Medieval

Game description from the publisher:

Who killed the Archmage? Was it Tordek in the Dragon's Lair with the Flaming Battle Axe? Or Mialee in the Dungeon with the Staff of Power?

In Clue: Dungeons & Dragons, a group of heroic adventurers has been called to the Archmage's castle, but one of those heroes isn't who he appears to be; one of the heroes is a doppelganger, a monster that can look like anyone! In the darkest part of the night, the doppelganger kills the Archmage, triggering a spell that seals the castle until the monster is caught. Now, in the grand tradition of Clue, the six suspects must determine which one of them is the doppelganger: Regdar the Human Fighter, Tordek the Dwarf Fighter, Lidda the Halfling Rogue, Mialee the Elf Wizard, Ember the Human Monk or Nebin the Gnome Wizard. The heroes try to figure out Who killed the Archmage, Where the crime occurred, and Which magical weapon was used.

For the most part, gameplay in Clue: Dungeons & Dragons is identical to standard Clue as players roll a die, move into different locations on the game board, then make accusations against a particular combination of who/where/which cards and a particular opponent; if that opponent holds one of those cards, she must reveal it to you. Eventually someone will narrow down the possibilities and make an accusation as to exactly which cards have been removed from the game; if correct the player wins, and otherwise she's out of the game and play continues for everyone else.

One optional element in Clue: Dungeons & Dragons is the Wandering Monsters deck. After landing on a "claw-marked" space on the game board, the player draws the top card from this deck, then battles the creature shown by rolling a die. If she wins, she gains a magic item that confers a single-use special ability, such as looking at a random card from an opponent's hand or taking an extra turn. If she loses, her token is placed in the center of the game board, from where it will take several turns to move back into a room (and get back into the game).

In Monarch you play as an heir to the throne. Your mother, the Queen, has lived out her years and will soon pass on the crown. The time has come for you and your siblings to demonstrate your intelligence, compassion, bravery, and strength as leaders. Out perform your siblings to demonstrate your ingenuity and strength. Choose strategies that will bring prosperity to the land and glory to your court. Defend the realm from threats and famine. Only the player with the most majestic court will be named heir.

There are many paths to choose from, but only one will become the next monarch. Who will reign?

Monarch is a light strategy game for 3-4 players that lasts 45 minutes. The primary mechanic is set collection; each of the sisters aims to assemble a court of Court Cards in order to prove her worth: wise advisors, exotic animals, and symbolic regalia. Each of these Court Cards provides crowns, and the sister whose court contains the most crowns at the end of the game becomes the Queen.

There are tricks to assembling a majestic court. Some cards don't work together well: the Astronomer is worth nothing if in a court with the Fireworks because he will be unable to see anything! Other cards work very well together: the Beastkeeper is worth more crowns for each animal she shares a court with.

During the medieval goings-on around Orléans, you must assemble a following of farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. to gain supremacy through trade, construction and science in medieval France.

In the city of Orléans and the area of the Loire, you can take trade trips to other cities to acquire coveted goods and build trading posts. You need followers and their abilities to expand your dominance by putting them to work as traders, builders, and scientists. Knights expand your scope of action and secure your mercantile expeditions. Craftsmen build trading stations and tools to facilitate work. Scholars make progress in science, and last but not least it cannot hurt to get active in monasteries since with monks on your side you are much less likely to fall prey to fate.

In Orléans, you will always want to take more actions than possible, and there are many paths to victory. The challenge is to combine all elements as best as possible with regard to your strategy.

The battle between farmers and ranchers is fairly abstract. A single pawn travels on a square grid. Each player has a hand of cards face up. These each have a direction and a distance. The player can either draw a card and add it to his hand, or play a card. If he plays a card, then the pawn moves the appropriate distance to an empty square, and the player places one of his markers. Each player also has judge symbols that can each be used only once. The judge lets you move onto a previously placed opposition marker and reverse it. Players score points for each contiguous region equal to the square of the number of markers. If a player is not careful, such a move may be forced, as there is a maximum number of cards that a player may hold.

Contains rules for playing with 4 (in two partnerships of two players).

Later republished 1999 as Rosenkönig by Kosmos, as part of the two-player game series. The republication also included a re-theming of the game. The setting changed from Texas to England, and the factions changed from farmers and ranchers to the factions of the Plantagenet family from the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) - the Lancaster (red rose) and the York (white rose) factions in a similarly abstracted fashion.

Stronghold is a two-player game telling the story of a siege. Players take opposing sides: one has to defend the stronghold, and the other has to break into the castle as soon as possible. The game board represents the stronghold itself as well as the surrounding terrain, where enemy forces are placed and whence they proceed to the walls.

The defender has a small number of soldiers manning the walls, while the invader has an infinite legion of attacking creatures. A desperate fight takes place every single turn. The invaders build war machines, equip their soldiers, train them, and use black magic rituals to achieve victory. Meanwhile, defenders repair walls, build cannons, train soldiers, and do everything they can to hold the castle as long as possible.

If the invader manages to break into the castle before the end of seven rounds, they win; otherwise the defender wins.

This second edition of Stronghold features:

• Ten objective cards for the invader and ten hidden defense plan cards for the defender; each objective encourages the invader to consider a particular move, while each defense plan shows the defender different ways to surprise the invader
• Shorter gameplay than the first edition, with attackers being placed on the board during set-up
• Gameplay limited to two players only, replacing the team rules in the first edition
• Streamlined rules and an enhanced rulebook
• Improved components, such as a larger game board and new, drab, brown artwor