For centuries, the Novarchs, descendants of the royal House of Novarchon, have ruled with an iron fist over the feudalistic galactic empire of humankind, the Domineum. During this time, they brought stunning technological innovation and scientific advancements to their domain. This accelerated progression helped the Domineum reach — and eventually inhabit — even the farthest segments of the known galaxy, where new Houses emerged to govern the outer sectors of the empire. As the House of Novarchon grew in power, so grew the religious cult that surrounded them, proclaiming grim prophecies about an ancient cosmic being from another dimension: the Voidborn.Many thought it to be only a myth, but in truth, it was the Voidborn's dark influence that granted the Novarchs the sheer knowledge to achieve rapid expansion for the empire. While the cult of the Novarchs envisaged eternal life through the otherworldly entity, the Voidborn's only intention was satiating its eternal hunger. And so, when the Domineum had achieved a vastness fitting the Voidborn's craving, interdimensional rifts opened at the heart of the Domineum to unleash cosmic corruption. As the House of Novarchon and its followers welcomed the Voidborn and sought their false salvation, the entity infected and spread and seized control over the inner worlds. Now, it is time for the remaining Great Houses to purge the galactic corruption, prevent the Voidborn from fully manifesting in our dimension, and to ultimately overcome the chaos as the new rulers of the Domineum.Voidfall is a space 4X game that brings the genre to Euro enthusiasts' tables. It combines the tension, player interaction, and deep empire customization of the 4X genre with the resource management, tight decisions, and minimum-luck gameplay of an economic Euro. Win by pushing back the Voidborn in the solo/coop mode, or by overcoming your rivals' influence in restoring the Domineum in the competitive mode — both using the same rule set and game system. Variability is ensured not only by multiple playable houses with their own strengths and weaknesses, but also by many different map set-ups for all game modes.As the leader of a defiant Great House, you play through three cycles, each with a game-altering galactic event, a new scoring condition, and a set number of focus cards that can be played. Focus card decisions and sequencing is the centerpiece of the gameplay. By selecting two of their three impactful actions as you play them, you develop and improve techs; advance on your three house-specific civilization tracks; manage your sectors' infrastructure, population, and production; and conquer new sectors with up to five different types of space fleets. Space battles are fought either against the Voidborn's infected forces (which are present as neutral opponents even in the competitive mode) or against other players. Instead of relying on the luck of a die roll, battles in Voidfall are fully deterministic and reward careful preparation and outsmarting your opponents.—description from the publisher

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Ticket to Ride Map Collection 8: Iberia & South Korea gives you the chance to set up rail networks on two peninsulas with wildly different settings.On the Iberian peninsula, players start the game by drafting six destination cards, then keeping four of them — a process they repeat before the train deck runs out the first time. While you're trying to fulfill those eight destination cards with only 35 trains, you can possibly pick up festival cards along the way. The deck is seeded with 54 festival cards, and when one is drawn, you place it next to the city on the game board. If you build a route that connects to one or two cities with festival cards, you choose one of those cities and collect all of the festival cards near it. The more you collect from a city, the more they're worth at game's end!In South Korea, you start the game as in Iberia by drafting six destination cards, then keeping four of them. All of the routes are grouped by color: blue in the northeast, yellow in the northwest, and so on. When you claim a route, you can also place one of your trains on the province mat on an empty space of the matching color showing the number of cards you played of that color; you can play more cards than required to claim a route should you want to place on a higher number. Additionally, each player has a set of "express train" cards (+1, +2, +3), and you can spend a card on your turn to either draw more train cards, draw more destination tickets, or claim a higher number on the province mat. At game's end, evaluate each color on the province mat, with the player (or players) with the highest sum of values claimed earning bonus points.

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The Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Alchemists introduces nightmares, obsession, and hysteria to The Quacks of Quedlinburg base game, with players working in new laboratories to distill essences that can free the citizens of Quedlinburg from these afflictions.The Alchemists can be played with only the base game or combined with The Herb Witches expansion.

