Card Drafting

Apollo XIII tells the whole story of that mission through a card-driven game system. Follow the story and face all of the disasters that plagued that mission!

To ensure the survival of the crew and get them back to Earth, you need to work together in this cooperative game to manage each setback that the mission faces. Your team must coordinate their actions, or you will not finish the mission! Of course, if you want an even bigger challenge, you can try the optional "competitive mode" to see who is the best mission coordinator!

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.

Grimoire is the French word for "spellbook", and smart use of your spellbook – more specifically, the spells within said book – will determine whether you succeed in this game.

Each turn in Grimoire starts by revealing several cards on the game board; each card has either a victory point (VP) value or is a character with a particular way to earn VPs at the end of the game. Once these cards are revealed, each player secretly chooses which spell to cast in his spellbook by placing a bookmark on the appropriate page. Everyone then reveals which spell they chose, with the spells going off in order from weakest (those with the lowest numbers) to strongest. Some weak spells nerf stronger ones, and the order in which players choose cards from the display can be flipped topsy-turvy depending on who plays which spells.

In the One Draw and Z-Man versions, the game ends as soon as one player has collected either ten character cards or ten treasure cards; in the Schmidt Spiele version, the game ends after a fixed number of rounds. All players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.

Differences between the versions:

As noted above, the game ending conditions differ in the 2012 Schmidt Spiele version.
The Z-Man Games and Schmidt Spiele versions of Grimoire accommodate five players, while the original One Draw release allows only 2-4 players.
The Schmidt Spiele version contains four new character cards and two new treasure cards, includes hardcover books instead of softcover, changes two spells, and uses a more elaborate game board that depicts the spells and allows players to mark the spells chosen with small figures to track who has played what.

The World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago was a spectacular international exhibition that showcased many great achievements in science, technology, culture, and entertainment. Acting as organizers of the fair, players work diligently to increase their influence throughout the fair and obtain the grand exhibits that will be put on display. The organizer who has earned the best reputation when the fair begins will emerge the victor.

On each turn of World's Fair 1893, the active player sends a supporter to one of the five areas and gather all of the cards by it. New cards are then added to some of the areas, and the next player takes a turn.

The five areas represent sections of exhibits, like Fine Arts and Electricity. Some cards represent exhibit proposals in one of those five areas, others represent influential people who give you bonus supporters, and other cards represent tickets for attractions and concessions along the Midway.

The game consists of three scoring rounds, each triggered when players collectively gather a certain number of Midway tickets. Players gain reputation points for leading in number of supporters in an area and for gathering the most tickets in each round. The leaders in an area also receive approval for exhibit proposals they have gathered that match the area. Players gain reputation points at the end of the game based on the breadth and diversity of their approved exhibits.

As owners of a fantastic steam park, you're to build gigantic, coal-powered rides to attract as many visitors as you can – but building attractions won't be enough. You'll also need to manage your employees, invest in advertising in order to attract and please the different kinds of guests visiting your park, and, above all, keep the dirt that your park produces under strict control!

Steam Park is an easy-to-learn game with two difficulty levels: one for the less experienced gamers and a more strategic one for those who want a more exciting challenge. In this management game, you'll have to build your own amusement park and make it the largest and most profitable in the region. By constructing the three-dimensional, wonderful rides designed by Marie Cardouat, you will see your park grow right before your eyes. Choose your strategy! Build Stands to attract more Visitors, or Toilets to keep the Dirt under control. Whatever decision you take, take it quickly: The less time you spend planning, the more time you'll have to maintain your park. Thanks to a clever, original action-choosing mechanism, winning in Steam Park is as much a matter of being the best as of being the fastest!