Strategy

Part of the Knizia tile-laying trilogy, Samurai is set in medieval Japan. Players compete to gain the favor of three factions: samurai, peasants, and priests, which are represented by helmet, rice paddy, and Buddha tokens scattered about the board, which features the islands of Japan. The competition is waged through the use of hexagonal tiles, each of which help curry favor of one of the three factions — or all three at once! Players can make lightning-quick strikes with horseback ronin and ships or approach their conquests more methodically. As each token (helmets, rice paddies, and Buddhas) is surrounded, it is awarded to the player who has gained the most favor with the corresponding group.

Gameplay continues until all the symbols of one type have been removed from the board or four tokens have been removed from play due to a tie for influence.

At the end of the game, players compare captured symbols of each type, competing for majorities in each of the three types. Ties are not uncommon and are broken based on the number of other, "non-majority" symbols each player has collected.

The king of Utopia has invited princes of the greatest civilizations of antiquity to come and live within the walls of his city, welcoming in doing so, the architectural wealth of their far-away cities. As the King’s Minister, your Sovereign has given you the mission to welcome and accompany these princes and princesses who will present themselves at the gates of the city. Every development added to the city made by your guests increases your prestige.

Online play

Jeux sur un Plateau (turn-based)

Components:
40 Monument Figures: 8 for each of the 5 civilizations (Mayan, Persian, Egyptian, Greek and Chinese)
4 Wonder Figures
5 Minister Figures: 1 of each color (used for Score Track)
200 Prince Tokens: 40 of each color
40 Bases
10 Privilege tokens: 8 of each color. 2 per color
40 Guest tokens: 2 per civilization for each of the four islands on the board
50 Action Cards: 10 for each civilization
5 Rule Summary Cards: 1 per player
1 Bag

Basic Game play:

Turn order (after the first player) is derived from who has the highest score on the perimtere score track yet has not had a turn. Each game turn is broken down into three phases:
Phase 1: Welcoming the Princes
Phase 2: Development of the City
Phase 3: Calculation of Prestige Points

Phase 1: Welcoming the Princes

In the first phase, Guest tokens are placed on the board near ship icons but corresponding to the symbol on each token. These guest tokens are then replaced with Prince tokens that is their own color, or of the same civilization as the chosen Guest or in any District of the island indicated by the Guest or any combination of these. This is repeated three times until all Guest tokens have been removed from the board. While this is happening, players may Build a Wonder or Take Control of a District.

At any point during their turn, if a player has one prince of each of the 5 civilizations on one island (regardless of which Districts they are in), he may immediately construct a Wonder and receives 6 Prestige Points. There may only be one Wonder per island and a player does not have to construct Wonders.

At any point during their turn, if a player possesses 3 princes of the same civilization in the same District, and that District is not already controlled by another player, he may decide to take control of the District by placing a Monument on that District. There can only be one Monument per District, and this space, once acquired, cannot be retaken. For taking control of a District the player gains Prestige Points during Phase 3: Calculation of Prestige Points. Also, if the District belongs to an island where a Wonder has been constructed, the owner of the Wonder immediately scores the number of Prestige Points indicated on the District.

Phase 2: Development of the City

Each player receives 5 Action cards and discards based on their score in the score track. The person in the lead discards two cards, the last player doesn't discard any and all other players discard one. Four types of actions are possible and occur multiple times in a player's turn:

1) Move one or two princes:

If a player decides to move two princes with a single action card, these two princes must be within the same District and make the same movement.

LAND MOVEMENT: By discarding an action card, a player may move one or two princes of that civilization to an adjacent District (Districts are separated by alleys or bridges).

SEA MOVEMENT: By discarding an action card, a player may move one or two princes of that civilization from one maritime District (showing a ship) to another maritime District. These two Districts must be in the same maritime sector or in two adjacent maritime sectors. (The division of the maritime sectors is indicated by the dotted lines originating from the 3 lighthouses of the city).

2) Add a prince:

By discarding an Action Card, a player may place a prince in a District occupied by a Monument of that civilization.

3) Remove a Prince:

If the player possesses a prince in a District occupied by a Monument of that civilization, regardless of the player who controls the District, that player may, with an Action Card of that civilization, remove the Prince from the board. For this action the player immediately gains 2 Prestige Points. Th e player’s Minister figure is moved up two places on the Score Track.

or 4) Influence the King (altering the Prestige Scale):

If the player possesses a prince in a District occupied by a Monument of that civilization, regardless of the player who controls the District, that player may, with an Action Card of that civilization, remove the Prince from the board. For this action the player immediately gains 2 Prestige Points. The player’s Minister figure is moved up two places on the Score Track.

The value of each civilization, indicated on the Prestige Scale, determines the point value of the districts controlled by each player at the end of the turn. By discarding an Action Card, a player may increase the value of a civilization by 1. The Value figure of the civilization changes places with the figure directly above it. With two Action cards, a player may reduce the value of a civilization to 1. All the other figures are moved up accordingly. At the end of their turn a player can only have a maximum of 5 Action Cards.

Phase 3: Calculation of Prestige Points

Once all the players have carried out their actions, the points for the round are calculated. Each player, in turn order, gains points for each District that they control. The value of each civilization is indicated on the Prestige Scale. The players’ Minister figures are moved up the Score Track.