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A double-sided game board presenting two new maps for Terraforming Mars, each with new milestones and awards: Amazonis Planitia - An expanded board with 30 additional hex spaces on Mars, 2 extra ocean tiles and longer terraforming tracks to support massive 5 player games. Vastitas Borealis - Terraform the northern waste of Mars.

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Terra Mystica: Fire & Ice has the original factions brace themselves for new competitors: Yetis – the masters of power, Ice Maidens – who adore their Temples, Acolytes – whose entire life is focused on the cults, and Dragonlords – who use their power to create volcanoes. And as if this wasn't enough, there are two more factions, Shapeshifters and Riverwalkers, who ignore the most basic of rule of one faction, one terrain type. (Inconceivable to the Halflings!)

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In the land of Terra Mystica dwell 14 different peoples in seven landscapes, and each group is bound to its own home environment, so to develop and grow, they must terraform neighboring landscapes into their home environments in competition with the other groups.Terra Mystica is a full information game without any luck that rewards strategic planning. Each player governs one of the 14 groups. With subtlety and craft, the player must attempt to rule as great an area as possible and to develop that group's skills. There are also four religious cults in which you can progress. To do all that, each group has special skills and abilities.Taking turns, the players execute their actions on the resources they have at their disposal. Different buildings allow players to develop different resources. Dwellings allow for more workers. Trading houses allow players to make money. Strongholds unlock a group's special ability, and temples allow you to develop religion and your terraforming and seafaring skills. Buildings can be upgraded: Dwellings can be developed into trading houses; trading houses can be developed into strongholds or temples; one temple can be upgraded to become a sanctuary. Each group must also develop its terraforming skill and its skill with boats to use the rivers. The groups in question, along with their home landscape, are: Desert (Fakirs, Nomads) Plains (Halflings, Cultists) Swamp (Alchemists, Darklings) Lake (Mermaids, Swarmlings) Forest (Witches, Auren) Mountain (Dwarves, Engineers) Wasteland (Giants, Chaos Magicians)Proximity to other groups is a double-edged sword in Terra Mystica. Being close to other groups gives you extra power, but it also means that expanding is more difficult...

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Star Wars: Rebellion is a board game of epic conflict between the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance for two to four players.Experience the Galactic Civil War like never before. In Rebellion, you control the entire Galactic Empire or the fledgling Rebel Alliance. You must command starships, account for troop movements, and rally systems to your cause. Given the differences between the Empire and Rebel Alliance, each side has different win conditions, and you'll need to adjust your play style depending on who you represent: As the Imperial player, you can command legions of Stormtroopers, swarms of TIEs, Star Destroyers, and even the Death Star. You rule the galaxy by fear, relying on the power of your massive military to enforce your will. To win the game, you need to snuff out the budding Rebel Alliance by finding its base and obliterating it. Along the way, you can subjugate worlds or even destroy them. As the Rebel player, you can command dozens of troopers, T-47 airspeeders, Corellian corvettes, and fighter squadrons. However, these forces are no match for the Imperial military. In terms of raw strength, you'll find yourself clearly overmatched from the very outset, so you'll need to rally the planets to join your cause and execute targeted military strikes to sabotage Imperial build yards and steal valuable intelligence. To win the Galactic Civil War, you'll need to sway the galaxy's citizens to your cause. If you survive long enough and strengthen your reputation, you inspire the galaxy to a full-scale revolt, and you win.Featuring more than 150 plastic miniatures and two game boards that account for thirty-two of the Star Wars galaxy's most notable systems, Rebellion features a scope that is as large and sweeping as any Star Wars game before it.Yet for all its grandiosity, Rebellion remains intensely personal, cinematic, and heroic. As much as your success depends upon the strength of your starships, vehicles, and troops, it depends upon the individual efforts of such notable characters as Leia Organa, Mon Mothma, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Emperor Palpatine. As civil war spreads throughout the galaxy, these leaders are invaluable to your efforts, and the secret missions they attempt will evoke many of the most inspiring moments from the classic trilogy. You might send Luke Skywalker to receive Jedi training on Dagobah or have Darth Vader spring a trap that freezes Han Solo in carbonite!

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