Card Drafting

Eight-Minute Empire, by Ryan Laukat, is a quick game that implements the Civilization/Exploration theme using card-driven area control (by placing armies and cities in a small map) and set collection (by getting resources from the board and the cards). Players spread through the map in order to collect points at the end of the game by having majorities in regions and continents. All actions (such as land or sea movement, army production, or the founding of cities) are driven by cards that are face-up (six at a time) and available by increasing prices. Cards also contain resources, which also give points when the game ends if properly collected.

Its first version was available as print-and-play, and a regular (Kickstarter funded) version was published in 2013. An expansion featuring a European map is available as an expansion (Eight-Minute Empire: Europe Expansion Board), and a stand-alone sequel has also been published (Eight-Minute Empire: Legends).

From the publisher:
Build an empire and conquer the land in around eight minutes!

In Eight-Minute Empire, 2-5 players take turns selecting a card from six displayed. The card gives a good, and also has an action that the player takes immediately. Actions help players take over the map, but sets of goods are worth points at the end of the game, so players have to balance the two aspects.

Eight-Minute Empire is the super-quick area control game with tough decisions. It's easy to learn and perfect for when you only have a few minutes.

In Collateral Damage, you play a Gang Boss trying to take over cities in Neo Japan in order to win the game. Your gang is made up of typical characters from romantic comedy anime, with a unique set of statistics and a Special Power to distinguish each one. You move your characters around the board from city to city, and you ultimately win the game by taking over cities. You as a gang boss get Notoriety Points by having your characters fight and hurt other players' characters. If you miss in a fight, you do Collateral Damage to the city (thus the name of the game). However, as is typical in romantic comedy anime, your characters might fall in love, usually unreciprocated, and will then ignore your orders to instead follow their love around the board.

Each turn in the game has 9 phases, most of which are brief.
1) Initiative - Figure out turn order, based on player strength.
2) Libido - All characters gain Libido, which they can use to move and fight.
3) Voluntary Movement - players move their characters, then 4) Automatic Movement - characters may be dragged towards a Love Interest or Rival.
5) Love - Characters may fall in love based on the Looks and Gender of other characters in that city.
6) Combat - Characters in cities fight, gaining Notoriety for the player.
7) Domination - Players can try to use any characters still conscious to Dominate cities, spending Notoriety Points to better their chances.
8) Firing & Recruitment - Players can fire characters and recruit new characters, spending Notoriety Points to do so.
9) Mutual Love - Characters in love with each other and alone together in a city lose all of their libido. We're not saying why...

The game contains:
20 city tiles which are used to make up the game board
6 sets of sliders, token stands, dice, and Gang Boss cards in 6 colors
Over 55 different characters, each with his or her own stats and unique Special Power
45 Training cards
1 Grease pencil
A 4 page custom manga
Complete instructions
and more

Hiding in these woods, there lies not just one Bigfoot, not a few Bigfoots, and not a gaggle of Bigfeet — but an entire community of Bigfootses. Now it's time to go in the woods with your trusty Bigfootses's call, cloak your scent with Bigfootses's urine, and get ready for adventure with aliens, yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and every other legendary creature you can think of.

Bigfootses, The Card Game consists of two decks: the Woods Deck (70 cards) and the Thingies Deck (55 cards). In the Woods Deck, you encounter Bigfootses and creatures to battle, and draw events that can dramatically change the game. You can even find your true calling and take one of six professions. The Thingies Deck is full of equipment, items, actions, and card modifiers to help you along in your quest.

Your goal? Be the first player to corral ten Bigfootses to win the game!

A Few Acres of Snow is a two-player, card-driven game about the French and British conflict in North America.

The card-play contains a focus on a deck-building mechanic similar to Dominion, and like many card-driven war games, each card will have multiple uses. The players have to choose only one aspect of the card to use when it is played. Each space captured by a player will add another card to the capturing player's deck.

From the box description:

A war fought at the edge of two mighty empires. For over one hundred and fifty years Britain and France were locked in a struggle for domination of North America. Thousands of miles from their homes, settlers and soldiers were faced with impenetrable forests, unpredictable American tribes, and formidable distances. Despite these obstacles they were able to engage in bitter warfare, with the British ultimately taking the prize of Quebec. A Few Acres of Snow is a two-player game that allows you to recreate this contest. You can change the course of history by your decisions.

A Few Acres of Snow takes an innovative approach to the subject, using cards to represent locations and manpower. As the game progresses you add to your selection of cards, increasing the range of actions available to you. There are many strategies to be explored. How quickly should you build up your forces, do you employ Native Americans, what energy should be expended on your economy?

The game is about more than just fighting – you must successfully colonize the land to have a chance.

On November 30, 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from Napoleon. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson decided to send two explorers – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark – to discover this huge terra incognita.

Lewis & Clark is a board game in which the players manage an expedition intended to cross the North American continent. Their goal is to be the first to reach the Pacific. Each one has his own Corps of Discovery that will be completed by the Native Americans and the trappers met during the journey. He has to cleverly manage his characters and also the resources he finds along the way. Beware, sometimes frugality is better than abundance.

Lewis & Clark features dual use cards. To be activated, one card must be combined with another one, which becomes unavailable for a while. Thus, players are faced with a constant dilemma: play a card or sacrifice it. During the game, each player acquires character cards that enlarge his hand, building a crew that gives him more options but it needs to be optimized as he will recycle his cards more slowly. This new "handbuilding" mechanism fits strongly the historical background.

Since the aim of the game is to be the first on the Pacific coast, the timing and the opportunistic use of the other players' positions are crucial.