Science Fiction

King of Tokyo: Origins

King of Tokyo: Origins is a standalone game in the King of Tokyo series that's meant to serve as an entry point for new players since it's a smaller, more affordable package. The game includes four new monsters, an assortment of new power cards mixed with older ones, energy cubes, and green dice with yellow characters.

Gameplay remains the same as in the original game: To win, be the first to score 20 points or be the only creature still standing.

On a turn, roll six dice, which show the following six symbols: 1, 2, or 3 points, energy, heal, and attack. Over three successive throws, choose whether to keep or discard each die in order to win points, gain energy, restore health, or attack other players. When you attack, if you're outside Tokyo, you hit whoever is in Tokyo; if you're in Tokyo, you hit everyone else! If someone's health drops to 0, they're out of the game. (You can't heal damage while in Tokyo, and the only way to leave town is to have someone attack you...which might put you at death's door.)

When you gain energy, you store it in cubes, which you can use to purchase power cards, which have a permanent or temporary effect.

SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a eurogame for 1–4 players, you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. The game draws inspiration from current or emerging technologies and efforts in space exploration.

Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions. Decide whether to land on their surface to collect valuable samples, or stay in orbit for a broader survey. Additionally, by directing your telescopes to gaze into distant star systems, you may detect traces of alien signals or undiscovered exoplanets, and collect promising data to examine and study back home.

Back on Earth, you can invest in upgrading your equipment so you can analyze incoming data more efficiently, boost your telescope signal capacity, or increase your supply of resources—all to expand the scope of your search that could lead to a discovery of extraterrestrial life forms.

You will also make use of over 200 cards to aid your efforts or focus your research in a particular direction for additional bonuses and rewards. Each card has unique effects and illustrations and depicts real-life technologies, projects, and discoveries (like the ISS, Large Hadron Collider, Perseverance rover, Voyager probe, and many more).

Finding traces of extraterrestrial life is only a matter of time—utilize the resources you have at your disposal strategically and you may well end up being the one to make the biggest scientific contribution towards advancing our understanding of alien life within our galaxy.

SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence pays homage to space and planetary exploration, astronomy, the ongoing search for signs of life in the vastness of space, and efforts to understand the nature of life in the universe.

—description from the publisher

Civolution

Hello, student beings! The cosmic faculty of the Technical Academy of Creation is delighted to welcome you to your Civolution, the final exam in Civilization Design!

For this occasion, we prepared a humanoid scenario on an isolated continent. Here, each of you holds the rank of a local deity which is closely linked to its very own civilization and must lead it to success over the other civilizations. Your developmental possibilities are endless and reach from cultural and technical progress to evolutional adaptations. For example, what would you consider more beneficial to your tribes: inventing the wheel or growing wings? Demonstrate your ability to operate your civilization console and show us how well you can adjust to changeable environmental conditions and mild creational chaos.

When the exam ceases after four eras, whoever managed to gather the most success points will not only pass the exam but will become a full member of the Technical Academy of Creation and garner the opportunity to be promoted to the next instance.

Civolution is a medium heavy to heavy euro-style game that utilizes a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. As you figure out how to best use your dice and put your unique cards into play, tons of strategies and paths to victory emerge, though each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.

—description from the publisher

A webapp implementation of the V.I.C.I solo automa is available.

Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz

The crew of the Normandy has one more mission. It is the year 2186, and the Reapers have invaded the galaxy. Because the Council ignored Commander Shepard's warnings, the Citadel Races are overwhelmed and on the verge of losing the war. Aboard the Normandy, Shepard carries out missions to prepare the Crucible, an ancient alien superweapon, for a last-chance attempt to defeat the Reapers. It's a race against time, and Shepard must seize every possible advantage.

On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organization Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead a squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them...

Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz is a co-operative, story-driven game set during the events of the video game Mass Effect 3. A branching, narrative campaign allows for multiple playthroughs with a different experience every time. Card-driven AI and evolving stories respond to your actions, with your early choices influencing later missions.

Gather Shepard's squad from a selection of teammates from the Mass Effect trilogy: Liara, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus. Customize and upgrade your squad's abilities, equipment, and powers as they gain experience. Enhance them further by unlocking unique powers with optional loyalty missions.

--description from the publisher

The Mandalorian: Adventures

When offered a lucrative job, a lone bounty hunter begins a journey that will put his skills to the test and redefine his world.

The Mandalorian: Adventures allows players to experience a new part of the Star Wars universe on their tabletops. Navigating unique maps and missions, players must co-operate to accomplish their goals and avoid defeat. Play as one of eight unique characters, each with their own deck of cards and strategies that will help you fight enemies and solve dilemmas to complete mission objectives. All of the action takes place in an illustrated map book as players recreate iconic moments from season 1 of the hit Disney+ series. With an intuitive system that's easy to teach, the game grows with new rules, components, and mission types added over time – some even featuring a hidden traitor mechanism...