Abstract Strategy

Anyone who knows a little about Reiner Knizia’s games will know that the good Doctor loves games that deal with trying to get points in various different categories and then only score that category in which the player has the fewest.

The game is played on a hex board. 120 equally sized pieces, each consisting of two joined hexes, come with the game. There are symbols on each hex that make up the piece – some pieces have two identical symbols, some have two different symbols (not unlike dominoes). The goal of the game is, through clever placement, to obtain points in the different symbol colors. Points are claimed by placing a piece such that the symbols on it lie next to already-placed pieces with the same symbol.

The game ends when no more tiles can be placed onto the board or when a player reaches the maximum number in every color. Now each player looks to see how many points they scored in the colour they 'scored the least'. Whoever has the most points in their least-scored colour is the winner. Simple.

The author of the game has also come up with solitaire and team play, in which two teams of two play with each player not being able to see his partner’s tiles.

[From a preview by Spielbox]

Other Versions:

Ingenious: Travel Edition

Pente is an abstract strategy game. Players place glass markers on intersections of a 19-by-19 grid (the same as in Go). The object of the game is to get five of your own markers in a row (4 with more than 2 players) or capture five pairs of your opponent's pieces. The first to do either wins. Capturing takes place when exactly two pieces are sandwiched between pieces of the opposite color. There are multiple variations of the game for greater challenge and complexity. The 20th anniversary edition is a deluxe version of the game with a large color game instruction book, quality game board, and six sets of different colored glass markers that allows play with up to 6 players.

Other five-in-a-row games include Go-Moku and Renju (which do not feature capturing), and Ninuki-Renju (which does).

Similar to:

CIRQUE
5ive Straight
Take 5
5 in a Row
Go-Moku
Renju

Best try this fast family game for 2-5 players and let yourself be surprised! Timing is the key to become Gipsy King.
Hold different options open, plan with flexibility and give your opponents tough choices! Release: Essen 2007. Gipsy King contains 15 landscape tiles, 90 caravans, 1 scoreboard, 5 score markers, rules in English, German, French and Dutch. Illustrations by Czarné.

In Cathedral, each player has a set of pieces of a different color. The pieces are in the shapes of buildings, covering from one to five square units. The first player takes the single neutral Cathedral piece and places it onto the board. Players then alternate placing one of their buildings onto the board until neither player can place another building. Players capture territory by surrounding areas that are occupied by at most one opponent or neutral building. A captured piece is removed and captured territory becomes off-limits to the opponent. The player with the fewest 'square units' of buildings that can't be placed wins.

From the publisher's site:

A "Revolutionary" Board Game From The Creator Of Wiz-War!

Who could guess that the Boston Tea Party was much more complicated than history tells?

You are one of the groups of men tossing tea into the bay. But, you’re also being paid off by one of the captains to load his tea back onto his ship. It’s hard to say what your number-one priority is; sometimes it’s easier to toss everyone else’s tea into the harbor instead of rescuing the tea belonging to the Captain that bribed you...or maybe it is just easier to eliminate the competition by squishing them between the crates...

With art by The Fraim Brothers (of Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated fame), this BOX game will be produced on high-quality chipboard for both the board and the 80 pieces.