Area Control / Area Influence

Patchistory is a strategy board game with cards that symbolize historical heroes and wonders, with the whole game being divided into three eras. During the game, you acquire these cards through auctions and expand your territory by placing cards so that they overlap one another in a 5×5 space in the first era, a 6×6 space in the second era, and a 7×7 space in the third era. When your land—that is, the layout of your cards—is well built, the card functions are activated. You can earn victory points with diplomatic actions, domestic politics, war movement, the actions of production, etc., and at the end of the game, the person with the highest score after the third era wins.

Because you can make combos with lots of features on historical cards and you can score in various ways, Patchistory will give you another new exciting play every time it hits the table.

Dragon Rampage, a competitive fantasy game by Richard Launius, is a strategic dice game for 3 to 5 players. Each player takes the role of one of the adventurers (all with different abilities) and the goal is to score the most points at the end of the game by fighting against or running from (or some combination of the two) the dragon you just woke up, and tallying up the treasure and gold you obtain in the dungeon. Players roll seven specially designed dice and choose whether to focus on grabbing treasure (from the dragon or from another player), fighting the dragon, protecting themselves (and their treasure), or running for the exit. Try not to draw the dragon's attention as you make your way, and note that your fellow adventurers may hinder (or aid) you in your strategy and the final scoring varies depending on how the game ends, so watch your step!

The contents of Dragon Rampage is:

1 rulebook

1 game board
6 character mats

30 hero wound tokens (red crystals)
1 first player token
1 re-roll token
8 dice

72 dragon wound cubes (12 per player)
54 hero action tokens (9 per player)
6 player movement tokens (1 per player)

128 cards:

24 dragon rampage cards
32 treasure cards
72 hero character cards (12 per hero)

50 coin tokens:

20 5-value coins
30 1-value coins

Rio Grande Games' description:

The players take on the roles of the heads of influential families in Paris at the end of the 14th century. In the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral, the players compete for prosperity and reputation. Each family controls one of the 3–5 boroughs that surround the site of Notre Dame. As head of his family, each player tries, through clever use of his action cards, to advance the power and prestige of his family, but penalties are assessed on those who do not take care of the health of the people who live in their borough. The player with the most prestige at the end is the winner.

Players play as well-off Parisians in the 14th century who wish to improve the importance and appearance of the city quarter around the famous Notre Dame cathedral. The primary game concept is original, but simple, card play players use to permanently improve their influence in the quarter. However, turn after turn, round after round, players must make choices that can have major implications. If one does one thing, then the other can't be done. Concentrating on one aspect means automatically ignoring another, which, above all others, is particularly dangerous in the case of the gradually approaching plague...

After 9 exciting rounds and about 75 action-filled minutes, Notre Dame is over. The maitre who has made the most of his cards and has garnered the most prestige points is the winner.

Description from Alea.

This game is #11 in the Alea big box series.

Expanded by:

6-/7-player expansion (unofficial)
Treasure Chest

Reimplemented by:

Notre Dame Express (unofficial)

Description from the publisher:

In Veggie Garden, 2-4 players are trying to grow the best vegetables in a short amount of time — but it won't be easy as other players will be fighting for space in the garden, and the pesky groundhog and mischievous bunny will be popping up at every turn!

In Troyes, recreate four centuries of history of this famous city of the Champagne region of France. Each player manages their segment of the population (represented by a horde of dice) and their hand of cards, which represent the three primary domains of the city: religious, military, and civil. Players can also offer cash to their opponents' populace in order to get a little moonlighting out of them—anything for more fame!

Make your underlings:

work on the cathedral
combat misfortune
bustle about the city
and other such tasks that are below your family's stature!