Economic

For 200 years, the Knights Templar were a powerful political and economic force, helping to shape Europe during the Middle Ages. Founded to protect pilgrims on their journeys to the Holy Land, the "poor comrades-in-arms of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" would eventually grow a network of strongholds ("Commanderies") throughout the Christian world, where novice knights were trained, and trade goods could be managed and exchanged. By 1307, the “poor comrades-in-arms” were one of the richest organizations in Europe: one that would attract the covetous eyes of the French king.

In The Mystery of the Templars, players become the masters of this secretive organization. They must assign their knights to the critical task of escorting pilgrims, but also to seek out and discover long-lost artifacts of Christian lore. Using their holdings in the Holy Land, they procure valuable trade goods, which must then be transported to the hungry markets of Europe, using the profits to expand the Order’s holdings. But along the way brigands and pirates threaten the flow of goods and wealth, and must be challenged by valorous knights to safeguard the precious caravans and trade ships. To be successful, the players must balance the needs of trade, development, and battle.

In time, the powerful enemies of the Templars will strike, beginning the Persecution which will eventually cause the destruction of the Order. In those last desperate days, the players must flee from their Commanderies with all the wealth and relics they can carry, seeking refuge in the farthest corners of the world. The player who can best manage the resources of the Order during the days of wealth, and who can rescue the most important relics from the Persecution, will be the victor in The Mystery of the Templars.

The Speicherstadt is an auction card game. Players compete for victory points, which come mainly from contracts (sets of resources) and special cards (like a collected set of 1-4 identical "counting offices", the port rewarding collected ship cards etc.). The game is build on two core concepts:

1. Players bid for cards by building "towers" with their meeples over them. Each meeple in a tower increases the cost of a card - but only for players "below" it. This is the main mechanic of the game - players must consider WHEN to bid (place their meeple) over a certain card and when to use their meeples to make others pay more. This important, because a player can make only three bids during a round.

2. Players are punished by negative points for not collecting firemen cards. Thus, ignoring security may cost a player a victory. By many players, the "punishing" mechanic is considered a trademark of the author - Stefan Feld.

The deck is divided into four seasons - winter, spring, summer and autumn. In later seasons, more powerful cards appear, so players need to think ahead in managing their resources.

---- Promotional blurb from the publisher ----

Hamburg around 1900 - the gate to the world. Within the harbour there stretches a unique complex of storehouses: Speicherstadt. The network of canals and bridges houses a terminal for spices, coffee, tea and carpets from all over the world.

As one of Hamburg´s wholesaler at the heyday of the Speicherstadt you acquire shiploads for the storehouses, not too expensive, of course, as you like to make a profit selling them. Who makes the best deals within a year and supplies his clients with the right goods will be the winner of the game. But beware! Sudden fires cause heavy losses. You might be advised to invest in fire protection early.

Playing Speicherstadt you will be thrilled by the simple and original mechanism of acquiring desired action cards.

From the humble beginnings of civilization through the historical ages of progress, mankind has lived, fought and built together in nations. Great nations protect and provide for their own, while fighting and competing against both other nations and nature itself. Nations must provide food and stability as the population increases. They must build a productive economy. And all the while, they must amaze the world with their great achievements to build up their heritage as the greatest nations in the history of mankind!

Nations is an intense historical board game for 1-5 players that takes 40 minutes per player to play. Players control the fate of nations from their humble start in prehistoric times until the beginning of World War I. The nations constantly compete against each other and must balance immediate needs, long-term growth, threats, and opportunities.

Gameplay introduction

Players choose a Nation and a difficulty to play at, similar to the Civilization computer games series. After the growth phase 2 historical events are revealed, which the players will compete for during the round. Then players take a single small action each, in player order, as many times as they wish until all have passed. Actions are:

Buy a card
Deploy a worker
Hire an architect for a wonder
Special action provided by a card

Players each have individual boards that represent their Nation. There are many ways that players affect, compete and indirectly interact with other players. But there is no map, no units to move around, no direct attacks on other players.

When all have passed there is production, new player order is determined (every position is competed for), the historical events happen and if this is the last round of an age the books are scored. At the start of a new round most old cards are removed and new ones are put on the display.

Victory points are gained and lost during the game, and also awarded at the end of the game. The player with the most victory points is the winner.

See 'More information' below for link to rules etc.

In TECH-BUBBLE, 3 to 6 players ride the technology market roller coaster at the turn of the 21st century as it surges and eventually plunges. The players represent various market sectors during the "Dot.Com Bubble". They make decisions to stay in the market and ride out the surge or get out before the bubble bursts. Timing and nerves of steel are everything. And along the way players can affect each other's investments and decisions by crafty play.

Due out October 2009

Goa, a strategy game of auctions and resource management, is set at the start of the 16th century: beautiful beaches, a mild climate, and one of the most important trading centers in the world. Competing companies deal in spices, send ships and colonists into the world, and invest money. Are you on top or at the bottom? It depends on how you invest your profits. Will you make your ships more efficient? Enhance your plantations? Recruit more colonists? Only a steady hand in business will help.

Each turn begins with an auction phase, where each player gets to auction one item (and the starting player two items). The first item being auctioned gives the right to go first the next turn (along with a card that gives an extra action). If you buy your own item, you pay it to the bank. If someone else buys the item you sell, they pay you. Items include plantations complete with crops, income tiles (income in money, ships, plantation refills each turn etc.), ships, settlers, and later on tiles that score points for certain achievements.

After the auction, players get three actions to either improve their technologies or produce things such as spices on plantations, ships, money or build more plantations. Each player has a board showing their advancement for various things: getting ships, planting new spices, getting colonists, etc. The more a player advances along one track, the better one is doing that particular action. The further you get along a certain track, the more points that track is worth at the end, and there are also rewards to the first player who reaches the last two levels along each track. On the other hand, each player normally needs to perform the actions for all the tracks at some point, so it's not necessarily a good idea to concentrate on just a couple of them. Goa is a game that gives plenty of opportunity for tough decisions, since a player always has at least one action too few.

The game mixes an interactive element of the auction, which encourages you to nominate things that other players want so you receive cash with the solitaire management of your plantation, which then interacts later on as players race to be first in the top tech levels.

The 2012 edition of Goa includes four new tiles and a new play variant, as noted on the cover of the Z-Man Games edition.