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No Thanks!
It sounds so simple, and it is: Take a card or pay one chip. If you take the card you get its points, but points are bad. But you also get the chips that others have played, and that's good (each chip nullifies one point). So say, "No thanks!" and play your chips, but watch out: When you're out of chips that card's all yours.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 7
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Amigo Spiel |
Card Game |
2004 |
1 |
|
Tsuro
Build your own Path without your opponents steering you in the wrong direction-or off the board! Tsuro is the quick-playing game in which directions can change as easily as the game plays. The rules are simple: You place your stones, select your tiles, and attempt to build a safe Path for your journey. The Paths of other players cross and connect, so the choices you make affect all the journeys across the board. Stay on the right Path-your journey begins here.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 8
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Calliope Games |
Abstract, Fantasy |
2004 |
1 |
|
Ingenious
Think outside the square! Ingenious is an abstract tile-placement game in which the players take turns placing tiles in the shape of two connected hexagons into a hexagonal grid on the board. Each tile has two colored symbols on it. Players earn points in a specific color for each line of matching colored symbols that they extend when they place a tile. A player's final score is determined by his or her lowest scoring color, not the highest. The winner is the player whose lowest score is the highest compared to the other players' lowest scores, and not the player with the highest scoring color overall.
The game includes 120 domino-style tiles, each consisting of two hexagons connected along one side. Each hexagon has one of six colored symbols in it, with most tiles having two different colored symbols and some having two of the same colored symbol. Each player has a rack with six tiles on it. During his or her turn, each player places one tile from his or her rack onto two empty hexagonal spaces on the game board. For each of the two hexagons composing this tile, the player scores one point in the hexagon's color for each already-placed hexagon of the same color that radiates outward in a straight line from one of the placed hexagon's five sides. If a player's score in a color reaches 18, he or she immediately takes another turn. At the end of the turn, the player refills his or her rack to six tiles.
When no more tiles can be placed on the game…
Minimum Age: 10
Minimum Players: 1
Maximum Players: 4
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Thames & Kosmos |
Abstract |
2004 |
1 |
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Domaine
In Domaine, players form domaines by placing walls on the modular board to enclose territory. Completed domaines can then be expanded, even into your opponents'. Protect domaines by placing knights, which resist expansion.
Actions are taken by playing cards that have a cost associated with them. Gain money by selling cards and controlling mines. Sold cards can be acquired by other players.
Players score points based on the quantity and type of terrain enclosed in their domaines, as well as by controlling many mines of a single type. The winner is the first player to cross a specific point threshold or the player with the most points when the card deck runs out.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 4
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Mayfair Games |
Medieval, Territory Building |
2003 |
1 |
|
Ideology: 2nd Edition
Ideology is a 2-5 player game where each player symbolizes one of the 20th Century's most powerful Ideologies -- Capitalism, Islamic Fundamentalism, Imperialism, Communism, or Fascism. Starting with one global region completely under its sway, each Ideology attempts to influence and control the independent regions of the earth.
Each Ideology will use economic, cultural, and military influence to bring countries under control. If a player has influence in a country in which you have influence, you can both engage in economic, cultural, and military conflict (depending on your diplomatic stance toward each other) to knock out your opponent's influence. You can also purchase Advancements like Propaganda, Tactics, etc. to make it harder for an opponent to conflict you or to make it easier for you to influence a country.
The goal is to posses a Global Influence of 12 or more.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
Political |
2003 |
1 |
|
R-Eco
You are garbage collectors whose task is to place recycled goods in their proper waste disposal facility. But you have to watch how much garbage you carry or you will overload your truck and then have to dump the excess materials illegally - not a good thing if you want to become the only authorized garbage collector in the city.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
Card Game, Environmental |
2003 |
1 |
|
Unexpected Treasures
Players set out on a mission to collect old furniture from a bulky waste collection site and to turn a profit by selling their recovered goods to paying customers. It's first come, first served, but players are only able to take a few items home at a time. And they have to be wary of thieves, who are out on the prowl just waiting to steal the collected goods from the players' homes.
