Medieval

In Black Forest, you start out with a small domain in need of new buildings and livestock. You’ll travel from village to village to enlist the aid of the best specialists. Exploiting the abilities of these specialists lets you collect resources, lay out new landscape tiles (e.g., ponds and fields), and build a variety of buildings, which come in four types. Choose the right buildings, place landscapes, fire up your glass production, and expand your domain.

Uwe Rosenberg’s resource wheels are making once again making their presence, made famous in Glass Road (2013). Two resource wheels on your tableau help you keep track of your resources and production. Black Forest continues the story - as the name suggests — in the Black Forest. Among others, the main difference between the two games is the use of worker placement in BLack Forest instead of simultaneous action selection.

A wide selection of buildings and their different effects offer many different paths to victory.

—description from publisher

At this time, it's not clear whether Kingsburg (Third Edition) differs substantially from the second edition, so BGG is creating a listing for this item that will perhaps be merged away in time. In any case, the setting is the same:

Kingsburg: 3rd Edition includes the most updated rulebook and the best expansion modules developed since its 1st edition, such as the Soldier tokens, the Governor cards, and the extra buildings. Furthermore, the artwork and design have been restyled while components have been redesigned.

The realm of Kingsburg is under attack! Monstrous invaders are gathering at the borders, aiming to invade and plunder the realm! Your king has chosen you to take charge of a province on the border; you will manage your province and help defend the realm. To accomplish this, you must influence the King's advisors and the Royal Family to obtain gold, wood, stones, and soldiers to expand and defend your lands. But you are not the only governor seeking the aid of the advisers! The other players also seek to collect the best resources for their own territories.

King Tritus is waiting for you. Will you be able to be the most influent and powerful governor of the realm?

The game of Kingsburg takes place over five years, a total of twenty turns. In every year, there are three production seasons for collecting resources, building structures, and training troops. Every fourth turn is the winter, in which all the players must fight an invading army. Each player must face the invaders, so this is not a cooperative game.

The resources to build structures and train troops are collected by influencing the advisers in the King's Council. Players place their influence dice on members of the Council, and each adviser awards different resources or allocate soldiers, victory points, and other advantages to the player who was able to influence that adviser for the current turn. The player with the lowest influence dice sum is the first to choose where to spend their influence; this acts as a way of balancing poor dice rolling. Even with a very unlucky roll, a clever player can still come out from the Council with a good number of resources and/or soldiers.

At the end of five years, the player who best developed their assigned territory and most pleased the King through the Council wins.

You are the head of a fiefdom and its future is in your hands. Will you develop agriculture with fields and mills? Or will you become a pious church-builder or prefer to feast in your sumptuous palaces? Develop your lands in your image and become the most influential lord in the kingdom.

In Middle Ages, you explore the essence of medieval urban life through eight distinct tiles: fields, farms, villages, forts, markets, barracks, churches, and palaces. Each tile features its own scoring system, yet it's linked to others, offering a rich and immersive gaming experience. Unleash strategic maneuvers, from daring assaults on rival fiefdoms to reserving tiles for future use. Harness the power of tactical combinations to amplify your income and pave your way to triumph!

—description from the publisher

Doubt is in the air!

How much can you tell about a person from their clothes or moods? Is it possible to work out their occupation or secret by what they have in their bag? That's what you'll have to do. Answer five questions and listen carefully to what others have to say about themselves. Try to guess who's who and become the shrewdest detective ever!

Dubious is a game of deduction in which each player creates a story for their character and tries to get the majority of the players to guess their occupation and secret. At the same time, each player has to listen carefully to what others have to say about themselves and prove their detective finesse.

—description from the publisher

Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful not to neglect one in pursuit of the other.

The aim of Scholars of the South Tigris is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained by translating scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 guilds, and by retiring translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is triggered once all 4 caliph cards have been revealed.

—description from the publisher