Strategy

Prior to Essen 1999, a group of students created Splotter Spellen to sell some of their own game designs. This game is regarded as one of the highlights of that group. The object of the game is to deliver as many people to their destinations as you can. To accomplish this, players place route markers on the board to connect passengers to their destinations. However, the destination types (work, bar, home) vary from turn to turn, so you can follow certain passengers as they make their way through the daily grind.

Players may buy more buses (they start off with one), build onto their bus route, bring new passengers to the city (via the trains), expand the city by adding more buildings, and run their buses. There is another option, the clock, but more on that later. The action board has one other clever feature. On some actions, route expansion and building, the first player to choose that action actually gets to execute the action last! Which leads to some interesting games of chicken and some painful decisions.

Buying more buses allows a player to carry one more passenger every time they run their buses - hence scoring, in the best case, one more point. Depending on how the city gets built, however, finding lots of passengers on the street can be tricky.

Bus routes extend from either end of a Settlers-style initial placement. Extensions are appended to either end. Routes may only run parallel if a route is completely blocked at both ends - seems pretty rare - so getting one end pinched off can be painful (but isn't it always?). All new passengers will arrive at one of two train stations so that is one concern when route building. One must also be careful to run by a nice mix of building types. And, when building, one must always have an eye towards spoiling other players' routes by placing a mix of building types at each of their intersection so that all of their passengers just walk! Finally, when carrying passengers, one wants to be careful to set up to carry the same passenger next turn.

After a long hike through the woods, you finally find the perfect place to set up your camera — a lush meadow. A green sea of grass rolls gently in the wind, spotted with flowers opening up to morning dew and gentle sunlight, and flocks of butterflies hovering above in a slow, deliberate dance. Light flickers in the golden dust, as you take the first look through your lens and get ready to capture the most beautiful of sights in your photo!

Dust in the Wings is a family game of perception, planning, and picturing the beauty of nature. Built on the wisdom of Mancala — a beloved game known for thousands of years — Dust in the Wings creates an experience that is light on rules, engaging in its gameplay, and wondrous to the eye!

At the beginning of the game, Butterflies are placed on each flower in the Meadow, a 5×5 grid on the main game board. During each turn, a player attempts to fulfill the requirements of various objectives in order to score victory points.

The board is manipulated Mancala style. The active player will choose a single Meadow space and pick up all Butterflies from that space. One by one, these Butterflies are dispersed. The first Butterfly is placed onto any one Meadow space adjacent to the space which the Butterflies were picked up from. The next Butterfly is placed onto any one Meadow space adjacent to that space, and so on.

The goal is to place the last Butterfly onto a Meadow space so that the space fulfills the requirement of a Gathering objective or Composition objective.

A Gathering objective is fulfilled by gathering a precise number and types of Butterflies onto a single space in the Meadow.

A Composition objective is fulfilled by having a group of spaces that collectively contain a number of Butterflies indicated on the cards. The group of spaces must also match a distinct shape and size depicted on the card.

Even if you managed to fulfill the requirements of multiple cards, only one card may be scored each turn.

At the end of the game, a player's score is calculated. Each Composition card is worth a number of points as indicated on the card. The values of various Scoring markers, which were collected when completing Gathering objectives, are also added to the final tally.

The player with the most points is the winner!

—description from the publisher

The refinement of oil has long been part of the government-controlled energy sector. Amassed with an incredibly complex and inefficient system of refineries, the government has felt the severe pressures of worldwide demand and the ever-increasing global standards for refinement. Unable to keep up with demand, the government has only one option: privatizing the oil industry.

This is where you come in. Seeking to capitalize on this new opportunity, in Pipeline you start a company in the oil business. You will focus on building a much more efficient pipeline network in your refinery, hiring experts that provide valuable benefits over your competitors, and managing the logistics of purchasing and selling your refined oil in the various markets. You will need more than strong economic skills – carefully crafting an interweaving network of pipelines just might ensure your victory!

In the village of Tiefenthal lies "The Tavern of the Deep Valley". There, all citizens from the area gather, but it's important to attract new, wealthy guests for only then is there enough money to expand the tavern, which will then lure nobles into the tavern as well. But which tavern expansion is best? Should you focus on money? Or rather ensure that the beer will keep flowing?

In Die Tavernen im Tiefen Thal, the challenge is to skillfully choose the dice and develop your personal deck of cards as profitably as possible. The game is structured with five modules so that your group can add extra levels of complexity as you become more familiar with the game.

Imagine you can control the forces of a noble family, guild, or religious order on a barren planet which is the only source for the most valuable substance in the known universe.

Imagine you can rewrite the script for one of the most famous science fiction books of all time. Welcome to the acclaimed 40-year-old board game which allows you to recreate the incredible world of Frank Herbert’s DUNE.

In DUNE you will become the leader of one of six great factions. Each wishes to control the most valuable resource in the universe - melange, the mysterious spice only found at great cost on the planet DUNE. As Duke Leto Atreides says “All fades before melange. A handful of spice will buy a home on Tupile. It cannot be manufactured, it must be mined on Arrakis. It is unique and it has true geriatric properties.” And without melange space travel would be impossible. Only by ingesting the addictive drug can the Guild Steersman continue to experience visions of the future, enabling them to plot a safe path through hyperspace.

Who will control DUNE? Become one of the characters and their forces from the book and . . . You decide!

—description from the publisher