Minimum Age: 13
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 6
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Rio Grande Games |
Family Game |
2002 |
1 |
|
Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico players assume the roles of colonial governors on the island of Puerto Rico. The aim of the game is to amass victory points by shipping goods to Europe or by constructing buildings. Each player uses a separate small board with spaces for city buildings, plantations, and resources. Shared between the players are three ships, a trading house, and a supply of resources and doubloons. The resource cycle of the game is that players grow crops which they exchange for points or doubloons. Doubloons can then be used to buy buildings, which allow players to produce more crops or give them other abilities. Buildings and plantations do not work unless they are manned by colonists.
During each round, players take turns selecting a role card from those on the table (such as "Trader" or "Builder"). When a role is chosen, every player gets to take the action appropriate to that role. The player that selected the role also receives a small privilege for doing so - for example, choosing the "Builder" role allows all players to construct a building, but the player who chose the role may do so at a discount on that turn. Unused roles gain a doubloon bonus at the end of each turn, so the next player who chooses that role gets to keep any doubloon bonus associated with it. This encourages players to make use of all the roles throughout a typical course of a game.
Puerto Rico uses a variable phase order mechanic, where a "governor" token is passed clockwise to…
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Rio Grande Games |
City Building, Economic, Farming |
2002 |
1 |
|
Jungle Smart
Jungle Smart – one of many names under which this design has been released – is a simultaneous puzzle solving game. Three animals stand on two platforms, and you are trying to change their configuration to match a target card by issuing commands like "Ma", which moves the bottom animal on one platform to the top, or "Ni" which swaps the top two animals on the two platforms. As a result, the game is a race to shout out multi-syllable commands such as the eponymous "MaNiKi", or "LoNiMaSo". The first player to do so correctly wins the target card, and whoever collects the most cards wins!
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 1
Maximum Players: 10
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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FoxMind |
Animals, Family Game, Puzzle, Real-time |
2002 |
1 |
|
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers Board Game
Thousands upon thousands of years before the first bricks were laid to build the mighty city of Carcassonne, the area was settled by a primitive people. These people hunted wild animals, gathered berries, and caught fish to ensure their survival. Prehistoric cave paintings and archaeological treasures give us an understanding of the lives of these prosperous hunters and gatherers.
As in other Carcassonne games, players take turns placing tiles to create the landscape and placing meeples to score points from the map they're creating. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Instead of cities, roads, and farms, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers has forests, rivers, lakes, and meadows. Players' meeples can represent hunters (when placed in the meadows), gatherers (in a forest), or fishermen (on a river segment). They also have huts, which can be placed on rivers or lakes to get fish from the entire river system.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Renegade Game Studios |
Prehistoric |
2002 |
1 |
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Hive
Hive is a boardless, strategic game for 2 players ages 8 and up. The object of the game is to surround your opponent's queen bee while trying to block your opponent from doing the same to your queen bee.
Each player has 11 tiles, all in all, representing 5 different insects. The players take turns, either choosing to add a tile to the hive or moving a tile in the hive.
Each tile has a unique way of moving (like in chess) and resembles the movement of the insect depicted on the tile. For instance, the grasshopper is the only tile which can jump.
Hive is a fun game to play because of its simple rules, yet challenging for its depth. Hive enhances each player's skills of strategic planning, tactical thinking and spatial vision. To win, you must play both the offense (surround your opponent's bee) and the defense (to protect your queen bee).
A nice decorative storage bag makes it easy to carry, store and play anywhere.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 2
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Gen Four Two Games |
Abstract, Strategy |
2001 |
2 |
|
Babel
In ancient times, monarchs built temples to demonstrate their wealth. The highest temple belonged to the wealthiest monarch. In this two-player game by Uwe Rosenberg, you are one of these long-forgotten monarchs. With the help of various nations, your temples will grow more and more beautiful, reaching ever closer to the sky. But beware of your opponent and the nations on his side, for they will want to destroy your temples and convince your own people to change sides...
So, who will be the greatest monarch?
Minimum Age: 10
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 16
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
Ancient, Card Game, City Building |
2000 |
1 |
|
Taj Mahal
Master the dance of intrigue and compete for the favor of the Grand Mogul.
Only the best leaders can carry India into a new age. While the Grand Mogul tours the twelve provinces of India, you must prove that you are worthy of the responsibility. Master the dance of intrigue to win the approval of the Grand Mogul, the loyalty of his advisors, and the wealth of the provinces. Choose your battles wisely, as the Grand Mogul may be more open to your influence in the next province you visit.
