Simultaneous Action Selection

Football Strategy boils the sport down to play calling skill. The game's structure is simple: The defensive player selects one of 10 formation cards (ranging from an 8-man line "goal line stand" to a pass prevent defense with five safeties); the offensive player calls a play (a choice of 20, plus punting). Cross-indexing the choices on a matrix shows what happened. Except for "long gains", the outcome of each play against each defense is always the same. Dice are rolled only to determine the distance of long gains and the results of kickoffs and field goal attempts.

Each play consumes a prescribed number of seconds, from 15 to 45. The players mark off the time and play four quarters, following the standard football rules.

For variety, three types of offense ("pro style", "aerial game" and "ball control") are available, each with a different, though not radically different, results matrix.

Simple though it is, the game is engrossing (see the "More Information" screen), and play generally follows realistic patterns, though the handling of punts and on-side kicks (both more effective than in real life) is questionable. Also, because the design changed little after its debut in 1959, the plays and defenses don't reflect the state of the art in contemporary professional football. This is the era of Otto Graham, not Eli Manning.

For those who are so inclined, Football Strategy lends itself to mathematical analysis. Many years ago, an entrant into the tournament at Origins went to the trouble of using game theory to generate charts showing the optimal mix of plays in different situations. He reached the finals but, in a victory for human intuition over number crunching, lost the championship game by a touchdown and a field goal.

7 Wonders: Babel includes two modules for use with the 7 Wonders base game, and they can be used individually or together in any combination with other expansions.

In one half of 7 Wonders: Babel, players draft quarter-circle tiles at the start of the game prior to drafting anything else; each tile depicts a law that affects all players should it be put into play, e.g., all single resource cards provide an infinite number of resources each turn, or winners in military conflicts receive fewer points than normal.

During the game, players now have an additional option when discarding a card. Instead of gaining three coins, they place one of these tiles in the next open space on a circular display; the law on this tile remains in effect until the end of the game or until it's covered. (Should a fifth tile be placed, for example, it's placed on top of the first tile played.) At the end of the game, players receive points based on how many tiles they played.

In the second half of 7 Wonders: Babel, one of five law cards is randomly revealed at the start of each age, and a number of tokens are placed on it, based on the number of players. This card imposes a tax on players who want to play cards of a certain color. When a player pays this tax, he takes one of the tokens from this law card. At the end of the age, if all of the tokens have been removed, then players receive a bonus (which is depicted on the card) for each token they have; if tokens remain on the card, then each player without a token is penalized.

Just as the cost of cards increases in each age, the number of resources required to pay the tax also increases.

In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!

Sushi Go! takes the card-drafting mechanism of Fairy Tale and 7 Wonders and distills it into a twenty-minute game that anyone can play. The dynamics of "draft and pass" are brought to the fore, while keeping the rules to a minimum. As you see the first few hands of cards, you must quickly assess the make-up of the round and decide which type of sushi you'll go for. Then, each turn you'll need to weigh which cards to keep and which to pass on. The different scoring combinations allow for some clever plays and nasty blocks. Round to round, you must also keep your eye on the goal of having the most pudding cards at the end of the game!

Bezzerwizzer is a quiz game from Denmark. It contains 5000 questions (English version has 3000 questions) from 20 categories. It takes its name from the german 'Besserwisser' meaning "know-it-all".

On your turn players draw the category tiles from a bag and sort them on their player board according to their knowledge. If you know the answer to the category questions that you thought you're worst at, you get one point. For your best category question you receive 4 points.

Each players has 3 additional tokens. One is labeled with a "Z" the other two are labeled with a "B". With the "Z" token you can swap one of your categories with another player. Afterwards it's out of the game for this round. You can use the "B" token when you think you can answer a question that your opponent might not know. This brings you additional points.

It's a quick and funny party game that you can also play with teams.

Ready for a taste of high adventure on the rolling seas? In Pirate Dice, you are the captain of a pirate ship, racing through the Caribbean against your fellow pirates. You must navigate the seas, obtain the buried treasure, and return safely to your port. But beware – many hazards await on the rolling seas, not the least of which are your rivals!

You will need more than pure speed to win. Use your wits to block, ram, and fire at your opponents – while doing your best to keep them from doing the same to you! As you take damage, your ship will become more difficult to pilot. But no matter – treasure awaits! So weigh anchor, set the sails, and run out your cannons – there's no room for lily-livered landlubbers here! It takes a shrewd captain with a sharp eye to navigate the rolling seas of Pirate Dice!