deduction

Covalence: A Molecule Building Game

In Covalence, players work together to accurately reconstruct a number of secret organic compounds. One player takes on the role of the “Knower” who has knowledge of the secret compounds, while all other players, “Builders”, must deduce what these secret compounds are, based upon clues given to them by the Knower. All Builders must cooperatively utilize a limited number of clues available in order construct their compounds before the clues run out!

Ion: A Compound Building Game

ION: A Compound Building Game is a card drafting game where players select from a number of available Ion Cards and Noble Gas cards with the goal of creating sets of compounds and inert noble gases.

Here’s how the game is played: Each player is dealt eight cards, must select one of those cards and then passes the remaining. Players must choose to either bond (pair) their selected card with another Element Card or set it alone (possibly to form an ionic bond at a later time). Throughout the game, players gain additional points for building specific compounds which are listed on the Compound Goal Cards and have available a set of Action Tiles which award them additional moves throughout the game. Players score points based upon the quantity and type of neutrally balanced compounds they construct and noble gas sets they collect. After three rounds, players add their total scores from each round, subtract points from Action Tiles used, and the player with the most points wins!

Shogunate

The six great clans each strive to have their leader be first in line to succeed the Shogun. Of course, you'll do so in a manner most, shall we say, honorable.

In Shogunate, each player is loyal to two clans. Your goal is to use your actions to manipulate the line of succession such that the leaders of your clans earn the most honor!

Vault Wars

Many heroes go forth to battle, but some never return; leaving behind their prized possessions. You'll be part of the bidding war for the vaults they left behind to gain valuable items -- each providing Gold, Victory Points or new abilities. Outbid your opponents, equip artifacts to gain new abilities and find the gear your up-and-coming heroes are looking for to be victorious in Vault Wars.

Players will take turns as an Auction Master, leading a cut-throat bidding war to selling off Vaults full of items to the other players.

Each Vault provides a unique experience, introducing new ways for the players to bid.
No player quite knows everything that's in a Vault, and there's lots of junk to fool your opponents into bidding on.
Between auctions, players may sell off their items to gain Gold, or save them for Victory Points -- paying storage fees to keep them around.
Collect gems for massive Victory Points, Weapons to gain lots of Gold, or rare Artifacts to gain powerful abilities.
Each player has up-and-coming heroes who are looking specific items, giving out bonus victory points (but try to keep that a secret from your opponents).

The player with the most victory points after all the auctions will be the winner!

Vault Wars is a bidding and bluffing game for 3-5 player that plays in less than an hour.

Decrypto

Players compete in two teams in Decrypto, with each trying to correctly interpret the coded messages presented to them by their teammates while cracking the codes they intercept from the opposing team.

In more detail, each team has their own screen, and in this screen they tuck four cards in pockets numbered 1-4, letting everyone on the same team see the words on these cards while hiding the words from the opposing team. In the first round, each team does the following: One team member takes a code card that shows three of the digits 1-4 in some order, e.g., 4-2-1. They then give a coded message that their teammates must use to guess this code. For example, if the team's four words are "pig", "candy", "tent", and "son", then I might say "Sam-striped-pink" and hope that my teammates can correctly map those words to 4-2-1. If they guess correctly, great; if not, we receive a black mark of failure.

Starting in the second round, a member of each team must again give a clue about their words to match a numbered code. If I get 2-4-3, I might now say, "sucker-prince-stake". The other team then attempts to guess our numbered code. If they're correct, they receive a white mark of success; if not, then my team must guess the number correctly or take a black mark of failure. (Guessing correctly does nothing except avoid failure and give the opposing team information about what our hidden words might be.)

The rounds continue until a team collects either its second white mark (winning the game) or its second black mark (losing the game). Games typically last between 4-7 rounds. If neither team has won after eight rounds, then each team must attempt to guess the other team's words; whichever team guesses more words correctly wins.