Worker Placement

Designed by Glenn Drover, this boardgame version of the PC hit, Age of Empires III from Microsoft and Ensemble Studios, allows you to revisit the age of exploration and discovery. Take on the role of a colonial power seeking fame, glory, and riches in the New World. As you proceed through three ages, you can launch expeditions of discovery, colonize regions, expand your merchant fleet, build capitol buildings that give your nation distinct advantages, develop your economy, and, if necessary, declare war.
Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery features beautiful artwork from the PC game and from renowned artist Paul Niemeyer, but is a typical eurogame. Age of Empires III has hundreds of plastic figures, including ships, doubloons, colonists, merchants, captains, missionaries, and soldiers.

In Agricola (Latin for "farmer"), you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats?

Agricola is a turn-based game. There are 14 game turns plus 6 harvest phases (after turn 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14). Each player starts with two playing tokens (farmer and wife) and thus can take two actions per turn. There are multiple options, and while the game progresses, you'll have more and more: first thing in a turn, a new action card is flipped over.
Problem: Each action can be taken just once per turn, so it's important to do some things with high preference. Each player also starts with a hand of 7 Occupation cards (of more than 160 total) and 7 Minor Improvement cards (of more than 140 total) that he may use during the game if they fit in his/her strategy. This amounts to countless strategies, some depending on your card hand. Sometimes it's a good choice to stay on course, sometimes you better react on what your opponents do.
Agricola can also be played without cards (family game) and can even be played solo.

Early Italy, 600 BCE – Five city states are vying each other for superiority in the region: Roma with their Roman inhabitants, Velletri with the Volscian inhabitants, Reate with their Sabin inhabitants, Veii with their Etruscian inhabitants, and Alba Longa with their Latin inhabitans. Each player controls a city state and tries to be the first to have 16+ population and 10 monuments. This city state is destined to be a glorious power of the Ancient World!

A game of Alba Longa offers a fine combination of dice selection, city management, and worker assignment (inside your own city), and is spiced up with the ingredient of city combat (soldiers and heroes)! Inside the box are three big variants – Assisi, A Job Well Done, and Spoils of War – which can be added and combined at your will and which add even more longevity to this game!

In prototype form, under the name The Great Pyramid, this design was one of four winners of the 2009 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société, a design competition run by Centre National du Jeu in France. Here's what the jury said about the game: The Great Pyramid is rich with an astonishing number of possible strategies but manages to convey the clarity of the whole mechanism. The choices offered to the players are numerous and present a contentious interaction too rare in this kind of game.

Compete with your fellow players for the most beautiful towers. Players take on the roles of famous architects and using their chicanery, try to obtain the best construction parts. With these the exuberant towers are erected. Think ahead, use your tactical sense and it will help you to stay ahead of the other players and thereby become the greatest architect of the country. Exciting construction entertainment for the whole family.

Put your Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes to work in the Village and Guilds of Belfort to collect resources and build up the city!

Elves collect wood from the forest while Dwarves collect stone from the quarry. An Elf and a Dwarf together can collect Metal from the mines, and either one can collect Gold. Build buildings in the 5 districts of the pentagonal city and hire Gnomes to run them to gain their special abilities.

Belfort is a Worker Placement game with Area Majority scoring in each district as well as for each type of worker. Buildings give you influence in the districts as well as income, but taxes increase based on your score so the winning players will have to pay more than those behind! Manage your resources and gold well, choose your buildings wisely, and help build the city of Belfort!

In Bootleggers, you're da boss, making a name in the trade of illegal booze or “hooch”. By muscling in on competition, paying off local authorities, and shipping trucks of hooch, your goal is to make more money than your competition by using any and all means available, both fair and unfair as you see fit.

Carson City is a rootin' tootin' game of cowboys 'n guns - lots o' guns.

There are 4 rounds per game. At the beginning of each round, players choose a character (there are 7 available) that gives them certain advantages (for example the sheriff prevents any duels from happening wherever he is placed).

After selecting characters, your cowboys are placed on action track locations that allow you to construct buildings, houses or roads; claim ground; earn money; or score victory points. When more than one player is on the same location, get ready, it is time for a duel! Roll the dice and see if you are the last one standing and lay claim to the goods!

