Area Control / Area Influence

Pizza Theory, designed for exactly three players, has no randomness and simple turn actions, but the outcome each round is unpredictable since each cook has his own idea for the best way to create the pie.

To set up the game, each player takes his pizza cutter (a wooden stick) and the die and topping counters that match. Each player places two toppings on the game board in the spaces designated with an X.

In each round, the three players take turns placing one topping on the game board; that topping cannot be placed adjacent to any of that player's other toppings. Each player then secretly chooses a number (1-6) on his die; players reveal the numbers and lay their pizza cutters on the board in the space matching their number. The cutters divide the pizza into one of 216 possible outcomes, creating a number of slices. In each slice if a player has more toppings than each opponent, he replaces those opponent's toppings with his own; if two players tie for the most toppings, the toppings of the third player are removed but not replaced; in a three-way tie, nothing changes. (NB: If a player has at most one topping in each slice, then his toppings cannot be removed or replaced this round.)

Whoever first places his 16 toppings on the game board wins.

With only two players, the cutter and toppings of the third color are still used, with players taking turns placing those toppings on the board. If all 16 toppings of the third color are on the board before either player gets his toppings on the board, then both players lose.

In Chicken Caesar, players represent aristocratic ancient Roman chicken families trying to create a legacy for their family name. Each family has several eligible roosters eager to jump into the world of politics, getting rich and creating a legacy by any means necessary.

Roosters gain renown for their families by occupying various political offices. Low-ranking officers don't yield much fame, but they hold both the purse strings and the power of the sword. A few roosters in the lower offices of Aedile and Praetor, together with the votes of a few well-paid (and temporary) allies, can clear a path to the luxury and recognition that come with the titles of Censor, Consul, and even Caesar.

Being Caesar isn't easy, though: fail to bribe and bargain to ensure the welfare of the whole coop and today's Caesar is tomorrow's Coq au Vin. Dead roosters don't earn any more points, but they do offer opportunities for their surviving relatives to exaggerate their accomplishments. All that matters, in the end, is history's judgment, and history can be rewritten.

Mechanically, players gain and maintain areas of influence through negotiation and voting. The game features a Suffragium marker that players pass after voting to either promote a Rooster to a higher office, or throw him to the fox. Players can also strategically demand bribes for their votes or even refuse to vote (pass) to gain a later advantage.

Murder, betrayal, votes for cash, fragile alliances, and bloody vendettas will separate the legendary families from the forgotten ones in the struggle to become – and remain – Chicken Caesar!

In City of Iron, 2-4 players compete to build up a small nation in a world of machines, magic, and money. Become the leader of one of four rival races: the industrious humans, the toad engineers, the scholarly Cresarians, or the clever hogmen.

Corner the market on goods like machine parts or bottled demons. Research steam-age technology and recruit mercenaries to control the continent. Build sea-going schooners or cloud-cutting airships to reach faraway lands and flying islands. Your cities have limited capacity, so you’ll have to decide what to keep and what to demolish when building advanced structures.

The future of a nation is in your hands. Build unbreakable foundations for an empire or disappear into the dusty pages of history.

King Solomon presided over a golden age of peace and prosperity in ancient Israel. During this time Solomon instituted an unprecedented building program. As one of Solomon's chief governors, you must procure materials and oversee construction of buildings and roads across the land for the glory of Solomon. You will also help to construct the Temple, one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Kingdom of Solomon is a worker-placement game with a few new twists and turns. Do you claim a resource space, an action space or throw in all your remaining pawns to grab a powerful Bonus Space? Will you spend your resources to extend Solomon's kingdom, take some points in the Market or add to the Temple? These and many other choices await you in this highly interactive game.

You play Kingdom of Solomon in rounds of four phases. You start the round placing your pawns to get resources, take actions or get a bonus. In this placement phase players take turns, each placing one pawn at a time. After all pawns have been placed, players resolve what they get from placing their pawns. This is called the resolution phase, and each player, in turn, resolves the placement of all their pawns before the next player. Next the players can go to the Market to sell or buy resources. In this market phase, like the placement phase, players alternate taking turns, except that players take turns in reverse order. The last shall be first, and the first shall be last. Finally, you build in the building phase. Players, one at a time, can build a building, roads and add blocks to the Temple.

When you place pawns to take actions, you can get an additional resource for a resource space, trade one resource for another, steal a resource from an opponent, get victory points or draw Fortune cards. You can play Fortune cards at any time. Fortune cards provide resources, victory points or special actions. Bonuses your pawns can gain for you include one of every resource, three Fortune cards or victory points with a rearrangement of turn order so you become the new first player.

You use resources to build things. Each thing costs a specific set of resources. The buildings you build give you victory points and additional spots to place pawns for resources or actions. Roads link resource spaces into resource regions so you can get more resources per pawn placed in the resource region. Building Temple blocks give you either victory points or temple tokens that help you gain or keep the High Priest. The High Priest lets you take advantage of another player’s resource region and gives you victory points at the end of the game.

The game ends at the end the round when a player places all his building tokens on building sites, there is a building token on each of the building sites, or the Temple is complete. The player with the most victory points wins.

Game description from the publisher:
In Urbania the city center has seen glory in its past. But the future calls to you for renewal! Build the new city upon the old, and forge ahead with progress, hammering new profits from those old foundations! Plan a new landscape and garner power and prestige to yourself!