacent to at least one previously played block. The blocks must all be played in a line and match, without duplicates, either the color or shape of the previous block.

Players score one point for each block played plus all blocks adjacent. It is possible for a block to score in more than one direction. If a player completes a line containing all six shapes or colors, an additional six points are scored. The player then refills his hand to six blocks.

The game ends when the draw bag is depleted and one player plays all of his remaining blocks, earning a six point bonus. The player with the high score wins.