Bad Bones, The Shining, Stellar, Chocolate Factory, Maracaibo, New Arkham, Marvel, Villainous, West Kingdom and More!

 

The Shining

The Shining, Mixlore, 2020 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

All work and no play…

You’ve traveled into the heart of the Rocky Mountains to take charge of the Overlook Hotel while it is closed for the winter — except you aren’t alone. The Hotel’s bloody history has made some of its past guests a permanent addition to the building, and with them come terrifying visions that begin to corrupt your mind. Snowed in, you desperately explore the rooms of the Hotel, attempting to gain enough willpower to withstand the evil influence around you. Worse still, one of you has already succumbed to the terrible forces of the Hotel and secretly acts to keep you here forever and ever…

The Shining is a suspenseful game of co-operation, deception, and terror!

Chocolate Factory

Final front cover

Set in the early 20th century of entrepreneurs and chocolatiers experimenting with new ways to create and market chocolates, YOU are assigned the task of chief chocolate maker! Chocolate Factory is a euro game of literal factory building and moving (using a pushable conveyer belt component) chocolates you must complete the largest number of chocolates required by retailers for the best value. The game also features wooden chocolate pieces and a movable conveyer belt making the physicality blended with euro mechanics a unique experience.

Gameplay overview:
Players are each given a starting player board which will have two Factory parts which apply to a physical conveyer belt. The conveyer belt part of the player board contains long slot with an empty region in which to push square tiles along. The tiles will house the chocolate pieces players will manipulate throughout the game.

During the game players will initially draft new factory parts (to add to their player board) and specialists (one time use cards with special powers).

Then each player will “push” three times cocoa into their machines. During each “push” players will be able to use fuel and their factory parts to manipulate their Chocolate pieces. Careful consideration will be required for the spatial element of the game as Chocolate pieces can only be manipulated during a push by the Factory part that is adjacent to their tile.

Players score points by creating chocolates for public and personal objectives. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea

Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea, Studio H, 2019 — front cover

Darjeeling is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Lesser Himalayas and is noted for its tea industry, the spectacular views of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain, and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Tea planting in Darjeeling began in 1841 using seeds of the Chinese tea plant (Camellia sinensis); the British government also established tea nurseries, during the period, and the Alubari tea garden was opened by the Kurseong and Darjeeling Tea company in 1856 to be quickly followed by more than 80 Tea Estates.

In A Nice Cup of Tea, players compete to cultivate and harvest their own Tea Estates and assist in the building of the Darjeeling and Himalayan Railway, from Siliguri Town to ‘the summit’ at Ghum. Guided by the placement actions of their laborers, players can also use their harvested tea leaves to make Chai for their thirsty workforce to boost their actions even more! When the railway is completed, the player who has contributed the most to the railway, the building of the towns along the way and the most auspicious Tea gardens will be declared the winner.

A Nice Cup of Tea is a new game in the Snowdonia family.

Oriflame

Oriflamme, Studio H, 2019 — front cover

In Oriflamme, the players find themselves in the middle of a medieval feud over the French royal crown. The King is dead! Long live the King! As heads of influential families, the players strive to come to power with cunning and malice, power and strength, virtue and infamy. Their goal: the king’s throne!

In the tactical card game, hidden cards are played in turn. By tactically uncovering and activating their effects, players can outdo or get them out of the way, because all players have the same goal in mind — to collect the most influence points for their family and thus win the game.

Maracaibo

Maracaibo, Game's Up/dlp games, 2019 — front cover

Maracaibo, the new strategy game for 1-4 players by Alexander Pfister, is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The players try to increase their influence in three nations in four rounds with a play time of 40 minutes per player.

The players sail on a round course through the Caribbean. E.g., you have city tiles where you are able to perform various actions or deliver goods to. One special feature is an implemented quest mode over more and various tiles, which tells the player, who chase after it, a little story.

As a player, you move with your ship around the course, managing it by using cards like in other games from Alexander Pfister.

