exploration

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a standalone game that takes place before the events of Gloomhaven. The game includes four new characters — Valrath Red Guard (tank, crowd control), Inox Hatchet (ranged damage), Human Voidwarden (support, mind-control), and Quatryl Demolitionist (melee damage, obstacle manipulation) — that can also be used in the original Gloomhaven game.

The game also includes 16 monster types (including seven new standard monsters and three new bosses) and a new campaign with 25 scenarios that invites the heroes to investigate a case of mysterious disappearances within the city. Is it the work of Vermlings, or is something far more sinister going on?

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is aimed at a more casual audience to get people into the gameplay more quickly. All of the hard-to-organize cardboard map tiles have been removed, and instead players will play on the scenario book itself, which features new artwork unique to each scenario. The last barrier to entry — i.e., learning the game — has also been lowered through a simplified rule set and a five-scenario tutorial that will ease new players into the experience.

Meadow is an engaging set collection game with over two hundred unique cards containing hand-painted watercolor illustrations. In the game, players take the role of explorers competing for the title of the most skilled nature observer. To win, they collect cards with the most valuable species, landscapes, and discoveries. Their journey is led by passion, a curiosity of the world, an inquiring mind, and a desire to discover the mysteries of nature. The competition continues at the bonfire where the players race to fulfill the goals of their adventures.

In this medium-weight board game for 1-4 players, you take turns placing path tokens on one of the two boards. Placing a token on the main board allows the player to get cards, but playing them requires meeting certain requirements. Playing a token on the bonfire board activates special actions (which helps to implement a chosen strategy) and gives the opportunity to achieve goals that provide additional points. Throughout the game, players collect cards in their meadow and surroundings area. At the end, the player with the most points on cards and on the bonfire board wins.

Meadow also includes envelopes with additional cards to open at specific moments...

Breaking news! A lost world has been discovered, and clues leading to its secret entrance have been disseminated all around the world. Your goal? Find them! Driven only by your courage, you decide to follow in the footsteps of those first explorers and launch a worldwide expedition, but you're not the only one on this quest...

In Lost Explorers, each player starts with five figures on their research team: two leaders to track your discoveries, and three members to gain equipment and go on expeditions. On your turn, you can place members on one or both equipment areas to gain tokens; placing one figure means you retrieve the first token from the pile, two figures the second token, etc. The visible side of a token represents a vehicle — a train (red), a car (yellow), a boat (blue), or an airship (green) — while the hidden side depicts two or three locations on the world map. For each token you take, choose whether to keep the vehicle side face up or flip it over to reveal the mission side of the token. Once you choose, the token is locked, and you place it in front of you with your other vehicle and mission tokens.

Alternatively, instead of collecting equipment you can place members on map locations. Each location shows 2-3 vehicle tiles, and you must have all depicted tiles in front of you to place a member on a location. Each time you place a member, choose one of the vehicle tokens used, then place it in the discard pile next to the box. (If you travel to the location of another player's member, you instead give them the discarded token.)

After you either collect vehicle/mission tokens or send members on expeditions, you can complete one or more missions if you have a member on each of the 2-3 locations depicted on that mission. For each mission, remove one of your members just used from the board, then advance the appropriate leader on the discovery track for the color of the mission and the number of members used. (Each game, 2-4 locations are marked as "validated", and a validated location is always completed automatically for missions, but you score no points for it.) If you advanced your leader who was behind on the discovery track, take a vehicle token from the discard pile and add it to your collection.

When one of your leaders reaches a "clue" spot on a discovery track, you collect a clue token. If you collect four clue tokens first, you win! Alternatively, the game ends once all the vehicle tokens have been claimed, at which point the player who has advanced the farthest on the discovery track with their slower leader wins.

Re-enter the land of Oz! Pay a visit to the wizard, meet some familiar friends, and challenge the Wicked Witch of the West. The Adventurers of Oz is an Unlock! adventure for up to six players.

Unlock! is a series of escape adventures for up to six players. With one hour on the clock, players work through a deck of sixty cards as a team, searching for clues, combining objects, and solving puzzles.

The free Unlock! companion app runs the timer while also providing clues, offering hints, and confirming successes. Once the team has reached a solution and entered the correct code into the app, they will escape and win the game!

Following the success of unmanned rover missions, the United Nations established the Department of Operations and Mars Exploration (D.O.M.E.). The first settlers arrived on Mars in the year 2037 and in the decades after establishment Mars Base Camp, private exploration companies began work on the creation of a self-sustaining colony. As chief astronaut for one of these enterprises, you want to be a pioneer in the development of the biggest, most advanced colony on Mars by achieving both D.O.M.E. mission goals as well as your company’s private agenda.

In the beginning, you will be dependent on supplies from Earth and will have to travel often between the Mars Space Station and the planet's surface. As the colony expands over time, you will shift your activities to construct mines, power generators, water extractors, greenhouses, oxygen factories, and shelters. Your goal is to develop a self-sustaining colony independent of any terrestrial organization. This will require understanding the importance of water, air, power, and food — the necessities for survival.

Do you dare take part in humankind’s biggest challenge?

On Mars is played over several rounds, each consisting of two phases - the Colonization Phase ​and the Shuttle Phase​.

During the Colonization Phase, each player takes a turn during which they take actions. The available actions depend on the side of the board they are on. If you are in orbit, you can take blueprints, buy and develop technologies, and take supplies from the Warehouse. If you are on the surface of the planet, you can construct buildings with your bots, upgrade these buildings using blueprints, take scientists and new contracts, welcome new ships, and explore the planet’s surface with your rover. In the Shuttle Phase, players may travel between the colony and the Space Station in orbit.

All buildings on Mars have a dependency on each other and some are required for the colony to grow. Building shelters for Colonists to live in requires oxygen; generating oxygen requires plants; growing plants requires water; extracting water from ice requires power; generating power requires mining minerals; and mining minerals requires Colonists. Upgrading the colony’s ability to provide each of these resources is vital. As the colony grows, more shelters are needed so that the Colonists can survive the inhospitable conditions on Mars.

During the game, players are also trying to complete missions. Once a total of three missions have been completed, the game ends. To win the game, players must contribute to the development of the first colony on Mars. This is represented during the game by players gaining Opportunity Points (OP). The player with the most OP at the end of the game is declared the winner.