Players place track and cities, create routes, and deliver goods. Bonuses are awarded to players who deliver multiple types of goods. This game requires careful management of steam to move your train as well as hand management to thwart other players as well as enable your own route.
500 copies manufactured for Essen 2008.
Days of Steam is #5 in the Valley Games Modern Line
The king is dying and the nobles (the players) try to get influence enough to be the next chosen. Influence is achieved by surrounding key areas (palace, library,) with buildings you control. The opponents can erect new buildings over the ones you already built so be careful. Like in all good games there is a dragon :) It can be sent for destruction of your opponents’ buildings.
Players are attempting to be in first or second place majorities in a variety of categories throughout the game. These include commodity markets, trading colonies, and warehouses in Amsterdam.
On a player's turn, that player draws three cards and decides how to resolve them for the turn. A player can either remove the card from the game, keep it for him or herself, or put it up for auction. The cards allow players to advance or place one of their markers in the various categories.
There are also time-marker cards which, when drawn, move the game through various "historical" phases until the last which ends the game. The historical phases follow a period of time in the history of Amsterdam which can range from no effect, to scoring rounds for particular categories, to bonuses, and towards the end of the game to some penalties as wars begin to disrupt business markets.
The unique twist in the game is that the game comes with a spring-driven auction clock to perform the Dutch auctions throughout the game. You start the clock and it ticks down as all of the players hold their hands ready close by. The idea is that as time passes the cost of the card lowers and it is simply an issue of who will pay for it first by slapping down on the clock and thus stopping it at a certain price.
The game is played on a hexagonal board. Each player is given six hexagonal tiles of one color (twelve, in a two-player game). In turn, players put one of their tiles on the board, with the goal of getting four-in-a-row, in a straight line. Each new tile must be placed adjacent to another one (not necessarily of their own color).
When a player has no more tiles, they can move a tile of their own color to another position.
If a group of tiles is isolated due to moving a tile, all isolated tiles (of the smallest group) return to their respective owners, to be used again.
The first to have four pieces in a straight line wins the game. (In this game, a player MUST block the player to their left if that player is in a position to win - even if more than one player is able to win on their next turn.)
The London Borough of Chelsea is famous for its expensive houses and top of the range cars, and is home to many rich people. The children of six of these Chelsea residents have reached adulthood and are looking to find partners and set up homes of their own. In order to help their children, their parents start buying houses, vans and cars. However, their children have strong colour preferences, and also like their houses and vehicles to be colour-coordinated.
Each of the three to six players takes the role of one family, and aims to be the first to set up all their children for their adult life. This will involve repainting houses, repainting garages, buying and exchanging vans and cars, until your children are happily installed in their new homes.
Chelsea is a simple, yet thought provoking game, which teaches children to plan a strategy and follow it through in order to succeed. Because it only has a small amount of luck, children are rewarded for good play, and thus encouraged to think about what they are doing. But most importantly, because Chelsea is a game which teaches, rather than a teaching aid disguised as a game, children will enjoy it, and play it again and again.
[Note] The emphasis on children as the target audience for this game does it a serious a dis-service & kills its appeal to a gamer. This is a fine light filler & suitable for adults to enjoy.[/Note]