travel

The Mother Road is a press-your-luck race across Route 66 for 2-4 players. The player pieces are wooden cars representative of classics found on Route 66 in days gone by -- a canary yellow 60’s Mustang; a pale blue Thunderbird from the 50’s (with portholes); a cherry red Ford pickup truck (featured in the Eagles' first hit “Take It Easy”); and a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Lots of Route 66 icons and photos are represented on the nearly 4 foot long neoprene mat board for the game and the dice are all in player colors too! Races are usually closely-contested and take 30-45 minutes. The rules are easy to learn, and this game can be enjoyed by serious or casual gamers ages 9 & up.

Trekking the World 2nd Edition is a light strategy game where you race to the world’s most fascinating places, draft itineraries, collect souvenirs, and gain powers that combo.

The 2nd edition is a complete mechanical overhaul based on analysis of thousands of online comments about 1st Edition, and our evolving design principles.

We’ve tried to create a game hobbyists AND their families will like. A tough design challenge.

Who It’s For:

Hobbyists who want to entice non-gamer friends and family into playing
Hobbyists who like rules-light games with some hidden strategy
Folks getting into the hobby for the first time
Folks looking for a gift (it feels premium)
Folks who want to turn their 10-and-up kids onto strategy games
Folks who want to learn about cool places in the world, or want their kids to

Who It’s Not For:

Folks who adore 1st Edition (why risk regression to the mean?)
Folks for whom the blocking in 1st Edition is essential - we replaced it with other interactions (but it's easy to house-rule it back in).
Hobbyists who dislike rules-simple games regardless of strategic qualities

—description from the publisher

From the Spine of the World Mountains to the bustling fishing villages of Earthquake Fish Bay flows a river where fortunes can be made and lowly traders can brush shoulders with Rokugan's elite. Will your clan become the dominant force along this River of Gold?

In River of Gold, players take on the role of river merchants allied with legendary samurai clans, each vying to exploit the river to earn wealth, glory, and wisdom. Will you invest in developing ports, markets, shrines, and more along the banks of the busy river? Or will you rely upon sailing the river of gold, growing your wealth and influence through delivery contracts, visiting the nobility, and garnering a bit of divine favor during tough times?

River of Gold features a stunning embossed metallic gold game board illustrated by master fantasy cartographer Francesca Baerald. In addition to looking beautiful, the gameplay is fast and clever, with minimal downtime and a playtime of just one hour. Fans of Eurogames will enjoy this mid-weight game, and with easy-to-learn, intuitive rules, you’ll be able to get River of Gold to your table quickly.

—description from the designer

Despite covering less than 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs are estimated to be home to about 25% of all marine species. Unfortunately, these vibrant underwater cities are dying. Climate change and its effect of rising sea temperatures is devastating the colorful algae that give coral reefs their brilliant hues, resulting in coral bleaching. Furthermore, other threats like pollution—in its various insidious forms—and overfishing are disrupting the delicate balance of reef ecosystems.

And so, scientists from various fields, along with the researchers studying the ecological complexity and significance of the reefs, are collaborating to address the myriad challenges facing these ecosystems. Your assignment is to take command of a scientific vessel and embark on a journey of reef conservation. Hire the best crew, clean the ocean, and restore the reefs to their former glory.

During the game, players take on the role of researchers and saviors of the oceans. You will sail the seas, hire crew, explore the coral reef, clean the ocean sectors of any pollution, and try to accomplish as many missions as possible.

On their turn players may choose to RECHARGE or TRAVEL. If they RECHARGE, they gain the rewards from the VP track. If they TRAVEL, they may deploy Reef Balls, move their Ship, play Mission cards, and perform various actions. The game is played for a variable number of rounds. When a player has crossed the 45 VP threshold, the end of the game is triggered. After an additional round the final scoring takes place and the player with the most victory points is the winner.

—description from the publisher

The land you live in has been at war for as long as any of you have been alive.
The Queen has decided to undertake a long and perilous journey to broker an alliance with a distant power.
The Queen has chosen you, and only you, to be her retinue, and accompany her on this journey.
She chose you because she knows that you love her.

For the Queen is a card-based story-building game that you and up to five other players can begin playing in minutes. Choose your queen from among fourteen gorgeously varied illustrations—or start from scratch—and use the prompt cards to collaboratively tell a story of love, betrayal, doubt, and devotion.

—description from the publisher

This game also has an entry on RPGGeek: For the Queen