Ancient

Mexica plots the development of the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in lake Texcoco. Players attempt to partition it into districts, place buildings, and construct canals.

Districts are formed by completely surrounding areas of the island with water and then placing a District marker. The player who founds a district scores points immediately.

Canals and Lake Texcoco act as a quick method of moving throughout the city. Players erect bridges and move from one bridge to the next, which costs 1 action point regardless of the distance. They must also erect buildings. This costs action points, the exact number being dependent upon the building's size.

In the scoring phases of the game, players score points (El Grande style) based upon their dominance in a District. In the 4 player game, players with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd most buildings score decreasing numbers of points.

Only districts are scored in the first scoring round.

In the second scoring round at the end of the game, all land areas are scored, not just districts.

The player with the most points wins.

Mexica is the third game in the Mask Trilogy.

From far away, the adventurers have come to the island with the golden city in its center. Just arrived, they open up the first shop directly at the coast. Already it is possible to open up other ones in the villages along the street connections.

That's worth it because through that you'll get goods, keys, money, and concessions that you need for getting ahead. And finally the first is able to establish himself in the golden City and thus get the most precious trading contracts.

The Gold Trilogy

Part one of "The Gold Trilogy" (besides Valdora and Felinia)

Recommendations:

Best Family Game 2009, Åšwiat Gier Planszowych
Der Portner 2009, 5th place
Pfefferkuchel 2009, 5th place
Family Strategy Game, Honorable Mention, GAMES Magazine, 2011
Game by Game 2010, Recommendation

Expanded by:

Two player variant "the big drought"
Additional variant for "the big drought"

A fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Led by powerful leaders, kingdoms and dynasties developed here around 3000 BC. Attacks and coups by neighboring kingdoms are the order of the day. But he who plans well will become the stuff of legend. Haven't we heard this before? Absolutely, but not in this form. Because now, the 'card game conversion' trend among board games has reached Reiner Knizia's classic game Euphrat & Tigris (Tigris and Euphrates). As Euphrates & Tigris: Contest of Kings, it will offer simpler and faster play, but will still be nicely outfitted with about 200 cards and 16 printed wooden discs.

From the publisher:

"It is 37 AD and Caligula is the extravagant Emperor of Rome! It is a time of excesses. It is a time of intrigue. And the latest gala in Caligula’s short reign is starting tonight—Bacchus’ Banquet!"

From BoardgameNews.com:

"As a player, you are one of the nine “honored” guests—each with his or her own secret objective. You might be a glutton who is only there for the food and wine. You might be an avaricious opportunist longing for the presents that are often bestowed. You might be a conspirator in one of the many plots to kidnap or assassinate the Emperor. You might even be Caligula himself, exploiting the all-too-human foibles of his groveling subjects."

In Qin players colonize the Chinese hinterland, seize territories, and expand their influence by placing tiles and pagodas.

A move is simple: You choose one out of three tiles from your hand, place it onto the grid of the board, then draw a new tile. Each tile shows two landscapes. If you create a territory that consists of at least two spaces of the same landscape, you seize it. You can also expand your territories, take over territories from other players, and connect your territories to villages on the board. All of this enables you to place pagodas. The player who is first to get rid of all his pagodas wins.