Set collection

Welcome to Encyclopedia! The year is 1739, and as aspiring naturalists and adventurers, you’ve been hired by the Comte de Buffon - Darwin's predecessor - to help him create the first encyclopedia of natural history. To do so, you’ll be conducting research, organizing ambitious expeditions and publishing studies of the world’s most fascinating creatures!

Encyclopedia is a dice-based worker placement game. At the beginning of each round, you’ll be drawing and rolling dice, then placing them on your player board. These dice can then be used to perform an action each turn, depending on their color and value. Your action can be preparing your expeditions by going to the Embassy, visiting the Bank to raise funds, or hiring your research team at the University. Once you’re ready to go, you’ll choose the Animal cards you wish to study, then organize expeditions to observe them in their natural habitats. When your research is complete, you’ll then be able to publish your findings in an attempt to become the biggest contributor to Buffon’s Encyclopedia. Every publication you make will earn you Victory points, and at the end of the game, you’ll score points based on collections of Animals and research amassed during play. The naturalist with the most points wins!

Encyclopedia was designed by Olivier Melison and Eric Dubus, the authors of Dominations: Road to Civilization and Museum. This expert worker placement game brings some fascinating new twists to the genre, offering multiple paths to victory. The game also offers a multitude of ways to counter the random element of your dice rolls. As well as being able to spend different tokens to change the value or color of a die, players have more than just their own dice to choose from, as other players dice can also be used! Taking a die from another player’s board does not cost anything, but the targeted player gains a bonus.

The game’s beautiful theme - with gorgeously illustrated animal cards - ties in strongly with its mechanics, making the rules easy to grasp so that you can jump straight in to devising the perfect strategy.

—description from the publisher

Set in ancient Rome, Trajan is a development game in which players try to increase their influence and power in various areas of Roman life such as political influence, trading, military dominion and other important parts of Roman culture.

The central mechanism of the game uses a system similar to that in Mancala or pit-and-pebbles games. In Trajan, a player has six possible actions: building, trading, taking tiles from the forum, using the military, influencing the Senate, and placing Trajan tiles on his tableau.

At the start of the game, each player has two differently colored pieces in each of the six sections (bowls) of his tableau. On a turn, the player picks up all the pieces in one bowl and distributes them one-by-one in bowls in a clockwise order. Wherever the final piece is placed, the player takes the action associated with that bowl; in addition, if the colored pieces in that bowl match the colors shown on a Trajan tile next to the bowl (with tiles being placed at the start of the game and through later actions), then the player takes the additional action shown on that tile.

What are you trying to do with these actions? Acquire victory points (VPs) in whatever ways are available to you – and since this is a Feld design, you try to avoid being punished, too. At the Forum you try to anticipate the demands of the public so that you can supply them what they want and not suffer a penalty. In the Senate you acquire influence which translates into votes on VP-related laws, ideally snagging a law that fits your long-term plans. With the military, you take control of regions in Europe, earning more points for those regions far from Rome.

All game components are language neutral, and the playing time is 30 minutes per player.

I, Dr. Schism, being of sinister mind and not-bad body, leave one bequest to my underlings. The gift of petty conflict!

In Bequest, players will strategically split Dr. Schism’s fortune with their villainous neighbors! Each player draws five Asset cards, and splits them into two piles for the player on your right, who will choose one to keep, leaving you the other, while you do the same with the piles split by the player on your left. Once everyone has chosen, you’ll collect your spoils, and soon another round will begin, this time going in the other direction!

With a variety of different Asset types to collect, you’ll be keeping a close eye on your neighbors to figure out what they’re looking for, and how badly they need it. You’ll collect matching gadgets for exponentially increasing $ values, Hideouts for set $ values, and try to avoid ending up with Evidence, which count as -$3 each once you have three or more. Global Influence earns you $10 or $20 provided you have more than your neighbors, and Schemes provide unique scoring conditions based on the rest of your collection.

One Asset type is Keys to Dr. Schism’s vault, each with a spot in the drafting order for Special Asset cards, which include the Schemes, and powerful versions of the other card types. Will you pick the smaller pile with a Key, and a chance to claim Dr. Schism’s $5 Space Station hideout? Or play it safe with a Bunker and two power cores?

Bequest packs a ton of strategy into what looks like simple decisions. Will you be clever enough to walk away with the lion’s share of Dr. Schism’s estate, and become the next great supervillain?

—description from the publisher

Horizons of Spirit Island features the core mechanisms of Spirit Island, but features a new double-sided game board with a streamlined set-up, punchboard components, and five new Spirits designed to be ideal for those playing a Spirit Island game for the first time. These new Spirits are compatible with all existing Spirit Island components, but to play with expansions like Jagged Earth, you would need a copy of Spirit Island itself.

Guide your team in Archeos Society as you explore legendary sites! You must decide whether to form small expeditions for quick progression, or larger expeditions that are more efficient but slower to assemble.

On each of your turns, you either recruit a new explorer or launch an expedition by playing your cards using a group of matching colors or roles. Choose your expedition leader wisely as they determine which region you explore and provide a special ability for that expedition. Note that whenever you launch an expedition, unplayed cards in your hand are made available for your opponents to recruit!

To achieve victory, you must carefully manage your efforts in recruiting and accumulating discoveries, all while monitoring the progress of your competitors.