Card Drafting

Sushi Draft

Sushi Draft is a fast little card game that looks good enough to eat! Over three rounds, players draft plates of sushi and collect sushi points, which are drawn randomly. The player with the most diverse menu gets dessert!

Sushi Draft includes a deck of 32 sushi cards (8 ikura, 7 ebi, 6 maguro, 5 tamago, 4 kappa and 2 "wild" triples) and 18 point tokens (three each for the five types of sushi and three for dessert); the point tokens range in value from 1-5, with the more plentiful sushi dishes being worth more points. At the start of each round, players shuffle the cards and receive a hand of six cards. Players simultaneously draft a card from their hand and reveal it, placing it on the table. They then keep one card, pass the remainder to a neighbor, and draft and play again. Once everyone has five cards in front of them, players receive point tokens. Whoever has the most sushi of each type draws a point token of that type at random; if players tie for the most of a type, however, then the player with the secondmost of that type draws the token instead. If all players are tied, then no one scores for that type of sushi. The player with the most types of sushi scores a dessert token at random.

After three rounds, players tally their points, and whoever has the highest score wins!

BattleLore: Call to Arms

Call to Arms is the first purchasable expansion to the popular BattleLore game system. This expansion allows for the personalized deployment of your troops. Individual games will no longer be subject to predetermined scenarios and troop placement.

Instead, players may choose various pre-defined battle maps (or create their own!). Then from an innovative Deployment deck, players may set-up their armies as they please. The new deployment deck will allow you to react to the land, establish reserves, and gain the initiative by out-scouting your opponent.

The expansion also introduces a more organized deployment system through the Feudal Levy system: new tokens are included that correspond to the three colour types of troops.

The organized version also includes further customization with the Specialist concept. Players may choose two specialist cards during set-up. Benefits range from upgrading all archers to long bows, increasing unit size based on your Warrior's Level, and additional movements, to name a few.

Starting with BattleLore: Horrific Horde, additional Deployment cards are included in some supplements.

Set-up now includes the following actions:

Ready your deployment deck and draw deployment cards
Set-up your units based on the cards drawn
Determine initiative
Deploy your Reserve units
Establish your War Council
Select and play 2 Specialist cards

The expansion also includes new terrain hexes.

Contents:

20-page booklet with rules and 6 scenarios
6 Deployment card sets (A, B, C for either side, 7 cards each)
10 Specialist cards (Archers Stakes, Bow Upgrade, Forced Enrollment, Vantage Point, Illusionary Troops, Infiltration, King’s Allies, Prayer, Dwarven Mercenaries, Goblinoid Mercenaries)
6 Terrain Summary cards (Archers Stakes (2), Cliffs (2), Marshes (2))
2 Weapons Summary cards (Long Bow (2))
8 terrain hexes
4 Cliff (two-sided) / Marsh
2 Cliff (three-sided) / Marsh
2 Cliff (single sided) / Marsh

3 obstacle rectangles
2 Ramparts / Archers Stakes
1 Stone Bridge / Archers Stakes

12 Feudal Levy tokens (4 of each colour)
6 banners
1 Green Standard Archer
1 Blue Standard Regular Infantry
1 Green Standard Cavalry
2 Green Pennant Crossbowman
1 Red Pennant Heavy Infantry

Expands:

Battlelore

Taj Mahal

Northwest India at the beginning of the 18th century. The rule of the Grand Moguls is waning, and the Maharishis and princes seize the opportunity to take control of the region. By influencing the prominent forces, building magnificent palaces, and ensuring a steady supply of commodities, the princes increase their power until the most successful has won.

The goal of the game is to gain the most influence points. These can be obtained by building palaces and by acquiring commodities. A palace can be built after securing the support of the Vizier, the General, the Monk, the Princess, or the Grand Mogul. Commodities are gained by seizing control of a region or by retrieving them on a space where a palace has just been built.

There are twelve turns with an auction for the region control and the support of the Vizier, General, Monk, Princess, and Grand Mogul, each represented by a different symbol. Players use cards in four colors to bid for the various prizes, and each player may only play one color in any given turn. During your turn you can either increase your bid by playing more cards or withdraw. When you do, you gain the reward for every symbol you have the majority of. You place palaces, gain region tiles, and increase your score accordingly. There are bonus points for connecting palaces over several regions on the map.After the final area on the board is auctioned, the player with the highest point total wins the game.

This game is #3 in the Alea big box series.

Golden Ages

In The Golden Ages, you lead your civilizations through history. The game lasts four different eras, during which you develop technologies, create fine arts, erect buildings, and build wonders. You'll send explorers to discover the continents, found cities in distant lands, and send your soldiers into battles.

The first player starting a Golden Age during an era chooses a "History Judgement" card that states the way all the players will score in that round. Each player who started a Golden Age continues taking money at his turns until all other players have passed.

There are many ways to score points — artists, the judgement of history, wonders, technologies, attacks, money, secret future technologies, etc. — as well as many different ways to achieve a victory. Will you succeed in evolving your civilization through history, overwhelming your opponents on the way to glory?

Sylvion

The mad Fire Elemental lord is out to burn down the dream forest. Attacking in waves using Fire Elementals, your only defense are trees and fountains and those animals brave enough to offer aid before scurrying away to safety. Using a unique drafting system and combining it with a tower defense game, will you be able to keep your forest green?

Sylvion is a tower-defense type game in which attacks come down four rows and in waves. You build a deck using a unique drafting process and play cards from your hand by paying with other cards in your hand. You can play cards to the rows like fountains and trees or play animals for instant effects or to manipulate the enemy decks of cards. When all the waves have finished, you must have your marker on a green space to indicate that you have saved the forest; if you stand on a red space, then your precious forest has burned down.