Dice

Date Dragons, Without Getting Burned!

Are you a dragon looking for companionship?
Or just the adventurous type, looking to join the exciting dragon dating scene? Cindr is a ‘push your luck’ dice and card game that allows players to set up a dating profile and then thumb through potential matches, seeing if a given dragon sounds compatible.

If so, Meet Up and say hello – and if that goes well, push your luck, and take the Next Step. You never know, before the date is over you may just take things to the Next Level! The better the dates go, the more Love points you earn – but watch out, just 3 Flames will leave you burned, scoreless and searching for love all over again. Will you be the first of your friends to find love and fulfillment?

A 30-minute, push your luck dice game for 1-5 players, where the more compatible you are, the better the odds get of not getting burned.

A fun, light-hearted send-up of dating apps like Tinder, with tarot-sized cards as the app deck and date locations with special bonuses provided by the “Whelp” app deck.

—description from the publisher

Here to Slay is a competitive role-playing fantasy strategy card game that's all about assembling a party of Heroes and slaying monsters (and sometimes sabotaging your friends too) from the creators of Unstable Unicorns.

In this game, you’ll assemble a full party of heroes to slay dangerous monsters while working to avoid the sabotage of your foes. The game also includes items you can equip to your heroes, 1V1 challenge cards, and roll modifiers to tip the odds in your favor.

» HOW TO PLAY «

The first person to successfully slay three monsters, or build a full party with six classes, wins the game!

» PARTY LEADERS «

Every player gets to choose a party leader character to represent them throughout the game. Each party leader card has a class and a skill that gives you an edge over your opponents. Whether you enjoy fighters, bards, wizards, or thieves, you'll find a party leader that's right for your play style - but choose wisely, because you only get one party leader for the whole game!

» HEROES «

Your heroes are brave adventurers, ready to attack monsters and go head to head with your foes! The game includes over 40 unique heroes. Each hero card has a class and an effect, and each hero’s effect has a roll requirement. In order to use a hero’s effect, you must roll two dice and score equal to or higher than that effect’s roll requirement.

» MONSTERS «

Everyone wants to be a hero, but are you brave enough to face off against these monsters? If you successfully slay three monsters, you win the game, but attacking a monster may come at a price! In order to slay that monster, you must roll two dice and score equal to or higher than that monster’s roll requirement. 
Be warned: Each monster has a roll range in which they’ll fight back, and if you score within that range, your party might be in grave danger…

» ITEMS «

Item cards are enchanted weapons and objects that can be equipped to your heroes to bestow them with special advantages and skills. Most items give beneficial effects and are meant to be equipped to heroes in your own party, but a handful of items, called cursed items, can be equipped to enemy heroes to give them disadvantages. 

» MAGIC «

What would this world be without a little magic and mayhem? Magic cards are powerful spells with a one-time effect. Some magic cards can give you great advantages, while others are designed to set your opponents back.

» CHALLENGES «

Don't like what your opponent just played? Throw down a challenge! Challenge cards can be played instantly to try to stop another player from playing a hero, item, or magic card. Playing a challenge card initiates a 1V1 challenge in which you and another player both have to roll the dice. If they win the challenge, they still get to play their card, but if you win the challenge, you get to send their card directly to the discard pile!

» MODIFIERS «

Only fools rely solely on luck. In this game, you can keep a modifier card up your sleeve (or, well, in your hand) to make sure the odds always tip in your favor. Modifier cards add or subtract from the final total of any dice roll. Whether you need to recover from a low roll or sabotage the high roll of an opponent, modifier cards can be a handy tool when luck doesn't seem to be on your side.— description from the publisher

The Magnificent is a tightly designed Eurogame from the creators of Santa Maria set in a mystical world beautifully illustrated by French artist Martin Mottet.

In the game, players are competing to attract the largest audiences to their shows, featuring magnificent performers. In the process, you must expand your camp by placing Tetris-style tiles on your player board, gather elements needed for the shows, and set up performances in your tents.

On your turn, you take one die from the supply. The value of the chosen die is your strength. Add to this the value of all dice of the same color that you have already collected, then use this strength to carry out one of three main actions: build, travel or perform. The more strength you have, the better the action will be, but at the end of the round, you must pay — in coins — the total of your highest-valued dice color. Thus, taking dice of the same color makes for better actions, but will cost more coins.

After each player has taken four turns, the round ends. Each player must discard one of their ringmaster cards and score points according to its requirements. After three rounds, the game ends, and the player who has collected the most points wins.

In more detail, players start the game with four ringmaster cards and a unique trainer tile. Each ringmaster card provides a special ability (which is triggered when you place a die on it) and a unique end-of-round scoring opportunity. When you choose a ringmaster card to discard and score at the end of the round, you must therefore also take into consideration which special abilities you want to keep.

In addition to your main action, you may use trainers on your personal unique trainer tiles or on common trainer spaces on the game board for various benefits.

