Abstract Strategy

Cóatl

The election of the Aztec High Priest is imminent. In order to prove their value and merit, the contenders engage in a race for prestige to win the favor of the gods. Will you be able to make the most beautiful sculptures of feathered snakes (called Cóatl) to stand out and gain access to the coveted title of High Priest?

In Cóatl, players work to build the most beautiful and valuable serpents. The serpents, or Cóatl, are constructed with a head, a tail, and a number of body tiles, each made from chunky, colorful plastic. On a turn, players will either take tiles from the central board to their personal board, or work to construct one of their Cóatls with the different tiles they've collected.

The game end is triggered when one player finishes their third Cóatl. Players receive points for fulfilling objectives, and the one with the most is named the new High Priest!

•••

L’élection au titre de grand prêtre aztèque est imminente. Afin de prouver leur valeur et leur mérite, les prétendants s’engagent dans une course au prestige pour conquérir la faveur des dieux. Saurez-vous réaliser les plus belles sculptures de serpents à plumes (appelés Cóatl) pour vous démarquer et ainsi accéder au titre tant convoité de grand prêtre aztèque?

Dans Cóatl, les joueurs construisent les plus beaux et précieux serpents à plumes qui soient. Ces reptiles, appelés Cóatl par les Aztèques, sont construits d'une tête, une queue et un certain nombre de pièces de corps en plastique épais et coloré. À tour de rôle, les joueurs prennent les pièces du plateau central et les transposent sur leur plateau personnel afin d'assembler stratégiquement des Cóatls en fonction des couleurs édictées par leurs cartes d'objectifs.

La partie se termine lorsqu'un joueur complète son troisième Cóatl. Les joueurs reçoivent des points pour la réalisation d'objectifs et celui qui en a cumulé le plus est déclaré grand prêtre aztèque!

•••

In der aztekischen Mythologie ist der Schöpfergott Quetzalcoatl als Gott des Windes, des Himmels und der Erde allgegenwärtig. Gefiederten Schlangen, Cóatl genannt, schmücken antike Tempelanlagen in ganz Mexiko.

Erschafft die aufwändigsten und elegantesten Skulpturen geflügelter Schlangen, auch Cóatl genannt, damit einer von euch zum neuen Hohepriester der Azteken ernannt wird.Während des Spiels erschafft ihr Cóatl, indem ihr Kopf-, Körper- und Schwanzsegmente verbindet, die den Voraussetzungen eurer Prophezeiungskarten entsprechen. Je mehr der Voraussetzungen erfüllt werden, desto mehr Prestigepunkte bringt das fertige Cóatl.

ALDR: The High Sage

Long before sages battled in the arena, Aldr, the first High Sage, mastered the elements and passed his teachings on to his students. However, even the most powerful cannot train every day. Aldr himself created this game of strategy to reinforce sharpen their minds and reinforce is hard-won lessons.

ALDR: The High Sage is a card game unlike any other. Tactically place drafted cards to build the four elemental patterns before your opponents can. Place your sages strategically to restrict the options of other players, and move Aldr himself to further thwart your opponents. Be the first to place your four sages and claim victory in this unique card game of area control.

Although ALDR: The High Sage is a standalone game, rules are included to use ALDR as an expansion to Element!

—description from the designer

Calico

Calico is a puzzly tile-laying game of quilts and cats.
In Calico, players compete to sew the coziest quilt as they collect and place patches of different colors and patterns. Each quilt has a particular pattern that must be followed, and players are also trying to create color and pattern combinations that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also able to attract the cuddliest cats!

Turns are simple. Select a single patch tile from your hand and sew it into your quilt, then draw another patch into your hand from the three available. If you are able to create a color group, you may sew a button onto your quilt. If you are able to create a pattern combination that is attractive to any of the cats, it will come over and curl up on your quilt! At the end of the game, you score points for buttons, cats, and how well you were able to complete your unique quilt pattern.

—description from the publisher

Iwari

Evermore have they walked the world of Iwari. Evermore have they embodied its spirit and shaped its lands. They are stewards of the earth. Five Titans that make the cosmos breath. On Iwari, there are no teeming masses, no continent-wide civilizations. Humanity is in its infancy, living in scattered tribes in forest, tundra, and desert.

Now we have left our ancestral homelands to explore the vast uncharted regions, encountering other fellow tribes and exchanging knowledge, culture and wisdom. In our journey, we all live in harmony with the Titans, and though distant to us, they decide our fate. And yet only we don't know if they created us, or we created them.

Iwari is an abstract-like Eurogame in which players represent different tribes looking for their identity by traveling around far lands and expanding their settlements into five different regions on the board. In the game, players use cards for two different actions:

1) Place tents and expand their settlements into five different regions on the board in a majority game that scores on each territory.
2) Construct nature totems to bond with the Titans by placing them on regions and score points based on the totem majorities in adjacent territories.

During the game, players can complete missions that grant small perks and score points by having the majority of tents in each territory after the end of the first card cycle. At game end, the majority of tents will be scored again, along with the majorities of nature totems in two adjacent regions and settlements that players have created (i.e., four or more tents in an uninterrupted sequence along one of the roads on the board).

Iwari reimagines the award-winning game Web of Power by Michael Schacht by adding new layers of strategy, tribe player boards, different maps with their own set of rules, modules that can be added to the game, and unique co-operative and solo modes.

Babylonia

The Neo-Babylonian empire, especially under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 B.C.), was a period of rebirth for southern Mesopotamia. Irrigation systems improved and expanded, increasing agricultural production. Urban life flourished with the creation of new cities, monuments and temples, and the consequent increase in trade.

In Babylonia, you try to make your clan prosper under the peace and imperial power of that era. You have to place your nobles, priests, and craftsmen tokens on the map to make your relations with the cities as profitable as possible. Properly placing these counters next to the court also allows you to gain the special power of some rulers. Finally, the good use of your peasants in the fertile areas gives more value to your crops. The player who gets the most points through all these actions wins.

—description from the publisher