Dice Rolling

Based on the award-winning The Settlers of Catan, but presenting players with all-new challenges unique to the dangers and opportunities of the Stone Age.

From the Box:
Man's Epic Struggle. The cradle of modern humans, called Homo sapiens by scientists, was located in Africa more than 100,000 years ago. The first branches of this family began a journey that spanned thousands of years. Eventually leading them to Australia and America. The enormous difficulties of this journey were overcome because of Homo sapiens' unique ability to adapt to its environment. Their highly developed brains and their mastery of crafts enabled them to flourish in even the harshest conditions.

In this exciting game, you will guide the journey of one of these branches. You must strive to spread your people over the whole world. In order to expand your branch of humanity, you must develop certain talents: advances in the preparation of food will allow your people to spread faster and wider, while new hunting techniques can protect them from dangers. And your people will need warm clothes to cross the ice deserts of the north and boats to settle Australia.

Of course, all of this is possible only if you have enough raw materials: meat, hides, bones and flint.

There are many paths that you may follow to victory. But it is certain that the player that settles in the most productive lands, trades for missing raw materials with the other players most skillfully, and is able to best penetrate the lands of Australia and America, will end the game with their nose in front!

Belongs to the Catan Series and is retroactively a member of Catan Histories.

Game description from the publisher:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is an exciting all-new co-operative game of adventure in which you join Bilbo Baggins and his thirteen Dwarven companions on their journey through the Lonelands and Misty Mountains, encountering Goblins, Trolls, and other dangers that seek to put an end to their adventures. Traverse your way through two boards, each more difficult than the last, with the goal of coming out alive and prepared for the dangers that lie ahead. Your accumulated points at the end of the game will be your team's mark for finding out how good of a Company you really are!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , although it is also a stand-alone game, can be used as an expansion to this game.

Game description from the publisher:

It is 1926, and the museum's extensive collection of exotic curios and occult artifacts poses a threat to the barriers between our world and the elder evils lurking between dimensions. Gates to the beyond begin to leak open, and terrifying creatures of increasing strength steal through them. Animals, the mad, and those of more susceptible minds are driven to desperation by the supernatural forces the portals unleash. Only a handful of investigators race against time to locate the eldritch symbols necessary to seal the portals forever. Only they can stop the Ancient One beyond from finding its way to Earth and reducing humanity to cinders.

Elder Sign is a fast-paced, cooperative dice game of supernatural intrigue for one to eight players by Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson, the designers of Arkham Horror. Players take the roles of investigators racing against time to stave off the imminent return of the Ancient One. Armed with tools, allies, and occult knowledge, investigators must put their sanity and stamina to the test as they adventure to locate Elder Signs, the eldritch symbols used to seal away the Ancient Ones and win the game.

To locate Elder Signs, investigators must successfully endure Adventures within the museum and its environs. A countdown mechanism makes an Ancient One appear if the investigators are not quick enough. The investigators must then battle the Ancient One. A clever and thematic dice mechanism pits their exploration against monsters and the sheer difficulty of staying sane and healthy, all within the standard game duration of one to two hours.

User review: Players make money by building a network of railroads to deliver freight and passengers. They may also speculate on the price of precious metals by claiming mines and mills.

To play: Each player chooses a color and takes possession of all the surveyors and prospectors of that color. How much money they begin with, in which city the players start, the number of surveyors and prospectors they begin with depends on the turn order and the number of players in the game.

A game turn is divided into seven phases:
First phase - The turn order cards are shuffled and dealt to the players.
Second phase - Players may place prospectors and surveyors on the game board in turn order.
Third phase - Disputes are resolved between players who placed surveyors in the same box on the game board.
Fourth phase - Players pay for construction and claims made by their prospectors in turn order. Players can collect revenue for passenger cards and deliver and sell freight for up to two claims.
Fifth phase - The dice are rolled to determine price changes for each mine.
Sixth phase - Claims and passenger cards taken by the players are replaced.

At the end of the sixth phase, it is determined whether anyone met the victory condition for the scenario chosen.

Availability : The original Two Wolf version is long-since out of print, but the newer-released Mayfair has a wider distribution. The New Mexico expansion is available for the Two Wolf game, but the Mayfair version has the expansion included with the base game.

Expanded by:

Silverton New Mexico Expansion (Two Wolf version only, Mayfair version includes the expansion)

Ready for a taste of high adventure on the rolling seas? In Pirate Dice, you are the captain of a pirate ship, racing through the Caribbean against your fellow pirates. You must navigate the seas, obtain the buried treasure, and return safely to your port. But beware – many hazards await on the rolling seas, not the least of which are your rivals!

You will need more than pure speed to win. Use your wits to block, ram, and fire at your opponents – while doing your best to keep them from doing the same to you! As you take damage, your ship will become more difficult to pilot. But no matter – treasure awaits! So weigh anchor, set the sails, and run out your cannons – there's no room for lily-livered landlubbers here! It takes a shrewd captain with a sharp eye to navigate the rolling seas of Pirate Dice!