Dice

Europa, Jupiter's moon. Deep beneath the crust, the oceans are teeming with alien sea life. Shellfish, plants, corals, arthropods, even strange fish and larger sea creatures populate a wide-ranging interconnected web of hidden seas. Volcanism is rampant, warming the mineral-rich waters and creating excellent conditions for energy-harvesting.

The largest cavern close to the surface is known as The Pocket. This is where the initial teams of Stabilizers built their first outposts, with the intent to establish long-term communities capable of surviving indefinitely. Aqua-farming is well established; food and other sundries are efficiently gathered. The Pocket has many deposits of minerals and crystals that can be mined and processed to create strong and versatile construction materials locally.

Colonists arrive at the Doorstep at regular intervals when the Threshold is opened. The arrivals are of four general types: Pioneers (who are tasked with exploring the changing surface of the moon and the labyrinth of seas beneath), Engineers (who develop and operate the machinery and structures needed to run the colonies), Marines (who defend the colonies from hostile sea life, unwanted intruders, and other colonies), and Stewards (overseers responsible for strategy and negotiation).

Colony development mostly occurs beneath the ice; this is where all of the moon’s resources are concentrated, so this is where the effort is best spent. To keep close to the surface, most colony structures are built clinging onto the underside of the ice crust. Surface structures will be built only once an undersea outpost is well established and beginning to thrive. In addition to construction and resource-gathering, colonies spend a lot of effort on exploring this new environment. The volcanic action and mineral-heavy waters make long-range scanning unreliable, so physical exploration is required to plumb the depths.

As the Pocket is explored and expanded, the established colonies have been making some unusual discoveries beneath the ice. Deep in the trenches, artifacts of non-human origin are starting to be found. The dark seas hide many secrets. Squads of mercenaries occasionally appear on the surface and beneath the sea, penetrating the Threshold somehow to carry out an unknown mission on the moon. These aspects are worrisome but can’t distract the colonies from their main goals.

It is still early in the Artemis project. A foothold on life here has been gained, but it will take tenacious effort from the competing colonies to reach the point where Europa is truly viable as a home.

The Artemis Project is a dice (dis)placement and engine building game that has you fighting the planet as well as the other players. Roll your dice and place them tactically to thwart the other colonists. Harvest energy and minerals. Bid for buildings. Work together to go on Expeditions to earn rewards. Train workers. Will your efforts be enough to survive?

Untold: Adventures Await is the customizable storytelling game powered by Rory's Story Cubes. Players become the heroes of a thrilling tale that unfolds in under 60 minutes. Think of Untold as your favorite TV series, except rather than just sitting back and watching, you're right in the middle of the action!

Every game of Untold is an episode of five distinct scenes, each featuring intriguing locales, dangerous threats and shocking plot twists that propel the action toward an epic showdown. Scene Cards and StoryCubes provide the elements of the adventure, while Reaction Cards reveal what happens when the players take action.

Untold takes collaborative storytelling in a whole new direction, allowing players of all ages to unleash their creativity thanks to a unique game engine that's extremely accessible, always unpredictable, and rooted in inspiration. Players can also craft multiple-episode story arcs that will see their characters and their world grow as new challenges arise.

Whatever genres of story you enjoy, Untold lets one to four players experience endless and unforgettable tales. What amazing adventures will you have? They await you in Untold!

Winner of the 2018 People's Choice and Judges Award for Best Family Game at UK Games Expo **

The Towers of Arkhanos is a dice drafting, tower building game for 2 to 4 players. Fast and fun family game that plays in about 20 to 30 minutes.

GAME OBJECTIVES

In The Towers of Arkhanos, players must jointly build arcane towers to channel the power of past civilizations. For this, your master and apprentices must use magic stones (dice) and apply abilities written in the book of magic, acquiring prestige and becoming the magician with incredible reputation in the kingdom.

The player will control one of the magic schools(different colors) from the realms of Drunagor and try and build the magic towers in order to gain more prestige points to be appointed the greatest wizard of the realm.

END GAME:

The match ends at the end of the 8th round (2-4 players) or the 9th round (3players). At that point, incomplete towers will also earn points. Thus, players who have meeples allocated on any of the towers (regardless of whether they are external or central) receive the following score:
1st place in arcane influence: 3 points of prestige;
2nd place in arcane influence: 2 points of prestige;
Draw in arcane influence: 1 point of prestige.

In addition, each meeple in the players magic book will also yield 1 prestige point. Add up the prestige points of each player and the one with the most prestige points is declared the winner.

Will you take the wizard's robe and accept the challenge or be forgotten by the magic high council of the realm?

—description from the publisher

Players in turn roll the 21 word cubes, set the timer and form sentences with the words appearing on the tops of the cubes in a crossword puzzle-like fashion (one word may be part of two sentences - one running vertically and one running horizontally). Turns end when the egg timer runs out. Players score 50 points for each sentence of 7 words or more. All other sentences score the square of the number of words in the sentence (i.e. a 4-word sentence scores 4 X 4, or 16 points). A bonus of 50 points is awarded if all 21 cubes are used. Two points are deducted for each unused cube.

The 1983 version of the game seems to differ in the number of cubes. The rules on the inside of the box lid still have a 1971 copyright date, but among other differences, they state that the game contains 27 cubes. Two of the new cubes are marked with stars on all six sides, making them wild. From the 1983 rules: "When playing a wild cube, a player must state what word it represents, after which it cannot be changed during that turn."

The 1988 version has 24 cubes - two of which are the starred wild dice. The box states that this is the 2nd edition of the game from Coleco Games. Selchow & Righter is credited in the directions as a subsidiary of Coleco Industries, Inc. The majority of the outer box is blue.

You are an air-shipwright, that is, an inventor of flying machines used by the dreams to traverse the skies of the Oniverse. You have been challenged to build a new fleet, the most beautiful ever seen. Now you must roll the dice to acquire the components you need to build airships.

In Aerion, a solo/co-operative game for 1-2 players, you must find the best blueprints, acquire the finest construction materials, and recruit the best crew. Discarding cards can adjust your die rolls, but be careful not to exhaust your resources! Can you build the best fleet?

Aerion includes six expansion modules with new options and challenges.

—description from the publisher