Set collection

Another challenging game of Gods, men, and their monuments from Reiner Knizia!

The game spans 1500 years of Egyptian history. The priests of Ra seek to extend their power and fame. They do this by directing farmers, warriors, merchants, and scribes. They cause others to build granaries, fortresses, markets, and libraries. And they erect a gigantic pyramid for the glory of the Sun God Ra!

This game is a rework of Ra, with most of the same rules but completely different scoring tiles that come up for auction, some of which are two-sided, requiring players to choose which side they will make available for themselves... and for their opponents.

Board & Pieces: The Board has 2 tracks, effectively time and auction. Also there is a space between the two track for a spare bidding tile. In a bag are all the Collectible tiles, some double sided, consisting of Sun of Ra, Priests, Plagues, People, Buildings & Pyramids. Bidding Tiles, used to win auctions. Auction Token, used to show active player to maintain play order.

Play: The game is played over 3 epochs (rounds). Each round ends when the Sun of Ra (time) track is filled.
Any non Sun tile is placed on the Auction track, in the case of double sided tiles the active player decides which side to use. Auctions can either be called by a player (instead of drawing a tile), or automatic when the auction track is filled. Each player may make one open bid, or pass. The winner takes the tiles in the auction track and swaps his bidding tile with the one in the middle. If all players pass (for example to avoid Plague tiles) then these tiles are taken out of play.

Scoring: At the each epoch VPs, or Ankhs, are awarded for most of a type or a variety of People & Buildings. Penalties are awarded for Plagues (which can be offset by a number of Priests). People and Priest tiles are then taken out of play, Buildings, Pyramids & Plagues are carried over into the next epoch, so can be scored again. At the end of the 3rd epoch, Pyramids are also scored by construction height and tiles used. Ankh collections are now converted to points. Finally a bonus & penalty is also awarded depending on a players bidding tiles.

The characters of Alice in Wonderland are having a Parade!

All players are producers of this parade. Characters from Lewis Carroll's books such as Alice, The White Rabbit, and The Mad Hatter are steadily invited to join this weird procession.

On your turn, you play a card (from your hand of five) to the end of the parade. Unfortunately, that card might cause other cards to walk off the parade. These cards count as negative points in the end.

The length of parade line is important. If the number of the card you just played is less than the line length, you may receive the excess cards (counting from last played to the first of the line). But you do not take all cards, only the cards that meet one of these requirements:

1. color is the same as just played, or
2. number is the same or lower than just played

The game ends when the draw deck is exhausted or when one player has collected all six colors in their point piles. Then everyone plays one last card. From the four cards remaining in their hand, players choose two cards to add to his or her point piles. The player who has the least negative points after this is the winner.

Scoring:
Normally, negative points are same the number on the card. But if you have the most cards in a certain color, each of your cards of that color counts only 1 negative point!

Thus, play your cards well!

From BGG News (Eric Martin): "In Pantheon, players enact the comings and goings of various peoples in the Mediterranean: Egyptians, Romans, Iberians, Germans, etc. They accumulate as many raw materials as possible to build monuments to the gods, but the ways of the gods are unpredictable.

"On a turn, a player has a number of options. He can choose to travel with his people by using the big wooden footprint piece, then smaller footpints to mark their path and block other players. He can buy materials to worship the gods: dancers, farm produce, impressive temples, or prayers. He can use these offerings to take a god token, which may grant him special abilities as well as victory points. Finally, he may build monuments that are worth victory points at the end of the game. The game lasts six rounds with two scoring periods."

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.

Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops — all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.

On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card — in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don't get it — you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.

All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.