In TECH-BUBBLE, 3 to 6 players ride the technology market roller coaster at the turn of the 21st century as it surges and eventually plunges. The players represent various market sectors during the "Dot.Com Bubble". They make decisions to stay in the market and ride out the surge or get out before the bubble bursts. Timing and nerves of steel are everything. And along the way players can affect each other's investments and decisions by crafty play.
Due out October 2009
Double or Nothing is a fast paced, press-your-luck game that is perfect fun for groups of 3-6 players. How far will you push yourself to score points? Players take turns scoring or flipping over cards, looking to increase their points. Turn over the wrong cards and you will be out of the round.
The last player in the round is forced to play Double or Nothing which can lead to mega-points or nothing at all. Once the seventh bonus card is turned over the game ends and the person with the most points wins.
Its time for a picnic. With the food, the players also bring an assortment of fly swatters and bug spray to defend against the hordes of bugs sure to come.
The starting player pulls a bug card from his hand, and passes it to the next player; who can either play another bug -- passing the larger horde on to his neighbor -- or defend his food with one of the aforementioned weapons. If he fails to do this, he loses food.
The game comes in two editions -- the standard which is comprised of 114 cards and 24 food tiles; and the deluxe, which features 138 wooden tiles.
3 to 5 players lead groups of South Seas pirates, angling for the captain's positions on five ships that make up a small pirate fleet. Why? Well, that's obvious: the captains get the bulk of the booty.
All cards (in different colours and numbered from one to fifteen) are shuffled and dealt out (fewer when playing with fewer players). After the trump colour has been determined, a traditional trick-taking game ensues. Whenever a player wins a trick, they get to place one of their sailors onto the captain position of the ship that matches the colour of the trick. If that post is already taken, then the other player must vacate the spot. That can sometimes end up with a sailor being tossed overboard - but they're not out of the game, they seek safety on an island. The more sailors this happens to, the better their chance of being hired again.
At the end of the game, the captains and sailors on the ships are worth points - sailors stranded on islands worth minus points. Minus points are also awarded when a player wins many tricks during the game - which is why these won tricks can also be passed along.
Firefly: Out to the Black is a quick card game that plays from three to five players. It’s unusual in that the players do not compete against each other, but compete against the game. This is a fairly new style of game called a co-op game or cooperative game. Players take on roles of the crew of Serenity and play through a series of Events. Using their Fightin’, Flyin’, and Thinkin’ skills they attempt to successfully complete these Events to earn Credits and Honor. If the players run out of Credits or Honor before the end of the game, they all lose and the game wins! If the players manage to complete the predetermined amount of Events without running out of Credits or Honor, they win the game, and live to fly another day!
Components:
Double sized Character Cards – Contains the Character’s Skill numbers and special abilities
Event Cards – These are the Events the players must overcome to win the game.
Serenity Cards – These are dual use cards. The main use is to help the players overcome Events. It’s secondary use is to determine random numbers.
Alliance Cards – These are penalty cards that are drawn if the players do not do well at certain Events. Draw too many of these and the players lose the game even if they still have Credits and Honor.
Gorramit Cards – These cards modify the Events, generally making them harder.
A Set of Rules – The rules to the game.
Honor Tokens – These are used to track the player’s Honor.
Credit Tokens – These are used to track the player’s Credits.
The Character Cards each represent one of the main Characters in Firefly. In addition to having their skills values listed, Each Character has special abilities, which cost a variable amount of Credits or Honor. On a players turn he can choose to spend Credits or Honor on one of these abilities, but it brings them closer to losing, so they need to think about whether they really need to or not.
A typical turn of the game consists of the active player turning over the top Event card. Each Event card has three challenges, one Fightin’, one Flyin’, and one Thinkin’. Each of these has a number, which the players must equal or exceed to be successful in the challenge. Characters gain skill two different ways, they may play Serenity cards to gain skill, and, after playing their Serenity cards, they add a random number to determine their final skill. This is added to the Character’s base skill number listed on their Character cards. Depending on how many challenges they successfully complete they either gain or lose Credits and/or Honor. The more successful the more they gain.
Once the event is resolved, the next player starts a new turn, and turns over the next Event card. The game is over once all the Event cards have been drawn and resolved.
The Firefly TV show is about surviving with honor. Mal and his crew are continually trying to scrounge up enough credits to keep flying, while maintaining their own personal sense of honor. The game reflects this grand theme with the victory conditions, survive the Event deck without running out of Honor or Credits. Each Event in the deck is tied to an episode in the show, and is easily recognizable by fans of the show. The Skills needed for each Event are tied to action of the episode featured on the card. A sub theme of the show is escaping notice of the Alliance, and again, with the inclusion of the Alliance deck, Firefly: Out to the Black delivers. The Alliance deck is an ever-present threat looming over the players as they desperately seek to finish the Events in the game.