variable player powers

In Blood Bound, a deduction game played in 15-30 Minutes, players assume the roles of members of two clans – the brutal, animalistic warriors of the Clan of the Beast and the graceful, deadly members of the Clan of the Rose – and (with an odd number of players) the human inquisition. Disguised by a secret identity, they try to kidnap the Elder of the opposing clan or give their lives for the benefit of their own Elder. Malicious attacks, aimed indiscretions, and assistance from others will slowly uncover the truth: Who fights for whom? And who is the Elder?

At the start of the game, each player knows three things:

Who he is and to which clan he belongs
That a few other players are his allies, while everyone else is the enemy of both him and his clan
The clan to which one of his neighbors belongs – although some characters can lie about their clan identity

Now the players have to figure out who the Elder of the opposing team is (if there is one) and capture him. To do this, players need to attack, negotiate and deduce, with an attacked player being required to reveal information, such as his rank or clan affiliation. Each player has an ability unique to his character, and this ability can be used only at the moment that he reveals his rank. The Assassin forces players to suffer wounds, for example, while the Guardian protects a player of the character's choice.

In the end, if you capture your rival clan's Elder, you win – but if you capture the wrong vampire, you've fallen into the enemy's trap and lose the game.

Players begin with a ship, and travel from planet to planet, hiring crew, purchasing ship upgrades, and picking up cargo to deliver (jobs) all in the form of cards. Some crew and cargo are illegal, and can be confiscated if your ship is boarded by an alliance vessel. Travelling from planet to planet requires turning over "full burn" cards, one for each space moved. Most do nothing, but you can also encounter an Alliance ship, have a breakdown, or even run into Reavers. Completing jobs gets you cash. First player to complete the story goals wins.

Game description from the publisher:

In Firefly: The Game – based on the popular Firefly television series created by Joss Whedon – players captain their own Firefly-class transport ship, traveling the 'Verse with a handpicked crew of fighters, mechanics and other travelers. As a captain desperate for work, players are compelled to take on any job — so long as it pays. Double-dealing employers, heavy-handed Alliance patrols, and marauding Reavers are all in a day's work for a ship's captain at the edge of the 'Verse. Firefly: The Game is a high-end thematic tabletop boardgame from Gale Force Nine (GF9) and the first in a series of tabletop hobby board games and miniatures games from GF9 set in the Firefly Universe.

Catacombs is an action/dexterity-based adventure board game. One player controls the Overseer, controlling the monsters of the catacombs; the other player(s) control the four heroes who cooperatively try to defeat the monsters and eventually the Catacomb Lord. Each of the heroes has special abilities that must also be used effectively if they are to prevail.

The main mechanism of Catacombs is for the players to flick wooden discs representing the monsters and the heroes. Contact with an opposing piece inflicts damage, but missiles, spells, and other special abilities can cause other effects. When all of the monsters of a room have been cleared, the heroes can move further into the catacomb. Items and equipment upgrades can be purchased from the Merchant with gold taken from fallen monsters. The Catacomb Lord is the final danger that the heroes must defeat to win the game; conversely, the Overseer wins if all of the heroes are defeated. The game is designed for quick set-up and fast play within 30 to 60 minutes.

From the publisher, Avalon Hill:

Ahoy, Mateys!

That scurvy villain, the Pirate King, has stolen the Sea Hammer - only the pride of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy - and taken to the seas like the dog he is! It’s up to you to commission a brave officer of the Royal Navy to pursue that black-hearted cur, catch him, and turn him into shark bait. But he’s a rascal, that Pirate King, so you’ll need to recruit one of the dregs of the Queen’s dungeons because sometimes it takes a pirate to catch a pirate. Iffn’ you discover where that swab is hiding, you’ll need to beat the Pirate King in a duel or acquire enough gold to buy back the ship. Act with haste because you’re not alone in this hunt. Whoever saves the Sea Hammer first wins the Queen’s undying gratitude - and the game!

Here's a description of the game from Timothy Rose, who saw a presentation on the game at GenCon:

The "S&S" pirate game is a "track" based game (think "Talisman" more than "Monopoly" ). Each player controls two characters, a "hero" and a "scoundrel" type, and the goal is to retrieve the Queen's flagship from the Pirate King. Of course, each character has different ways to do that, either by derring-do and combat or by more underhanded methods (if you have enough gold, you could even BRIBE the Pirate King to get the ship back!). They showed the box design, pretty standard pirate/cutlass stuff, but nice art.

This game of tactics, strategy and confrontation is set in a fantasy world after the Great Depression. Each player runs a company of special agents, and their agents become teams in threes. The aim of the game is transporting the crystals and leftover artifacts (guns and transporting means!) from the mine to your own campsite and from the campsite to your home. The transport will succeed only if the team is strong and fast enough, and if you can use the transporting capacity of your men optimally. However, nobody is left alone with their problems. The competition and the robbers ensure interaction and surprises…

The basic game consists of 5 rounds. Players try gaining crystals and artifacts from the central mining project (bidding for the best bunch of crystals), then in the tactically most important phase they choose their 3-card "teams" to take actions in order of their speed. On your turn you can go to the mine to take crystals to your camp; you can attack others' camps for crystals and you can transport your crystals home or to the bank from your camp. You can also collect or use the artifacts found: they can help in increasing your transporting capacity or battle power, but if you don't use them they can mean lots of points in the end of the game. At the end of the game, whoever has the most points (from crystals and artifacts at home and points from the bank) wins.

Krysis website and rules