Creatures: Monsters

Set in the Cthulhu: Death May Die, Dark Providence is a competitive game in which players take on secret roles of Investigators, Cultists Or Dissidents from the most influential cities of the United States during the Great Depression. While the Cultists explore the nation's vulnerability seeking to remake it into a twisted version of itself by consorting with unspeakable beings from nightmarish dimensions, Investigators take the opposite side, standing against this dark providence. Meanwhile Dissidents are no longer part of either side. Dissidents score points for assassinating Agents and for sealing and protecting Gates. As enemies of both sides of the struggle, concealing their identity is paramount.

Each player's secret alignment determines how they’ll score points at the end of the game, however, this is not a cooperative game. During the game players use Influence cubes to bid for the right to claim Asset cards, take control of cities, and gather Mythos cards. Each new Asset card acquired improves the players’ deck and therefore the resources and actions they can perform during a turn. At the center of Dark Providence’s deck building mechanics lie the Asset cards. All players start the game with the same 10 initial cards. Regardless of their strategy, acquiring new Asset cards is fundamental to improve their decks.

Trying to keep their identity secret and avoid insanity, players perform a multitude of actions, swaying Hired Agents to their side of the battle, assassinating other players’ Agents, gathering additional help from Mythos cards, blocking other players from claiming cards, and sealing or protecting Gates, among others to gain Victory Points. At the end, only the player with the most Victory Points of the dominant side of the battle will win the game!

Dark Providence also has a brand new solo version in which a single player comes face-to-face with an Elder One attempting to corrupt the nation. The player takes the side of Investigators and plays against 1 of 6 Elder Ones, each with unique features and goals.

Lewis and Clark are tasked not only with exploring America, but with ridding the land of numerous invasive monsters that have appeared.

Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny is a co-operative deduction game in which players each take the role of one of the crew on the expedition and set out to explore the land. The game board allows for different maps to be inserted into it, so you have many adventures ahead of you.

In addition to finding and killing monsters, you must also complete numerous daily challenges that require specific resources that you can find on the board. You have to use logic and deduction to reason out where the resources you need are located. Ally yourselves with Sacajawea and the indigenous people of the area to help you on your quest.

The game comes with two chapters: Fauna and Flora. Each has new mechanisms, a different goal, and new components to give each chapter a different feel.

—description from the publisher

Survive The Island is a cutthroat game in which players seek to evacuate their adventurers — especially those of a high value — from a sinking island to maximize their score.

An island made up of forty hex-tiles is slowly sinking into the ocean as tiles are removed from the board. Each player controls ten people (valued 1-5) that they try to move towards the safety of the surrounding islands before the main island's volcanoes finally erupt. Players can either swim or use rafts to travel, but must avoid sea serpents, kaiju, and sharks on their way to safety.

—description from the publisher

My First Castle Panic, like its predecessor Castle Panic, is a co-operative game in which players work together to defend their castle, but this game removes the reading requirement of the earlier one and fosters the development of educational skills, such as identifying colors and shapes, problem solving, and turn taking.

In the game, monsters follow a single path toward a single, large, eye-catching castle, which is protected by one wall. Each step toward the castle is identified by a color and a shape. Players hold cards in their hands with cute defenders who also have a color and shape. When a card is played that matches the location of the monster, that monster is captured and thrown in the dungeon. Tension builds as more monsters are placed and move along the path toward the castle. If the castle is destroyed, the players lose; if it still stands when all the monsters are in the dungeon, the players win.

The catacombs of the skeletal dragon Umbrok Vessna are mysterious and dangerous. Portals transport you all around the dungeon depths. Wayshrines offer vast riches to intrepid explorers. Prisoners are counting on you to free them. Ghosts, once disturbed, may haunt you to death. Despite all that, it's time to leave the board behind with Clank! Catacombs, a standalone deck-building adventure.

Each trip into the catacombs is unique since you lay tiles to create the dungeon. You can play using only the all-new dungeon deck, or you can include cards from previous Clank! expansions.

Find your fortune (and escape the dragon!) in Clank! Catacombs.

—description from the publisher