In Topiary, players try to position their visitors on the outer edge of a beautiful topiary garden in order to give them the best view possible. Visitors can see the closest topiary sculpture to them and any behind that, in the same sight line, that are larger. You can score bonus points for visitors who see multiple topiary sculptures of the same type. Players slowly fill in the garden by adding tiles until everyone has placed all their visitors.
Queen Gimnax has ordered the reclamation of the northern lands. As a cartographer in her service, you are sent to map this territory, claiming it for the Kingdom of Nalos. Through official edicts, the queen announces which lands she prizes most, and you will increase your reputation by meeting her demands. But you are not alone in this wilderness. The Dragul contest your claims with their outposts, so you must draw your lines carefully to reduce their influence. Reclaim the greatest share of the queen’s desired lands and you will be declared the greatest cartographer in the kingdom.
In Cartographers, players compete to earn the most reputation stars by the time four seasons have passed. Each season, players draw on their map sheets and earn reputation by carrying out the queen's edicts before the season is over. The player with the most reputation stars at the end of winter wins!
—description from the publisher
Description from the publisher:
In a time long forgotten, the cruel Fomori rule over Érin, the green island. They praise their king Balor, who reigns from his fortifications in the north with an iron fist. Old paths and ruins spread over the island's face, which will be called Ireland many generations from now. But new tribes arrive at the island striving for permanent presence. Who will control Érin's fate over the next centuries to come?
Each player in The Arrival represents a tribe leader who tries to gain predominance over the mythical island of Érin while pushing back the demon-like Fomori. But the players are facing a dilemma, for spreading too quickly means becoming more and more corrupt and strengthening the Fomori in their power...
Over 4-6 rounds, the players determine their resources by means of a unique game mechanism, which will be used later on profitably. During a first phase (Earning Phase), players draw four cards, each showing three sections of different resources. Two of these sections are gradually blocked by the player, thus leaving one section. The resources shown on this section are the ones the player gets. During this phase, they have to decide which section is the best one; while the upper section of the cards offers many resources, it also results in unwanted Corruption Points. The middle and the lower sections offer fewer resources, but also less Corruption.
After that, the Action Phase takes place and the players must use their resources wisely while having the choice from different kinds of actions in order to get Fame Points.
The game ends when a certain number of rounds have been played or somebody reaches the corruption limit.
The winner is either the one with the highest amount of Fame Points or the one with the fewest Corruption Points. This depends on the scene of the board at the end: Do the tribes (players) control more locations on Érin than the Fomori do — or is it the other way around?
In Dragon Boats of the Four Seas, Zhong-Guo, the Middle Kingdom, is an island surrounded by the four Dragon Seas. After a long period of strife, Zhong-Guo has once again been unified and the noble houses rise from the ashes, hoping to cross the Dragon Seas and reach the wealthy vassal states of the former Empire. In Zhong-Guo, Dragons are believed to be good luck and sources of celestial power, so the people make offerings to Dragons at temples and cast coins with the images of Dragons on them to bring fortune at the marketplace. Farmers invoke Dragons over their fields for a bountiful harvest and boats are made in the likeness of Dragons for protection on the dangerous waters. As the leader of one of the noble houses of Zhong-Guo, you must build farms, trade, and make offerings for the safe passage of your ships to these forgotten lands. Recapture the glory of the old Empire and ride the Dragon Boats to victory!
Lander is coming to Kickstarter March 3, 2020 but why wait until then to try it? We've sent demo copies to over 130 cafes and FLGS around the world so you can go into your 'local' shop and #PlayBeforeYouPledge. You can see a list/map of all our PBYP partners here: https://www.landerthegame.com/play-before-you-pledge.
Lander is a 2-4 player, space-themed strategy game that emphasises area control (resource collection), tableau building (crew development) and set collection (missions). You and your friends will assume the roles of corporations, competing to prepare Kaimas-2 (the first planet outside of our solar system capable of supporting human life) for a large-scale colonization effort. The corporation that contributes the most will become the market leader going forward!
The game includes three distinct game styles with the following victory conditions:
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Basic Simulation – the first player to reach 7 Mission Stars wins.
Early Arrival – the last year is triggered when a player reaches 10 Mission Stars. The player with the most stars at the end of that year wins.
Planned Arrival – the player with the most Mission Stars after 5 years wins.
To earn Mission Stars, you must expand your resource base and develop your crew with specific combinations of traits and classes. Unlike many euro style games where players focus on their own playing area and can only affect each other indirectly, Lander enables players to directly impact each other's strategies through various game mechanics, such as take that and variable player powers.
At it's core, Lander is a game of options. On any given turn, you'll have many potential directions to go in, which gives you a lot of flexibility in how you plan your strategy. It also enables you to pivot when something unanticipated happens (e.g. acid rain reduces the colony's food production, a rival corporation relocates one of your structures, the mission you were working towards gets completed just before you can grab it!). This means that no matter how bleak things may seem, there's almost always a way back in!
Unique leadership abilities and action cards can be used to pull back your opponents or further your own interests, while event cards will force you to make difficult choices that can impact yourself or the entire colony. Lander is like life. You will experience highs and lows and be faced with a series of challenges that will force you to solve problems and pivot your strategy. It's not meant to be easy (think Matt Damon in the Martian). You are self-interested corporations, struggling to survive on a foreign planet - don't be surprised if the planetary conditions change or your colleagues put something toxic in your soup.
While some orders in the game are commonly used across game styles and player counts, others are more situational. For example, negotiation provides a novel framework for trading resources and cards between corporations with the use of a timer and collateral. Typically, a 2-player game won't see any negotiation, but it can become very common in a 3 or 4-player game, especially if one player starts to pull away. Observations are often used sparingly in the first couple years, but can become quite strategic in later years, as you study your opponents' actions and try to time your moves just right.
Lander is a game that often requires a few plays for you to really start appreciating its depth. As you get familiar with the mechanics and cards, you'll start to see there is a game within a game, whereby the study of your opponents' actions is crucial for developing your own strategy. Similar to poker, players can study their opponents' hands, crew and orders to predict what they might be trying do. The interplay between reading your opponents, using your observations, bluffing and playing your action cards becomes the game within the game. Knowing how and when to employ these different tactics is of course, up to you to master...
Your story begins here!
—description from the publisher