Bad Bones

Final cover, flat

You lead the good life at the top of your tower, contemplating your peaceful kingdom and chatting with your charming neighbors. Life is absolute happiness. Well, it was…

Terrible skeletons have arisen with a creepy clatter from their graves across the realms’ ancient cemeteries. Those scouts that return report endless streams of bony hordes marching toward each kingdom, ravaging the lands as they come. Faced with this sudden threat, even your once friendly neighbors seem to have turned against you as they withdraw to their keeps to defend their own frightened kingdoms, focusing on their own villages and tower.

Your kingdom is at siege by the living dead. You raise troops, build walls, lay traps, prepare magical spells and even wake your pet dragon. Hopefully they can be slowed, or if you’re devilishly crafty, they can be turned toward those traitorous adjoining kingdoms. In this battle, your best asset is your brave and proud hero, who stands ready to slay those piles of walking bones. Alas, he can’t fight everywhere, so if things get truly desperate, you could offer them your treasure to get some relief.

The ivory invaders want somewhere to call their own to live out their death in peace, and they have their eye sockets on you! Will you hold out, or will your home become the retirement village of the damned…?

Bad Bones is a game in which you must survive an invasion of ever more numerous and dangerous skeletons. The invasion cannot be defeated, so you must outlast your opponents to win the day. At your disposal are a range of weapons that defeat, slow, or even deflect the skeletons towards the other players. The game ends when one player’s tower or village is wiped out.

A game turn takes place in four phases:

1] Hero Movement and Combat: Move your hero and eliminate the skeletons from the destination square.
2) Trap Placement: Place or remove traps on your personal board.
3) Skeletons Move: Move the skeletons forward, damaging your tower or your village if they move far enough.
4) Skeletons Spawn: Place new skeletons among the streams and on the edges of the player boards.

Each phase happens simultaneously for all players on their own player board, which means a game with up to six players can take only thirty minutes. Multiple copies of the game can be combined to play with as many players as you have space for, and the game can also be played solo. The rules are simple to explain and understand, with several strategic variations for experts.

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes, Ravensburger, 2019 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

As in the original Minecraft digital game, in Minecraft: Builders & Biomes players explore the Overworld, build structures, and mine resources, earning points for structures and the largest connected biomes of forest, desert, mountain, or snowy tundra spaces on their player boards.

Familiar foes like Endermen, Creepers, and other mobs also appear throughout the game, and they need to be defeated using weapons collected from the board. Defeating mobs earn players points in addition to granting additional awards. Game scoring occurs as the resource cube’s layers are depleted. As soon as the third layer runs out, the adventure comes to an end, and the builder with the most points wins.

In more detail, on a turn you take two different actions from the following possibilities:

• Collect two blocks: At the start of the game, you set up a 4x4x4 cube of building blocks with 16 wood, 14 sand, 12 stone, 10 obsidian, and 12 emerald being placed together at random. When you collect a block, the top face and at least two other sides must be revealed.

• Move: Your character starts in the center of a 4×4 grid of tile stacks, with each stack holding four tiles. Weapon tiles are placed at the end of each column and row. Move 0-2 spaces between stacks, then reveal all adjacent tiles that are face down.

• Build: Discard blocks from your personal supply to match the building requirements on a tile next to your character. Place this tile on your personal 3×3 building board.

• Fight a mob: Choose a mob adjacent to your character, then reveal three tiles from your weapon stack, which starts with a stone sword, a wooden sword, and three poisonous potatoes. Tally the number of hearts revealed; if this sum is at least as large as the number of hearts on the mob, you defeat it. Remove it from the board, and place it next to your personal building board. Mobs might grant you an endgame scoring bonus, immediate points, or a one-shot bonus action.

• Collect a weapon: If your character is next to a weapon tile at the edge of the playing grid, you can shuffle it into your weapon stack.

Scoring takes place three times during the game, specifically after the final block is removed from the first, second, and third level of the building block cube. In the first round, you choose one of the four biomes (forest, desert, mountains, or snowy tundra) and score for the largest connected area of this biome on your personal building board. The board comes pre-printed with biome spaces, and as you place buildings on this board, you can alter the biome of a space. In the second round, you choose one of three materials (wood, sand, stone, or obsidian) and score for the largest connected group of structures on your personal building board that are made of this material. In the third round, you score for the largest contiguous group of structures (decoration, dwelling, animal house, or bridge) of your choice on your board. After scoring in the third round, tally bonus points from the mobs you’ve collected.

