Joyride: Survival of the Fastest is an explosively fun board game of loud, fast, high-interaction racing for two to four players. Tactically plan your route, push your luck to take corners at speed, and crash into your rivals to knock them off course.Choose a car with unique abilities that change the way you race. Do you want the reliability of Auto-Pilot, the precision of Handbrake Turn or the chaos of Donut? Manipulate dice on your dashboard, pushing your luck to pull ahead. Will you lock in your results for maximum control, or risk rolling them to gain an extra inch?Move from checkpoint to checkpoint across open maps on the double-sided board. Each map comes different track layouts for every player count and skill level. Checkpoints can be crossed from any direction, so plan a racing line that maximizes your chances, even if it means racing into oncoming traffic.Smash into your opponents to spin them around or push them out of your way. Sometimes the best racing line is the one that will knock your opponents off-course.Gather powerful items as you race, letting you fire rockets, drop oil slicks and even call in air strikes to damage enemy vehicles. Damage permanently blocks part of your dashboard, so think carefully about where you decide to place it. Do you really need two spaces to store items? Maybe it’s better to give up fifth gear?—description from the publisher

Read more less

Summary: This is a pirate-themed tactical race game with player interaction and side goals (e.g. detouring for treasure). The winner is the player who best balances their position in the race with their success at the side goals.Setting: Jamaica, 1675.After a long career in piracy, Captain Henry Morgan skillfully gets appointed to be Governor of Jamaica, with the explicit order to cleanse the Caribbean of pirates and buccaneers! Instead, he invites all of his former "colleagues" to join him in his retirement, to enjoy the fruits of their looting with impunity. Each year, in remembrance of the "good old days," Morgan organizes the Great Challenge, a race around the island, and at its end, the Captain with the most gold is declared Grand Winner.Goal: The game ends on the turn when at least one player's ship reaches the finish line, completing one circuit around the island of Jamaica. At that point, players are awarded different amounts of gold in accordance with how far away from the finish line they were when the race concluded. This gold is added to any gold a player gathered along the way by detouring from the race to search for valuable treasure, by stealing gold or treasure from other players, or just by loading gold as directed by the cards the player played during the race. The player with the most total gold acquired through all these means is then declared the winner.Gameplay: The game is played in rounds. Each player always has a hand of three cards, and a personal board depicting the five "holds" of their ship, into which goods can be loaded during the game. Each round, one player is designated as "captain," with the next clockwise player being captain in the following round, and so on. The captain rolls two standard D6 dice, examines her cards, then announces which die will correspond to the "day" and which to the "night." Each player then simultaneously selects a card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. Each card has two symbols on it, one on the left - corresponding to "day" - and one on the right ("night"). The symbols indicate either ship movement (forward or backward) or the loading of a type of good. After every player has selected a card, all cards are revealed simultaneously and then resolved clockwise one by one, starting with the captain's. When it is a player's turn to resolve her card, for first the left symbol on her card and then for the right symbol, the player will load a number of goods or move a number of spaces equal to the number of pips showing on the corresponding day or night die for that round. Thus the main decision each player makes during the game is which of their current three cards would best serve them on a particular turn, given the values of the day and night dice. Finally, during the race, when a player lands on a spot already occupied by another player, there is a battle. Battles are mainly resolved by rolling a "combat" die, but players may improve their chances by using "gunpowder" tokens from their holds, if they loaded any on previous turns. The winner of a battle may steal some goods or treasure from the loser.