During the game, you can take various actions that earn you victory points for your plots, pistols (the hired help) and buildings. At the end of the game, your buildings, houses, mountains and money contribute to your victory points and the person with the most points wins. So go round up your posse of gunslingers and get ready for some Wild West action in Carson City!

Amidst craggy mountains, the first silhouettes of a monumental castle arise. A line of traders twists its way to the gate; and the hustle and bustle attracts many people in the hope of getting wages and victuals. The area is crammed with market booths; the magnificent castle is being enlarged around them.


Each player is a builder who, round for round, is able to use different c
haracter cards tactically. The constructing of this castle always culminates in an exciting final scoring. The player to produce the most victory points in the end deserves the protection of the castle and wins the game.

1289. To strengthen the borders of the Kingdom of France, King Philip the Fair decided to have a new castle built. For the time being, Caylus is but a humble village, but soon, workers and craftsmen will be flocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up. The players embody master builders. By building the King’s castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King’s favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins the game.

1289. King Philip the Fair wants to have a new castle built in Caylus. Workers and craftsmen are fl ocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects of such a formidable task. All along the road that snakes from the foot of the castle, a city is slowly rising up…

Caylus Magna Carta allows you to experience Caylus differently. Each player has their own deck of buildings to be built along a common road. All the aspects of the original Caylus are still there, but the game dynamics has been changed: games are shorter and more agressive. Furthermore, beginner rules are provided, to allow you to take your first step into the universe of Caylus.

Scofflaws are brawling in the streets of Deadwood. The railroad is being built, and to you and the other gangs in the badlands of South Dakota, this means one thing: cold, hard cash. As a cowboy on the wrong side of the law you know just how to take control of this shanty-town: threaten, fight, and kill off your rivals.

Deadwood is a wild-and-wooly board game with a quick and deadly twist on classic worker placement games. Your gang consists of three different classes of cowboys with different strengths: greenhorns, gunslingers, and trail bosses. Cowboys ride into town to gain control of (annex) buildings and fight other gangs' cowboys in shootouts.

At the beginning of the game, the town of Deadwood consists of the Town Hall, the Church, the Sheriff's Office, the Saloon, and four other randomly drawn buildings. Additional buildings are constructed whenever a cowboy annexes the Town Hall. Each building has at least one unique ability that is used immediately, with some buildings offering more long-term advantages.

A cowboy accesses these advantages by controlling the building. To gain control a player simply places one of his gang on a building tile, "annexing" it. Other gang leaders can try to gain control of your buildings through shootouts. The player that instigates the shootout receives a Wanted Poster token; the more cowboys you try to kill off, the more Wanted Poster tokens you collect, and the higher the fine you must pay at the end of the game.

Deadwood can end one of three ways: the Train Station is placed on the board once the railroad is built and completed, there are no more Wanted Poster tokens in the Crime Pool, or any player has no more cowboys alive. The player with the most cash at the end of the game is the winner!

In Dungeon Lords, you are an evil dungeonlord who is trying to build the best dungeon out there. You hire monsters, build rooms, buy traps and the other usual stuff.
From the publisher's webpage:
Have you ever ventured with party of heroes to conquer dungeons, gain pride, experiences and of course rich treasure? And has it ever occurred to you how hard it actually is to build and manage such underground complex filled with corridors and creatures? No? Well now you can try. Put yourself in role of the master of underground, summon your servants, dig complex of tunnels and rooms, set traps, hire creatures and try to stop filthy heroes from conquering and plundering your precious creation. We can guarantee you will look on dark corners, lairs and their inhabitant from completely different perspective!
Dungeon Lords is 90 minute long game for 2 to 4 players. It’s a rather complex game enjoyable mostly for experienced gamers.

The game consists of several rounds in which players use unusual worker placement mechanisms (players simultaneously prepare different sized groups of imps in order to play sooner than others). To become the leader of imp family that has just started a new business, they will have to prepare themselves for the uneasy task of raising creature cubs and pleasing their different needs represented by cards in order to sell them as grown scary creatures to Dungeon Lords. In the meantime they also attend various contests in which they show off their pets, scoring additional points.