Dwarven Miner Reforged

Box cover featuring original Elmore piece.

Battle for honor in this multi-tiered crafting game. Delve into the mine to gain treasure, resources, and even a few shifty Burglars along the way. Use these to craft and purchase weapons, armor, magic, and gear for the brave adventures that come your way. Each one you help will grant you honor and their unique talents will be at your disposal. However, vicious Orcs lurk in the shadows and will strike out when least expected.

Dwarven Miner Reforged is a new and exciting sequel to the beloved Dwarven Miner. Featuring new rules as well as original and legacy artwork by legendary fantasy artist Larry Elmore, you will return to delve deep into the mine again and again.

Stellar 

Front Box Cover

Space! For millennia, humans have marveled at the cosmos. Modern astronomy gives us valuable insight about what’s happening in the universe, but there is still a sense of wonder to be had in looking up at the expanse above us.

In Stellar, you are stargazers, calibrating your telescopes to bring into view celestial objects of various types — planets, moons, asteroids, interstellar clouds, black holes, even satellites — as you create a beautiful display of the night sky!

You have eleven rounds to play cards to your telescope and notebook, building a night sky tableau. After that, you’ll calculate your points, and the stargazer with the most point wins!

Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans

Age of Artisans Box Cover

In Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans, journeymen have returned to the city as master craftsmen, equipped with knowledge of new crafts and tools. The Guildhall has never been so busy! While some apprentices spend time learning new skills, others adorn the city’s buildings with everything from golden tapestries, to stained glass windows. But don’t let the shimmer of lights and fancy wares deceive you. For not all that glitters is gold.

In addition to including components for an extra player, Age of Artisans adds the new Craft Cards, a dual-layered Guildhall Board, two new Player Boards and a variety of new Apprentices and Buildings.

Disney Villainous: Perfectly Wretched

Disney Villainous: Perfectly Wretched, Ravensburger, 2020 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

In Disney Villainous: Perfectly Wretched, each player takes control of one of three Disney characters, each one a villain in a different Disney movie, specifically Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Mother Gothel from Tangled, and Pete from Steamboat Willie. Each player has their own villain deck, fate deck, player board, and 3D character.

On a turn, the active player moves their character to a different location on their player board, takes one or more of the actions visible on that space (often by playing cards from their hand), then refills their hand to four cards. Cards are allies, items, effects, and conditions. You need to use your cards to fulfill your unique win condition.

One of the actions allows you to choose another player, draw two cards from that player’s fate deck, then play one of them on that player’s board, covering two of the four action spaces on one of that player’s locations. The fate deck contains heroes, items, and effects from that villain’s movie, and these cards allow other players to mess with that particular villain.

Disney Villainous: Perfectly Wretched is playable on its own, and its characters can also face off against those in the Disney Villainous base game from 2018 and the Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core and Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared standalone games in 2019.

Chronic Corsairs

Front Cover

On the cursed shores of Ouroboros Island, a fearsome time storm has wrecked several pirate ships in a desolate harbor. What’s worse, you’re cursed to live the same day over and over again until the time storm subsides!

At the start of each loop in Chrono Corsairs, players simultaneously select plans to place into their timeline. Then, you follow those plans to move your crew around the island. Events happen at the same time in the same place every loop, so as you explore the island, you’ll unlock its secrets and learn to avoid its many dangers.

At the end of each loop, all the pieces on the board reset as you collect treasure. Doubloons must be spent to upgrade your crew, while time gems can be kept from loop to loop. As the time storm’s intensity increases over the course of the game, it unlocks new scoring opportunities and produces strange anomalies. When the time storm breaks, the game ends and the pirate with the most treasure wins.

Too Many Poops

1st ed. box cover

Become the ultimate cat owner, or poop out trying! Too Many Poops is a cat collection game for 2-6 players where players compete to become the first to score 10 points of cats in their home. But the more cats you have, the more poops you’ll get — and too many will lose you the game! Adopt cats from the pet store, donate rival cats to other players, and use lures to get you the cats that will score you the most.