Read more less

An eternal conflict for the land of Ironwood is raging between two factions: the stalwart and hard-working Ironclad, settlers of the iron mountains; and the ferocious Woodwalkers, swift and deadly shadows of the forests. Both factions struggle for the ultimate control over the land for its greatest treasure: the Larimor Crystals, a mysterious substance holding immense energy within. It can be found both inside the colossal mountains and scattered across the dense forests.The Ironclad extract the essence of the crystals and process their energy to fuel their machines and mechanical inventions. If they succeed, their giant forges will swarm the land with endless armies, and establish ultimate dominance over Ironwood.The Woodwalkers use the crystals’ raw magical power to discover and retrieve three ancient totems from secret ritual sites, hidden in the mountains. Once retrieved, the combined power of these totems will summon the Guardian, the ancient protector of the woods, to wipe out the Ironclad once and for all.One way or another, the eternal conflict is finally coming to an end.Ironwood is a rules-light, highly asymmetric, card-driven tactical game for 1-2 players. Each round, you and your opponent alternate playing a total of 3 of your faction-specific cards for their action effects. These effects include positioning your warbands, initiating combat, extracting crystals, bestowing temporary passive effects, and many more. When combat occurs, you will use the same cards for their combat values instead, in a simultaneous bid to gain combat bonuses, inflict and fend off casualties, and augment the Dominance value of your warbands to win the combat.The two factions are completely asymmetric in their play styles, decks, victory conditions - even in which parts of the map they can access.As the Commander of the Ironclad, your primary goal is to lay down the foundations of your forges in the outer mountains, and once you have collected enough crystals, build forges on the foundations. As the Chieftain of the Woodwalkers, your mission is to locate your people’s ancient totems through Vision cards, clear the path to them by defeating Ironclad warbands, and finally securing them in the outer forests, beyond the Ironclads’ reach. Once you have retrieved the third totem as the Chieftain, or built the third Forge as the Commander, you immediately win the game.Ironwood also features a low-upkeep solo mode against the Ironclad or the Woodwalkers. Although both solo opponents work on the same main principles, each of them bears its faction’s unique aspects and features.—description from the publisher

Read more less

The Inox people have been living peacefully in the Land of the Waterfalls for a long time, but now there is a dangerous threat. Evil Rhujas roaming the land want to capture the gemstones of the Inox. That's why the Inox have selected the hardest to reach and most dangerous place to hide their gemstones: the rock wall behind the Iquazú waterfall. Their water dragon Silon blocks the waterfall so that the brave Inox can rappel down the rock wall behind it to place their gemstones there, out of harm's way. The gushing water and the dangerous water snakes at the bottom will stop the Rhujas from getting the gemstones. Which player in Iquazú will manage to use their cards skillfully and place their colored gemstones in the best spots?Each turn in Iquazú, players either draw four cards or play cards of a single color from their hand to place one of their gems in an empty space on the board the same color as the cards they played. If you place in the leftmost column, you play only one card, in the secondmost left column, two cards, and so on. The last player in turn order adds a water droplet to the highest empty spot in the leftmost column after their turn.Once the leftmost column is full, players earn points based on how many gems they have in this column and they earn a bonus token if they have the most gems in a horizontal row. Bonus tokens can let you draw cards, ignore the color rule, earn points at the end of the game, and take another turn. Players then slide the waterfall right one column to make new bonuses appear and the leftmost gems disappear. Whoever holds the water droplet box passes it right. Players continue taking turns until the final column is filled, at which point players collect bonuses for the final time, then added any points collected to their score.

Read more less

In this family game, enter Marie Curie's laboratory and help the famous scientist win her double Nobel Prize!Conduct experiments, improve your workshop and complete Marie Curie's research before the other players.In the Footsteps of Marie Curie is a game featuring resource management and transformation mechanics with a card river and contracts. Resources distribution (Pitchblende, Uranium, and Radium) is done through a cube tower, and the retention or overproduction of these brings a set of surprises each turn. Players progress on a central board through Marie Curie's life timeline. The game ends when players reach the end of this timeline.-description from publisher

Read more less

The lunch break is almost there and all of the young penguins would finally get the fish they’ve been craving. However, some rascals think they are quick enough to snatch some of the fish before the lunch break starts, but they have forgotten one thing – the Hall Monitor! Each school day one of the penguins is designated to watch over the school, and this is his moment to shine – for each rascal penguin he catches he would get additional fish!A fun run takes place – the rascals are running everywhere and trying to snatch some fish on their way, but the Hall Monitor is trying to catch each and one of them to have some order in the school. Who will be more successful?ICECOOL is a flicking game in which each round one of the players takes the role of the Hall Monitor (also called "the Catcher") – his aim will be to catch each other penguin and get points for that. The others (also known as "Runners") will try to run through several doors, thus gaining fish (that give them points) on their way. When either the Hall Monitor has caught each other penguin once or any of the others has gone through all 3 doors that have fish on them, the round is over. Each player will take the role of the Hall Monitor once and at the end of the game the winner will be the one with the most points on their fish cards.The penguins can be flicked in a straight line, make curves and even jump over the walls! Each player will have to use the best of their skills in order to get the most points in this fun and exciting game. It's not just cool, it's ICECOOL!

