Area Control / Area Influence

Game Overview
90,000 B.C. — A great ice age is fast approaching. Another titanic struggle for global supremacy has unwittingly commenced between the varying animal species.
Dominant Species is a game that abstractly recreates a tiny portion of ancient history: the ponderous encroachment of an ice age and what that entails for the living creatures trying to adapt to the slowly-changing earth.
Each player will assume the role of one of six major animal classes—mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian, arachnid, or insect. Each begins the game more or less in a state of natural balance in relation to one another. But that won’t last: It is indeed "survival of the fittest".
Through wily action pawn placement, players will strive to become dominant on as many different terrain tiles as possible in order to claim powerful card effects. Players will also want to propagate their individual species in order to earn victory points for their particular animal. Players will be aided in these endeavors via speciation, migration, and adaptation actions, among others.
All of this eventually leads to the end game—the final ascent of the ice age—where the player having accumulated the most victory points will have his animal crowned the Dominant Species.
But somebody better become dominant quickly, because it’s getting mighty cold...

Game Play
The large hexagonal tiles are used throughout the game to create an ever-expanding interpretation of earth as it might have appeared a thousand centuries ago. The smaller tundra tiles will be placed atop the larger tiles—converting them into tundra in the process—as the ice age encroaches.
The cylindrical action pawns (or "AP"s) drive the game. Each AP will allow a player to perform the various actions that can be taken, such as speciation, environmental change, migration, or glaciation. After being placed on the action display during the Planning Phase, an AP will trigger that particular action for the owning player during the Execution Phase.
Generally, players will be trying to enhance their own animal’s survivability while simultaneously trying to hinder that of their opponents’—hopefully collecting valuable victory points (or "VP"s) along the way. The various cards will aid in these efforts, giving players useful one-time abilities or an opportunity for recurring VP gains.
Throughout the game, species cubes will be added to, moved about in, and removed from the tiles in play (the "earth"). Element disks will be added to and removed from both animals and earth.
When the game ends, players will conduct a final scoring of each tile—after which the player controlling the animal with the highest VP total wins the game.

Description from the publisher:

Agra, India: The year is 1572; this year marks the 30th birthday of Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad, popularly known as Akbar the Great. Akbar is the third ruler of India's Mughal dynasty, having succeeded his father, Humayun. With the guidance of his regent, Bairam Khan, Akbar has expanded and consolidated India's Mughal domains. Using his strong personality and skill as a general, Akbar has enlarged his Empire to include nearly all of the Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River; his presence is felt across the entire country due to the Mughals' military, political, cultural, and economic dominance.

To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar has established a centralized system of administration; conquered rulers are conciliated through marriage and diplomacy. Akbar has preserved peace and Order throughout his empire by passing laws that have won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic state-identity, Akbar has striven to unite his lands. The Mughals' Persian-ized culture has afforded Akbar near-divine status.

Notables and emissaries from all over the country are on their way for Akbar's birthday celebration. As an ambitious landowner, you cannot let this pass; the festivities are a golden opportunity for you to rise in stature and wealth.

On your land in Agra, you cultivate and harvest cotton and turmeric. You possess a forest from which you produce wood, as well as a small, but very profitable sandstone quarry. By trading and processing your wares, you can obtain more luxurious goods, which you will then use to woo notables as they make their way into the capital. Of course, your rivals have the same plan; you must use your wits to outsmart them as Akbar's birthday draws near...

AWARDS & HONOR
2018 International Gamers Award (nominee)
2018 JUG (nominee)

My Little Scythe is a competitive, family-friendly game in which each player controls 2 animal miniatures embarking upon an adventure in the Kingdom of Pomme.

In an effort to be the first to earn 4 trophies from 8 possible categories, players take turns choosing to Move, Seek, or Make. These actions will allow players to increase their friendship and pies, power up their actions, complete quests, learn magic spells, deliver gems and apples to Castle Everfree, and perhaps even engage in a pie fight.

