Adventure

Prophecy (originally released as Proroctví) is a Talisman-style game by Czech designer Vladimír Chvátil. The players represent fantasy characters on a path through a land full of adventure with the goal of grabbing ancient artifacts from the claws of demons guarding the surrounding astral realms.

Instead of rolling dice to move around the game board, players in Prophecy use a variety of means of transport. The game includes an experience system and loads of skills and spells that your character can learn. A large number of monsters that you can meet and fight also await you, as do random events that will keep taxing your abilities because after you cast a spell or lose a fight, your strength or willpower declines until it is recharged by healing.

Whoever holds four of the five hidden artifacts wins the game and becomes the next king of the land.

Expanded by:

Prophecy: Dragon Realm (2003)
Prophecy: Water Realm (2006)

Recruit a Party. Kill the Monsters. Take Their Stuff!

Tomb pits opponents against one another in a game of monsters, traps, treasures, and spells. Attempts to capture the dungeon crawl experience without hours of preparation. Assemble a crack squad of adventurers and enter the fabled Goldenaxe Catacombs in search of glory and hidden treasure. With Tomb’s unique set-up and character recruitment, you’ll never play the same game twice.

In Celestia, a revamped version of Cloud 9, you board an aircraft with a team of adventurers to perform many trips through the cities of Celestia and recover their wonderful treasures. Your journey will not be safe, but you will attempt to be the richest adventurer by collecting the most precious treasures!

At the beginning of a journey, all players place their pawns within the aircraft; the players start the game with six cards in hand (or eight depending on the number of players). At the beginning of each round, one player is chosen to be the captain of the trip and he rolls 2-4 dice to discover the challenges that they will face: fog, lightning bolts, killer birds, or pirates. He must then play the appropriate cards — a compass, a lightning arrester, a foghorn, or even cannons — to continue on the journey and reach the next city. But before the captain plays the appropriate cards, each player must decide whether to stay within the aircraft:

If you exit, you're guaranteed the victory points that come from exploring the current city.
If you stay on board, you hope to make it to the next city in order to catch more precious treasures. If the captain can't overcome the challenge, though, everyone comes crashing down empty-handed and you'll need to begin a new trip with all passengers on board.

During the journey, each adventurer can try to pull out of the game with fabulous objects (a jetpack, astronomy glasses, etc.) or by changing the trip (modifying the travel or abandoning an explorer in the city). As soon as a player earns treasure worth at least fifty points, the game ends and this player wins.

In the near future of Paradox, a space-time disturbance called The Quake is fracturing entire worlds’ timelines and removing these worlds from existence. Two to four players take on the roles of scientists working quickly to repair these worlds’ connections to their past, present, and future by making new time strands — however, every repaired connection ripples through time and fuels the Quake to fracture more worlds. When the storm’s power fades, the most successful scientist will be hailed as a hero throughout the multiverse.

Paradox takes familiar board game elements such as card drafting, set collection, and resource management, then adds a Bejewelled-like grid of colorful disks for each player to manipulate, along with a universe of worlds that must be protected by game’s end. As a result, Paradox presents players with a unique experience that is simple to learn yet challenging to master as players navigate three interlocking systems to protect these worlds from the chaotic forces of the Quake.

Paradox is designed by Brian Suhre and is illustrated by 15 artists, each with their unique view of one of the worlds. Paradox plays in about 20-30min per player.

Dare to enter Dragonwood! Deep in the heart of this mythical forest lurk angry ogres, giggling goblins, and even the famed and fearsome fire-breathers themselves!

In Dragonwood, you collect sets of adventurer cards to earn dice, which you then use to roll against your foes. Stomp on some fire ants, scream at a grumpy troll, or strike the menacing orange dragon with a magical silver sword. Choose your strategy carefully because the landscape of Dragonwood is ever-changing. Only the bravest will overcome the odds to emerge victorious!

Gameplay:

On their turn, players either draw a card or attempt to capture a creature or enhancement. Players draw from the Adventurer deck that contains cards of 5 different colors all numbered 1-12. With these cards players form combinations to attempt a Strike (cards in a row of any color), a Stomp (cards of the same number) or a Scream (cards of the same color). To capture, players roll a number of dice equal to the number of cards they have of the particular combination. Each creature has different minimum values of a Strike, Stomp or Scream needed to capture it, and a Victory Point amount.

The game includes six, six-sided dice with sides 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, and 4 to reduce extremely lucky outcomes. The Dragonwood deck has 42 cards, 5 of which are displayed in the landscape at any time. In addition to creatures, this deck also has enhancements that are captured in the same way as creatures which assist players in capturing creatures, and contains events that also impact play. When both dragons have been defeated, the game is over and the player with the most victory points wins!

Is the best strategy to go for several smaller creatures or save up for larger attacks? Should you grab some enhancements hoping they will pay off, or go immediately for creatures? Do you take chances on some rolls or go for sure things? Every time you play Dragonwood the deck is different, so no two games are the same!