Bluffing

Our intrepid adventurers have sailed on a journey, finding the hidden cave of a mythic monster. There are so many strange things there! The Captain allows the crew to search through the place and bring back to him what they have found, but by bluffing the Captain, they will try to keep the best part of the loot for themselves...

In Oh Captain!, an asymmetric game of changing roles, an adventurer must offer the loot cards they draw to the Captain, telling the Captain something about what the cards contain but not necessarily speaking truthfully. Indeed, some cursed objects can't be spoken of at all by the adventurers.

The Captain, who is safe from being attacked by objects, decides whether the crew member can keep the loot or not, and if the Captain turns down the offer, the crew member can decide to use an object against another adventurer. The latter player can overcome this by calling out a lie, winning or losing a coin based on who is right. The role of the Captain can be claimed by any adventurer who is richer than the Captain, and in the end the richest adventurer wins the game.

As the city of Euphoria was being established, the struggle for political dominance raged on between the Euphorians and Subterrans. The Icarites had not yet descended upon the city and the Wastelanders were still deciding whether they wanted any part of it.

Since it has become clear that the two factions cannot share control, it is time for you to pick a side. Choose your faction, find your allies, banish those who oppose you, and ensure your place at the top of the dystopian society to follow. Now it's your change to Choose a Better Oppressor!

Leaders of Euphoria: Choose a Better Oppressor is a social deduction game in the style of Good Cop Bad Cop, but set in the world of Euphoria. It takes place earlier in the timeline than Euphoria, when the city was young and foolish. Players will have 3 cards in front of them that determine whether they are on the Euphorian or Subterran team that will be investigated throughout the game to figure out who's on their team and who's not.

Instead of the equipment cards from Good Cop Bad Cop, players now use and give artifacts from the Old World in a new Artifact Phase or as a standard action. In Leaders of Euphoria, you can use your turn to Hide one of your Recruit cards, which is important because, unlike Good Cop Bad Cop, you may not use important actions without having a hidden recruit to expose. Also, there is no player elimination like there was in GCBC, as players who are banished from the city become Wastelanders and have a new victory condition.

Who does not know the colloquial expression "Buying the cat in the sack" ("Buying a pig in a poke")? In this game you can experience the meaning of this expression yourself. A group of cats wants new owners, but these lucky people do not know if they get some sweet pussycats or one or more mean old cats. Sometimes only a dog is helpful, who chases the unwanted cats away. But then too many dogs are worse, too, because they only think about chasing themselves away. A clever auction game with many interesting decisions.

Idea of the game: With their mice, the players attempt to grab the famous cat in the sack. In the sack, there are both good and bad cats. Each player can also put a dog or rabbit into the sack instead of a cat, allowing players to bluff one another. At game end, all positive cats and mice count plus points, but negative cats count minus points.

Mid-East Peace is one of those great games where luck really doesn't play a part, once initial country selection is made. The game is set during the pressure cooker situation of the early 90's and the tension of the game certainly reflects this. Players out-maneuver and out-bluff one another so as to gain the riches of the region, while making sure they spend enough of the "oil/money" to ensure the safety of their state. The tension is kept up by secret deployment of forces and the continual angst of balancing resource spending with the saving necessary to come off the winner. It is, usually, the richest player, the one who has probably spent least on 'defense' throughout the game that will come off the victor. But, the twist is that the game can end in war or peace, and there are different victory conditions depending on which of the two outcomes it ends in. A very hard balance to maintain.

A brief description from BGN's own Andrea "Liga" Ligabue (Boardgame News):

This game is the sequel to Lupus in Tabula; the Tabula inhabitants have moved into the city, but there is a little problem—the werewolves have moved there, too! This game keeps the theme and part of the mechanism of the famous party-game precursor, but this time it's for 3-8 players. Note that Lupusburg isn't an expansion, although it is possible to combine parts of the two games.