Card Game

Once upon a time, three big cats became exhausted fighting to be top cat. They agreed to quit the fight and spice up their nine lives with a hot spice eating contest. Alas, everyone was soon cheating, so the cats invented a very hot, often tearful, bluffing game.

Spicy is a bluffing card game for 2-6 players. The cards are played face down, so you can cheat when you announce your card. That said, this clever card game isn't just about bluffing for you can almost always play a card that is at least half right if you cleverly play your hand. This means tactically deciding which card to use to get through: Do I play a "Pepper 10" or a color wild on a "Wasabi 9" and declare it a "Wasabi 10"? Or do I better pass because surely someone has noticed me thinking for so long now?

Spicy contains six game-variant cards, but even without these a high replayability is guaranteed.

The cards are illustrated with forty separate pieces of art. In addition, not only the game box sparkles in chic metallic gold, but also the card backs are adorned with a gold-colored finish.

Wizard Kittens is a semi-cooperative set collection card game. Players are wizard kittens who have accidentally released a few curses from the library's restricted section. Now they must defeat the curses before they're caught by the librarian, Professor Whispurr.

Each turn plays quickly but offers interesting decisions, most often around which spell to use and how to use it. Spells allow kittens to draw extra cards, sling cards at other players, discard cards out of their own play areas, or trade any two cards in play. No player can use the same spell two turns in a row, either.

The game ends when either the last of the six curses is defeated, or when the Professor Whispurr card is drawn from the ritual component deck. If the kittens defeated the last curse, then they tally up points (including a secret objective Extra Credit card), and the highest score wins. If they are caught by Professor Whispurr, then the Cleanest Paws Clause applies. All kittens with 10 or more points lose, and from those who are left, the kitten with the fewest cards in their play area wins.

-description from designer

"You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner.

But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents, on your mother's side, would be delighted."

—description from the back of the box

In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.

Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play—leading to immense variety.

—user summary

Part of the Dominion series.

Refight battles between the greatest armies of the Ancient World: Republican Roman, Carthaginian, Alexandrian Macedonian, Achaemenid Persian, and more!

Milito is a card-based, diceless wargame by Martin Wallace that puts you at the head of an Ancient army, making the key tactical decisions that will win or lose you the battle. Commanding a combination of troops unique to your own army, you'll play unit cards to take control of the battlefield. Skirmish with light troops to hold the enemy at bay, use your cavalry's maneuverability to your advantage, and advance your units of well-armored infantry to drive the enemy away. Flank attacks and army-specific leaders provide further tactical depth. Choose the right moment to commit your best units into the battle line, and capture three terrain areas to win the game.

Each card in your hand represents one of your army's units, which has the same strengths and weaknesses as its historical counterpart. Units are rated for speed, attack strength, defense strength, and other modifiers based on battlefield performance. Leader cards offer combat bonuses and have their own unique abilities — but be warned that not every leader card is an Alexander or Hannibal!

—description from the publisher

You have an invitation at 5 p.m. at the Mad Hatter’s garden. The table is ready, the cookies taste like buttery heaven, and the tea is strong and spicy. "More sugar?" asks the Mad Hatter, giving you a bizarre look.

"Yes, plea..."

"Time's up!" he yells, interrupting you. Sugar, cookies, and millions of hats fly everywhere. Tea spills all over the tablecloth as he proceeds with a huge smile on his face. "It's time to play a game."

•••

In Hats, two to four players compete to acquire the most outstanding hats by exchanging cards in hand with cards on the tea table board. Each card exchange influences how each hat is scored. Naturally, at the end of the game, the player with the highest score will be declared the maddest!

To play, everyone draws nine cards. You take your turn by performing one of the following two actions:

Exchange hats — Play a single card from your hand face up and exchange it with one of the same type (color) from the tea table board or exchange it for a card of any type but of a lower value. Add the card exchanged from the tea table board to your collection by placing it face up in front of you.

Create a black hat — Play a single card face down in front of you to add it to your collection as a black hat. Each black hat in a player's collection at game's end is worth 1 point.

Optional action: At any time during your turn, you may discard a single card of your choice to draw a new one from the draw deck. In a four-player game, players will exchange cards with their teammates.

END GAME SCORING

Hat Collection: Players earn points for the hat cards in their collection based on the position of the matching type on the tea table board. If two or more hat cards on the tea table board are of the same type, find the hat card of that type with the lowest position on the tea table board and keep it face up, while turning all other cards of that type face down.

Favorite Hat: Each player reveals the final card in their hand as their "favorite hat" type. Players gain points equal to the sum of all cards in their collection that match the type of their "favorite hat" minus the value of the final card in their hand.

The Last Cookie: There is only one cookie left at the table. Players compete for the cookie by having the most different types of hat cards in their collection. Black hats count as a type. During the game, pass the cookie to the player who has the most different types of hat cards. The chocolate chip cookie is worth five points at the end of the game.

—description from publisher