While visiting the provinces, you?ll have the chance to influence the court and the Grand Mogul himself. Strategically play your Influence cards or choose to withdraw, letting your competitors exhaust their resources as they fight for control. At the end of a visit to a province, players will compare cards and symbols, seeing who spread their influence the best to each member of the court, swaying them to their side.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
Bluffing, Political |
2000 |
1 |
|
Blokus
Stake your claim and protect your territory with the Blokus game! It takes less than a minute to learn, but offers endless strategy and fun challenges for the whole family. Each player gets a set of 21 pieces – in red, blue, green, or yellow – then takes turns placing them on the board. There’s just one rule: each piece you play must touch at least one other piece of the same color, but only at the corners! The goal is to fit the most pieces on the board. The game ends when no more pieces can be placed down, and the player with the lowest number remaining wins!
Minimum Age: 5
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 4
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Mattel Games |
Abstract, Territory Building |
2000 |
1 |
|
Princes of Florence
Players attract artists and scholars trying to become the most prestigious family in Florence. Each player is given a palace grid and reference chart and attempts to gain the most victory points after seven rounds. Scoring victory points can be done in a variety of ways although most will be earned by playing profession cards to generate work points. There are a variety of professions such as astronomers, organists and architects. Each is attracted to a particular combination of building, landscape feature, and social freedom. The more the player can match these preferences then the more work points are generated. If a player satisfies the minimum requirement of work points, which increases each round, then the work can be created and the player can then trade the work points for cash and/or victory points.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Rio Grande Games |
City Building, Renaissance |
2000 |
1 |
|
Carcassonne
Each game of Carcassonne reveals a unique environment as tiles form a landscape of cities, roads, fields, and monasteries. Claim these features with your followers to win the game.
Carcassonne is a tile placement game where players collectively construct the area around the medieval French city of Carcassonne while competing to place followers on various features and score the most points. First published in 2000, the game's accessible yet deep design has attracted a wide fan base and led to the development of numerous expansions and standalone titles in the Carcassonne line.
Minimum Age: 7
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
Family Game |
2000 |
2 |
|
Lost Cities
Who will discover the ancient civilizations?
Two explorers embark on research journeys to remote corners of the world: the Himalayan mountains, the Central American rainforest, the Egyptian desert, a mysterious volcano, and the bottom of the sea. As the cards are played, the expedition routes take shape and the explorers earn points. The most daring adventurers make bets on the success of their expeditions. The explorer with the highest score after three rounds of expeditions wins. The rules of the game are simple, but beware: The lost cities hold many unseen mysteries!
Minimum Age: 10
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 2
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Thames & Kosmos |
Card Game, Exploration |
1999 |
1 |
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Ra
Ra is an auction and set-collection game with an Ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn players are able to purchase lots of tiles with their bidding tiles (suns). Once a player has used up his or her suns, the other players continue until they do likewise, which may set up a situation with a single uncontested player bidding on tiles before the end of the round occurs. Tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round (epoch), or give points after the final round. The game lasts for three "epochs" (rounds). The game offers a short learning curve, and experienced players find it both fast-moving and a quick play.
Minimum Age: 14
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Alea |
Ancient, Mythology |
1999 |
1 |
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Chinatown
New York in the 1960s. A new wave of Chinese immigrants is moving into Chinatown. The adoption of the new immigration act has launched the district into a demographic boom! It now reaches Canal Street to the north and Bowery Street to the east. Arriving by the thousands, the immigrants seek to buy buildings, establish businesses, and fulfill the American Dream! Take a bite of the Big Apple and use your talents to acquire the most extraordinary fortune in America in Chinatown!
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Z-Man Games |
City Building, Economic |
1999 |
1 |
|
Paths of Glory
They called it the Great War. In over four years of titanic struggle, the ancient Europe of Kings and Emperors tore itself to pieces, giving birth to our own violent modern age. The bloody battles fought in the trenches of the Western Front, the icy plains of Poland, the mountains of the Balkans, and the deserts of Arabia, shaped the world we know today. We are all orphans of the Great War.
