boardgames
Farplace: The Game BGG ReviewDB
2023
genre: Animals / Card Game platform: Board Game publisher: Farplace Animal Rescue
Animal rescuers gather objects and actions to rescue and release animals in need. Each animal needs a different combination of cards to secure a positive rescue or release, with others unable to be released scoring negative points. Each player has slightly different rules depending on their Meeple. Vet cards throw a random element in typical of what is faced in animal rescue.

In addition, there are a range of map type score tracks your Meeple moves along, with bonus points to be picked up.

The game is asymmetrical in 2 ways - when each player rehomes their own animal type, they receive a different bonus. Also, each animal player type moves differently -

- The dog player can take a shortcut through a dog agility tunnel
- The cat player can hop between adjacent cardboard boxes at no movement cost
- The rabbit player can move diagonally between obstacles as well as orthogonally
- The pigeon player can fly directly over and land on obstacles and fly over water

There will be 2 options for the board in the base game, additional Kickstart exclusive boards, and various expansions including a Horse Player (which can gallop on some moves), additional maps and different full versions of the game to come. Be ready for a lot of twists on the theme and unexpected variants.

Game is designed by the CEO of Farplace Animal Rescue, an avid board gamer, and 100% of the profits will support animal rescue via Farplace.

Dino Days BGG
2024
genre: Card Game / Prehistoric platform: Board Game publisher: Farplace Animal Rescue
Fill your week of dinosaurs, scoring the most points in the process. Each dinosaur has unique rules of play, some cancel scores, some swap dinos, other special cards affect game play like the diplodocus where you need two cards to play and the giganotosaurus which each player starts with that can wipe out an entire opponent's board, but gives them 10 points. One deck is needed per two people playing.

—description from the designer
Foodie Forest BGG
other title: Chaud Devant! / Potage sauvage 2002
genre: Card Game platform: Board Game publisher: IELLO / R&R Games
This Reiner Knizia concoction is a sort of a trick-taking game, but instead of everybody playing one card and seeing which one wins the trick, everybody takes turns adding cards until the total adds up to 10 or more and the player who added that card takes the whole pile.

This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the player's goal for that particular round! There are five rounds in the game and exactly five different goals to be fulfilled: to take as many mushroom cards as you can, or as many pea soup cards, or as many onion cards, or as many chili pepper cards, or to take no cards at all. (The pepper cards, incidentally, count minus 1 unless your goal for the round is to collect them.) Goals are revealed simultaneously, so you may or may not be in competition with another player for the same cards during the round. And you can't choose a goal you've already chosen, so things can get pretty tough especially on the last hand, where no matter what cards you're dealt, you *have* to go for whichever of the five goals you haven't done already.

Since the game is always exactly five rounds, it lasts a good dependable half an hour every time.
Worta BGG
2024
genre: Animals / Card Game platform: Board Game publisher: Singa Games (II)
In Worta, you step into the shoes of a farmer!
Grow your garden by planting vegetables, and strategically use rabbits, foxes, droughts, and barns to have the highest vegetable production by the end of the game.
However, no farm is complete without animals, and in this game, they might determine the real winner!

Game Instructions

Objective:
In this game, you are a farmer striving to cultivate the best garden. Your goal is to gather animals and grow vegetables to earn the most points.

Setup:

Separate the decks.
Give each player 2 distinct vegetable cards (place them face-up on the table) from the blue deck.
Deal each player 2 additional cards from the blue deck.


Gameplay:

Drawing Cards:
On your turn, draw 2 cards from the blue deck.

Playing Cards:
Play 2 cards by discarding them onto the pile and utilising their power.



Scoring:

Every vegetable you cultivate in your garden adds 1 point to your score.
The game ends when a player gathers 4 different animals. Completing this set adds an additional 4 points to the total score.


Winning the Game:

Count the points from your cultivated vegetables and any bonus points from gathered animals.
The player with the highest total score is declared the best farmer in the county!


Lost Cities BGG
other title: Les Cités Perdues / Città Perdute 1999
genre: Card Game / Exploration platform: Board Game publisher: KOSMOS / 999 Games
Lost Cities is a card game in the Kosmos two-player series. The game originally consisted of a single deck of cards of rank 2–10 in five different colors with three special "handshakes" ("HS" in scoring examples below) in each suit, but as of 2018 the game now includes six colored suits, with the sixth color being optional for gameplay. A game board is included to organize discarded cards and help players organize their card collections.

