Point to Point Movement

In Dragon Delta, you want to move your pawn over a system of bridge-like planks to the other side of the board. An easy task! Or at least it would be if everyone were working together, but alas you're not. Instead you're all working on your own right next to one another, each convinced that your way is best.

In game terms, players simultaneously select one card from a set of five actions that's available to each player. The actions allow players to place plank foundations, place planks, move their pawns, cancel other players' actions, or remove planks or foundation stones. As can be expected for a design with simultaneous action selection, the game is rather chaotic.

The 2012 edition of the game, River Dragons, includes a double-sided game board not present in earlier editions, with one side of the board featuring rock piles on which you place stones (as in the original Dragon Delta), while the other side has a featureless river on which players can place stones in any location.

Grand Conquest is very similar to earlier versions of Donald Benge's Conquest. However it adds some interesting features. Now there are camels, catapults, siege engines and a moat around the five home points. The tube package comes with a vinyl roll out map, pieces in more distinguishable colors than previous versions, and a separate puzzle book (The Conquest games have had collections of puzzles developed similar to chess puzzles that are quite entertaining and engaging for abstract strategy players).

Re-implements:

Conquest

Il Vecchio is set in the 15th century, when Cosimo de Medici – also called "Il Vecchio" ("the Elder) – and his family ruled over Tuscany and its capital Florence. The players represent the heads of Florentine families trying to rise their families to power. To achieve this, they send out their family members to locations in Tuscany to perform various tasks, specifically to recruit followers (knights, assassins, abbots) and collect money as both are needed to take control of provinces in neighboring regions; controlled provinces provide power and a bonus action. Another task is to gain the favor of the squirearchy as these favors are indispensable when it comes to getting an official position in Florence, e.g., a seat on the town council to enhance actions in Tuscany, or a noble rank to gain power at the end of the game.

To complete these tasks, however, a proper middleman must be present at a location, and as these middlemen travel a lot, they are rarely met. That's why it is so important to have one's family members in the right place at the right time – to save on time and money while achieving one's goals.

At the beginning of the game, each player has four family members in Tuscany. Players take turns performing exactly one action. Before his action, a player may pay money to move one of his own family members to another location. The available actions are to:

Take a location-specific action in Tuscany. This requires both a middleman and one of your own standing (active) family members at that location. After the action, this family member is laid down (inactive).
Travel to another region and take over a province, which costs both followers and money.
Travel to Florence where you'll spend scrolls (and possibly money) to claim a city council or nobility tile.
Introduce a new family member to the board.
Raise all lying family members on the board.

The game ends when the "Power of the Medici" has faded, as indicated by a diminishing pile of crest tiles. Certain actions require you to remove such a tile, and the game ends when they're all gone. Players then sum their power points – earned for gained tiles and majorities in the regions and Florence – for a final scoring, and the player with the most power wins.

Defeat Prussia before the Tsarina dies! Or be Frederick the Great and struggle for survival with a mixture of courageous willpower, sudden inspiration and stoic patience.

It is the summer of 1756. On the eve of the Seven Years War, half of Europe has formed an alliance. Frederick the Great is in deep sorrow: Is the annihilation of Prussia planned? Is it Prussia's defeat or is it Prussia's glory?

All against one – but only one will reign supreme. On a map of Old Europe, players maneuver their generals from city to city. Frederick must retain a part of each Prussian province, while the attacking powers savagely seek out their objectives. The clever use of tactical cards is decisive to winning.

Histogame and Richard Sivél present Friedrich as a novel concept uniting the fascination of board and card games. Accurately based on history while maintaining a slim set of rules, Friedrich offers wide open spaces for chess-like moves and great depth for decision making. Taken into Frederick's era, you will reflect on tactical finesses, smile about interspersed anecdotes, and be perplexed at how often you are not able to count to three...

Note: A common misconception is that Friedrich has player elimination based on the cards of fate making countries leave the game. The game does not have player elimination; it has country elimination, and a player could end up controlling fewer countries than they started with, but players are never eliminated by the cards of fate.

Friedrich FAQ

Details on the Jubiläumsedition

In 2011 Histogame released a slightly revised version of Friedrich, dubbed the "Jubiläumsedition" or "Anniversay Edition" in honor of Friedrich's 300th birthday. Designer Richard Sivél notes the following differences between this edition and earlier ones:

New cover art.
Four color images for the patterns of the cards.
Small rearrangements of cities on the map, such as Falkenau (in northwestern Austria) moving into the spades sector and Gollnow (close to Stettin) getting a diamonds-city neighbor.
Minor adjustment of some fate cards to clarify the wording.

The year is 1926, and it is the height of the Roaring Twenties. Flappers dance till dawn in smoke-filled speakeasies drinking alcohol supplied by rum runners and the mob. It's a celebration to end all celebrations in the aftermath of the war to end all wars.

Yet a dark shadow grows in the city of Arkham. Alien entities known as Ancient Ones lurk in the emptiness beyond space and time, writhing at the gates between worlds. These gates have begun to open and must be closed before the Ancient Ones make our world their ruined domination.

Only a handful of investigators stand against the Arkham Horror. Will they Prevail?

Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure game themed around H.P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Players choose from 16 Investigators and take to the streets of Arkham. Before the game, one of the eight Ancient Ones is chosen and it's up to the Investigators to prevent it from breaking into our world. During the course of the game, players will upgrade their characters by acquiring skills, allies, items, weapons, and spells. It's up to the players to clean out the streets of Arkham by fighting many different types of monsters, but their main goal is to close portals to other dimensions that are opening up around town. With too many portals open the Ancient One awakens and the players only have one last chance to save the world. Defeat the Ancient One in combat!