At the end of each round, in order of the players' highest-ranked performances, players choose a new ringmaster card and a trainer tile, providing new abilities and scoring opportunities for the next round.

Four millennia ago on the eastern bank of the Nile river was laid the foundation of the Temple of Amun-Ra. Over the course of two thousand years, the temple complex was gradually expanded and became widely known as "The Most Select of Places" (Ipet-Isut), boasting the largest religious building in the world. Today, the site is known as Karnak, located at Luxor in modern-day Egypt.

Join ancient Pharaohs in creating and growing one of the most impressive sites the world has seen, honoring the Egyptian gods Horus, Ra, Hathor, Bastet, Thoth, and Osiris. You must carefully manage the balance of your actions, preparing for the reckoning by the goddess Maat.

The game board in Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun is divided into six sections, each associated with an Egyptian god: Horus, Ra, Hathor, Bastet, Thoth, and Osiris. In the center stands an impressive obelisk (Tekhenu) that casts its shadow onto different parts of the board. As a result, the area around the obelisk is divided into sunny, shaded, and dark sections, depending on how the obelisk casts its shadow at that particular moment. As the game progresses, the sun's rotation alters which sections are sunny, shaded, or dark.

The game takes place over multiple rounds, following this pattern:

2 Rounds

 = 

1 Rotation

2 Rotations

 = 

1 Maat phase

2 Maat phases

 = 

1 Scoring

2 Scorings

 = 

1 Game

Each round, you draft dice and perform actions associated with the value of the die and the section from which the die was drafted. At the beginning of the game, each of the six sections contains three dice. However, as dice are drafted and eventually refilled, the different sections will contain a varying number of dice.

Dice come in five colors: white, yellow, black, brown, and gray. Depending on the color of the die and the position of the obelisk's shadow, each die is considered Pure, Tainted, or Forbidden. While you may never draft Forbidden dice, you are free to draft any other die, whether Pure or Tainted.

When drafting a die, you must consider not only the general availability of dice — if no dice are available in a given section, then you cannot readily perform the action associated with that section — but also which value die to draft and how your chosen die will affect the overall balance when the Maat phase occurs. An imbalance in favor of Purity carries no negative outcome whereas a Tainted imbalance may result in the loss of victory points. A perfect balance between Pure and Tainted dice, however, results in a more favorable turn order.

After drafting one die and placing it on your player board (either on the Pure or Tainted side), you perform an action, the effect of which depends on the value of the die you selected.

Horus
Taking the Horus god action allows the building of statues, either in honor of one of the gods or for the people. Building a statue in honor of a god grants you benefits when other players perform actions associated with that god. Building a statue for the people grants favorable benefits during scoring.

Ra
When taking the Ra god action, you add a pillar to the Amun-Ra temple grid, scoring victory points and gaining resources and possibly powerful bonus actions.

Hathor
The Hathor god action results in the construction of buildings around the Amun-Ra temple complex, providing rich resources and considerable influence during scoring. This action also increases the current population.

Bastet
By taking the Bastet god action, a festival takes place, increasing the happiness of the people. However, the happiness marker can never overtake the population marker, making it necessary to strike a balance between different actions. Keeping your people happy unlocks powerful one-time benefits as well as bonus victory points during scoring and more options when taking the Thoth god action.

Thoth
The game includes three types of cards: blessings, technologies, and decrees. Taking the Thoth god action allows you to gain these cards, the type of which is determined by the happiness of your people. Also, the happier your people are, the greater the selection of cards available from which you can choose.

Osiris
Taking the Osiris god action allows you to construct workshops and quarries, each of which increases your production of one of the four resources: papyrus, bread, limestone, and granite. During scoring, you are rewarded for having the most workshops or quarries of each type.

Production
Instead of these six god actions, you can choose to produce, generating resources based on the color of the die (yellow = papyrus, brown = bread, white = limestone, and black = granite) and the current production value of that resource.

Scoring
During each scoring, you are rewarded victory points:

For having the most workshops or quarries of each type.
For buildings constructed near the Amun-Ra temple complex.
Based on the number of statues you have constructed.
Based on the happiness of your people.
For having constructed a large number of buildings (whether near the temple complex or as workshops or quarries).
For achieving maximum production.

However, you must also keep a healthy amount of resources around to sustain your population or else you suffer negative consequences. Additionally, after the second and final scoring, you can earn bonus victory points from various decrees you have collected during the game.

You are trying to climb the Magic Beanstalk to reach the Giant’s castle and bring back as many sacks of gold as possible! Taking turns, choose the number of dice you will roll, then stack them to make the Magic Beanstalk grow. If a player knocks over the stack while building the Beanstalk, the other players can steal the Giant’s sacks of gold! The richest player at the end of the game wins.

Jack & the Beanstalk is the eighth game of the Tales & Games series.