The object of the game is to gain points by mounting profitable archaeological expeditions to the different sites represented by the colored suits of cards. On a player's turn, they must first play one card, either to an expedition or by discarding it to the color-appropriate discard pile, then draw one card, either from the deck or from the top of a discard pile. Cards played to expeditions must be in ascending order, but they need not be consecutive. Handshakes are considered lower than a 2 and represent investments in an expedition. Thus, if you play a red 4, you may play any other red card higher than a 4 on a future turn but may no longer play a handshake, the 2, or the 3.

The game continues in this fashion with players alternating turns until the final card is taken from the deck. The rest of the cards in hand are then discarded and players score their expeditions. Each expedition that has at least one card played into it must be scored. Cards played into an expedition are worth their rank in points, and handshakes count as a multiplier against your final total; one handshake doubles an expedition's value, while two handshakes triples that value and three handshakes quadruple it. Expeditions start at a value of -20, so you must play at least 20 points of cards into an expedition in order to make a profit. If you are left with a negative value and have a handshake, the multiplier still applies. A 20-point bonus is awarded to every expedition with at least eight cards played into it. A complete game of Lost Cities lasts three matches, with scores for each match being added together.

Scoring example 1: An expedition has a 2,3,7,8,10 for a total of 30. This expedition is worth 10 total points: 30 plus the initial -20.

Scoring example 2: An expedition has 2 HS, and 4,5,6,7,8,10 for a total of 40. This expedition is worth 80 total points: 40 points for cards, plus the initial -20, ×3 for the two multipliers, plus the 20-pt bonus for playing 8+ cards.

Scoring example 3: An expedition has 1 HS, and 4,6,7 for a total of 17. This expedition is worth -6 total points: 17 plus the initial -20, ×2 for the multiplier.
Azul: Master Chocolatier BGG ReviewDB
other title: Azul: Csokoládéműhely / Azul: Maître Chocolatier 2022
genre: Abstract Strategy / Puzzle platform: Board Game publisher: Next Move Games / Broadway Toys LTD
In the game Azul, players take turns drafting colored tiles from suppliers to their player board. Later in the round, players score points based on how they've placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; wasted supplies harm the player's score. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Azul: Master Chocolatier includes double-sided factory boards, with these tiles being placed on these boards at the start of each round. One side of the factories is blank, and when using this side the game plays exactly like Azul. The other side of each factory tile has a special effect on it that modifies play in one way or another, putting a twist on the normal game. Additionally, the tiles are modeled to look like chocolates and other treats, despite remaining as inedible as the tiles in the original game.

Billabong BGG ReviewDB
other title: High Tail It! / 빌라봉 1992
genre: Abstract Strategy / Animals platform: Board Game publisher: AMIGO / franjos Spieleverlag
In the geometrical racing game Billabong, players maneuver teams of kangaroos jumping around a "billabong" ("a dead-end channel extending from the stream of a river," a term used in Australia). The board is made up of checkerboard-style squares around the billabong in the middle.

On your turn, you move one of your five kangaroos, usually moving it in a jump or series of jumps over the other kangaroos. Jumps can be long; if the kangaroo to be jumped over is five spaces away, for example, the landing space will be five spaces beyond. The other option — to move a kangaroo just one space — is usually used as a positioning tactic for a subsequent move. The first player to get all five kangaroos around the billabong and over the finish line wins.

Roam BGG
other title: Périple / Roam: Verloren in Arzium 2019
genre: Card Game / Fantasy platform: Board Game publisher: Red Raven Games / Banana Games
Welcome to Arzium, land of ancient civilizations, bizarre creatures, unexplained wonders, and vibrant characters.

A great sleeping sickness has spread across the land, sending every type of creature to roam for hundreds of miles in a dazed, incoherent march. It's your job to seek them out and wake them from their sleepwalk, recruiting them to help you find even more lost souls!

In Roam, you and up to three friends compete to find lost adventurers. The game includes more than fifty unique, tarot-sized adventurer cards, which feature characters from Near and Far, Above and Below, and Islebound. The opposite side of each card depicts a landscape split into six squares, and two rows of three of these cards are placed in the center of the playing area to make the board.

