Science Fiction

Influentia

The Year 2077. Four families of identical lineage; a country, Italy, the setting to this scene, and an ancient conflict perpetuated in time. Northern Italy is now a battlefield where megacorporations fight to control the main sources of power.

Perhaps you can influence the netrunners of Bologna or control the cyber traffic of implants through the technosurgeons of Pisa. It won’t be easy, but you have to beat rival families to reach the top. Your future is at stake.

Influentia is a card game based on classic trick-taking card games. In each trick, players play one of their Resource Cards. The winner of the trick may choose one of the City Cards from among those available or the Resource Card that was just played by another player. The other players keep the cards they played as these will allow them to activate a variety of effects once they have two identical Symbols. After three rounds, the player who has won the most victory points wins the game.

Año 2077. Cuatro familias de idéntico linaje; un país, Italia, lugar de nuestra escena, y un antiguo conflicto perpetuado en el tiempo. El norte de Italia es ahora mismo un campo de batalla donde las megacorporaciones intentan controlar las principales fuentes de poder.

Quizás puedas influir con tus créditos sobre los netrunners de Bologna o controlar el tráfico de implantes cibernéticos mediante los tecnomédicos de Pisa. No será fácil, pero debes hacerlo mejor que el resto de familias rivales para llegar a lo más alto. Vuestro futuro está en juego.

Influentia es un juego de cartas basado en los juegos clásicos de bazas. En cada baza, los jugadores jugarán una de sus cartas de Recurso. El ganador de la baza podrá elegir una de las cartas de Ciudad de entre las disponibles o la carta de Recurso que acaba de jugar otro jugador. Los demás jugadores conservarán sus cartas jugadas ya que estas les permitirán activar diversos efectos en cuanto reúnan dos símbolos idénticos. Tras 3 rondas, ganará aquel jugador que haya conseguido más puntos de victoria.

-description from publisher

Steampunk Rally

Steampunk Rally is a strategy game that incorporates steampunk as more than just a bit of chrome. Using a unique dice-placement mechanism, players take on the roles of famous inventors from the turn of the last century like Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie, constructing fantastical contraptions that make use of steam, heat and electricity in an attempt to win a no-holds-barred race through the Swiss alps.

Each round starts with a card draft in which players carefully select machine parts to add to their invention and one-shot boost cards to aid them or hinder opponents. Players also have the option of discarding drafted cards for dice or cogs to power their invention, but they must make this tricky choice when each card is drafted.

Then, after venting dice to revitalize their machines, players roll their dice and use them to activate machine parts which provide things like movement, shielding, and additional dice with which to activate more parts. Driving through terrain causes damage, and if a player's damage gauge ends up in the red at the end of the turn, they must lose parts from their invention. These will need to be replaced in the draft phase, constantly forcing players to discover new synergies.

Cryo

A mission gone wrong. Tensions continued to mount aboard your colony ship as the days dragged on. An anonymous act of sabotage has sent the ship plummeting to the surface of a frozen uncharted planet. Damaged beyond repair, the scattered remains will do little to protect you from the brutal cold.

In the engine-building, worker placement game Cryo, leaders of separate, hostile factions compete to survive and claim control over the underground caverns on a remote icy planet. You need to act quickly and strategically to avoid further sabotage from other factions. Send drones out from your engineering platform to scavenge resources and save your crew still in cryostasis. Gather different materials to upgrade and customize your platform, fine-tuning new actions to suit your individual strategy. Utilize multi-use cards to your advantage, and claim the underground caverns for your faction to survive.

Though unplanned, a new chapter for humanity has begun. Scavenge, build, explore, and lead your faction to victory within this frozen world before the sun sets!

—description from the publisher

Shards of Infinity

One-hundred years ago, The Infinity Engine was shattered and its reality-bending shards have destroyed most of the world. Now, it falls upon you to gather your forces, defeat your adversaries, and rebuild the Infinity Engine! Will you survive?

Shards of Infinity combines an unprecedented level of strategy and customization into one small box. Rather than competing for points, players must outlast their opponents and reduce their health to zero, which can be done in a number of ways. Each player starts the game with a basic deck of cards, and they can acquire new cards from a central display of six cards (as in Ascension) and add these new cards to their deck or use them immediately, depending on what they are.

Every character starts with fifty health and zero mastery. On each turn, you can spend one gem (a.k.a., money) to gain a mastery point. The more mastery you have, the more powerful your cards become. This lets even the weak cards in your starting deck become more powerful as the game progresses. If you reach a total of thirty mastery, you can activate your Infinity Shard, which instantly defeats your opponent.

As you acquire new cards, you can employ allies and champions to craft your strategy. Mercenary cards can be added to your deck as in other deck-building games or they can be played immediately from the center row for their ability; this adds even more drama to each player's turn as a key mercenary flip can alter the very outcome of the game!

Will you neutralize your opponents before they can fully master the Infinity Shard? With careful planning and aggressive gameplay, only one player can emerge the winner!

Dune: Imperium

Some important links: The Official FAQ, the Unofficial FAQ, and an Automa (solo and 2p) Overview

Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious The Spice Must Flow cards to lead your House to victory!