Play Dirty – and get a Reaction!You can pack a lot of fun into a small box, especially when you pack it full of microbe meeples. I’ll say it again. Meeple Microbes (squeeee!)In this nasty little 2-5 player game, your boss, Dr. Lillian Johannae has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of microbiology. She has discovered a new breed of extremely unstable, highly volatile microorganisms, BIOTIX™ (patent pending and pronounced ‘biotics’) that can uneasily coexist within a small system. Now she needs supporting data. But science can be a brutally competitive field. What began as an innocent pursuit of discovery has quickly devolved into self-centered posturing and ruthless backstabbing among her lab personnel, all vying to have their name attached to the research paper, thereby rocketing them you into scientific superstardom.Your mission, carefully grow the largest culture of BIOTIX you can in your petri dish – and sabotage the work of others by pushing their microbe populations above their limit, causing them to explode and bio-react in all sorts of fun ways. Game play is simple: on your turn, draw two BIOTIX from the specimen bag and place them, one at a time, either into your own dish for points or into an opponent’s dish to try and force a bio-reaction to destroy their work.Each of the five BIOTIX species has a different trigger number and a unique bio-reaction when they ‘go off’. It may force you to trash the microbes, force microbes from your dish into the petri dishes of others, steal microbes or wipe out a species across the whole table. The BIOTIX are in a constant state of flux throughout the game, as is your score, because at the end of the day you gain points for the BIOTIX remaining in your dish, with the most volatile BIOTIX being worth the most points.The best score over 3 days of research determines the winner! Then try the advanced game, with Aggressive BIOTIX, a cancer-like organism that mimics the properties of the BIOTIX they replace in your dish – except they are worth negative points instead of their usual values.

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At the turn of the 16th Century, King Manuel I commissioned Portugal's greatest artisans to construct grandiose buildings. After completing the Palaces of Evora and Sintra, the king sought to build a summer pavilion to honor the most famous members of the royal family. This construction was intended for the most talented artisans — whose skills meet the splendor that the royal family deserves. Sadly, King Manuel I died before construction ever began.In Azul: Summer Pavilion, players return to Portugal to accomplish the task that never began. As a master artisan, you must use the finest materials to create the summer pavilion while carefully avoiding wasting supplies. Only the best will rise to the challenge to honor the Portuguese royal family.Azul: Summer Pavilion lasts six rounds, and in each round players draft tiles, then place them on their individual player board to score points. Each of the six colors of tiles is wild during one of the rounds.At the start of each round, draw tiles at random from the bag to refill each of the five, seven, or nine factories with four tiles each. Draw tiles as needed to refill the ten supply spaces on the central scoring board. Players then take turns drafting tiles. You can choose to take all of the tiles of a non-wild color on a factory and place them next to your board; if any wild tiles are on this factory, you must take one of them. Place all remaining tiles in the center of the table. Alternatively, you can take all tiles of a non-wild color from the center of play; you must also take one wild tile, if present.After all tiles have been claimed, players then take turns placing tiles on their individual boards. Each board depicts seven stars that would be composed of six tiles; each space on a star shows a number from 1-6, and six of the stars are for tiles of a single color while the seventh will be composed of one tile of each color. To place a tile on the blue 5, for example, you must discard five blue or wild tiles from next to your player board (with at least one blue being required), placing one blue tile in the blue 5 space and the rest in the discard tower. You score 1 point for this tile and 1 point for each tile within this star connected to the newly placed tile.If you completely surround a pillar, statue, or window on your game board with tiles, you get an immediate bonus, taking 1-3 tiles from the central supply spaces and placing them next to your board. At the end of the round, you can carry over at most four tiles to the next round; discard any others, losing 1 point for each such tile.After six rounds, you score a bonus for each of the seven stars that you've filled completely. Additionally, you score a bonus for having covered all seven spaces of value 1, 2, 3 or 4. You lose 1 point for each remaining tile unused, then whoever has the most points wins.—description from the publisher

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Created by Michael Kiesling, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra challenges players to carefully select glass panes to complete their windows while being careful not to damage or waste supplies in the process. The window panels are double-sided, providing players with a dynamic player board that affords nearly infinite variability!Players can expect to discover new unique art and components in Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, including translucent window pane pieces, a tower to hold discarded glass panes, and double-sided player boards and window pane panels, in addition to many other beautiful components!—description from the publisher

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Azul: Crystal Mosaic contains double-sided player boards, with each board offering new challenges and exciting new strategic opportunities.The "Crystal Mosaic" of the title is actually a plastic overlay that provides a recess to keep tiles from being accidentally bumped out of place. Four overlays are included in this expansion.

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A brand new floor!Azul: Glazed Pavilion offers players 2 newly designed player boards and matching scoring boards to compete over and a set of 4 overlays to keep Azul Glazed Pavilion tiles neatly organized. Offering the best of both worlds — beauty and new game elements — Glazed Pavilion is a must-have expansion for Azul fans!—description from the publisher

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"Arraial" is the name given to traditional Portuguese summer celebrations during which people take to the streets eating, drinking, and having fun in the old neighborhoods that are bedecked with arches, colorful balloons, popular music, and the aroma of sweet basil.In the game Arraial, players try to make their neighborhood traditional event the most popular by attracting visitors to their celebration. Grab the most beautiful decorations, hire the most inspired performers, serve the most traditional delicacies, take to the streets, and host the party of the year! Arraial is a fast-paced game in which players take turns spending action points to get the best tiles (decorations, artists...) and place them on their player boards to form the perfect match and attract visitors to their party. In the end, whoever attracts the most visitors in their neighborhood wins.

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Nowhere is nature's beauty quite so evident as in the resplendent colors of an arboretum. In Arboretum, you create carefully planned paths for your visitors to walk as they take in the colorful explosion of buds and leaves. The cheerful cherry blossom, the fragrant dogwood, the mighty oak – all have a place in this peaceful haven. But the tranquil setting belies the game's competitive heart. You must choose which cards to plant in your arboretum and which to keep in hand, as only the most expert curator will win the renown of nature enthusiasts everywhere.

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Anomia plays off the fact that our minds are positively brimming with all sorts of random information: things to eat, pop songs, websites, etc... Sure, under normal circumstances, it's easy to give an example of a frozen food or a dog breed, but you'll find that your brain works a little differently under pressure!To play, draw and reveal a card from the center pile. Does the symbol on your card match one on another player's card? If so, you must quickly face-off with the other player by giving an example of the person, place, or thing on their card before they can do the same for yours. If you blurt out a correct answer first, you win their card and the drawing continues.Sounds simple, right? Wrong! Wild cards allow non-matching symbols to match, increasing the number of things to which you must pay attention. Cascading face-offs can occur when you hand over a lost card, thereby revealing a new top card on your play pile.

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The horizon is now within reach: your armada is waiting for you to go conquer the seas! On board your ships, discover distant isles, trade with distant cities, and equip your fleets to take part in the upcoming naval warfare... In addition to a whole new Wonder, this expansion allows you to expand your interactions with two new types of cards: Armada and Isle cards. Navigators, explorers, shipowners, and pirates will give new depth to your games.

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