Odyssey of the Dragonlords Adventure Book for 5th Edition

Image result for Odyssey of the Dragonlords rpg
From the lead designer of Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age: Origins, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic…

Odyssey of the Dragonlords is a 460 page hardback adventure book for 5th Edition, packed with full-color maps and illustrations.

An Epic Campaign. Join with other prophesied heroes to undertake an epic quest to save the world of Thylea, sail the islands of the Forgotten Sea, and battle the Titans! The adventure will take a party of heroes from 1st to 15th level (or higher).

Choose your Epic Path. Includes eight epic paths for players to choose from. Epic paths provide powerful motivations for your hero, making you a central part of the story. Change Thylea’s history forever, and go down in history as one of the new Dragonlords!

The World of Thylea. Includes an overview of the history, factions, kingdoms, and laws of the forgotten continent. Learn about the gods, the titans, and the legendary Dragonlords.

New Monsters. Includes a bestiary of over 30 new monsters inspired by Greek mythology, with lore, statistics, and full page illustrations.

New Magic Items. Includes over 20 new magic items inspired by Greek mythology. Find them scattered throughout the adventure or craft them using the legendary Mithral Forge!

New Races and Class Archetypes. Includes a variety of new playable races and class archetypes inspired by Greek mythology: satyrs, centaurs, medusae, as well as hoplites, amazons, and philosopher wizards!

5th Edition Adventure Archives Volume 1 and Volume 2

5th Edition Adventures: Archives, Vol.1

This boxed collection includes SIX 5th Edition Adventures, the Hardcover Codex of Aihrde world setting book and a full color, fold out world map. A 30% savings vs. buying them all separately! The adventures are A0 Rising Knight, A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge, A2 Slag Heap, A3 Wicked Cauldron, A4 Usurpers of the Fell Axe and A5 Shattered Horn. All designed for play from adventure levels 1-5. The Codex of Aihrde, a 280-page hardback, includes everything you need to get started adventuring in one of the most expansive game settings you’ll ever enjoy. Made in the USA.

Image result for D&D 5E: Adventure Archives vol 2

The Volume 2 boxed collection includes 7 5th Edition Adventures and the Hardcover Players Guide to Aihrde. Play in a series or as stand-alone adventures! The Players Guide to Aihrde unleashes a plethora of new gaming material for the 5th Edition of the world`s most popular role playing game. Though created as a companion to the long selling world of Aihrde source book The Codex of Aihrde, the Players Guide is designed for use in any setting or homebrew game.

Rangers of Shadowdeep

Rangers of Shadow Deep is a solo and co-operative tabletop miniatures game, in which players create their ranger, gather companions, and play through a series of missions in their fight to hold back the darkness. If their rangers survive, they will grow in power and ability, and be sent on more difficult, dangerous and intricate assignments.

• Presented in an elegant Faux Leather Forest Green Cover with an embossed stamped logo
• Solo and co-operative tabletop miniatures game from the creator of Frostgrave and Ghost Archipelago Joseph A. McCullough
• Create your ranger, gather companions, and play through a series of missions in a fight to hold back the darkness.
• Survive and you will grow in power and ability, and be sent on more difficult, dangerous and intricate assignments.
• Includes updated core rules combined with character-building elements first presented in Temple of Madness.
• Featuring a dozen new pieces of art from Barrett Stanley,
• New ‘Challenge Levels’ for all the scenarios can be used when playing with 3 or 4 rangers to ramp up the difficulty, or if you want to replay the scenario with a higher-level Ranger.
• includes the first supplement for the game, Burning Light. The Rangers’ must venture to a ruined convent, searching for an ancient artefact. As they choose what order to explore the ruins, they must gather clues to the artefact’s location. But they must be quick, for the longer they remain, the more the forces of the Shadow Deep become aware of their presence. This book contains the rules only, requires a couple of twenty-sided dice, a deck of standard playing cards, inch ruler and miniatures to play! Rangers of Shadow Deep was previously only available through DriveThruRPG and has been a huge hit with roleplayers and miniature gamers alike with its narrative-driven gameplay.