If one or more players have reached at least 50 Prestige Points at the end of this phase, the game ends. The player with the most points wins.

Mermaid Rain is a Japanese game from the makers of Train Raider.

Over five rounds, players try to collect five different types of goods by moving around the sea. The game uses two phases: first is the "surf predicting" phase where players play melds of cards in a Taj Mahal-type mechanic. The melds determine player order, selection of "wave tile", and give other benefits. In the second phase, "surf riding", players place their wave tiles on the board and then use cards to move through the sea on the waves to collect goods.

The game is playable with English rules as the components are either language-independent or easily decipherable.

Game Summary
Setup: specific locations for subset of tiles, some face down; rest are to side, also face down. Deal out 7 cards (3 suits).

Each round, players simultaneously select a card to play (max 5 cards total) -- choose the pass card to pass for rest of round. The resulting poker-style combinations give bonuses (VP, or special powers); the ranking gives you player order for the round.

In order, select a face up sea tile (4 shapes, 2-3 hexes each, with one of 3 suits or wild). Then, in order, place the tile on the board and use some/all cards left in hand to move your mermaid around the board (playing card allows you to move mermaid to matching tile/space). Whenever on an island with token(s), look at face down tokens then add one of the tokens to your collection.

At end of round, sea tiles with the darker color are removed from the board. Any mermaids on them are displaced to one of the unoccupied starting locations (player's choice). Then, deal 7 cards per player (max hand size 9) and repeat.

Game ends after 5 rounds. Each player must discard 5 tokens (1 per symbol), or lose 5 VP per missing symbol. Then rank players' collections of sets of each type, awarding VP accordingly (rarer tiles, larger sets earn more VP). Most VP wins.

It is 1729 in pre-revolution France, a time when the aristocracy has all the power and the means to rule the country. As a wealthy, well-educated aristocrat, you have travelled the world and had the fortune to enjoy your life to the fullest – but you see that history is about to change course and you know that in order to stay strong, your family must prepare well. You need to find new allies. You must absorb smaller families and use their potency to strengthen your kin. You have to arrange wise marriages, nurture strong connections at court, obtain titles, build mansions, and find the right spouses for your daughters and sons...

Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy enables you to build a powerful dynasty in 18th century France as you step into the shoes of a French noble and compete for lasting honor. Over three generations, you – a resourceful patriarch or matriarch – will attempt to create a lasting legacy by establishing a house with ties to many different wealthy and powerful families from France and abroad (Spain, Italy, Russia and other countries).

This card game offers endless possibilities. Each time you build a family, you write a unique story, bringing to life the diverse relationships between parents and their children, between cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Whether you are looking for the best husband for your only daughter or a suitable wife for one of your two sons, whether you are looking to add new blood to your family by marrying into foreign nobility – you will be working to make your family rise in status through prestige and wealth, new skills and abilities.

In Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy – known previously as Nobles of Paris and winner of Ducosim Spelontwerp in 2009 – you will find 75 spouse cards with unique traits, more than twenty secret missions, nine titles, and nine "contribution to the family" cards. This all culminates in a highly thematic card game that will satisfy players who enjoy exploring many different paths to victory.

Legacy is a worker placement game in which you take actions to improve the standing and/or wealth of your family. You will expand your family, creating an ever-growing tableau, the family tree. You will need to balance the three 'currencies' in the game, Prestige (converts to Honor points at the end of each generation, of which there are three), Income (your income which converts to hard cash at the end of each round, of which there are 9), and Friend cards (which are actual connections/friends, and are the only way to marry into wealthy/famous families, and can only be received through actions, such as marrying a woman who brings some of her social contacts with her).

Prestige, Income and Friend cards can be gained and lost. You can, for example, lose some prestige by marrying someone infamous or lose some Honor points (i.e. reputation) by asking friends for money. There are also numerous actions you can take that will affect one of the three 'currencies' detrimentally, such as bribing someone to get a title (for which you need to pay, but also in the loss of friends who felt they deserved that title, and not you), or the maintenance of a beautiful new park you have built for the people (losing you income). Finally, you can also take actions that result in the loss of some of your social contacts (friends), due to jealousy, or people simply no longer wanting to be associated with you.

These currencies are carefully balanced by the male and female friend cards in the game. Generally men will give you income and possibly prestige, but will cost you a dowry/wedding costs. Women, on the other hand, will give you connections (new friends you can choose from the current socialites (cards lying open on the table) and possibly prestige, and will sometimes even earn you a dowry!

The card interactions allow for multiple different paths to success, but you must choose your road strategically, planning out where you want to be headed, else you will be left behind in the dust by those with greater and more successful plans than yours.

Regarded by many as Reiner Knizia's masterpiece, Tigris & Euphrates is set in the ancient fertile crescent with players building civilizations through tile placement. Players are given four different leaders: farming, trading, religion, and government. The leaders are used to collect victory points in these same categories. However, your score at the end of the game is the number of points in your weakest category, which encourages players not to get overly specialized. Conflict arises when civilizations connect on the board, i.e., external conflicts, with only one leader of each type surviving such a conflict. Leaders can also be replaced within a civilization through internal conflicts.

Part of what is considered Reiner Knizia's tile-laying trilogy.