Paths of Glory: The First World War, designed by six-time Charles S. Roberts Award winner, Ted Raicer, allows players to step into the shoes of the monarchs and marshals who triumphed and bungled from 1914 to 1918. As the Central Powers you must use the advantage of interior lines and the fighting skill of the Imperial German Army to win your rightful ''place in the sun.'' As the Entente Powers (Allies) you must bring your greater numbers to bear to put an end to German militarism and ensure this is the war ''to end all wars.'' Both players will find their generalship and strategic abilities put to the test as Paths of Glory's innovative game systems let you recreate all the dramatic events of World War I.
Minimum Age: 14
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 2
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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GMT Games |
Wargame, World War I |
1999 |
1 |
|
Fluxx
The latest and greatest version of the card game with ever changing rules! Easier than ever with just the four classic card types that fans the world over have come to know and love. It starts out simple: draw one card and play one card - but New Rule cards quickly make things chaotic.
Even the object of the game will often change as you play, as players swap out one Goal card for another. Can you achieve World Peace before someone changes the goal to Bread and Chocolate?
It all begins with one basic rule: Draw one card, Play one card. You start with a hand of three cards... add the card you drew to your hand, and then choose one card to play, following the directions written on your chosen card. As cards are drawn and played from the deck, the rules of the game change from how many cards are drawn, played or even how many cards you can hold at the end of your turn.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 6
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Looney Labs |
Card Game |
1997 |
1 |
|
Tigris & Euphrates
Regarded by many as Reiner Knizia's masterpiece, Tigris & Euphrates is set in the ancient fertile crescent with players building civilizations through tile placement. Players are given four different leaders: farming, trading, religion, and government. The leaders are used to collect victory points in these same categories. However, your score at the end of the game is the number of points in your weakest category, which encourages players not to get overly specialized. Conflict arises when civilizations connect on the board, i.e., external conflicts, with only one leader of each type surviving such a conflict. Leaders can also be replaced within a civilization through internal conflicts.
Starting in the Mayfair edition from 2008, Tigris & Euphrates included a double-sided game board and extra components for playing an advanced version of the game. This "ziggurat expansion", initially released as a separate item in Germany for those who already owned the base game, is a special monument that extends across five spaces of the board. The monument can be built if a player has a cross of five civilization tokens of the same color by discarding those five tokens and replacing them with the ziggurat markers, placing a ziggurat tower upon the middle tile. The five ziggurat markers cannot be destroyed. All rules regarding monuments apply to the ziggurat…
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 4
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Mayfair Games |
Ancient, Civilization, Territory Building |
1997 |
1 |
|
Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
This game uses the very popular card system which first appeared in Avalon Hill's We the People game to detail the struggle between Carthage's Hannibal and the Roman Republic in approximately 200 BC.
Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage is an asymmetrical card driven game for 2 players set in times of epic struggle between ancient Rome and Carthage. It presents a conflict between two super-powers of Antiquity from classical Clausewitzian perspective, according to which a power only reverts to military operations when there is no other way to achieve the goal: political dominance.
Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage has been designed by one of the most acclaimed designers in the World, Mark Simonitch. Players use Strategy Cards for multiple purposes: moving generals, levying new troops, reinforcing existing armies, gaining political control of the provinces involved in the war, and introducing historical events. When two armies meet on the battlefield, a second set of cards, called Battle Cards, are used to determine the winner. Ultimately both players seek victory by dominating both fronts: military and political.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 2
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Valley Games |
Ancient, Political, Wargame |
1996 |
1 |
|
Show Manager
Being a show manager you invest money for your shows. You will engage the cast for your productions and try to avoid miscasts. Staging your show in new York you may celebrate your biggest triumphs, but also suffer your worst crashes. Money is short and competition fierce. You will gain the most victory points with the most successful shows. In a variant, dream couples may emblaze the show, thus making it more profitable, but beware of Lonely hearts to spoil it all! curtain up for the opening night!.
Minimum Age: 10
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 6
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Queen Games |
Card Game |
1996 |
1 |
|
Catan
The women and men of your expedition build the first two settlements. Fortunately, the land is rich in natural resources. You build roads and new settlements that eventually become cities. Will you succeed in gaining supremacy on Catan? Barter trade dominates the scene. Some resources you have in abundance, other resources are scarce. Ore for wool, brick for lumber - you trade according to what is needed for your current building projects. Proceed strategically! If you found your settlements in the right places and skillfully trade your resources, then the odds will be in your favor. But your opponents are smart too.