Each turn, you may activate one of the adventurer cards in your party by flipping the card face down. Activating an adventurer allows you to place search tokens on the board in the shape depicted on your adventurer card. When every square on a landscape card has been searched, the player who did the most claims the card, finding the lost adventurer and adding them to their party. Each adventurer you add to your party gives you points and a new search pattern that you can use.

When searching, you also claim coins, which can be spent to use special actions or purchase artifacts with useful powers. When one player has ten adventurers in their party, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins.

—description from the publisher
Cheese Master BGG
other title: Cheese Master: Khi Loài Chuột Ra Tay / Сырный переполох 2023
genre: Action / Dexterity / Animals platform: Board Game publisher: IELLO / GaGa Games
The kitchen is calm. Too calm. All of a sudden, the chaos begins: as bits of cheese fall off the table, mice scurry in to snatch them up!
The cat, who was patiently waiting for this moment, extends their claws and leaps onto the rodents. But they didn’t notice the dog, who suddenly appears with their mouth wide open…
This chaotic crowd chases and squabbles with each other all around the room until the infuriated innkeeper bangs on a pot to disperse the would-be thieves. After all that hubbub, can you remember how much cheese there actually was?

In Cheese Master players are rolling all dice and need to be as fast as possible to figure out how many cheese are left on the floor. Each die will show animal faces or cheese pieces and create a funny interaction that you will need to understand before your opponents.
They are 4 cheeses but 2 mice eating cheese, 1 cat is there, chasing a mice but before they do so, the dog is making the cat running away. So how many cheese pieces are left?
Be quick as the slowest of players will not even be able to take a guess!

—description from the publisher
Keyper BGG
2017
genre: City Building / Economic platform: Board Game publisher: R&D Games / HUCH!
Keyper is a game with high player interaction for two to four players played over four rounds. Each round represents a season: spring, summer, autumn, and finally winter.

Each player starts the game with their own village board, a mini keyp board, 12 village tiles, a keyper (waving meeple) in their player color, and a team of eight multi-colored keyples, including two white keyples. Each differently colored keyple is a specialist in one activity: the brown keyper is a woodsman, the black keyple is a miner, the orange keyple a clay worker, etc. The white keyples are generalists who can represent any other color.

Keyper is a worker placement game. (Keyper is the eighth new title in the medieval Key series of games, with Keydom, the second in the series being widely recognized as the first of the worker placement genre of games.) What makes Keyper special is that when one player places a keyple on a country board, another player can join them with a matching colored keyple on the first player's turn to the benefit of both players. In this way, some players are likely to have played all their keyples before others. All keyples have the potential to work twice. If a player has played all of their keyples, but another player still has some, then on their turn, the player with no remaining keyples can lay down one or more keyples on the country board they have claimed or in their village board to secure additional resources or actions. It can therefore be doubly beneficial to co-operate with your fellow players, although Keyper is not a co-operative game in the usual sense of the term.

The country boards are also noteworthy, in that they can be manipulated and folded at the beginning of summer, autumn, and winter to show one of four different permutations of fields for that season. A player will chose the one to suit their strategy, often hoping that another player will complement their choice. Certain fields on the country boards are available only in certain seasons, e.g., raw materials can be upgraded to finished goods only in spring and summer, after which you can only convert using tiles in your own village. Gem mining occurs only in autumn and winter.

A player's strategy is likely to be influenced by which (seeded) spring country tiles they acquire and by the particular colored keyples they have available in the later seasons. Different combinations will encourage a player to develop their farm or village, help with their shipping or mining activities, and prepare for the seasonal fairs. Players constantly need to evaluate whether or not to join other players, when to claim a country board, whether to play on their own or another player's country board, when to use their own village, and whether to create a large or small team of keyples for the following season. The winner is the player to gain the most points, usually through pursuing at least a couple of the different strategies.

In addition to the theme and mechanisms, Keyper has similar traits to the earlier Key games: Game actions are positive and constructive, not destructive; player interaction is through the game mechanisms not direct, and like Keyflower, the previous game in the series, there is a lot of player interaction.

A special English-language Kickstarter edition of Keyper with "character" keyples and keypers will also be released.
My City BGG
other title: Moje Miasto / Мой город 2020
genre: City Building platform: Board Game publisher: KOSMOS / 999 Games
My City is a competitive legacy game in which you develop a city on your own playing board through the ages.

