Fantasy

Castles of Caladale

Description from the publisher:

In a forgotten time when magic could move mountains, the Kingdom of Caladale was home to people of all kinds, living in castles of unimaginable beauty — but on one fateful night, an ancient spell of great power was cast by one unable to control it. By daybreak all of the castles were destroyed, their walls and towers torn apart, twisted together and scattered across the land.

The people of Caladale must now rebuild, competing for walls and towers from the broken and twisted remains of each other's homes to rebuild their castles and reclaim the glory of Caladale!

In Castles of Caladale, players lay tiles to construct beautiful castles and rebuild the kingdom. Building the most complete and largest castle earns a player glory throughout the land!

Ekö

The first player with a palace to amass 12 victory points (VP) in constructed buildings and captive Emperors in Ekö wins the game.

To set up, fill the board with all the pawns, placed at random. Before starting the game, each player can exchange their Emperor pawn with another of their pawns elsewhere on the board. On your turn, you must do both phases in this order: the action phase, then the reinforcements phase. During the action phase, you must perform one single action:

Move: Move to an empty space, regroup or attack; you can attack only a stack of enemy pieces that contains strictly fewer pieces than the attacking stack — except that a stack of four pieces can be attacked and destroyed by a stack of one piece.

Construct: You can construct only one building per space; subsequent construction on the same space replaces the existing building. Each terrain type allows specific types of construction. In order to construct a building on an empty space or on a space already containing one of your buildings, you must sacrifice pieces from a single stack adjacent to this construction space.

Once per turn, you can take an extra action by sacrificing three stackable pieces. A stack that contains the Emperor can attack an enemy stack even if it contains an equal number of pieces, and even if it contains another Emperor. Each enemy Emperor you have captive is worth 3 VP.

During the reinforcements phase, if you have pieces in your reserve, you must return at least one piece to play if you can.
You can place up to three pieces onto a single stack of your color on the board (never on an empty space), respecting the following rule: You cannot place reinforcements on a stack if it is adjacent to another player's building.

The game ends immediately when a player has amassed 12 VP by adding up the values of his buildings on the board and any Emperors they have captured — each village is worth 1VP, each tower 2VP, and each castle and captured Emperor 3VP — and they have at least one palace. Alternatively, if a player is the only one with pieces remaining on the board (making reinforcement impossible for the other players), they win.

Citadels (2016 edition)

In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects their eighth building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.

Players start the game with a number of building cards in their hand; buildings come in five colors, with the purple buildings typically having a special ability and the other colored buildings providing a benefit when you play particular characters. At the start of each round, the player who was king the previous round discards one of the eight character cards at random, chooses one, then passes the cards to the next player, etc. until each player has secretly chosen a character. Each character has a special ability, and the usefulness of any character depends upon your situation, and that of your opponents. The characters then carry out their actions in numerical order: the assassin eliminating another character for the round, the thief stealing all gold from another character, the wizard swapping building cards with another player, the warlord optionally destroys a building in play, and so on.

On a turn, a player earns two or more gold (or draws two building cards then discards one), then optionally constructs one building (or up to three if playing the architect this round). Buildings cost gold equal to the number of symbols on them, and each building is worth a certain number of points. In addition to points from buildings, at the end of the game a player scores bonus points for having eight buildings or buildings of all five colors.

The 2016 edition of Citadels includes twenty-seven characters — eight from the original Citadels, ten from the Dark City expansion, and nine new ones — along with thirty unique building districts, and the rulebook includes six preset lists of characters and districts beyond the starter list, each crafted to encourage a different style and intensity of gameplay.

HeroQuest

HeroQuest is Milton Bradley's approach to a Dungeons & Dragons-style adventure game. One player acts as game master, revealing the maze-like dungeon piecemeal as the players wander. Up to four other players take on a character (wizard, elf, dwarf, or barbarian) and venture forth into dungeons on fantasy quests. Plastic miniatures and 3-D furniture make this game very approachable. Expansions were also released for this system.

The HeroQuest series consists of the main game and a number of expansions.

This game was made in cooperation with Games Workshop who designed the miniatures and helped in many of the production details including background world and art in the rule book and scenario book.

Additional material which is generally missed since it is not technically an expansion was published in the HeroQuest: Adventure Design Kit which did feature one more Heroquest adventure: A Plague of Zombies.

Foretold: Rise of a God

Foretold is a turn-based strategy game for 2-4 players. Play features Cards (Faithful, Fate Cards and Relics) and Tiles (Temple) acquired through a central Marketplace board. Games feature a period of economic build-up, preparation for combat, then Raiding and end-game. Players will align with one of four unique Fate Decks, boosting replay value and interaction. Craftiness, table politics and strategic play determine the winner.
Overview:
Players take on the role of an aspiring deity. They must build up a Temple, gather Faithful followers and collect powerful Relics in an attempt to wipe their opponents off the map – only one deity can reign eternal in this free-for-all of legendary proportions!

Play Time:
2 players (1-hour), 3 players (1.5 hours), 4 players (2-2.5 hours)

Basic Play:

Play follows a 4-step turn: Reveal (start), Marketplace (buy), Raid (combat), Reinforce (end).
The Tile Deck, Faithful Deck and Relic Deck feed into a central board called the Marketplace.
Players use Faithful (human followers) in their Temple to collect gold and defend in combat.
Faithful placed in the Raiding Party can attack opposing Temples during combat.
Relics (4 of which are aligned to each Fate) further increase strategic play and add variety.
Players will purchase Tiles from a randomized stack (the Tile Deck) to customize their Temple, which is then arranged strategically to increase hand-size and defenses.
The four fates are: Chaos, Grace, Prosperity and Wisdom, each tailored to a unique play-style.
Each Fate Deck has a powerful set of 20 different cards, in theme with each of the Fates.

Combat:
A Raiding Party ventures into an opposing Temple, encountering Defenders and Traps along a Tile path to the Heart of the Temple, where the opposing life force dwells. Combat is resolved through dice rolls, with Defense rolling first and combining its total. Faithful played from the Raiding Party must beat defending total or they are forced to retreat. If the Temple is conquered, damage is dealt through Smiting. When an opponent’s life hits zero (20 max), they are defeated. The last remaining player has achieved immortality!