Contents:
• both sided main board
• 4 player’s boards with integrated player’s mat
• 4 player’s breeding places (for cages)
• 18 pets
• 40 wooden gold
• 14 wooden tokens for vegetables
• 11 wooden tokens for meat
• 30 wooden tokens for excrements
• 8 figures of servants (in 4 colors)
• 40 figures of imps (in 4 colors)
• 11 cages
• 6 improvements for cages
• 104 cards with pets’ needs
• 5 cards of sleeping potion
• 10 tokens for items
• 1 progress token
• 1 starting token
• 8 mutation tokens
• 8 buyers
• 8 exhibitions
• 4 point tokens
• rulebook

The players are builders in the Ancient Egypt, competing to get the most fame building different monuments requested by the Pharaoh (the Sphinx, the Obelisk, the Temple and the Pyramid).
The game lasts 5 turns. In each turn, the players place their pawns on the board, along the banks of the Nile, getting the advantages shown on each square. On the right bank there are fixed squares where the players may get workers, improve their mercantile capabilities, influence the floods (and thus the fertility of the fields) and reserve the right to build the monuments (that are built only after all the placements are done). On the left bank the players may take cards that are deployed randomly on the 10 squares at the start of each turn; some of these cards are kept until the end of the game (cultivable fields, stone quarries, deities granting special advantages), while others are discarded after the use and offer multiple immediate advantages.

In Egizia, the twist on the worker placement mechanic is that the players must place their pawns following the course of the Nile, moving northwards (from the top to the bottom of the board, that is seen from the Mediterranean Sea). In this way, each placement not only blocks the opponents from choosing the same square (except monuments, where multiple players are always allowed), but also forces the player to place his remaining pawns only on the squares below the one he just occupied (note that "pawns" are placed, since "workers" are one of the resources of the game, like grain and stones).

When the placement phase is over, the workers of the players must be fed with the grain produced in the fields. The production of each field is based on the floods of the Nile, so some fields may not give grain each turn. If a player has not enough grain for all his workers, he has to buy it with Victory Points (the ratio is better for players with improved mercantile capabilities, recorded on a specific track on the board).

After that, stones are received from the owned quarries and used to build the monuments (if the right to do was reserved earlier) along with the workers.

When the game ends, the points scored during the game (mainly building the monuments) are added to the bonuses obtained fulfilling certain conditions on the Sphinx cards. Whoever has the highest total is the winner.

It is a time when the maps of the world are still being filled in. Seagoing empires expand their frontiers by sending ships to the farthest reaches of the globe in search of new lands, new alliances, and new conquests. The wealth of the newly-discovered worlds abroad is a tempting prize for those with the strength and the cunning to seize it... and to hold it!

You represent a growing empire engaged in a glorious endeavor to expand your influence and status at home and across the great oceans of the world. Through exploration and shipping, colonization and war, you will struggle with the other great powers to control the resources and the regions that unfold before you. You must strike a balance between cultural, political, industrial and financial gains, making all of the right decisions to ensure your empire’s eventual dominance. The paths you take, the battles you wage, and the choices you make will determine the ultimate shape of the new world...

Fortuna is situated in the Roman Empire, during Caesar's reign.

The players are ambitious Romans striving for influence in the Roman Empire. While striving for power, happiness and wealth, they leave their own village and travel towards the City of Rome. The road to Rome is long and there are many ways to reach your life purpose. As a hardworking farmer you can work the land and grow large quantities of grain and wine. A clever farmer irrigates the land to improve the yield of his harvest. Trading your harvested goods for the best price may bring you the means to move up the ladder of the Roman hierarchy. When will you decide to move on and buy yourself an army of Centurions? Or will you choose the sacred way of Religion and serve the ruthless Roman Gods? Along the way, you will have the opportunity to find happiness and wealth in marriage. Will you take this chance to become happy or not? If you contribute well to the Roman Empire, you will grow in the favor of the Emperor and move further to Rome. Will the citizens of Rome welcome you jubilantly?

Coming nearer to Rome and the Emperor's Palace the tension in the game becomes higher. Which of the players has contributed most to the Empire? And which of the players has saved the city in times of crisis? Just when water and food supplies become exhausted or Centurions are needed to protect Rome against a hostile invasion, only the most prestigious Romans show their courage and value. The Emperor will reward this Roman with golden Fortuna coins, and the deeper the crisis, the more affluent this reward will be. When a player has reached the centre of Rome, only the player who has done most for the Emperor and the People of Rome will become Victorious.

Make sure to be in the City of Rome so you are able to take that triumphal march to Victory!

