Dice

You are humanity's last hope.

In XCOM: The Board Game, you and up to three friends assume the roles of the leaders of the elite, international organization known as XCOM. It is your job to defend humanity, quell the rising panic, and turn back the alien invasion.

Where the world's militaries have failed to stand against the alien invaders, you must succeed. To do so, you must make strategic use of the resources available to you. You must launch Interceptors to shoot down alien UFOs, assign soldiers to key missions, research alien technology, and use that technology to defend your base — all while trying to keep the world from collapsing just long enough that you can coordinate one final mission to repel the invaders for good.

One of the more notable aspects of XCOM: The Board Game is the way that it incorporates a free and innovative digital app into the core of its gameplay. This digital companion will be available both as a downloadable app and as an online tool.

The app's primary function is to coordinate the escalating alien invasion, randomly selecting from one of five different invasion plans. Each invasion plan represents a general outline that the alien commanders will use to coordinate the arrival of new UFOs, plan strikes against your base, and respond to your successes or failures as it seeks to conquer Earth. The app manages all of these tasks and heightens the game's tension as it forces you to respond in real-time. Then, after you move quickly to coordinate your response, you engage the enemy in the untimed resolution phase and feed the results to the app. Based upon these results, the app launches the invasion's next strikes.

Additionally, the app teaches you the rules, controls the information that your satellites provide you, and tracks the progress of your resistance efforts, even as it allows you to enjoy the game at any of three levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, or Hard.

The use of this app does more than simply streamline your play experience and track your turns in real-time; it also permits a uniquely dynamic turn structure. While the variety of game phases remains the same from round to round, the order in which you and your friends must play through them may change, as may the number of a given phase. As a result, while you'll want to know where UFOs appear before you deploy your Interceptors, the alien invaders may be able to disrupt your satellite intel and force you to deploy your Interceptors on patrol with limited or no knowledge of the UFOs current whereabouts. Similarly, you may be forced to think about the costs of resolving the world’s crises before you know how many troops you’ll need to commit to your base defense.

The effect of the app is to immerse you deep into the dramatic tension at the core of XCOM: The Board Game, and it ensures that the game presents a challenging and cooperative (or solo) experience like no other. Just like the XCOM department heads that you represent, you'll need to keep cool heads in order to prevail.

Source: Publisher

Two to seven players, ages 8 and up try to obtain fried worms for their chickens, so that they don't go hungry. Of course, anyone who doesn't manage to grab a worm off of the grill can help himself to those of his opponents. This fast-paced game by Reiner Knizia is, like Hick Hack im Gackelwack, a gambling game in the finest chicken tradition."

Each turn players roll their dice and set aside all those matching any single value. The remaining dice are rolled and any value is set aside again until the player stops and takes a tile or busts and puts their last tile back. When a player busts and fails to take a tile they must also turn the highest tile face-down.

Interestingly, the German edition from Zoch has English rules in the box.

The Dutch edition is part of the Jakkie & Bak Collection
The German edition is part of The Chicken Family of Zoch.

At the mouth of the river of the dead is the mighty city of Asphodel. It is known by many other names, some call it Purgatory some Stygia. Many lives that were cut short by violence or tragedy resume here fighting each other in a nightly battle to gain the strength to move on while fending off the attacks of rival factions. Asphodel is a strategic skirmish game set in the afterlands.

Factions of ghosts fight over locations to gain enough resolve to move on. These locations exist as shadows of places in the world of the living. In the afterlands locations may be adjacent to other places that are actually many miles apart in the living world. Set up -----Each player begins by either choosing or randomly drawing one of the available factions:

The Drowned, whose lives were cut short by tragedy at sea, or perhaps at the bottom of a well.

The Burned, victims of fires, radiation, and explosions. Their connection to the fire has lasted into the next world.

The Gremlins, tinkering souls who lost their lives to the machines they still love.

The Mystics whose pursuit of knowledge and power has become even greater on the shadowy side of the shroud.

And the Poltergeists whose violent brutal ends leave them raging, and lashing out across the asphodel meadows and possibly beyond.

Players take turns moving their Ghosts, who are represented by dice. Ghosts will be banished, and summoned back to Asphodel. Ghosts may find the resolve to transcend this purgatory, scoring points for the player or they may find themselves stuck in Asphodel, wandering the twilight city forever.

Doom and Bloom SURVIVAL! is a board game for 2-4 players. It takes place in a post-pandemic world where there are few survivors. Your mission is to have your character accumulate supplies like food, fuel, weapons, and medical kits, as well as scout locations that may serve as a haven in which to start over.

You start off in once-peaceful center city, now controlled by raiders out to get what you have. There are plenty of resources out there, but you have to get to them and survive various encounters and attacks to reach towns that have potential as safe havens. You’ll have to plan your route to include spots that have the assets you’ll need to stockpile. Some of these spots are controlled by raiders, and you’ll have to survive attacks to gain the items you need.

Once you’ve scouted locations, you’ll have to return to center city for your family and more supplies. You then pick a location as your final destination. If you can get there with the required supplies and survivors before anyone else, you win the game.

The game dynamic revolves around the management of assets while you are traveling to your destinations. You'll be tempted to use them to gain an edge in an encounter, but you have to stockpile them to be able to win the game. Different gameplay styles and a unique route traveled in each game, coupled with game-changing Bonus cards, make Doom and Bloom SURVIVAL! a fun and challenging game. It is easy to learn but has multiple levels of complexity. Originally tailored to survival enthusiasts that wanted a real survival scenario (no zombies), gametesting has shown us that the game has appeal to all gamers.

Website: http://survivalboardgame.com/

All the Speed and Thrills of the Temple Run App in a Multi-Player Board Game! You've got the Golden Idol in hand -- but the Evil Demon Monkey is on your tail! Roll the dice and race against the clock to move ahead. Outrun the demon monkey and outlast the other players to win! - From the Publisher