Open Drafting

Hello, student beings! The cosmic faculty of the Technical Academy of Creation is delighted to welcome you to your Civolution, the final exam in Civilization Design!

For this occasion, we prepared a humanoid scenario on an isolated continent. Here, each of you holds the rank of a local deity which is closely linked to its very own civilization and must lead it to success over the other civilizations. Your developmental possibilities are endless and reach from cultural and technical progress to evolutional adaptations. For example, what would you consider more beneficial to your tribes: inventing the wheel or growing wings? Demonstrate your ability to operate your civilization console and show us how well you can adjust to changeable environmental conditions and mild creational chaos.

When the exam ceases after four eras, whoever managed to gather the most success points will not only pass the exam but will become a full member of the Technical Academy of Creation and garner the opportunity to be promoted to the next instance.

Civolution is a medium heavy to heavy euro-style game that utilizes a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. As you figure out how to best use your dice and put your unique cards into play, tons of strategies and paths to victory emerge, though each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.

—description from the publisher

A webapp implementation of the V.I.C.I solo automa is available.

Founded around 3050 BCE and located south of the River Nile Delta, Men-Nefer (a.k.a., Memphis) became the capital of ancient Egypt and the most populated city on the planet.

In Men-Nefer, you will relive one of the greatest periods of ancient Egypt, carrying out tasks typical to Egyptian culture: acquiring knowledge in the houses of life, navigating and trading on the Nile River, making offerings to the revered God, embalming the corpses of the nobles to send them off to a better life, erecting beautiful sphinxes, and contributing to the construction of the Great Pyramids. In addition to this, you must be careful of how you make your way through this earthly world to be sure that Osiris will grant you passage to Aaru, the long-awaited heavenly paradise of the afterlife.

Throughout three eras, by means of a novel selection of actions that combine worker placement and tile drafting, players choose on each turn which area of Egyptian life and culture they wish to develop. Players must attempt to obtain the greatest number of prestige points in each era since only the one who manages to achieve the most prestige will take the victory.

—description from the publisher

In the three-dimensional construction game Nunatak: Temple of Ice, you build a step pyramid together in a mountain of ice — but this game isn't co-operative, so watch your step! (A "nunatak", by the way, is a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice.)

For each pillar stone placed, you receive cards with different values that will affect your score in the end. For every four pillars built in a square, a new level of the monument opens up, with the temple of ice growing step by step. Who can place their stones most wisely and rise to the icy challenge?

Will you surpass your teachers' knowledge and grow up to become the best alchemists in the land? Let's find out! It's time to grab your potion ingredients, sharpen your deduction skills, and get mixing!

Little Alchemists is a family-friendly deduction game that's designed to grow with the curious minds of young players. The game starts with simple concepts and mechanisms; you'll start by gathering and combining ingredients for brewing potions to sell. However, as you collect keys by achieving your potion-making goals, you'll unlock new chapters that gradually add more components, mechanisms, and complexity to the experience.

Not sure how to make potions? No sweat! Potion craft takes mere seconds with the free Little Alchemists companion app. To make a potion, players select two ingredient tiles, then scan them using the companion app loaded onto a tablet or smartphone. This reveals the combined result and lets players acquire and mark the corresponding potion knowledge on their secret player board.

With each potion you make, you'll begin to discover the secrets that lie at the heart of alchemy. Players will have to use clever deductions to figure out the arcane properties of each ingredient, then they can use that knowledge to their advantage throughout the game!

Over the course of seven chapters that unlock over multiple playthroughs, players will learn and master many new facets of the alchemy trade, preparing them for what's to come. Each chapter is designed as a replayable experience that expands on the previous chapter, with new layers of game mechanisms that add more subtle depth and complexity over time. Also, fully exploring the world of Little Alchemists will introduce you to many of the concepts from and better prepare you for the original Alchemists game.

—description from the publisher

A quick and nifty card game by the publisher of Faraway.

Each player will spend coins to draft 9 cards from 2 open markets on the table (the lower and upper city), creating along the game a 3x3 square of people interacting with each other to trigger instant effects and end-of-game bonuses.

Castle Combo is a tableau-building game that combines simplicity with deep, engaging gameplay, offering highly satisfying experiences.

Each turn, you add a character to your tableau—a seemingly straightforward action that packs a punch regarding strategic decisions. You'll need to carefully manage your Keys to influence the Messenger pawn at critical moments, as it controls which characters are available for recruitment from two different areas – peasants and nobles.

Balancing your Gold reserves is equally important, ensuring you can afford the characters that best suit your strategy throughout the game. Selecting the right characters is crucial to maximising their immediate effects and the points they will contribute at the game's end. Finally, carefully arranging these characters on your 3x3 board is key to unlocking their full potential.