Tile Placement

Trailblazers

Trailblazers are the gutsy folks who pave and brave the trails of the great outdoors.  Whether by hiking boots, cycling wheels, or river paddle, these tenacious travelers seek to feed their insatiable appetite for adventure.  With a scenic wilderness ever ahead and a freshly charted path upon the heels, one mustn’t forget to eventually find their way back to camp.  For there are always new environments to explore, further expeditions to undertake, and more trails to blaze.

In Trailblazers, players compete to earn the most points by building biking, hiking, and kayaking loops from their campsites of the matching trail type. Each round, players are dealt eight trail cards where they’ll draft two cards, arrange those cards in their personal area, and pass their hand to the next player three times. Cards must either be placed adjacent to or overlapping other cards. While players can push their luck by aiming to construct long and elaborate trails, only closed loops that start and end at a matching campsite will score points. Players also compete to fulfill “First To” and “End Game” goal cards. After four rounds, the game ends and the player with the most points from closed loops and goal cards wins.

The standard edition of Trailblazers features a second deck of trail & player cards so you can play with up to 8 players. The box also contains two expansions (the Animals expansion and Adventurers expansion) that add another challenging layer of strategy and objectives to the experience. Finally, there are three unique solo modes that utilize the goal cards, Animals expansion, or Adventurers expansion.

Zoo-ography

In Zoo-ography, players take turns drafting building tiles to construct a zoo while drafting sets of animals as they arrive on boats into the game. Players have to balance building pens to support the animals available while also building sufficient attractions to keep guests engaged. Each zoo can earn up to 10 stars by meeting a variety of specific goals involving biodiversity, attractions, features, and aesthetics.

Dungeons and Feelings

Dungeons & Feelings is the strategy / social board game hybrid where the only way to conquer your dungeon is to open up, dig deep, and share your opinions, stories, and feelings. Dungeons & Feelings is inspired by classic adventure video games and distills their mechanics into easily accessible board game form.

In Dungeons & Feelings, you will proceed through a dungeon of your own design. Along the way, you will fight monsters, avoid traps, and discover treasure as you gain experience, level up, and acquire loot. When you are ready, you will fight the Dragon and emerge victorious!

You will have many items at your disposal to conquer your dungeon, but to craft them, you will need to ask your fellow players to answer an interesting, thought-provoking question about themselves. Laugh, cry, and start a deeper conversation with your friends in Dungeons & Feelings.

Dungeons & Feelings is a 3-4 player, non aggressive board game designed to be played in one sitting. It fuses elements of tile placing, crafting, role playing, with get-to-know-you ice breaker question mechanics quite unlike any game you've played before.

—description from the designer

Earth

Earth, the soil that supports and sustains our beautiful planet, Earth. Over thousands of years of evolution and adaptation the flora and fauna of this unique planet have grown and developed into amazing life forms, creating symbiotic ecosystems and habitats.

It’s time to jump into these rich environments and create some amazing natural synergies that replicate and extrapolate on Earth’s amazing versatility and plethora of natural resources. Create a self-supporting engine of growth, expansion and supply where even your unused plants become compost for future growth.

Earth is an open world engine builder for 1 to 5 players with simple rules but tons of strategic possibilities. With its encyclopedic nature and the enormous number of unique cards and combinations, every single game will allow you to discover new synergies and connections, just as our vast and fascinating world allows us to do!

—description from the publisher

The Gardens

Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden holds a special place in the hearts of locals. World renowned for its location, beauty, and historical and scientific significance, each of its 29 hectares are not only stunning, but a calming retreat from the city's streets.

In The Gardens, players draft cards depicting different features of the Gardens, using them to build their own portion of it in front of themselves. Players then score points based on what their visitors see as they walk past the Gardens' various flower beds, ponds, native trees, and statues. The tableau you build will have three rows — waterside, grass, and cityside — and you add one card a turn until the area is filled.

The game is accessible and simple to learn, yet offers strategic choices. Its included modules add variability and depth for experienced players, with landmarks such as the Opera House and Harbour Bridge that players can gain for extra points or special abilities, so join the picnickers, joggers, lorikeets, and bin chickens, and enjoy your day in the beautiful Botanic gardens.

-description from publisher