Auction / Bidding

Klondike Rush

Klondike Rush is a bidding/stock game in a gold rush setting in which players build mines along different routes. Players also get a chance to score a big reward if they hunt down a wild monster that's been scaring the miners...

Foreclosed!

After years of taking advantage of hotel guests and tenants, Wealthy Uncle Moneybag's financial empire has crumbled into foreclosure. The millionaire's lavish property must be sold off to satisfy his debts, and you are one of the creditors! You may not need a diamond-encrusted watch or a rare fossil collection, but with 2-6 creditors sniffing around, maybe you should just take all that you can grab?!

Playing a round of Foreclosed! is simple, but the strategies are endless. Each turn, you'll be awarded a single item from Wealthy Uncle Moneybag's outrageous collection. If you receive some expensive silverware which you're not interested in collecting, and another player has received the fancy automobile you had your eye on, just make that player an offer.

If the other player wants to keep their item, they'll be forced to "protect" it by paying more money than you offered them. If a player does not have enough money, or does not want to spend the money they have, they must accept your offer. Once all players have had a chance to make offers, the round ends and all acquired items are added to their new owner's collection. Sometimes you will find it is just as rewarding to force other players to spend their money protecting items you didn't really want in the first place!

Foreclosed! lasts thirty minutes and can be played by 2-6 players.

For added depth and challenge to the game, Foreclosed! includes action cards for experienced players.

Felix: The Cat in the Sack

Who does not know the colloquial expression "Buying the cat in the sack" ("Buying a pig in a poke")? In this game you can experience the meaning of this expression yourself. A group of cats wants new owners, but these lucky people do not know if they get some sweet pussycats or one or more mean old cats. Sometimes only a dog is helpful, who chases the unwanted cats away. But then too many dogs are worse, too, because they only think about chasing themselves away. A clever auction game with many interesting decisions.

Idea of the game: With their mice, the players attempt to grab the famous cat in the sack. In the sack, there are both good and bad cats. Each player can also put a dog or rabbit into the sack instead of a cat, allowing players to bluff one another. At game end, all positive cats and mice count plus points, but negative cats count minus points.

Funny Friends

Each player plays a character who starts the game as a teenager and then must choose the cards that will make his life take shape. He can repeat a school year and get new friends, start smoking, take part in a Bible discussion group and have his first sexual intercourse during Oktoberfest – all very realistic. Every event in the life of a character has some effect on his main characteristics - tobacco addiction, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, wealth, health, sadness, spirituality and wisdom. Excess comes at a price, though, and when a characteristic gets too high, it cancels another one – if you smoke too much, you get thin; if you get too fat, you must stop drinking; if you drink too much you lose your wisdom, and so on – once more, very realistic. During game, you can get friends, and often more, with other player’s characters. This is an important feature in the game, since what happens to you usually affects, in good or bad, your friends, and this is one of the main interaction aspects of the game.

Description from Bruno Faidutti's ideal game library.

Honshu

Honshu is a trick-taking, map-building card game set in feudal Japan. Players are lords and ladies of noble houses seeking new lands and opportunities for fame and fortune.

One game of Honshu lasts twelve rounds, and each round is divided into two phases. First, map cards are played in a trick, and the player who played the highest valued card gets to pick first from those cards played. Then the players use the map cards picked to expand their personal maps. Each player must expand their personal maps to maximize their scoring possibilities.

Manipulating your position in the player order is crucial for mastering Honshu.