Ancient

Dark times loom over the kingdom of Thebes. The blind, old king Oedipus left the throne in disgrace and asked Polynices and Eteocles, his own sons, to rule the city together. But power corrupts and ancient feuds call for new blood to be spilled. Soon, Polynices finds himself leading an army from the rival city of Argos against his own brother. The Theban nobles support Eteocles as he maintains precarious rule over Thebes. The young king calls for defenders to man the seven gates of the city, while the invaders’ seven champions lead the attack on the gates. Meanwhile, the famous citadel of Thebes, the Cadmea, lies in disarray. It is as if the Fates themselves have lined everything up against the current rulers of Thebes!

While the common folks prepare for war, the noble families whisper among themselves that the time for new leadership has come, and the time to rebuild the Cadmea is now!

In Thebai, players assume the role of influential leaders from noble families during the tumultuous late Bronze Age. Throughout the game, players are tasked with rebuilding the Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes, while restoring the city’s exports, praying to the gods of the city, and protecting the lives of the citizens as grand heroes spill each other’s blood outside the gates.

The game lasts 10 rounds, each divided into an Action phase and a Fate phase. During the Action phase, players use one Citizen die, and then move their Archon on the Cadmea. During the Fate phase, players may get additional scoring opportunities, depending on their accomplishments and for protecting the city gates. After final scoring the player with the most Victory Points is the winner.

During the Tang dynasty, Chang'an was one of the largest cities in the world. It was a cosmopolitan urban center with thousands of travelers exploring it. As an important urbanist, compete against other players to build the best districts of Chang'an and to get the favors of the court.

Players will carefully project their plans by placing cards on the top part of their personal boards (the gates). Then they will move them into the city districts to build amazing buildings and to welcome influential characters in the neighborhood. Every new card built into the districts will provide players with different types of privileges and a certain number of victory points.

During your turn, you perform only one of the three main actions: research, play and/or move cards on the gates to produce resources and activate character effects, or build.

The game ends as soon as a player gets nine or more cards built in the districts of their City board (cards at the gates are not considered).

The player with the most victory points will be declared the best urbanist of Chang’an.

The Warring States period was a pivotal era in Chinese history, marked by constant warfare, significant bureaucratic and military reforms, and the consolidation of power among rival states. The game is set around 260 BCE, a time when the seven warring kingdoms were locked in fierce conflict, both against each other as well as against nomadic groups like the Xiongnu, who posed a threat from the north. Although sections of the Great Wall of China had been constructed as early as the 8th century BCE, the later years of the Warring States period saw a surge in defensive building projects. Before Qin ultimately unified the kingdoms, extensive fortifications, watchtowers, and new sections of the wall were erected to bolster defenses.

In Tianxia, players take the role of leaders of noble families who want to earn prestige, as well as favors from the powerful rulers that govern the seven Warring Kingdoms.

The game lasts four rounds in which you install Governors in the regions and bolster the power of rival ruling houses, thus gaining their favor. You also sell goods to merchant ships that sail the Chinese shores to gain wealth and other benefits. Nevertheless, you must not forget about the nomadic warriors who pose a constant threat on the northern borders of the seven kingdoms. Thus, you must train soldiers and build walls and towers to weaken the invaders and protect your interests, earning prestige in the process.

Each round, the nomads advance toward the borders of the seven kingdoms and gather even larger numbers. When they reach the border, a battle takes place that affects all players.

At the end of the game, the player who was the best governor, politician, merchant, and protector wins.

Living Forest Duel or how to experience all the thrills of the award-winning Living Forest in a tense and tactical two-player showdown!

SUMMARY:
In Living Forest Duel, two players face off as the spirits of Summer and Winter, each striving to save the sacred forest and be recognized as its ultimate protector. Although their goals are similar, only one season will claim the honors.

Your goal? Be the first to achieve one of the four victory conditions:

Plant a 3×3 rectangle of Guardian Tree cards in your Forest
Have only cards of your season on the recruitment line
Collect 8 Fire tokens
Move the Onibi creature to your opponent's side once the Onibi card is in their possession.

The game is played in alternating turns. On each turn, choose one of the following options:

Draw 1 guardian animal card from the shared draw pile and add it to the shared help line
Use 1 action token on 1 guardian animal card in the shared help line

• Draw a guardian animal card
Draw a card from the shared draw pile and place it face up on one of the three help lines:

the shared help line if it’s a neutral animal
your help line if it’s an animal of your season
your opponent’s help line if it’s an animal of their season

Each animal provides elements that you can use later with one of your two Action tokens.

Be careful: revealing too many solitary animals can be detrimental. After 3 solitary symbols, you lose an Action token, which will significantly reduce your ability to act.

• Use an action token
Place one of your Action tokens on a card to point to the last element corresponding to the action you want to perform. Count all elements of this type visible from the start of the common aid line OR from the last Action token pointing to this element.

Possible Actions:

Recruiting one or more Guardian Animals
Extinguishing the fire by collecting one or more Fire tokens
Planting one or more protective trees
Advancing Onibi toward your opponent

• End of the turn
The turn ends when both Summer and Winter have used up their 2 action tokens.

Add up the value of the fire tokens in the clearing: the value of each fire token is determined by its location. Then, add up your water values. Check to see whether the fire value in the clearing is strictly higher than your water value. If so, add a fire varan card corresponding to your season to the shared discard pile for each fire token present in the clearing.

Next, place a fire token on each of the cards on either side of the Onibi standee.

Retrieve your 2 action tokens back in front of you, and place all of the cards in the help line, as well as the cards in the players' personal lines on the shared discard pile.

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No prior knowledge of Living Forest is required to enjoy Living Forest Duel.

—description from the publisher

As the proud owner of one of the tea gardens in the the Chinese Yunnan region, your mission in Tea Garden is to cultivate and expand your empire by establishing new tea gardens along the serene river valley. Tea leaves are your most prized asset, with six grades of tea quality and each region producing a different quality of tea. Transform your fresh, vibrant green tea leaves through fermentation, elevating them to rich, aromatic brown leaves that grow in quality — and value! — as they mature.

Harness the power of your deck of cards to orchestrate up to four main actions each game round. The strength of these cards is important for performing the chosen action; the higher the strength, the better the effects you will achieve. With your cards, you will build new tea gardens, acquire new cards, trade your tea with eager caravans, ferment your tea leaves, and harvest more tea. Couple your main actions with the power of secondary actions to navigate the river, produce tea cups, or practice tea studies at the university.