Dice Rolling

Theme:

Game is themed around a purification ritual of the ancient Etruscan people, who predated the Roman Empire around 6th century B.C. Each player represents a different temple, faithful to the divinities Achvizr, Alpan, Leinth, and Thalna. On "Tagete's" day, the Etruscan Haruspexes [priests] proceed down the path of purification to the Velthumena Altar.

Goal:

Each player has 8 pawns representing "Haruspexes" [priests] in their color. Each player is trying to move their priests along the path of purifiction from their home temple to the altar at the center of the board. One player may also choose the path of darkness and consecrate themselves to the divinity "Tuchulcha" with the goal of elminating all rival priests. This role is only available in 3 and 4 player games. If a player chooses this path, then another single player may consecrate themselves to "Lasa Vecuvia" with a different set of powers. This player's goal is to now move their priests to set "passages" on the path and place 4 seals to win the game. This role is only available in 4 player games.

Players win by having the most priests in the center altar at game end. If a player chooses Tuchulcha's power, they win by eliminating all other priests, and lose if any priest enters the altar. A player that chooses the Lasa Vecuvia power wins only by placing all 4 seals.

Gameplay:

Game plays with 2, 3, or 4 players. Each player begins the game with 8 pawns on their home temple. On their turn players roll 2 dice. If doubles are rolled, the player may throw a third die. Then player chooses to move one or more of their pawns the number of pips shown on each die. For example, if a 5 and a 2 are rolled, a player may move one pawn 5 and another 2, or one pawn 5, and then 2 [not seven at once]. This is important as where you land can be significant on each move. Players move their pawns around a spiral path approaching the altar at the center. Along the way players will encounter other players' pawns, and special spaces on the path. These spaces can increase the "spiritual strength" of players' pieces by two times of three times [Mystical Stones], or "passage" spaces can banish them to the Tuchulcha forest. While Mystical Stone spaces are powerful in defense, pawns must move off these spaces as soon as they can. Pawns can normally pass through each other regardless of owner. Any number of a single player's pawns may occupy a single space. However, when a pawn would land on another player's by exact count, it must equal the "spiritual strength" of the player's pieces in the space. Normally, spiritual strenght is one per pawn, but in the 2x or 3x spaces these are multiplied respectively. If a moving player can eqaul the spiritual strength of pawns in the space, then the occupying pawns are banished to the Tuchulcha forest. These pawns are essentially out of the game, but can be used to activate the alternate "Tuchulcha" player role. Once a pawn banishes an opponent's pawn, it may not move again this turn. 2 player game uses 2 "neutral" colors which any player can move during their turn. 3 player game adds the optional Tuchulcha player role, and 4 player adds both Tuchulcha and Lasa Vecuvia roles to play.

At any time one and only one player [in 3 and 4 player games], may choose to take on the role of Tuchulcha [a god of destruction]. To activate this power, the player must "sacrifice" 3 pawns. These pawns may come from the home temple, altar, path, or Tuchulcha forest. Once activated, the Tuchulcha player's new objective is to eliminate all other players' pawns. As soon as one other player's pawn enters the altar, Tuchulcha loses and is eliminated from the game. This can make this role selection a risky move. However, this player gains powerful new abilities. Tuchulcha's pawns can never be banished to the forest, he rolls 4 dice and selects the 3 best, and no longer has to stop after banishing an opponent's pawn.

If a player chooses to be Tuchulcha in a 4 player game, then another [and only one] player may take the role of Lasa Vecuvia. This player must still have 4 active pawns in play to activate. This player's objectives are now to "seal" the 4 passages along the path. These passages normally banish pawns to the forest, but when the Lasa player lands a pawn on the passage, she places a seal token on the passage and removes the pawn from play. Once she places all four seals in this manner she wins the game.

Components:

32 high quality wooden pawns in 4 colors
4 green wooden dice with gold pips and rounded corners
1 double sided game board for 3 and 4 player games
1 full color illustrated rules booklet

Players represent various office holders in the ruling Junta. Depending upon his office and the various cards he holds, each player has a certain number of votes. These are important as they must first elect El Presidente and then vote on the budget that he proposes. Here's where it can get sticky. El Presidente draws cards face down from the money deck (which varies in denomination from $1 to $3) and must propose a budget for the year, distributing the money as he sees fit amongst the various offices. Of course, loyalty to him is usually rewarded, while those pesky "thorns in his side" are usually cut off completely. The beauty of all this, though, is that El Presidente can — and most always does — keep some of the loot for himself. And since no one but he knows the value of what he drew, no one knows how much he's keeping. Suspicion is always keen.

Players may attempt to assassinate the other players by guessing where they will be from among five locations. Players who successfully assassinate another player take that player's money, as the only safe money is the money that has been deposited in a Swiss bank account, and the only way to get to the bank is to survive the assassination round.

If the players are unhappy, and there is an excuse, they can call for a coup, where the opposition players seek to take control of a majority of the power centers. Rebel players control the forces of the role which they were assigned (e.g. army, navy, air force), and players loyal to El Presidente do the same, seeking to control the strongholds until the rebellion is quelled.

The goal is to amass the greatest wealth secreted away in your Swiss bank account.

Game description from the publisher:

During its original mission, the Enterprise, Captain Kirk, and his intrepid crew visited many strange new worlds and discovered many new life-forms and civilizations. Now you and your friends can boldly go and explore this galaxy, too, with the Star Trek: Catan - Federation Space Map Set, which includes two maps depicting the Known Galaxy.

Based on the "Explored Galaxy" map seen in Kirk's quarters itself, these maps allow you to settle the famous worlds of Federation Space using pieces from your Star Trek: Catan base game.

Escaping from the zombie-overrun town of Woodinvale, a handful of survivors make their way up into the mountains – but as they reach the small logging and mining town of Timber Peak, they discover that a new nightmare has just begun!

Last Night on Earth: Timber Peak is an action-packed standalone game as well as an expansion for Last Night on Earth. Introducing the brand new town of Timber Peak with a full set of game boards, six new Heroes (including three Survivor versions of Heroes from the original Last Night on Earth), four Generator objective pieces, a full set of 14 Zombies, a host of new Scenarios, rules for fire breaking out and spreading, over 130 new game cards, and a full Experience System for both Heroes and the Zombie horde to gain upgrades within the course of each game!

Timber Peak is packed with new material for veteran players to add to their toolbox, and a fantastic way for new players to jump into the action. A modular board randomly determines the layout of the town at the start of each game and there are several different scenarios to play, adding lots of replayability. As with the original game, one or two players control the zombies, while the rest control heroes.

To achieve a horror movie feel, all of the art for the game is photographic.

Last Night on Earth, The Zombie Game is a survival horror board game that pits small-town Heroes head-to-head against a horde of Zombies. A team of four heroes is chosen by one set of players, and the Zombies are controlled by 1 or 2 players. Each hero has its own special abilities. The board is modular, which changes the layout of the town and start positions of each hero. The game comes with several scenarios, which include simple survival, rescue, or escape. Differing combinations of heroes, scenarios, and board configurations offer a lot of replayability.

A Hero deck and a Zombie deck deliver tactical bonuses to each side. Combat is resolved using 6-sided dice, modified by the weapon cards heroes may be equipped with. Many of the cards include zombie movie tropes to achieve a feel of playing out a horror movie. All the game art is photographic, enhancing the cinematic feel. The game also comes with a CD Soundtrack of original thematic music.

Each hero has its own plastic sculpted miniature. The game also has 14 zombies in two colors. Other objects and effects are represented by high-quality cardboard counters.