Game materials

• 1 Set of Rules
• 1 Set up & overview card
• 1 Game board
• 9 Dice
• 15 Privilege tokens

Materials for players:

• 4 Provinces
• 4 Playing figures in the players colors: Orange, Purple, Blue and Grey
• 12 Markers in playing colors: 3x Orange, 3x Purple, 3x Blue and 3x Grey

Playing cards:

• 6 Favor cards
• 26 Privilege cards (free resources, extra steps and Victory Points)
• 12 Action cards
• 12 Building cards (Palaces, Aqueducts, Markets and Basillicas)

Resources:

• 15 Water units, 15 Grain units, 15 Wine units, 12 Centurions and 12 Vestal Virgins

Pharaoh is worried! His tomb at Giza is behind schedule, and he fears it will not be done in time for his funeral. He is offering great rewards to the faction that contributes the most work on his pyramid in the next ten years. If your people work the hardest and work the smartest you shall earn Pharaoh's favor!

In Giza: the Great Pyramid you are the leader of one of four factions vying for Pharaoh's favor. You have ten years to outperform the other factions and contribute the most to his great pyramid, earning eternal gratitude and glory. You shall need to balance your labor! Farm and fish to feed your people. Sweat and struggle with the back-breaking labor of moving the giant stone blocks into place. Task your folk with the creation of exquisite artworks to beautify Pharaoh's eternal rest.

Are you smart enough, organized enough and diligent enough to lead your people and earn Pharaoh's favor?

In his last will, your rich uncle stated that all of his millions will go to the nephew who can enjoy money the most. How to find out which nephew should be rich? You will each be given a large amount of money and whoever can spend it first will be the rightful heir. Visit the most exclusive theatres or eat in the most expensive restaurants. Buy old properties for the price of new ones and sell them as ruins. Host a huge party in your mansion or on your private boat. Spend like your life would depend on it. Spend to become rich! If you're the first to run through the money on hand, you'll receive the rest of his inheritance – oh, and win the game.

In Last Will, each player starts with a certain amount of money, an individual player board, two errand boys and two cards in some combination of properties and helpers. At the start of each round, lay out cards from the appropriate decks on the offering boards; the four regular decks are properties, companions, events, helpers and expenses, with special cards forming a deck of their own. The particular mix of cards varies by round and by the number of players.

Each player then chooses a plan for the round, with each plan indicating the number of cards the player draws (drawn immediately from the four regular decks in any combination), how many errand boys he can use later (one or two), the number of actions available to him that round, and his spot in the playing order that round. In the playing order for that round, players then take turns choosing an action with their errand boy(s), with those actions being:

• Take a card on display and add it to your hand.
• Draw a card from any regular deck – This can be chosen only once by each player.
• Visit the opera and spend $2.
• Adjust the value modifiers in the property market.
• Take a player board extension, thereby giving you room to play more cards.

Players then take actions in the playing order for that round, with each player having as many actions as indicated on his plan. Actions let you play one-time events (which have a cost, possibly variable); helpers and recurring expenses (which are placed on your individual player board); and properties (which cost money and may depreciate over time). You can often play companions with events or recurring expenses – of course you should bring a date to the opera or a horse on your yacht! – to increase their cost. You can also use actions to activate cards on your player board, possibly with one or more companions and always with the goal of spending money. Helpers and special cards can provide you with unique powers to further boost your profligacy.

At the end of each round, you must discard down to two cards in hand, and properties that can depreciate do so; this is good as a player cannot go bankrupt if he owns properties, and the only way to get rid of properties is to sell them, which regretably puts money back in your hands unless the depreciation was intense or you manipulate the market.

If a player has no money and no properties, he declares bankruptcy and the game ends at the conclusion of that round; otherwise the game ends after seven rounds. The player who has the least money (or even who is most in debt) wins.

In Le Havre, a player’s turn consists of two parts: First, distribute newly supplied goods onto the offer spaces; then take an action. As an action, players may choose either to take all goods of one type from an offer space or to use one of the available buildings. Building actions allow players to upgrade goods, sell them or use them to build their own buildings and ships. Buildings are both an investment opportunity and a revenue stream, as players must pay an entry fee to use buildings that they do not own. Ships, on the other hand, are primarily used to provide the food that is needed to feed the workers.

After every seven turns, the round ends: players’ cattle and grain may multiply through a Harvest, and players must feed their workers. After a fixed number of rounds, each player may carry out one final action, and then the game ends. Players add the value of their buildings and ships to their cash reserves. The player who has amassed the largest fortune is the winner.

