Card Game

In Villainous, each player takes control of one of six Disney characters, each one a villain in a different Disney movie. Each player has their own villain deck, fate deck, player board, and 3D character.

On a turn, the active player moves their character to a different location on their player board, takes one or more of the actions visible on that space (often by playing cards from their hand), then refills their hand to four cards. Cards are allies, items, effects, conditions, and (for some characters) curses. You need to use your cards to fulfill your unique win condition.

One of the actions allows you to choose another player, draw two cards from that player's fate deck, then play one of them on that player's board, covering two of the four action spaces on one of that player's locations. The fate deck contains heroes, items, and effects from that villain's movie, and these cards allow other players to mess with that particular villain.

A party game in which players fill in the famous phrase "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."' with ridiculous names and activities.

You might say to yourself, "but wait, this game already exists!" and you would nearly be right ... but actually wrong.

Prepare to Die! Again!! is the exact same game as Prepare to Die, but with different cards.

The King is dead; long live the Queen! Or vice versa, really, as in the intriguing game Brutal Kingdom it's hard to tell what everyone is up to and who will have the greatest impact until it all ends. Yes, the bishop's poison has been touched, but has it been administered to the abbot or is it still waiting to be used? What's happening with the witch? And the executioner is waiting for his next job...

At the beginning of a round, each player has four character cards in hand. On your turn, you play a card in front of you and follow its instructions. With some cards, you can carry out actions on your opponent and bring an end to the round's influence — but only if you don't fall victim to your opponent in the process.

An unusual, complex, yet tightly balanced board/card game for two from the prolific Reiner Knizia. The original title, "Auf der Reeperbahn...," alludes to a popular German movie from 1954.

Near the center of a 17-space track start the six game figures which the players compete to attract to their opposite ends of the board. You play as many cards of the same color on your turn as you wish, and much of the movement is a direct result of card play: e.g., by playing a red 4 you bring the red figure ("Rote Lola" or "Dancing Deb") 4 spaces closer to your end of the board.

However, there are special tricks and restrictions which must be learned and held firmly in mind before the sense of the game begins to emerge. The central green figure ("Brilli-Lilli" or "Saucy Sue") which wins for you if the game ends with her on your half of the board, for example, can only move within the bounds of her "bodyguards," two grey figures. The yellow figure ("Blonde Hans" or "Handsome Hal") can summon, without benefit of a card played, any of these three figures to his square. The companion green figure ("Schampus-Charly" or "Champagne Charlie") which can also win the game if you get him into one of the two spaces at your end of the board (your "nightclub"), only moves toward you if the board situation at the end of your turn involves both bodyguards on your half of the board and/or one of the other figures in your nightclub. And so on.

The game, part of the Kosmos two-player series, is one of attack and counterattack, defense and forward thinking, and can be won early or on the turn of the last card on the second time through the deck. At 10-15 minutes, it begs to be played again immediately.

In Piepmatz, you skillfully play bird cards from your hand to collect seeds and birds at the bird feeder. Seeds and mated pairs of birds in your collection are worth points. Single birds score only if you have the most of their species. The course of play is the same for all numbers of players. On a turn, you go through these three phases in order:

Play a card — Select a bird card from your hand and place it face up at a perch of your choice.
Resolve effects — Compare the birds on the ground with the bird at the perch. Take a seed card or add a bird to your collection. Move a bird to the feeder.
Draw new cards — Replenish your hand.

The game end is triggered when you are supposed to draw a card from an empty feeder deck. Play continues until all players have had an equal number of turns. Each player now chooses two bird cards from their hand and discards them face down. Once all players have done this, add your remaining two bird cards to your collection and commence the scoring. You score points for seeds, mated pairs of birds, and species majorities. Whoever has the most points wins.