Country: China

Lead an ancient China kingdom dreaming of imperial power, establish new states, build pagodas, strive for influence – and battle to unite the country under your glorious dynasty! HUANG is set in the Warring States period (475-221 BC), a time of endless wars between seven rival states: Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, Wei, and Zhao.

HUANG is a 2 to 4 player game set in ancient China, during the time of the Warring States. You take control of one of the Warring States, battling to unite the country under your dynasty. Each player has five different leaders: Governor, Soldier, Farmer, Trader, and Artisan.

Clever placement of these leaders and their corresponding tiles on the board is key, allowing you to build pagodas to score points, trigger or avoid wars, and instigate peasant revolts that bring down your enemies. Play is fast and addictive, lasting around 90 minutes, with a very short teaching time reflecting the elegance of the ruleset.

In 221 B.C., all the so-called Warring States are brought together. This is the birth of the vast Chinese empire, ruled by Qin Shi Huangdi. A skilled and determined strategist, but also a shrewd governor, he undertakes actions aimed at standardizing all the elements at the basis of Chinese society and culture; he imposes a single script and a single currency, then he establishes a new system of laws equal for all. He also builds palaces, installs local governors, and above all, starts the works for the construction of the greatest building in the history of mankind: the Great Wall.

A single life cannot suffice for such a vast empire. He sends ships to distant lands in search of the legendary elixir of life, and he builds a huge mausoleum containing the scale reconstruction of his empire. In defense of it for eternity, he deploys an impressive terracotta army...

In Zhanguo: The First Empire, you go along with the Emperor's plans to offer your family a place in the terracotta army. To help you in this challenging task, six cards will be at your disposal every round. They will give you permanent support during the rest of the game or will obtain the Emperor's approval for your actions.

At the end of the game, the player who made the greatest contribution to the Emperor's cause by scoring the most points wins!

—description from the publisher

Emperor Qin Shi Huang has passed away. To protect him in the afterlife, a great army in the form of statues of faithful warriors must be assembled to stand guard in the Emperor's tomb. You will be among those tasked with building this magnificent army.

In Terracotta Army, you represent talented craftsmen and artists laboring to build the wondrous assembly of statues. During the game, you collect resources, upgrade your workers, and seek favor with the Emperor's advisors. Your goal is to play a crucial role in the process of creating the terracotta army, and your success is measured in victory points (VPs). During the game, you and your fellow players build the army together, but after the fifth round of the game is over, only one of you — the one with the most points — will stand as the winner.

During the game, you place warrior miniatures within the mausoleum, forming groups. A group's miniatures may belong to multiple players as denoted by the player bases on those miniatures. Multiple separate groups consisting of the same type of miniature may exist within the mausoleum.

You will have many opportunities to score points based on domination and presence. To achieve domination, you must be the only player with the most of the specific resource or type of statue currently being scored. (If you are the only player, you have domination.) To have presence, you must have at least one of the specific resource or type of statue currently being scored.

At the end of the fifth round, the player with the most VPs wins.

In Dragon Boats of the Four Seas, Zhong-Guo, the Middle Kingdom, is an island surrounded by the four Dragon Seas. After a long period of strife, Zhong-Guo has once again been unified and the noble houses rise from the ashes, hoping to cross the Dragon Seas and reach the wealthy vassal states of the former Empire. In Zhong-Guo, Dragons are believed to be good luck and sources of celestial power, so the people make offerings to Dragons at temples and cast coins with the images of Dragons on them to bring fortune at the marketplace. Farmers invoke Dragons over their fields for a bountiful harvest and boats are made in the likeness of Dragons for protection on the dangerous waters. As the leader of one of the noble houses of Zhong-Guo, you must build farms, trade, and make offerings for the safe passage of your ships to these forgotten lands. Recapture the glory of the old Empire and ride the Dragon Boats to victory!

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