pattern building

To rebuild the Eternal City, the Roman Emperor summoned the most talented builders of antiquity. Each of them is trying to draft the best city — but talent is not enough. Only those who know how to please the Emperor, cleverly exert their influence, and invest at the right time will succeed in City of Rome.

In more detail, the game lasts fourteen rounds, and in each round, players draft one of the building cards in play and add it to their hand. The drafting order depends on how closely you stand to the emperor. At the start of a round, you reveal a new "action strip" that has three bricks and two cogs in some order, then players take turns placing their figure on one of these five spaces; the closer you are to the emperor, the earlier you draft, but the fewer resources (bricks and cogs) you receive. (With only two players in the game, each player places two figures on the action strip and takes two complete turns each round.)

After drafting, you can take one build action and one produce action. To build, you must pay the cost in bricks — paying two coins for each missing brick — then place the card you're building adjacent to another card of yours already in play. You start with two building cards in play, so you'll have at most sixteen cards at game's end. These cards must fit in a 4x4 square, so plan carefully since you'll want to place some buildings next to other ones to earn the most points and to get the most out of a produce action. Some buildings give you a special action or influence tokens when you build them.

To produce, you must have two cogs — paying one coin for each missing cog — then use the production action of each building in your city once.

Every few rounds, an influence card is revealed, and whoever has the most influence tokens at the end of that round collects the card, then discards their tokens.

At the end of fourteen rounds, players score points for their residential buildings, temples, aqueducts, coins, and influence cards and tokens. whoever has the most points wins!

In Sunny Day, players place tiles to complete as many pictures as possible. When the tile deck runs out, the game ends, then players collect the tiles used in completed pictures and the tiles in front of them, scoring points for each tile and for each completed picture. Points can be earned more efficiently by completing ice cream and sun pictures. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.

"Arraial" is the name given to traditional Portuguese summer celebrations during which people take to the streets eating, drinking, and having fun in the old neighborhoods that are bedecked with arches, colorful balloons, popular music, and the aroma of sweet basil.

In the game Arraial, players try to make their neighborhood traditional event the most popular by attracting visitors to their celebration. Grab the most beautiful decorations, hire the most inspired performers, serve the most traditional delicacies, take to the streets, and host the party of the year! Arraial is a fast-paced game in which players take turns spending action points to get the best tiles (decorations, artists...) and place them on their player boards to form the perfect match and attract visitors to their party. In the end, whoever attracts the most visitors in their neighborhood wins.

Elegant, graceful, and refined – that’s how you should design your Japanese garden! Careful planning and watchful eyes are needed as you tend your garden. Only by skillfully placing stones, bushes, trees, ponds and pagodas on multiple levels can a player become the best garden designer of the season. Think you’ve got it figured out? Try one of the five included expansions!

—description from the publisher

Shahrazad is a game for one player playing solitaire or for two players playing cooperatively.

In the game, the player starts with one hand card, then draws a second. From these two, they play a card to the tableau. Cards are played touching, in columns left or right but shifted halfway up or down. In the one-player game, a column is restricted to 4 cards, in the two player, the limit is 3 cards. Alternately, you may exchange a played card with a hand card. But next turn, after drawing, you must play down two cards so your hand is back down to one before drawing.

Once all the cards are played, cards are turned face-down if any card on its right is of a lower number. Then the player tries to find paths in the tableau from the far left to the far right side. Think of this as telling the story. Any cards that are not part of a valid path are also turned down.

Now you score for colour groups, and deduct points for face-down cards and gaps in the tableau. After keeping a column, shuffle the deck over and play a second round to get your final score and the King's opinion!

For two players, it's the same--with both players working a hand of two cards each. You cannot consult about which card to play, but after choosing, you may confer about placing. The final score this time reflects a test of your friendship.

Publisher's summary:
"You shall be rewarded if your tale amuses me."

The eccentric king issued the edict to all over the country. You are a bard who is willing to take up that challenge. You have to make up a tale by mixing stories in the world and enchant the king with the tale.

With 22 beautifully illustrated tarot cards with four background colours, this card game demands you make a succession of tough decisions. You will be excited to see how the storyline barely keeps consistency.

Basically, you play a card from two cards in your hand each turn. When you have played all cards, the first round ends and you score according to the card positions. With some of these cards remaining in play, the game proceeds to the second round in the same way. The total of two rounds is your final score.