Political

Early in the history of the United States, slavery was an institution that seemed unmovable but with efforts of men and women across the country, it was toppled. In Freedom: The Underground Railroad, players are working to build up the strength of the Abolitionist movement through the use of notable figures and pivotal events. By raising support for the cause and moving slaves to freedom in Canada, the minds of Americans can be changed and the institution of slavery can be brought down.

Freedom is a card-driven, cooperative game for one to four players in which the group is working for the abolitionist movement to help bring an end to slavery in the United States. The players use a combination of cards, which feature figures and events spanning from Early Independence until the Civil War, along with action tokens and the benefits of their role to impact the game.

Players need to strike the right balance between freeing slaves from plantations in the south and raising funds which are desperately needed to allow the group to continue their abolitionist activities as well as strengthen the cause.

The goal is not easy and in addition to people and events that can have a negative impact on the group's progress, there are also slave catchers roaming the board, reacting to the movements of the slaves on the board and hoping to catch the runaway slaves and send them back to the plantations.

Through careful planning and working together, the group might see an end to slavery in their time.

In City Council each player takes the role of a council member of a newly founded city. The government will select the members of the city council for the first few years until the city rises and flourishes, by which time the most popular member will receive the position of Mayor.

In order to build the city, you and the other councilmen must maintain a low level of pollution, fight crime, create jobs, and sustain an adequate city budget. If you and the others don't keep up the good work, the city project might not succeed, the government will take over, and all players will lose.

As a member of the council, you must also strive to gain the favor of the different political groups who rule the streets of your city. As the game progresses and the city grows larger, more and more political interest groups will try to impose their will on the city by knocking on your office door and asking you for small "favors" in which you will have to act on their behalf. In return, they'll offer you their support and you'll receive victory points for your personal cause, possibly allowing you to become the city's first Mayor.

Liberté covers the French Revolution from 1789 and the meeting of the Estates General to the Directory and Bonaparte’s coup d’état in 1799.
The game is played in four turns. In each turn there will be a variable number of rounds, followed by an election to see which faction becomes the government. There are three factions, the Radicals (red), the Moderates (blue), and the Royalists (white). The most common action is for a player to place faction blocks on the board. He shows he controls these blocks by placing one of his tokens on top of the stack.

The cards are divided into two sets, set 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' deck is used first and tends to favor the moderates and Royalists. Once this deck has been exhausted the 'B' deck comes into play, which tends to favor the radicals.

The election is triggered when all of one type of faction block has been exhausted. The faction blocks will determine which faction forms the next government. Players are attempting to score victory points by having the most influence in the government and opposition. Points can also be picked up in later turns for being the general in charge at a victorious battle, and for winning elections in specific provinces.

Normally the player with the most victory points will win. However, there are two sudden death game end conditions that may alter the outcome. The first is a radical electoral landslide, triggered by the red faction gaining 17 or more votes. The second is successful Royalist counter-revolution, precipitated by Royalist control of seven counter-revolutionary provinces. In both cases, victory is determined by a different set of criteria, in which accrued victory points do not count. The player who is ahead on points must be aware that one mistake could lead to defeat at the hands of the Jacobins or Royalists!

It is likely that you will never have played a game quite like this one and you may find yourself wondering what strategies to employ. Do not despair! Once you have completed your first game you will realize that amongst the apparent chaos of the game of the game there are many opportunities for long-term planning.

Liberté is #6 in the Valley Games Classic Line

Players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king's power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various regions. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights in the form of colored cubes) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of regions. After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner.

In each of the nine rounds, you select one of your 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply).

A turn then consists of selecting one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the castillo - a secretive tower). Normally, you may only place your caballeros into regions adjacent to the one containing the king pawn. The one hard and fast rule in El Grande is that nothing may move into or out of the king's region. One of the five action cards that is always available each round allows you to move the king to a new region. The other four action cards varying from round to round.

The goal is to have a caballero majority in as many regions (and the castillo) as possible during a scoring round. Following the scoring of the castillo, you place any cubes you had stashed there into the region you had secretly indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually according to a table printed in that region. Two-point bonuses are awarded for having sole majority in the region containing your Grande (large cube) and in the region containing the king.

Contains these expansions:

El Grande: Grandissimo
El Grande: Grossinquisitor und Kolonien
El Grande: König & Intrigant
El Grande: König & Intrigant – Unverkäufliche Sonderkarten
El Grande: König & Intrigant – Player's Edition (partialy, 3 of 11 cards)

Allows to play expansions:

Grandissimo
Intrigue & the King
Grand Inquisitor & the Colonies
The King & the Colonies (mixed Intrigue & the King and Grand Inquisitor & the Colonies)

Players represent various office holders in the ruling Junta. Depending upon his office and the various cards he holds, each player has a certain number of votes. These are important as they must first elect El Presidente and then vote on the budget that he proposes. Here's where it can get sticky. El Presidente draws cards face down from the money deck (which varies in denomination from $1 to $3) and must propose a budget for the year, distributing the money as he sees fit amongst the various offices. Of course, loyalty to him is usually rewarded, while those pesky "thorns in his side" are usually cut off completely. The beauty of all this, though, is that El Presidente can — and most always does — keep some of the loot for himself. And since no one but he knows the value of what he drew, no one knows how much he's keeping. Suspicion is always keen.

Players may attempt to assassinate the other players by guessing where they will be from among five locations. Players who successfully assassinate another player take that player's money, as the only safe money is the money that has been deposited in a Swiss bank account, and the only way to get to the bank is to survive the assassination round.

If the players are unhappy, and there is an excuse, they can call for a coup, where the opposition players seek to take control of a majority of the power centers. Rebel players control the forces of the role which they were assigned (e.g. army, navy, air force), and players loyal to El Presidente do the same, seeking to control the strongholds until the rebellion is quelled.

The goal is to amass the greatest wealth secreted away in your Swiss bank account.