Connections

Patterns: A Mandala Game

Patterns - A Mandala Game is another area control design by Trevor Benjamin and Brett J. Gilbert. Patterns draws you in as you take turns swapping tiles from the large mandala at your table. Each player tries to mark contiguous colored areas as territory. Start by spreading the unique tea towel play mat first and creating a mandala by all but 2 out of 54 colorful mandala tiles. Whoever claims most point in the end, wins.

Ticket To Ride: Berlin

Welcome to the city of culture, arts and music! Discover Unter den Linden, and immerse yourself in the young cultural capital of Europe. Enjoy a sightseeing cruise on the river Spree, ride a bike through the Brandenburg Gate, or be amazed by the masterpieces displayed in the Pergamon Museum.

In Ticket to Ride: Berlin, players race one another to visit the most iconic locations of the city and complete their Destination Tickets. The winning player will utilize Berlin's streetcars and, for the first time, will venture under the streets to incorporate a subway system into their routes.

Snakes of Wrath

In the world of Snakes of Wrath, two players or teams battle to build, and steal, the largest snakes. Traps are laid, enemies are flayed, and snakes are combined and captured as the tangled, hedonistic ouroboros grows. Will you build methodically or go on the offense by attacked your enemies and attempting a chain reaction steal.

Each player has 7 randomly selected tiles with which they can:

-Build a new snake from any open head
-Grow an existing snake in their color
-Injure an opponent's snake with an injury tile
-Steal an opponent's snake by connecting to it

Lay your tiles strategically, incapacitate your opponent, and close all ends of your snakes to emerge victorious. Players must plan ahead, guess their opponent's moves, and deploy tiles carefully. Two-sided tiles mean the tides can change at any moment with a sinister steal or a well-laid trap. One mistake and a chain reaction can be set off, flipping tiles in your opponents favor.

SETUP

In SETUP, you create a set or sets, scoring points to move around the board. How many points on each turn depends on how good you are at spotting sequences and by playing a set which will create multiple combinations on the board. Even when it's not your turn, unwitting opponents may gift you points by creating sets using tiles in your bonus spaces, so always keep your eyes peeled to claim those extra points.

SETUP is a game of strategic tile placement, making sets of numbers of matching suits. You can't always plan in advance though as the tiles stack, so a sequence you had in mind may disappear when your opponents take their turn.

The strategy is even more intense when you try team play mode, work with a partner to plan your sets together. You'll work hard to maximize points, help your partner create sets, and gift each other bonus points. Careful how many points you score because the game ends when the first player crosses the finish line, but being in first place doesn't decide the win; it's the team that avoids finishing last when the game ends!

—description from the publisher

San Francisco

For San Francisco, the first half of the 20th century is an era of dynamic growth and new opportunities. It's also a chance for you — junior urban planner — to take part in a contest for the most amazing reconstruction plan of the city. Sit down with your sketchbook and create a project that will make you stand out from the competition. Design a beautiful city in this game by Reiner Knizia, world-famous board game designer.

In the board game San Francisco, you become an urban planner whose goal is to create the greatest redevelopment plan of the famous city in California. Design districts in each of the five types, racing against all the other planners. Choose the right moment to take on new projects — but be careful, if you take on too many projects it'll be harder to gain more. Earn more prestige by cleverly designing a system of cable car connections. Lay foundations and carefully design the nearby landscape, allowing you to build new skyscrapers. Create a new vision of San Francisco that will gain the most rewards, and win through fame and recognition.