Abstract

Kodama Duo is a two-player standalone version of Kodama: The Tree Spirits and a 6th player expansion. You will grow a tree by placing branch cards in clever arrangements, making a happy home for your Kodama!

Kodama Duo is a card placement game for 2 players that plays in 30 minutes. Players will turn over one Decree card per season to set the unique conditions. During the Growing Phase, players take turns revealing branch cards and splitting them into two piles until each player has added four branch cards to their tree. In the Kodama phase, players will each choose one of their Kodama to score and live in their tree. The game last 3 seasons (12 turns) and whoever cares for their Kodama best will be remembered for generations!

There are a couple of cool twists on the original Kodama rules for Duo.

First, instead of a display of branch cards to choose, each turn one player (the splitter) will reveal three branch cards from the deck. They will then split those cards into two piles. The other player (the chooser) will select one of the branch piles. The other pile will go to the splitter. Then, both players will add one of the branch cards they received to their tree. The player who received two branch cards will discard the extra card.

Second, Duo introduces spirit tokens, which are tokens with the six features from Kodama. After the player that received two branch cards discards one, the other player receives a spirit token from the discarded branch card. They pick one of the features from that card and take the corresponding spirit token. That player then places that token over one of the icons on their tree. This allows interesting scoring interactions as feature chains can be shortened or lengthened to increase the scoring potential for future branch placements.

Additionally, most of the new Kodama cards and Decree cards interact with the spirit tokens and splitter/chooser mechanic. All of these changes provide an interesting twist on the core mechanics you already love about Kodama.

Duo also introduces the ability to play Kodama: the Tree Spirits with six players. With this update, we've included new rules for branch selection. Each player will secretly choose from four branch cards simultaneously in a draft format. Players will also be allowed to place and score their branch cards simultaneously. This will shorten the downtime that could have been added by including more players.

You are the mayor of a tiny town in the forest in which the smaller creatures of the woods have created a civilization hidden away from predators. This new land is small and the resources are scarce, so you take what you can get and never say no to building materials. Cleverly plan and construct a thriving town, and don't let it fill up with wasted resources! Whoever builds the most prosperous tiny town wins!

In Tiny Towns, your town is represented by a 4x4 grid on which you will place resource cubes in specific layouts to construct buildings. Each building scores victory points (VPs) in a unique way. When no player can place any more resources or construct any buildings, the game ends, and any squares without a building are worth -1 VP. The player with the most VP wins!

-description from publisher

Shadows in Kyoto is a two-player abstract game based with the background of Hanamikoji in which players take control of the Oniwaban, a group of undercover spies, secretly protecting the Shogun, or an intelligence agency of the Meiji Government, funding with the advanced technology of the Western Industrial Revolution.

As the commanders, the players must secretly gather key intelligence from the opponent while protecting their own interests. Through movements, conflicts, and tactics, players have three different paths to victory:
1). Capture 2 enemy agents who possess real intelligence.
2). Let your opponent captures 3 agents of your own who possess fake intelligence.
3). Succeed in the escape of 1 agent of your own who possesses real intelligence.

Torres is an abstract game of resource management and tactical pawn movement. Players are attempting to build up castles and position their knights to score the most points each turn. Players have a limited supply of knights and action cards that allow special actions to be taken. Efficient use of pieces and cards, along with a thoughtful awareness of future possibilities, is the heart of this game.

Torres is considered by many to be an informal member of what is referred to as the Mask Trilogy.

As a koi fish, you spend your days (turns) swimming to and fro by playing a number of movement cards, with the goal of gobbling up as many dragonflies and frogs as you can every day. Each movement card has from two to four programmed moves — straight, turn, rotate any direction and leap over a space — with some moves being mandatory when played and others being optional.

Your tranquil koi pond begins with some decorative stone and a few lily pads, but you will also receive natural beauty cards in your hand that allow a player to add more lily pads, cherry blossoms, ornamental stone and frogs — which both enhances the beauty of the pond and causes turmoil beneath the still waters for the other koi. Lily pads are great as they spawn dragonflies every turn, each of which is worth 3 victory points when eaten. Cherry blossoms ripple the surface of the water as they land, causing all living things to scatter in the opposite direction — and if you play the blossoms wisely, right into your mouth! Stones prevent fish from entering a space and are best placed to block an opponent's path to a meal. Frogs are delicious 1 VP meals all their own, but they also eat dragonflies in adjacent spaces, so often they are placed to deprive opponents of their dinner.

As the weather changes and a new event card is revealed for the day in KOI, so must your strategy change. At the end of seven days, the game comes to an end, with the best-fed fish being declared the winner. Be wise, be quick, or go hungry. Persevere and you shall succeed.

Also features a solo play mode, where you must outscore a programmed AI opponent, with adjustable difficulty settings.