Worker Placement

A permanent base is being built in the Shackleton crater at the Moon's South Pole. You're leading one of the space agencies that are working together to expand their presence on the base, while at the same time the three major corporations sponsoring the mission are each pursuing their own agenda. In Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon, you will build structures on the base, while also funding projects from the corporations that provide special abilities and scoring opportunities.

At the start of the game, pick three corporations randomly from the seven available. Each corporation introduces new projects, actions, and scoring opportunities, along with their specific mechanisms. The game is played over three rounds, each divided into three phases:

• Shuttle phase: Each player drafts a shuttle tile from an open display to determine which type of astronauts and resources they can use that round, as well as the turn order for the next phase.

• Action phase: Players take turns deploying their astronauts on the moon to collect resources, build structures, or fund projects. Depending on which corporations were selected, different types of resources will be available, resources that can be used in various ways for the projects or to build structures. Each project provides ongoing abilities and scoring opportunities. Each corporation provides different ways to score points, which could be during the action phase, the maintenance phase, or at game's end.

• Maintenance phase: Deployed astronauts are assigned to work on the structures (providing a bonus to the player owning them), then players collect income and pay maintenance costs. If corporations in play have end-round effects, those effects take place.

The end of the game brings a final scoring, then the player with the most points wins.

In Bone Wars, players take on the role of a palaeontologist in the late 1800s. During this time, a bitter rivalry was waged between Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope, two world-renowned palaeontologists. They both tried to outdo the other in discovering new species of dinosaurs, going so far as to bribe workers, steal or even destroy bones. The players are palaeontologists working for one of these legendary men or are perhaps working on their own behalf – trying to outdo all competition.

During the game, players have to make clever use of their action cards, which they play in the slots under their player board. These action cards can either activate their team - digging up fossils and discovering new species in the field - or their paleontologist - who spend their time publishing species, debunking other players' papers and getting awards.

Published species cards are added to bonus slots at the top of your player board. Each added species card gives a bonus depending on how many species cards are already in that specific slot.

When your paleontologist publishes a paper, it is added to either Marsh's or Cope's side, depending on which side the player is working for. Specific actions will also reward loyalty points with your current patron. At the end of the game, players multiply the number of loyalty they have (both with Marsh and Cope) with the published papers to gain VP. Published papers, therefore, count for all players. It is up to you to make them count the most for yourself.

The Galactic Senate has launched the "Transgalactica Decree" in order to increase their knowledge and influence beyond the already well-known fringes of the galaxy. Fleets from every planet have been launched to the stars in search of adventure, riches, and (hopefully) an influential seat in the governing spheres that lie beyond the known space.

Transgalactica is a worker-placement and engine-building game with a high level of interaction between the players. In order to thrive in this game, you will travel the far reaches of the galaxy, improve your fleet's influence in all galactic matters, compete with other fleets for technological advancements, build a commercial network, and possibly even send representatives to the Galactic Senate to claim political advantages.

The game is divided into five rounds. In each round, players use their Captains to perform powerful actions in their own operations panel. Then, the other players may follow taking the same action using their crew, but without gaining a bonus. Little by little, players will increase their military power, political influence, or technology level, and earn victory points by exploring, trading, mining or completing missions. May the best spacefarer win!

—description from the publisher

As one of the leading scientific researchers in the galaxy, you're in high demand. You've spent the last two years on Alarria, a small terrestrial planet several light-years from Earth. You've been studying the diverse indigenous fauna, and your field research has already yielded some incredible results. However, your days as a simple scientific researcher are about to end.

An asteroid roughly the size of a small country has been picked up on radar hurtling towards Alarria — a planet killer. Your research work has been put on hold as the greatest minds on the planet have been recruited to develop plans. Time is running out as each second brings the asteroid closer to Alarria. Where will you focus your efforts? Which plan has the best chance to succeed? There's no time to waste. If something isn't done soon, the planet itself might cease to exist. Three distinct plans have been set into motion, each with a razor thin chance of succeeding:

A powerful laser is tracking the asteroid's approach and will fire as soon as it comes within range in hopes of reducing it to a mere pebble.
An energy shield might be just enough to deflect the approaching asteroid, altering its course and saving Alarria.
In a final desperate attempt to preserve some of the unique species of the planet, an evacuation plan has been ordered. The nearby forest moon, Fortuna, has been tested and can support life, and thankfully it's out of the blast zone. You just need to move as many of the species as possible before impact.

How to Save a World is a worker-placement game with hand-building and resource management. Each turn, you assign workers to perform critical tasks or spend action cards to help advance your goals. At the end of each round, the projects will be assessed and the asteroid will move ever closer. Can you make the right decisions to avert disaster in this competitive science-fiction game?

—description from publisher

Hello, and welcome to Galactic Cruise. Here, we offer our guests something special: the comfort of a luxury cruise with the innovation of space travel. As the first company to offer extended-stay space vacations, we are excited to have you working for us! As a supervisor of this company, you’ll be expected to not only build these ships and satisfy our guests, but also to help the company thrive by enhancing our company network, inventing new technologies, and growing our workforce. We are a united company, and you’ll often find that what another supervisor does will make your job easier. Let me be clear, though, this is a competition. Our current CEO will be stepping down in three years, and the supervisor who comes out on top will take his place.

On your turn, you will either place a worker to take two actions in the ever-expanding network, launch a ship and send one of your workers to space as a pilot, or recall all your earthbound workers to collect funding bonuses. Actions include acquiring blueprints, constructing ships, attracting guests, and building developments–connections between locations that increase action selection throughout the game. You will also be affecting resource markets that ebb and flow with the actions of all the players.

Throughout the game, you will also be competing with your fellow supervisors to complete company goals, which will earn you progress cubes throughout the game. Progress cubes are also placed when you launch ships, and when a certain number of cubes are placed onto the company’s progress track, the game ends, and the player with the most Victory Points becomes the new CEO of Galactic Cruise.

Do you still think you have what it takes to work for us? You do? Great. Let’s get started.

—description from the publisher