Set collection

In Thurn & Taxis, players build post office routes across Bavaria and the regions around, collecting bonus points in various ways. The board shows a map of all the cities, with roads leading from each one to some of its neighbors. There are various colored regions around the board, most with two or three cities, and a large region with all the Bavarian cities in the center.

Players build postal routes from city to city to city so that each city is adjacent to the next city on the route and there is a road connecting these two cities. Each route must consist of at least three cities. Players may only build one route at a time. Routes are represented by melded city cards arranged in the order of the route.

Players start with a supply of 20 post offices in their color, a carriage house card and a player aid card. The board is populated with bonus tiles, carriage cards and city cards. On a turn a player will draw a card from a display of six, face up, city cards (or the top of the face down deck) and meld one card, either starting a new route or adding to the current one. If after adding to the route, the length of the route is at least three cities, the player may declare it finished and score it. The player may, depending on the length of the route and which cities are in the route, place post offices in the cities, collect bonus tiles, and acquire a higher value carriage. Optionally, the player may receive support from one postal official in the form of: drawing a second card, melding a second card, refreshing the six city card display, or acquiring a higher value carriage than the route length when finishing a route. Once a route is scored the city cards of that route are discarded, and the player begins a new route on his next turn.

When a player exhausts his supply of post offices or acquires a value 7 carriage the end of the game is triggered. Play continues until the player who is last in turn order finishes his turn, and the game ends. Players score points for their highest valued carriage and bonus tiles, and lose points for unplaced post offices. The player with the most points wins.

The fact that you *must* add at least one city to your route each turn or lose the whole route gives the game an enjoyable planning element.

Description from publisher:

By cleverly combining the three colored dice with the values on the cards, you take part in building zeppelins and finally the famous Hindenburg.

Renè from spielbox.de:

"Giganten der Lüfte (working-title "Zeppelin") is a very tactical dice-game. You need mechanics, engines, and workshops.... Only the player with the best combination of those will successfully take part in building the Hindenburg."

Giganten der Lüfte is not comparable to Lucky Loop or Alhambra - the dice game.
It is comparable to games like Kingsburg and To Court the King, where you use the dice as a form of resources to manage, as well as a method of purchasing other resources.

Artwork by Jo Hartwig.

Microbadges:

The dream of creating a new civilization in ancient Mesopotamia is within reach. Are you ready to lead your population ?

In the age of its maximum splendor, this vast and fertile geographical area was a scene of destiny for some populations, who resolved to settle in the richest and most strategically advantageous territories. Over the course of centuries these populations succeeded in developing all aspects of their civilization wisely. This was the main factor enabling them to found marvelous cities like Ur and to construct gigantic buildings like Ziggurats.
Just like Mesopotamia’s ancient Kings, each player will have to achieve the highest prestige by precisely dosing the development of Agriculture, Trade, Politics, Culture and finally War, so that thanks to these efforts the long desired construction of five Ziggurats is completed.

But, beware…
If the King becomes guilty of Greed in building them, or pursues improperly the conquest of Lands, this could ultimately lead him to defeat. The intrinsic speed of the game, the simplicity of rules, the very alluring artwork, together with the subtlety of the innumerable strategies which can be pursued, render Ur a gaming experience which you will play and play and keep playing again for a very, very long time!

Online Play

http://www.mabiweb.com/ (turn-based)

Game description from the publisher:

In Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar - Tribes & Prophecies, each player now becomes the leader of a particular tribe, each of which has a special ability that only that player can use. The game includes 13 tribes to provide plenty of variety, (You know that 13 is a spooky and magical number, right?)

With this expansion, the game of Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar is also influenced by three prophecies that are revealed ahead of time and fulfilled when the time is right. These prophecies give players other opportunities to score points, but they can also lose points if they don't prepare themselves for the prophecy effects. As with the tribes, the expansion includes 13 prophecies. (Woohoo, 13 again!)

This expansion also has new buildings and components that allow up to five players to compete.

It's a contest of cubes and numbers! Define a recipe of 1-5 cubes and you're awarded 2 cubes (according to the square where you define it) and you're awarded 1-10 VP (according to your choice of the numbers 1-10 that remain). Henceforth anyone who duplicates that recipe gets the same 2 cubes and the same VP while paying you 1 cube from your recipe -- but you can never duplicate your own recipe. Except for the 1 cube paid to the originator of the recipe, cubes used making recipes are out of the game, and the game ends when there are only two colors left in the general supply.

That's the basic scramble for points, plus an end-game bonus for the player who had the most success getting his secret cube color out of the game.

Online Play

Yucata (turn-based)