Read more less

What hue do you think of when we say “apple”? Hues and Cues is a vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board. The closer the guesses are to the target, the more points you earn. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun!Gather around with three to ten people to play a quick and simple game with a prism of possibilities! First, a “cue giver” hides a specific color they’ve chosen out of a deck of cards. There are 480 shades on the board in front of you! After getting one- and two-word cues, everyone places their marker on which color they think is being described. “Coffee.” Is it dark brown, as in freshly brewed? “Au lait.” With milk. That means I should pick a lighter shade!Use examples from everyday life, from nature to pop culture, or materials and moods. Everyone around the table gets a turn to give cues and guess. The better your hints or guesses, the more points you earn. Play off others' experiences to narrow down what they have in mind!—description from the publisher

Read more less

Excitement in a prehistoric period! The saber-toothed tiger clan is looking for a new leader, but which one of you can best take care of the clan in Honga and prove to be the most worthy leader?There are multiple ways to prove your worth: gather supplies, comb through the dark forest, pay homage to the old nature gods, attract mammoths, and successfully trade with other clans. But! No matter how busy you are with these tasks, you can never forget Honga! Whenever you ignore the local saber-toothed tiger, he will come and eat your food — and getting rid of him can turn out to be tough.Honga is an action selection resource management game for 2-5 players, age 8+, set in the prehistoric period. Players take turns playing their action card to the central board, paying careful attention to where they place it, and how it's rotated. The number of hands pointing to an action space determines how many times you may use that action. Gather resources and use them to complete trade agreements, lure mammoths to the tribe herd, and pay homage to the old nature gods. But! If you don't make sure that at least one action point is allocated to Honga's den, he'll come steal food from you! Players must balance between keeping Honga at bay and using their limited action points effectively.With multiple paths to victory, light player interaction, and a 45 minute play time, this game will have you coming back again and again to play with Honga, the local saber-tooth tiger that's really just a big kitty at heart.

Read more less

Hero Realms is a fantasy-themed deck-building game that is an adaptation of the award-winning Star Realms game. The game includes basic rules for two-player games, along with rules for multiplayer formats such as Free-For-All, Hunter, and Hydra.Each player starts the game with a ten-card personal deck containing gold (for buying) and weapons (for combat). You start each turn with a new hand of five cards from your personal deck. When your deck runs out of cards, you shuffle your discard pile into your new deck. An 80-card Market deck is shared by all players, with five cards being revealed from that deck to create the Market Row. As you play, you use gold to buy champion cards and action cards from the Market. These champions and actions can generate large amounts of gold, combat, or other powerful effects. You use combat to attack your opponent and their champions. When you reduce your opponent's score (called health) to zero, you win!Multiple expansions are available for Hero Realms that allow players to start as a particular character (Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Thief, or Wizard) and fight cooperatively against a Boss, fight Boss decks against one another, or compete in a campaign mode that has you gain experience to work through different levels of missions.

Read more less

The roar of powerful engines bursts from the dark mouth of the Pyrenean tunnel just moments before gleaming cars streak past. One mistake could mean certain destruction, but the lure of the Spanish Grand Prix keeps the drivers focused and aggressive.Heat: Tunnel Vision introduces two new racing tracks. The Spanish Grand Prix takes your car through treacherous tunnels, forcing you to trust your instincts in the semi-dark. The Netherlands track allows you to open your engine to full throttle before throwing you into a succession of treacherous corners.Take part in the 1965 Championship season and install the new Front Wing upgrade to draft off the other drivers and charge to victory.This second expansion brings chicanes and tunnels for more technical and high-intensity races, front wing upgrade cards, and new event cards, in addition to expanding the player count to seven (or eight with the Heavy Rain expansion).

Read more less

Based on simple and intuitive hand management, Heat: Pedal to the Metal puts players in the driver's seat of intense car races, jockeying for position to cross the finish line first, while managing their car's speed if they don't want to overheat. Selecting the right upgrades for their car will help them hug the curves and keep their engine cool enough to maintain top speeds. Ultimately, their driving skills will be the key to victory!Drivers can compete in a single race or use the "Championship System" to play a whole season in one game night, customizing their car before each race to claim the top spot of the podium. They have to be careful as the weather, road conditions, and events will change every race to spice up their championship. Players can also enjoy a solo mode with the Legends Module or add automated drivers as additional opponents in multiplayer games.—description from the publisher

Read more less

This expansion introduces:  One new driver w/ all essential player specific components in orange (now allows up to 7 racers) Two new maps (Japan & Mexico) New upgrade cards (introducing the purple drop - a different cooldown that allows the player to take a heat card from their discard pile and place it back into their engine) Submerged track sections (must spend an extra heat for down shifting gears in these sections) More heat, stress, championship, sponsorship, and event cards.—description from the publisher

Read more less