Some of My Little Scythe’s mechanisms are inspired by the bestselling game, Scythe. It caught the eye of Stonemaier Games as a fan-created print-and-play game in 2017 (it went on to win the BoardGameGeek 2017 award for best print-and-play game).

—description from the publisher

In ancient prehistoric times, you have discovered a new land with plentiful lakes, mountains and forests (and apparently many stone rocks that shall be called dice). Your people can develop new things like basketry or find oxen or simply grow and conquer.

In Rise of Tribes, players control a tribal faction in prehistoric times that's looking to grow, move, gather, and lead their people. The board is modular, composed of hexes in various terrain types. Each turn you roll two dice, and may select from four actions. The power of your action depends on your die roll PLUS the last couple of dice on that action card. Victory is possible in a couple ways: gathering resources to build villages and/or completing development and achievement goals for your civilization.

Game description from the publisher:

Seize your friends' pawns in this delightful game of capture with two unique ways to play! "Brainy" Got'Em! offers the strategic challenge of outsmarting and cornering your opponents with deliberately placed walls, while the tricky yet fun-for-all-ages "Bright" Got'Em! has the same goal of trapping your opponents, plus colorful surprises that will keep you on your toes!

From the Box:
Corner Your Friends!

Trap their pawns in one of two delightful games of escape and capture. In Bright Got 'Em you outsmart and corner your opponents through savvy card play, sly movement, and clever placement of blocking walls. In the still-casual, but even-trickier Brainy Got 'Em! you toss aside card actions in favor of a purely strategic challenge.

Both games share the same goal, the same exciting intrigue, and the same social fun.
Place walls to trap your opponents' pawns before they trap yours!

Surround yourself with friends and family. Get ready to enjoy mroe fun than any four walls could ever contain! It's time you Got 'Em!
Play Summary:
The goal: trap your opponents' pawns before they trap yours. Last pawn free wins!

Bright Got 'Em! (use colored side of the board)
In Bright Got 'Em!, each player starts with 3 cards and pawn. Place your pawn on the same-colored start square (one of the four squares at the corners of the board's center square). The player who's birthday is closest, goes first.

On your turn you will play a card, following each rule in the order they appear. Most cards have 2 instructions. The first tells you where you can place a wall and the second how many square you can move your pawn.

Wall Placement Rules:
Walls can only be placed along one edge of a square, between two squares.
When a player's pawn is trapped by walls in a single square, that player is eliminated from the game. The edge of the board counts as a wall.
There are a few cards that allow you to remove a wall or pass through a wall. However, you have to play these cards before your pawn is trapped!
Once your pawn is trapped in a single square, you're out and your pawn is removed from the board.
When you trap another player's pawn, thus eliminating him from the game, you may remove any 1 wall from the board.

Moving Your Pawn
Most cards allow you to move your pawn up to a specific number of squares.
You can't move through walls, unless you play a card that allows it.
You can't move through a square occupied by another pawn.
You may only move orthogonally, never diagonally.
You can stay where you are.
You don't have to move the exact number of squares listed on the card. You can move fewer squares if you want.
You can move zig zag, first in one direction, then in another, just not diagonally up to the number of squares specified on the card you played.

After placing a wall and moving (or not), discard the card you played and draw another. (You should always have 3 cards in your hand.) Play passes to the player on your left.

The last player to have a pawn on the board wins!

Brainy Got 'Em! (use white side of board)
You don't need any cards for this version. The goal is the same: trap your opponents' pawns while illuding capture yourself.

On your turn, place a wall anywhere on the board, then move your pawn.
The number of squares you can move your pawn is equal to 1 plus the number of walls on your square. You may place a wall on the square your pawn occupies to increase your pawn's movement on the same turn.

All other rules are the same as Bright Got 'Em!

Contents: 1 double-sided game board (Bright Got 'Em! on one side, Brainy Got 'Em! on the other), 84 wall pieces, 55 Got 'Em! cards, 4 pawns, game rules.