Starcadia Quest

Starcadia Quest, CMON Limited/Spaghetti Western Games, 2019 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

Top Gun

Top Gun Strategy Game, Mixlore, 2020 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

Top Gun Strategy Game puts players in the pilot seats of Team Maverick/Goose and Team Iceman/Slider. Each team takes on the other during a intense air-combat training exercise. Pilots must strategically maneuver their planes and coordinate with their Weapons System Operator. Conducting intense gravity-defying aerial maneuvers and securing a valuable target lock on their opponent will secure a swift victory.

Being “Top Gun” is a mental challenge as well as a physical one. When they aren’t in the air, pilots will face off in a volleyball card game in which they strut their stuff to gain rewards or intimidate an opponent. In order to ensure victory, players must succeed at their ground game to increase their education and confidence, giving them the tools and the nerve to excel in the air game.

Star Wars RPG: Starships and Speeders

Jump to Hyperspace with Starships and Speeders, the essential collection of vehicles for Star Wars Roleplaying!

This 144-page sourcebook collects ships from all three Star Wars Roleplaying game lines and introduces a number of vehicles never before profiled. In addition to the crafts themselves, players and GMs will find advice and adventure seeds to help integrate each vehicle into their games. With more than 130 vehicles ranging from civilian speeders to mighty battleships, you’ll find the perfect vessel for any challenge that may arise!

Marvel Champions: Thor

Join the fight for freedom with the Thor Hero Pack for Marvel Champions: The Card Game!

With the mythical hammer Mjolner, Thor has the power to defeat even the strongest of foes with legendary strength and power.

Like all Hero Packs, the Thor Hero Pack includes a fully-playable deck right out of the box that includes 15 Hero cards, 17 cards from the Aggression aspect, and 8 neutral cards.  This deck allows you to harness the power of Thor, who is rewarded for engaging and dispatching villainous minions from the field!

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Star-Lord

Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Star-Lord, Atomic Mass Games, 2020 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Star-Lord allows you to add one new character to the Marvel: Crisis Protocol miniatures game.

Peter Quill was originally born on Earth, but dreamed of exploring the vast reaches of space. After a chance meeting with a celestial being on one of his first trips off world, Quill chose to venture out on his own to find adventure among the stars as the intergalactic hero Star-Lord. An expert marksman and a clever tactician, Star-Lord leads the motley group of heroes known as the Guardians of the Galaxy against any and all threats across the cosmos.

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Rocket and Groot

Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Rocket & Groot, Atomic Mass Games, 2020 — front cover (image provided by the publisher)

Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Rocket & Groot allows you to add two new characters to the Marvel: Crisis Protocol miniatures game.

The result of genetic experiments and cybernetic enhancements, the walking, talking, fighting creature known as Rocket is a force to be reckoned with. A gifted pilot, deadly marksman, and cunning explosives expert, Rocket fights with a zeal for unleashing carnage upon those who threaten his friends and fellow Guardians of the Galaxy.

The strange plantlike being known only as Groot loves life and fights to protect it. Endowed with exceptional strength and the ability to regenerate damage at a prodigious rate, Groot has formed a friendship with Rocket like no other as they fight to defend the cosmos.

Arkham Horror LCG: Where the Gods Dwell Mythos Pack

Come face to face with madness in Where the Gods Dwell, the fifth Mythos Pack in The Dream- Eaters cycle for Arkham Horror: The Card Game! After your seemingly endless journey across the Dreamlands, you have made your way to the land of Leng, an icy wasteland where you believe the peak of unknown Kadath resides. All the while, a presence taunts you, gnawing at your insides— a wordless voice you cannot hear, but feel within the confines of your mind. A presence that is waiting for you.

Where the Gods Dwell is Scenario 4–A of The Dream-Quest campaign. This scenario can be played on its own in Standalone Mode or combined with the other expansions in The Dream- Eaters cycle to form a larger four-part or eight-part campaign. After the events of Dark Side of the Moon, you have finally made your way to lost Kadath, where Nyarlathotep is waiting for a battle that will force you to face deceit, lies, and shifting reality. If you can somehow draw him out, expose him, you may stand a chance, but how do you fight an enemy you cannot understand?