To begin the game, we build the game board using hexagonal terrain tiles. Catan is born - a beautiful island with mountains, pastures, hills, fields, and forests, surrounded by the sea.
Each of us places two small houses on spaces where three terrain hexes meet. They are our starting settlements.
And so it begins. I roll two dice. An “11”! Each terrain hex is marked with a die roll number. Each player who owns a settlement adjacent to a terrain hex marked with the number rolled receives a resource produced by this hex. Hills produce brick, forests produce lumber, mountains produce ore, fields produce grain, and pastures produce wool.
We use these resources to expand across Catan: we build roads and new settlements, or we upgrade our existing settlements to cities. For example, a road costs 1 brick and 1 lumber. If we do not…
Minimum Age: 10
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 4
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Catan Studio |
Family Game, Strategy |
1995 |
2 |
|
El Grande
In this award-winning game, 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…
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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Hans im Gluck (Germany) |
Medieval, Renaissance |
1995 |
1 |
|
Avalon
There are separate cards to determine the course of the tournament, according to the number of players. A round (1 2 etc) always starts with a bartering session, whereby cards may be exchanged and sold. After that, the knights must do battle! In order to be allowed to fight, the knights must he in possession of a full set of weaponry.
A full set consist of shield, sword, lance and armor. Anyone of them might be substituted by a joker card.
The game is finished when only one player is left with a complete set of weaponry. The winner is the player with the largest fortune at this lime.
Minimum Age: 8
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 6
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Fun Connection |
Medieval, Negotiation |
1994 |
1 |
|
Modern Art
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in the high-stakes world of fine art auctions, there's nothing more beautiful than making a buck.
In Modern Art, players take on the role of curators, buying and selling paintings for their museum. Over the course of four rounds, they take part in a number of auctions, trying to get the best value for the pieces in their collection. Whoever makes the most money wins the game (and keeps their job).
Minimum Age: 14
Minimum Players: 3
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
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CMON |
Card Game, Economic |
1992 |
1 |
|
Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium Expansion
Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium, the first expansion for the 2016 smash-hit Terraforming Mars, consists of a double-sided game board representing two new areas of Mars: Hellas, which includes Mars' south polar region; Elysium, which is on the opposite side of Mars' equator. Each of these maps consists of new sets of milestones and awards with relevance for that particular map. As examples, place three tiles around the south pole to be a Polar Explorer, or race to have the most estates beside water on Elysium!.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 1
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Stronghold Games |
Expansion |
|
1 |
|
The Networks: On The Air Expansion
Expand your copy of The Networks with On the Air, which offers all sorts of extra stuff for fans of the game. this expansion contains New Season 4-5 Shows that grant strange powers, new Stars, Ads, and Network Cards, some blank Shows and Stars for you to customize your copy of the game with, and even stickers that you can apply to your scorning and turn order tokens!
Minimum Age: 13
Minimum Players: 1
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Formal Ferret Games |
Expansion |
|
1 |
|
Civilization: Wisdom and Warfare Expansion
The Wisdom and Warfare expansion for Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game introduces a new optional combat system, plus Social Policies to help you build your fledgling empire even more effectively. With six brand new civilizations, new map tiles, and more exciting options, your budding empire will become greater than you ever imagined!
The second expansion for Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game adds even more new options to this much-loved game
Minimum Age: 14
Minimum Players: 2
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Fantasy Flight Publishing |
Expansion |
|
1 |
|
Terraforming Mars: Prelude
As the mega corporations are getting ready to start the terraforming process, you now have the chance to make those early choices that will come to define your corporation and set the course for the future history of Mars - this is the prelude to your greatest endeavors!
In Terraforming Mars: Prelude, you get to choose from Prelude cards that jumpstart the terraforming process, or boost your corporation engine. There are also 5 new corporations, and 7 project cards that thematically fit the early stages of terraforming.
Terraforming Mars: Prelude is the third expansion to the smash-hit game, Terraforming Mars, and can be combined with any other expansion or variant.
Minimum Age: 12
Minimum Players: 1
Maximum Players: 5
Boardgame Atlas: Link
|
Stronghold Games |
Expansion |
|
1 |