Economic

Warsaw is a unique city. It is said that it "survived its own death", and there is truth in this. Poland's capital was largely destroyed during the Second World War, and its reconstruction was an exceptional urban development process. Warsaw is a combination of elegant buildings from Saxon times, architecture from between the World Wars, socialist blocks, and modern buildings. Walking through the streets of Warsaw's Wola district, one can see this diversity at a glance. Modern glass office buildings stand next to pre-war automotive garages, and concrete block buildings touch elegant older houses, which show the signs of time's decay. Some call it a spatial mess, while others see in it the residents' determination. Both views are right because that's how Warsaw is. Maybe not the most beautiful, but strong and determined. Nothing reflects the city's character more than its diverse buildings.

In Capital, players jointly build Warsaw over six epochs, from when Warsaw first became the capital at the end of the 16th century through modern times. Each player creates their own district of the city. At the end of each of the six epochs, districts give income and victory points to their owners. After six rounds, whoever has the most points wins.

In more detail, each epoch consists of a construction phase and an income phase, with wars at the end of the third and fourth epochs. During the construction phase of an epoch, players shuffle the city tiles with the current epoch's number, then deal several tiles to each player. Each player chooses one of the tiles, then places it face down onto the table. All players simultaneously reveal their selected tiles, and each player chooses one of two possible actions:

Discard their tile to the box and take three coins from the bank.
Pay the tile's cost in coins and build the tile in their district.

Instead of placing a tile on an empty space, a player may choose to build on top of an existing tile. Simply place the new tile directly onto an existing tile, covering it completely. As a result, the new tile's price is reduced by the price of the older tile that it covers. A player's district can never be larger than a 3×4 or 4×3 rectangle of tiles. Each city tile is divided into four quarters, and each quarter has its own type of building, so a tile can have 1-4 different kinds of buildings. Public buildings and milestones are always separate individual areas, even if they are adjacent to each other. They also occupy an entire tile.

During the income phase, milestones are placed, and players receive coins and victory points.

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.

In Dinosaur Island, players will have to collect DNA, research the DNA sequences of extinct dinosaur species, and then combine the ancient DNA in the correct sequence to bring these prehistoric creatures back to life. Dino cooking! All players will compete to build the most thrilling park each season, and then work to attract (and keep alive!) the most visitors each season that the park opens.

Do you go big and create a pack of Velociraptors? They'll definitely excite potential visitors, but you'd better make a large enough enclosure for them. And maybe hire some (read: a lot of) security. Or they WILL break out and start eating your visitors, and we all know how that ends. You could play it safe and grow a bunch of herbivores, but then you aren't going to have the most exciting park in the world (sad face). So maybe buy a roller coaster or two to attract visitors to your park the good old-fashioned way?

In Vanuatu, you are a Vanuatuan who wants to prosper during the eight turns of the game. In order to prosper, you have to manage with natural resources, rare items, vatus (local currency) and tourists. To earn money or prosperity points, you may also draw on the sand*, carry tourists all over Vanuatu islands, or trade cargo with foreign countries.

On each turn, the archipelago expands and you have to program your actions with five tokens. You put one or more of them on the chosen action spaces, and on your turn, you will only be able to play an action if you have the majority on its space. Thus, sometimes have to wait for other players to remove their tokens by playing their actions. If you are not in majority anywhere, you have to remove all of your tokens from an action and give up hope of playing this action. A good strategy lets you block other players; for example, they won't be able to sell fishes if they haven't caught them first – order matters! Islands and sea resources are rare, so be quick and take them first!

There is no such thing as a rich Vanuatuan. When you reach ten Vatus, they automatically transform into 5 prosperity points and again, you are poor. Life is hard, but you may encounter ten men to help you; on each turn you choose one of them to increase your benefits from an action. As always, being the first player lets you choose before the others.

In short, Vanuatu is a strategy game of programming and majorities that features development, blocking, and a lot of interaction between players.

This Quined Master Print edition brings you the wonderful original game, as well as the Rising Waters expansion and the extra character of the Governor, with completely new artwork by Konstantin Vohwinkel. The Rising Waters expansion adds a whole new level of tension to the game: Global warming threatens Vanuatu. Many islands are in danger of disappearing under the sea due to rising waters. Players will therefore have to unite to protect the islands by building dikes. However, the interests of one are not necessarily the interests of others.

(*) Sand Drawing in Vanuatu belongs to the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity of the UNESCO.

Century: Golem Edition is a re-themed version of Century: Spice Road set in the world of Caravania. In Century: Golem Edition, players are caravan leaders who travel the famed golem road to deliver crystals to the far reaches of the world. Each turn, players perform one of four actions:

Establish a trade route (by taking a market card)
Make a trade or harvest crystals (by playing a card from hand)
Fulfill a demand (by meeting a victory point card's requirements and claiming it)
Rest (by taking back into your hand all of the cards you've played)

The last round is triggered once a player has claimed their fifth victory point card, then whoever has the most victory points wins.