The game consists of 24 episodes, beginning with the development of a city in its early preindustrial stages and progressing through industrialization. During each game, players customize their experience by adding elements to their personal boards and adding cards to the game. Players' choices and action made during one session of gameplay carry over into the next session, creating a personalized gaming experience.

At the end of all 24 episodes, the final score for each player will be the number of colored in progress circles. The player with the highest number of colored circles, wins.

For players who do not want to experience My City as a legacy game, a double-sided game board offers an alternate set-up for repeatable play (some elements from the legacy experience are needed for the repeatable play game, players can unlock these elements by playing through the first 4 episodes).
Wyrmspan WikiData BGG ReviewDB
other title: Na křídlech draků / Na skrzydłach smoków 2024
genre: Card Game / Fantasy platform: Board Game publisher: Stonemaier Games / 999 Games
You are an amateur dracologist in the world of Wyrmspan, a place where dragons of all shapes, sizes, and colors roam the skies. Excavate a hidden labyrinth you recently unearthed on your land and entice these beautiful creatures to roost in the sanctuary of your caves.

During a game of Wyrmspan, you will build a sanctuary for dragons of all shapes and sizes. Your sanctuary begins with 3 excavated spaces—the leftmost space in your Crimson Cavern, your Golden Grotto, and your Amethyst Abyss. Over the course of the game, you will excavate additional spaces in your sanctuary and entice dragons to live there, chaining together powerful abilities and earning the favor of the Dragon Guild.

Wyrmspan is inspired by the mechanisms of Wingspan, though its unique elements make Wyrmspan a standalone game (not compatible with Wingspan).

—description from the publisher

Lancaster BGG
2011
genre: Medieval platform: Board Game publisher: Queen Games
From the designer of Glen More comes a new title published by Queen Games: Lancaster.

In 1413, the new king of England, Henry V of Lancaster, has ambitious plans: The unification of England and the conquest of the French crown! Each player takes the role of an ambitious aristocratic family. Who will be the best supporter of this young king, and the most powerful Lord of his time?

In Lancaster, the players want to proceed from simply being a Lord to being the most powerful ally of the king. They may achieve this by developing their own knighthood, as well as by clever deployment of individual knights in the counties of England, at their own castle, and to conflicts with France. In parliament, they try to push laws from which they will benefit themselves most. The player with the most power points at the end of the game is the winner.

Every turn, players send their knights to the different locations:
• Counties, where they compete with knights from other players for rewards and the favor of the nobles.
• The castle, to receive income or new knights.
• Into conflict with France, where all players combine their power and try to gain power points.

In the counties, the strength of the knights is important, as you can remove the knight of another player by placing a knight of your own with higher strength in the same location.
UNO: Show 'Em No Mercy BGG
2023
genre: Card Game platform: Board Game publisher: Mattel, Inc.
UNO Show 'Em No Mercy is a brutal, ruthless version of the classic UNO card game. In addition to standard action cards like Skip, Reverse, and Draw 2, No Mercy comes with Wild Draw 6, Wild Draw 10, Skip Everyone, Discard All, and the new Wild Color Roulette - a card that forces the next player to choose a color and then draw until they get a card of that color.

In addition to new action cards, many popular house rules have been included in the actual rules. Stacking is legal. 7s swap and 0s pass hands. And when you can't play a card, you must draw until you can play.

But the biggest change in UNO Show 'Em No Mercy is the Mercy Rule. If you ever have 25 or more cards in your hand, you get kicked out of the game.

UNO Show 'Em No Mercy comes with 168 cards (compared to 112 in standard UNO).
World Wonders BGG
other title: Maravillas del Mundo / Monumenty věků 2023
genre: Ancient / City Building platform: Board Game publisher: MeepleBR / MUNDUS
Take on the role of the great leaders of the past to build your own Ancient City.

Players will take turns spending their gold each round to build tiles that will increase their city's economy. A city that produces more food and generates commerce brings more population. Make your city grow!

There are 5 types of buildings, each of which provides resources that will help your city evolve from a simple settlement to the largest city in the world.

To place new buildings in your city you will also need a lot of roads. Don’t forget about monuments, which are just as important as the buildings. These will bring you victory points, but claiming one will consume the rest of your gold for the round.

Choose your timing and placement wisely! If your gold runs out, your round is over. Once all players have spent their gold, a new round begins and new buildings and roads will become available.

