Network and Route Building

Plague Inc: The Board Game is a strategic game of infection, evolution and extinction for 1-5* people - based on the smash-hit digital game with over 85 million players. Can you infect the world?

Each player is a deadly disease and they must battle against each other to spread their plagues, develop new symptoms and ultimately wipe out humanity.

Starting with Patient Zero, you spread your infection across the world by placing tokens in cities - earning DNA points and preventing other players from becoming dominant. Players choose which countries are placed on the board but you must be both climate resistant and connected to a country before you can infect it. Eventually, as countries become fully infected - you try to kill them using the Death Dice.

Each player’s unique pathogen can be upgraded by evolving trait cards onto an evolution slide (with DNA points). At the start, your disease is weak and unspecialised, so you will need to add new symptoms to make it stronger. Choose carefully and plan ahead in order to react to the changing world and exploit opportunities created by other player’s actions.

A simple nosebleed could accelerate things early on, whilst diarrhea will help you thrive in hot countries. Sneezing can infect new continents by air but Total Organ Failure would allow you wipe out multiple countries each turn.

As countries start to fall, use powerful event cards to alter the balance of power. You might try to eradicate a dominant player by bombing their diseased cities, or hold the Olympics to cause huge numbers of infected people to travel to a healthy continent.

When the world collapses, who will be the ultimate plague?

*5 players with 5th player expansion

Universe
Between the 13th and the 17th century, more than 900 monumental statues, Moaï, were erected on the Polynesian island of Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island. Become a powerful tribal chief of Easter Island, and gather tribe members to best serve your village, and please the Gods. Carve, transport and erect Moaï to gather resources, and turn these into offerings to honor your ancestors and secure your spiritual and political prowess.

Gameplay
Each game turn takes place in 3 phases. During the first phase, each player sends one of his figurines on the board, each in turn, until all the figurines have been placed. The sorcerer will decide the order of the next turn, and the villagers are placed on the board to become transporters or scupltor. Thanks to the number of sculptors present in the Quarry, each player collects Moais of different sizes. Moai or Pukao must be transported through a continuous chain of transporters, whether they are from your clan or not. But be careful, you offer resource to your opponents when you use their transporter! Once arrived at your destination, you can erect the Moai, to take the Ahu tile you can play at your tune, as well as one or more Resources depending on the size of the Moai. Styling your Moais will allow you to exchange resources to acquire Offering tiles. Atthe end of a round, if the number of ahu with no Moai is less than or equal to the number of players, the game ends,The winner is the player with the most victory points earned thanks to the Offering and Outstanding Offering tiles.

—description from the publisher

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace' 2007 masterpiece, Brass. Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870.

As in its predecessor, you must develop, build, and establish your industries and network, in an effort to exploit low or high market demands.

Each round, players take turns according to the turn order track, receiving two actions to perform any of the following actions (found in the original game):

1) Build - Pay required resources and place an industry tile.
2) Network - Add a rail / canal link, expanding your network.
3) Develop - Increase the VP value of an industry.
4) Sell - Sell your cotton, manufactured goods and pottery.
5) Loan - Take a £30 loan and reduce your income.

Brass: Birmingham also features a new sixth action:

6) Scout - Discard three cards and take a wild location and wild industry card. (This action replaces Double Action Build in original Brass.)

The game is played over two halves: the canal era (years 1770-1830) and the rail era (years 1830-1870). To win the game, score the most VPs. VPs are counted at the end of each half for the canals, rails and established (flipped) industry tiles.

Birmingham features dynamic scoring canals/rails. Instead of each flipped industry tile giving a static 1 VP to all connected canals and rails, many industries give 0 or even 2 VPs. This provides players with the opportunity to score much higher value canals in the first era, and creates interesting strategy with industry placement.

Iron, coal, and cotton are three industries which appear in both the original Brass as well as in Brass: Birmingham.

New "Sell" system

Brewing has become a fundamental part of the culture in Birmingham. You must now sell your product through traders located around the edges of the board. Each of these traders is looking for a specific type of good each game. To sell cotton, pottery, or manufactured goods to these traders, you must also "grease the wheels of industry" by consuming beer. For example, a level 1 cotton mill requires one beer to flip. As an incentive to sell early, the first player to sell to a trader receives free beer.

Birmingham features three all-new industry types:

Brewery - Produces precious beer barrels required to sell goods.

Manufactured goods - Function like cotton, but features eight levels. Each level of manufactured goods provides unique rewards, rather than just escalating in VPs, making it a more versatile (yet potentially more difficult) path vs cotton.

Pottery - These behemoths of Birmingham offer huge VPs, but at a huge cost and need to plan.

Increased Coal and Iron Market size - The price of coal and iron can now go up to £8 per cube, and it's not uncommon.

Brass: Birmingham is a sequel to Brass. It offers a very different story arc and experience from its predecessor.

In Cloud City, you compete against other architects to create the best city planning project to be chosen by the city council. Have your project chosen and built for the people of Cloud City to enjoy!

Develop your city with buildings and build walkways to connect buildings to one another. Walkways earn city council votes and the longer the walkway, the more points. Walkways can earn 1, 2, 3, 5, or 8 city council votes. River walkways connect the smallest buildings, forest walkways connect midsize buildings, and ice walkways connect the tallest buildings. The architect with the city plan that features the most and the longest walkways will win the game!

—description from the publisher

Life isn't easy in the enchanted forest. Elves and gnomes each have their own network of hidden paths. They don't want to be disturbed and will move into their houses only once they're protected from outsiders. Will you find your way or be lost in the forest?

In Fairy Trails, players play cards that expand the road network. Once a road is completed, that player may place a stone on each of their houses that are bordering that road. The player who places all their houses first wins.

—description from the publisher