Negotiation

Ultimate Werewolf

Your quiet little 16th century village has suddenly become infested with some very unfriendly werewolves...can you and the other villagers find them before they devour everyone?

Ultimate Werewolf: Ultimate Edition is the ultimate party game for anywhere from 5 to 68 players of all ages. Each player has an agenda: as a villager, hunt down the werewolves; as a werewolf, convince the other villagers that you're innocent, while secretly dining on those same villagers each night. Dozens of special roles are available to help both the villagers and the werewolves achieve their goals while thwarting their opponents.

Contents More than 30 unique roles, 18 different scenarios to allow groups of all sizes and experience levels to quickly get up and running, a set of 80 fully illustrated cards, a moderator scorepad to keep track of games, and a comprehensive game guide with dozens of pages full of insights, tips and strategies. This set has everything you need for the best Ultimate Werewolf experience possible, whether you’re playing with a small circle of friends at home, a huge gathering of gamers in Ohio or as an engaging team building exercise at the office.

Ultimate Werewolf: Ultimate Edition Roles:
Apprentice Seer, Aura Seer, Bodyguard, Cupid, Diseased, Ghost, Hunter, Idiot, Lycan, Magician, Martyr, Mason (3), Mayor, Old Hag, Old Man, P.I., Pacifist, Priest, Prince, Seer (2: 1 male & 1 female), Spellcaster, Tough Guy, Troublemaker, Villager (20), Witch, Sorcerer, Minion, Werewolf (12), Wolf Cub, Cursed, Doppelganger, Drunk, Cult Leader, Hoodlum, Tanner, Teenage Werewolf, Lone Wolf, Vampire (6), Amulet of Protection, Moderator, Blank Cards (3)

Re-implements:

Werewolf
Ultimate Werewolf: Whitebox Edition

Differences between 2010 Edition and 2008 Edition:

Role cards now have ability text
Includes Ultimate Werewolf: Classic Movie Monsters
No Magician card
Only eight Werewolf cards (note that rulebook still says twelve)
Only two blank cards (note that rulebook still says three)
Vampires are valued at -7 (previously -8)

Differences between 2011 Edition and 2010 Edition:

Includes Ultimate Werewolf: Night Terrors instead of Ultimate Werewolf: Classic Movie Monsters

Differences between 2013 Edition and 2011 Edition:

Includes Ultimate Werewolf: Urban Legends instead of Ultimate Werewolf: Night Terrors

Oltre Mare

Are you the best Merchant of Venice?
Sailing along the courses of ancient Venetians in Oltre Mare, the unknown lands of Barbaria. Looking for the most precious wares and the richest stocks; exchanging wares with other merchants, loading your ship and selling at the market; but at the same time trying to escape the ever-present pirates.... Oltre Mare - Merchants of Venice is an engaging voyage through the Mediterranean Sea, in the golden Age of Sail.

How to play:
On his or her turn, the player can trade Goods (corn, wine, spices, silk, etc.) for other Goods or for money (which also double as points) with fellow players. He or she then plays cards from his/her hand to perform certain actions that allow you to earn money, to draw cards, or to move your ship on the map (where you can obtain special powers). But there is also a dreadful Pirate action that you have to look out for! The cards played also represent the Goods that are loaded as cargo on your ship. The more cards of the same Good type shipped, the more money (and score) you will gain at the end of the game. The cards played will also influence the next turn, so choose your strategy well.

In order to win, you have to trade wisely, choose the right cards to perform the best actions, and maximize the profit from your ship's cargo!

The original version from Mind the Move is a small blue box. Rio Grande and Amigo released a bigger box version with a larger board in 2005.

Merchants of the Middle Ages

A Medieval game of trade and commerce, Die Händler is set in Europe, where trade wagons carry wares between six cities on the board. Essentially, players buy goods, load them onto wagons and send them for maximum profit in other cities.

The whole game looks very inviting. The medieval cities depicted on the board, together with the player crests, cardboard coins, money pouches, sticker decorated wagons and wooden commodity pieces, immediately creates the right atmosphere for the players.

There are six cities - Paris, Cologne, Brugge, Gent, Vienna and Genoa - which are interconnected by roads. Three wagons carry goods from one city to another. No-one owns the wagons or controls any of them single-handedly, and in principle a player can put commodities on any transport. There are six different commodities - salt, iron, wine, silk, cloth and food - all of limited supply.

The goal of the game is to make money by delivering goods to the towns, and use the money to buy increases in status. The game ends after a certain number of deliveries have been made and the winner is the player with the highest level of status.

Diplomacy

This classic game of pure negotiation has taken many forms over the years.

The first Avalon Hill version has perhaps the widest release, but Avalon Hill (Hasbro) re-released the game in 1999, complete with a colorful new map and metal pieces. They recently released a 50th anniversary edition with a new map and cardboard pieces representing the armies and navies.

In the game, players represent one of the seven "Great Powers of Europe" (Great Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Russia or Turkey) in the years prior to World War I. Play begins in the Spring of 1901, and players make both Spring and Autumn moves each year. There are only two kinds of military units: armies and fleets. On any given turn, each of your military units has limited options: they can move into an adjoining territory, support an allied unit in an attack on an adjoining territory, support an allied unit in defending an adjoining territory, or hold their position. Players instruct each of their units by writing a set of "orders." The outcome of each turn is determined by the rules of the game. There are no dice rolls or other elements of chance. With its incredibly simplistic movement mechanics fused to a significant negotiation element, this system is highly respected by many a gamer.

Avalon Hill Complexity rating - 3

Re-implemented by:

Colonial Diplomacy
Diplomacy: Classical Variant
Diplomacy: Hundred Variant

City of Horror

City of Horror is a backstabbing survival-horror game. As in classic zombie movies, a shambling horde is invading the city. The goal is to survive the assault. (Un)fortunately, surviving often means sacrificing some of your fellow players to the undead...

Each player controls several characters with different abilities; these characters can move to various limited-capacity locations, which they can then barricade and scavenge for items and weapons. Critical situations, such as zombies breaking in and eating a character, are resolved using vote.

The basic game mechanisms are the same as in Mall of Horror (also designed by Nicolas Normandon), but City of Horror differs in both materials and game play in a number of ways: the city map changes each game, twenty characters are included, they can use antidotes (or die), action cards become scarce as the game goes on, you can gain points with other stuff than surviving characters...