After 10 rounds or as soon as a player reaches the maximum population limit, the leader of the best city in the ancient world will be the winner of World Wonders!

—description from the publisher
Block Party BGG
2023
genre: Action / Dexterity / Party Game platform: Board Game publisher: Big Potato Games
Ready, set, BUILD! Gather your friends and family and get ready to build your blocks as best you can or take a wild guess at some cube-tastic creations. One person will be the guesser while everyone else picks a secret item from their list and gets building before the timer runs out.

On each round one player will be the Guesser and the rest will be Builders.

Turn over a challenge card for the round, for example: 'Build the tallest object' or 'Use the fewest colours'. All the builders then secretly pick an object to build on their card. Then start the timer and get building, using the colourful wooden blocks in the middle of the table.

Once the time is up the Guesser then goes around the table attempting to figure out what the others have built. Points are awarded for correct guesses (and sneaky steals!). The Guesser token then moves to the next player and the rounds continue.

There is also a co-operative 2 player version of the game.

—description from the designer
Herd Mentality BGG
other title: Csordaszellem / Efeito Manada 2020
genre: Animals / Party Game platform: Board Game publisher: Big Potato Games / Användbart Litet Företag
This is a party game for families, friends and cow rustlers. The aim of the game is simple: think like the herd and write down the same answers as your friends.

If your answer is part of the majority, you all win cows. Yeehaw! If everyone else writes an answer that is matched by at least one other person, but yours is the odd one out, then you land the angry Pink Cow, and your herd of cows is worthless until you can offload it onto someone else.

The first player to collect eight cows wins.
Tiny Towns BGG
other title: Městečka na dlani / Miasteczka 2019
genre: Abstract Strategy / Animals platform: Board Game publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group / All In Games
You are the mayor of a tiny town in the forest in which the smaller creatures of the woods have created a civilization hidden away from predators. This new land is small and the resources are scarce, so you take what you can get and never say no to building materials. Cleverly plan and construct a thriving town, and don't let it fill up with wasted resources! Whoever builds the most prosperous tiny town wins!

In Tiny Towns, your town is represented by a 4x4 grid on which you will place resource cubes in specific layouts to construct buildings. Each building scores victory points (VPs) in a unique way. When no player can place any more resources or construct any buildings, the game ends, and any squares without a building are worth -1 VP. The player with the most VP wins!

—description from the publisher
Tokaido Duo BGG
other title: 東海道デュオ 2022
genre: Religious / Travel platform: Board Game publisher: Funforge / Stonemaier Games
Welcome, travelers, to the Japanese island of Shikoku! Tokaido Duo is a standalone game inspired by Tokaido but featuring completely new mechanisms. 1-2 players use a quick dice draft each turn to steer three unique characters on different tracks around the smallest of Japan’s main islands.

As the pilgrim, visit shrines, gardens, seashores, and hot springs. As the merchant, collect and sell traditional souvenirs. As the artist, paint a variety of beautiful vistas, and gift your paintings to locals. Gain points through each character’s discoveries as you race to complete one of their jobs while enjoying the journey.

The Stonemaier Games version of Tokaido Duo features character guides for each player and an Automa solo mode (which is both included in the game and available separately for those who already own Tokaido Duo).
Dino Gardens BGG
2023
genre: Animals / Farming platform: Board Game publisher: (Self-Published)
In Dino Gardens, dinos compete to grow the largest, most delicious garden they can before the meteor strike and the end of the world.

Dino Gardens is a strategy game where you must grow and eat plants while forming alliances, battling other dinos, and protecting your garden from Terrible T-Rex. To help in growing their garden, each dino has a unique skill that may allow them to fly, run, swim, or have access to unique seeds.

In the Planting stage, dinos move freely around the land planting their seeds. In the Growing stage, dinos must tend to their seeds and grow them into mature plants by revisiting them. And finally, in the Eating stage, dinos must try to eat all the plants they can for precious dino calories. At the end of the three stages, the dino who has consumed the most dino calories is the winner!

In each stage dinos must make important choices. Planting in the wetlands will yield higher results, but other dinos may try and steal your plants. Visiting dino hot springs has restorative health benefits, but will take time away from gardening. In addition, Terrible T-rex is roaming the land looking for his lucky top hat, and if he finds it hidden in your garden, he will attack!

-description from designer