Civilization

China, 1570. China is under the reign of the Longqing Emperor, of the Ming Dynasty. He inherited a country in disarray after years of mismanagement and corruption. He resided in the Forbidden city, which was the seat of many emperors under the Ming Dynasty. Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 ha (over 180 acres). It is also under the Ming Dynasty that the Great Wall of China was rebuilt, fortified, and expanded. Around this period, China was under heavy attack from the Mongols, so maintaining the Great Wall was essential. Most of what we now have left of the Great Wall, we owe to the Ming dynasty.

The country was already famous for its very intricate bureaucracy, but this also led to a lot of corruption. Even though the penalties for corruption were very high, the highest Officials of the Forbidden City would pretend to uphold the ban on corruption, by accepting gifts of petitioners, and returning one of seemingly lower value.

Gùgōng uses this extraordinary custom as its basis. Players take on the role of powerful Chinese families trying to gain influence and power by exchanging gifts with Officials. The gift cards you offer as a player have to be of a higher value than the one you receive, forcing you to make strategic choices regarding which actions you want to take each turn. You will travel around China, sail down the Grand Canal, purchase precious jade, help construct the Great Wall, secure advantages through decrees, influence the game through intrigue, and ultimately, receive an audience with the emperor. If only 1 player succeeds in doing so, he wins. If several players succeed, the player with the most VPs among those players wins the game.

—description from the publisher

(Español)

China, 1570. El país está bajo el reinado del Emperador Longqing, de la Dinastía Ming. Su padre, el Emperador Jiajing, reinó durante muchos años. A pesar de ser un hombre diligente, era también conocido por su crueldad y por la preocupación de sus propios intereses frente a los del país. Aquellos que se oponían a él normalmente no sobrevivían mucho tiempo. Su largo reinado marcó el comienzo de un período de cierta estabilidad, pero sus excentricidades dejaron al país en un estado realmente pobre, dañado por la incesante corrupción.

Los jugadores asumen el papel de poderosas familias chinas que tratarán de ganar influencia y poder sobornando a los funcionarios responsables de ciertas tareas, intercambiando los regalos adecuados, en el transcurso de 4 días. Los jugadores obtendrán puntos de victoria de esta manera, y aquel con mayor número de puntos de victoria ganará el juego. Pero cuidado: sobre todo debes tratar de conseguir una audiencia con el propio Emperador. Si no lo consigues, todos tus esfuerzos habrán sido en vano.

—descripción de la Editorial

In the Ancient World, civilizations are built upon 3 foundations: Commerce, Construction, and Expansion. As a leader of an ancient Mediterranean Power, each player will need to master all 3 roads to power in order to lead their civilization to dominance and victory.

Mare Nostrum is all about the expansion of one's lands, the construction of new cities, and the dispatching of caravans to take advantage of rare commodities that can either be traded or exploited to build constructions and eventually wonders of the world.

But diplomacy and trade are but one path to greatness. The expansion of your navy and armies can take what should be rightfully yours. Hiring great leaders will further expand your boundaries in quick time.

Controlling a combined total of 4 Wonders and/or Leaders or being the first to build the Pyramids will assure victory. But there are many hurdles to overcome to achieve such heights.

Mare Nostrum allows for up to 5 players and offers a basic and advanced game in which players can customize their starting civilization. For a game of such scope, it is quite amazing to think that the game only requires 2 pages of rules.

In the late Middle Ages, the Canary Islands had faded into obscurity from a European point of view. There was neither gold nor silver, and the islands did not play a role as a trading post because the north-south trade of that time went through the Sahara.

In 1312, the Genoese merchant and seafarer Lancelotto Malocello effectively "rediscovered" the Canary Islands. During the 15th century, the archipelago was conquered by the Spanish. Spanish masters pushed agriculture, cultivating sugar cane, wine and grain, which quickly gave the islands a certain economic value and importance.

In West of Africa, the players cultivate goods, try to sell them profitably, and build settlements. Each player has their own deck of cards. Each turn the players select cards from their decks to conduct successful actions, always keeping the actions of the other players in mind.

Orbis is a tactical game of world development and strategic resource management, in which players take on the roles of gods creating their best universes. Utilizing lands lost in the aether, players accumulate worshippers to spend on even more fruitful lands — some of which grant game-changing bonuses. The key to victory lies in having the most creation points (CPs) at the end of the game!

On your turn, you must take a tile from either the nine region tiles in the center of the table or the available God tiles. (A player may take only one God tile throughout the game.) Every time you take a region tile, worshippers of the same color as the tile taken are placed on adjacent tiles, making the tiles left behind more enticing for the next player. Restrictions apply to region tile placement, making each decision tougher than the last!

After fifteen rounds, the game ends when all players have created their universe, at which point CPs are calculated, bonus tiles awarded, and a winner is crowned. Beautifully simple yet rich in strategy, Orbis is a different game each and every time you play it.

Become the best god and craft your most prosperous universe!

In ancient prehistoric times, you have discovered a new land with plentiful lakes, mountains and forests (and apparently many stone rocks that shall be called dice). Your people can develop new things like basketry or find oxen or simply grow and conquer.

In Rise of Tribes, players control a tribal faction in prehistoric times that's looking to grow, move, gather, and lead their people. The board is modular, composed of hexes in various terrain types. Each turn you roll two dice, and may select from four actions. The power of your action depends on your die roll PLUS the last couple of dice on that action card. Victory is possible in a couple ways: gathering resources to build villages and/or completing development and achievement goals for your civilization.