From the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Waterdeep, the City of Splendors – the most resplendent jewel in the Forgotten Realms, and a den of political intrigue and shady back-alley dealings. In this game, the players are powerful lords vying for control of this great city. Its treasures and resources are ripe for the taking, and that which cannot be gained through trickery and negotiation must be taken by force!

In Lords of Waterdeep, a strategy board game for 2-5 players, you take on the role of one of the masked Lords of Waterdeep, secret rulers of the city. Through your agents, you recruit adventurers to go on quests on your behalf, earning rewards and increasing your influence over the city. Expand the city by purchasing new buildings that open up new actions on the board, and hinder – or help – the other lords by playing Intrigue cards to enact your carefully laid plans.

Components:

• Game board
• Storage tray
• 5 player mats
• 100 Adventurer cubes:
  • 25 Clerics (white)
  • 25 Fighters (orange)
  • 25 Rogues (black)
  • 25 Wizards (purple)
• 33 wooden pieces:
  • 5 score markers
  • 25 Agents (five of each color)
  • 1 Ambassador
  • 1 Lieutenant
  • 1 First Player marker
• 121 cards:
  • 11 Lord of Waterdeep cards
  • 50 Intrigue cards
  • 60 Quest cards
• 170 die-cut pieces:
  • 24 Building tiles
  • 45 Building control markers (nine of each color)
  • 60 Gold tokens
  • 50 1-Gold tokens
  • 10 5-Gold tokens
  • 36 Victory Point tokens
• Rule book

Neuland lies undeveloped with only a few hunters and woodcutters living there. Players compete to build up a new civilization in which 15 properties promise prosperity and progress, including the Abbey, Guild House, Town Hall, and Stronghold. Who will achieve the chains of production necessary to claim each cultural building? Players must evaluate how much to do each turn since the fewer actions they take, the more they can achieve the next turn. When should you make your big move so you can claim that cultural advance with your coat of arms? The first to place all of their coat of arms wins the game.
Players place workers to produce raw material that must be used to produce more refined material. These materials help you build different facilities to produce even more materials. The uniqueness of the actions is that you can do as much as you want as long as you don't pass the time marker. The time marker moves to the nextp layer piece: which could be you dpeending on how many actions you take. So one must consider doing a small number of actions in order to go more often or take a long turn to do everything you may want.

In the Ancient Greece, the poleis (city-states) thrived increasing their population and culture, occasionally waging war against each other, erecting buildings and celebrating ceremonies to get the favour of the deities abiding on Mount Olympus. The players will lead one of these city-states (like Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Argos and others) expanding it and worshipping the various gods in order to become the hegemonic power of the Peloponnesus!

Olympus is a deterministic (no randomness) strategy game, based on worker-placement, resource management and building an efficient engine to score Victory Points. It also features a few more aggressive options than the average game based on the same premises (but the savvy player knows how to defend against them, if he prefers to quietly develop his own position).
Each player leads a city-state that is defined by six values representing population, culture, military and productivity of the three resources (grain, venison and fish).

During your turn, you send one of your three priests to worship one of the ten deities (Zeus, Hera, Demetra, Artemis, Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus or Apollo). Each opponent can now send one of his priests to celebrate the ceremony with you. After that, the deity grants his/her favour to whoever has sent a worshipper: the favour is larger for the leading priest (the one of the active player) and smaller for all the others (for example, Athena boosts culture by 2 points for the city of leading priest and by 1 point for the others; of course no boost is given to those who refused to send a priest to worship her). That deity cannot be chosen again in the current turn.

Since almost all deities are specialized in a certain field, the players must choose which ones they prefer to worship sooner (also guessing which ones may be of interest for the opponents and which ones are safer to skip as they will not be chosen until later) and when it is better to get a smaller benefit following the priest of another player rather than saving a priest to get a greater boon but in a field that may not interest them as much (sort of quality over quantity).
The resources your city produces (worshipping the correct deities) can be spent (worshipping other deities) to create buildings giving a variety of effects (and Victory Points), thus offering a lot of different strategic approaches to the game. Victory can be achieved with a plethora of buildings but also with very few ones. There are 45 different buildings: 33 can be built by anyone (even if someone else already did), while the other 12 are "unique" and only one copy of each can exist (introducing another element of contention between the players).

