mythology

Philippe Keyaerts scored gold with Small World, a new version of his Vinci that was released by Days of Wonder in 2009 to great acclaim and numerous awards. With Olympos, coming from French publisher Ystari Games, Keyaerts has another go at the simplified civilization game. The playing time for Olympos is only 60-90 minutes for 3-5 players, but says Ystari's Cyril Demaegd, "Even if it's a short game, it's a gamer's game."

Players take actions based on their position on a time track, along the lines of Peter Prinz' Thebes. (Says Demaegd, "This is mainly a coincidence because Philippe designed this game years ago.") By spending time, players take actions, with the choices being expansion or development. Expanding brings new settlers onto the game board, which depicts Greece and Atlantis, which lets you conquer territories and thereby acquire resources.

Development takes place on the game's discovery board, with players either buying new scientific discoveries – such as medicine or phalanxes – or building architectural wonders. Each discovery brings you new powers, such as an upgrade in military strength due to the phalanx, and each wonder earns you points.

A player's piety is measured by discoveries, and the most pious player might be rewarded during the game by one of the nine gods included. Similarly, the less pious players might be punished by those same gods.

The replayability of Olympos is huge, says Demaegd, as the discovery board and gods in play will be different each game, not to mention the territories you're able to conquer.

Catch Zeus if you can! The greatest Greek god has bolted and it's up to you to nab this dashing deity. Play cards strategically, adding numbers as you climb Mt. Olympus. Grab Zeus when the total reaches a multiple of 10. Better yet, summon the strength of Apollo, Poseidon, or all-powerful Hera to bring Zeus within your grasp. Reach the top of Mt. Olympus with Zeus in hand and you're a mortal among the gods. To play is human. To win, divine!

In Norse legend, Freya, the goddess of fertility and passion, owed at least part of her reputation for irresistable beauty to an enchanting necklace - the Brisingamen.

You are a dwarf craftsman making jewelery of silver and precious gems. Use your team of dwarfs to mine jewels and set these into settings of fine silver which you can sell to earn prestige among your peers. Of course the grander the jewelery, the greater the prestige, but you have a quota to fill so you must work quickly. Various magical potions and abilities are available through the black market to aid you but you will need to use them wisely. Finish the Brisingamen for Frey and her favours will bring even more prestige than the finest jewelry.

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Send your dwarfs racing into the mine to collect jewels with an interesting leap frog action that has them moving fastest when they work together. Once you get some jewels you can complete a piece of the Brisingamen or get a Setting card to create another piece of jewelry. Work on the Brisingamen and Freya rewards you with Free Action tokens that you can use for extra actions or for victory points. Ability cards let your dwarfs move faster, whisk jewels out of the mine, block other player's dwarfs or steal jewels.

In this game the players are ancient gods that are trying to make their chosen tribes prosper and conquer the land. The twist is that the gods/players don't know all their chosen tribes at the beginning of the game, these are given to them only every other round.

There are 24 different tribes which start on predefined spaces on the board. These tribes are divided into four different levels and have as many counters on the board at the beginning of the game as their level indicates (1, 2, 3 or 4 tokens).

The biggest part of the game are the battles between the tribes. The funny part is that the players are not restricted to use their tribes in the fighting, they can make other tribes fight among themselves.

If you read French, check out the link to the official web site in the links section.

Game description from the publisher:

Mythic Greece is in chaos: Athena and Hades are at war and have sent their greatest heroes to battle. Take on the role of these generals out of legend, leading fantastic armies and lead your troops to victory!

Mythic Battles is a game which simulates epic confrontations and battles that will take your breath away. Thanks to its innovative system – the Building Battle Board (BBB), which combines game mechanisms from miniature games, board games and card games – Mythic Battles offers you an experience the likes of which you have never seen. Recruit your army, play your cards to activate your units, roll your dice to resolve combat – reinvent your way of playing!

This box contains two complete armies to play with two or four players, an initiation campaign, as well as all that's required to play as you wish. Other armies and units will periodically be released to flesh out your campaigns.

Write your legend in the blood of the fallen!