Contracts

From the Spine of the World Mountains to the bustling fishing villages of Earthquake Fish Bay flows a river where fortunes can be made and lowly traders can brush shoulders with Rokugan's elite. Will your clan become the dominant force along this River of Gold?

In River of Gold, players take on the role of river merchants allied with legendary samurai clans, each vying to exploit the river to earn wealth, glory, and wisdom. Will you invest in developing ports, markets, shrines, and more along the banks of the busy river? Or will you rely upon sailing the river of gold, growing your wealth and influence through delivery contracts, visiting the nobility, and garnering a bit of divine favor during tough times?

River of Gold features a stunning embossed metallic gold game board illustrated by master fantasy cartographer Francesca Baerald. In addition to looking beautiful, the gameplay is fast and clever, with minimal downtime and a playtime of just one hour. Fans of Eurogames will enjoy this mid-weight game, and with easy-to-learn, intuitive rules, you’ll be able to get River of Gold to your table quickly.

—description from the designer

After the big earthquake of 1755 that tore down Lisbon and most of Portugal's southern coast, it was necessary to rebuild an entire nation. The demand for window glass increased so much that William Stephens, a British businessman, saw the opportunity to expand his business in Portugal by investing in the glass industry.

In Stephens, players compete amongst one another in the role of master glassmakers working at the famous "Stephens" Factory to become the most prestigious figure in town...after Stephens, of course. Through clever and cunning planning, all players will develop their works, invest in new businesses, and promote the creation of jobs. Through a unique action-selection mechanism, on their turn players choose from a variety of options, either by activating the Stephens factory or by activating one of their personal investments.

The game ends when the Napoleonic forces arrive in town, at which time the player with the most prestige wins.

The gameboard of Finca shows the mediterranean island of Mallorca. Players try to crop and deliver the fruits of Mallorca (such as oranges, lemons, almonds, grapes etc.) by means of moving workers on a traditional windmill. Object of the game is to distribute your crop as effectively as possible in order to deliver faster than your opponents.

From the Box: Mallorca, Island of the Wind. A place of golden beaches and a light-blue sea. The almond harvest is at hand, in addition, juicy oranges, lemons, and figs are ready to be picked and taken to the market. Olive trees bewitch the country with their curled branches and sumptuous vineyards invite passers-by to walk among their warm earth. In the midst of this landscape, your centuries-old natural stone farmhouse provides a home and supports your large windmill: your FINCA.
Listen to the wind, which propels your windmill! Then take in the course of the yearly harvest the sweetest and most valuable fruits from the land. Load them on your old donkey cart and travel around the island, selling them everywhere. If you manage this quickly, you will soon be the richest farmer on the island.

Note: The Pandasaurus Games edition from 2024 plays up to 5 players while earlier editions play up to 4.

Recommendations:

2011 Hungarian Boardgame Prize Winner
2011 Ludoteca Ideale (Italy)
Nominee "Spiel des Jahres 2009"
4th place "Deutscher Spielepreis 2009"
Nominee "Graf Ludo 2009"
Adult Game of the year 2010 (Finland)

Become one of the greatest classical composers of all time! You'll use inspiration, seek fortune and hobnob with aristocrats to perform musical masterpieces and achieve your legacy in this engine building game for 1-4 players. Get inspired by your rivals' performances to create your own works of genius as the game builds to a crescendo.

Each turn, players choose one of four actions: Seek Inspiration, Seek Fortune, Seek Patronage, or Perform. Inspiration is your primary resource and it comes in three tones - Joy, Passion and Sorrow. Seeking inspiration allows you to gain your resource while all of the other actions will have players spend inspiration to acquire cards. Fortune cards help build your engine, which can allow you to gain bonus actions on your turn. Patron cards can also help build your engine or can give you bonus legacy points for end game scoring. Chamber Music and Concert Music cards give you lots of legacy points, but every time you perform, your opponents can attend your performance and gain inspiration. You will not only have a special ability as your specific composer, but you are also the only person who can compose your very own Magnum Opus. Complete specific goals to gain Maestro cards and end the game.

Compose your masterpiece. Secure your legacy.

—description from the designer

Grab a hammer and some steel, it’s time to forge! The Blacksmiths Guild of Ravenshire is in need of a new Forgemaster. You and your fellow smiths are competing to see who can make the most money and become the new Forgemaster.

Forges of Ravenshire is played over 4 seasons or rounds. Each season starts with the gathering phase where players will acquire contracts, recruit guild members, and gather resources. Players roll their dice workers and place one of them on an available location to gather resources. Then retrieve a different dice worker to gather even more resources. However, the various workers are from different guilds and when retrieved will activate the guilds you have invested in. All players will take turns placing one of their workers and retrieving another worker 3 times.

After the gathering phase is the production phase. Take those 3 dice workers you have taken and now place them on different areas of your forge to gather more resources, make charcoal or steel, and forge contracts to make money.

At the end of every season, check to see if any special titles have been earned. Titles bring prestige and hard-earned money.

Finally, roll your 3 dice workers again and prepare the county of Ravenshire for the next season.

—description from the publisher