You can also wage war to steal the resources of the other cities (if they were so foolish to keep their warehouses full and their military underdeveloped, it's just what they deserve) or invoke a terrible plague to decimate their population.
All the actions (development, production, building, war, scoring, etc.) are done by worshipping the proper deity (and some gods give you a choice like "do you develop your grain productivity - thus receiving more grain the next time you will produce it - or do you produce it now even if you won't get much?", adding crucial tactical decisions to the game).

When all the priests have been used, there's a brief upkeep to check some simple conditions (e.g. players with more than 5 unused resources must discard those in excess) and then a new turn begins (all priests return home and all deities can be worshipped again).

Being the first to reach the maximum value in a certain field (e.g. culture 10) gives you an award worth 2 Victory Points. When four of these awards are claimed, the game ends: each player gets bonus points based on how developed is his city and the highest score wins.

In Ora et Labora, each player is head of a monastery in the Medieval era that acquires land and constructs buildings – little enterprises that will gain resources and profit. The goal is to build a working infrastructure and manufacture prestigious items – such as books, ceramics, ornaments and relics – to gain the most victory points at the end of the game.

Ora et Labora, Uwe Rosenberg's fifth "big" game, has game play mechanics similar to his Le Havre, such as two-sided resource tiles that can be upgraded from a basic item to something more useful. Instead of adding resources to the board turn by turn as in Agricola and Le Havre, Ora et Labora uses a numbered rondel to show how many of each resource is available at any time. At the beginning of each round, players turn the rondel by one segment, adjusting the counts of all resources at the same time.
Each player has a personal game board. New buildings enter the game from time to time, and players can construct them on their game boards with the building materials they gather, with some terrain restrictions on what can be built where. Some spaces start with trees or moors on them, as in Agricola: Farmers of the Moor, so they hinder development until a player clears the land, but they provide resources when they are removed. Clever building on your personal game board will impact your final score, amd players can buy additional terrain during the game, if needed.

Players also have three workers that can enter buildings to take the action associated with that location. Workers must stay in place until you've placed all three. You can enter your own buildings with these workers, but to enter and use another player's buildings, you must pay that player an entry fee so that he'll move one of his workers into that building to do the work for you.
Ora et Labora features two variants: France and Ireland.

Contents:

It‘s the year 1878 and at early excavations in Turkey, archaeologists discover the remains of ancient Pergamon. Soon the “finds” become precious exhibitions that intrigue the public.

Players compete to receive ample parts of the Federal research funding to cover their excavation expenses. If you are conservative in your demands, you will reach the excavation sites before your competitors.

Timing can be crucial . . . “first come, first dig”! The last to arrive will have little to choose from. The unearthed treasures can be joined together forming valuable exhibitions yielding the finder plenty of fame and appreciation.

The clever combination of obtaining funds and racing for the best excavation sites turns Pergamon into a diversified game with easily accessible rules.

Contents:

• 1 game board, 1 tomb raider
• 4 player figures, 4 player aid cards
• 24 exhibition markers
• 24 research funding cards
• 60 finds, 40 coins
• 36 admission tickets
• Rulebook

Empires rise and fall: in the buffer areas and crossroads between civilizations, however, a clever ruler can sometimes adopt new ideas, establish trade, and found a city state – such as the great Phoenicians cities of Tyre and Sidon – that will outlast many neighboring empires. Phoenicia is a strategy game of bidding and development for 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Each player rules a settlement located on the shores of the fertile crescent in the middle east more than 3000 years ago. During play, you spend wealth to expand your settlement, adding tiles and tokens to it. The first player to successfully found a city state is the winner!

England at the beginning of the12th Century...
Prior Phillip of Kingsbridge has a glorious vision. To build the largest, most beautiful cathedral in England. To accomplish the task, Phillip recruits the most renowned builders in the country. However, the fate of the Cathedral is constantly threatened by all manner of catastrophes and oppositions.
The Pillars of the Earth is based on Ken Follett's best-selling novel. Players join together to help build Kingsbridge Cathedral. Using your workmen and resources, you must wisely deploy assets to overcome unexpected difficulties and shortages to prove yourself the greatest builder of them all!
Will your efforts be recognized when the Great Cathedral at Kingsbridge is complete?

Welcome to the world of the powerful, of those who pull the right strings at the right time from the shadows of the big companies. Each player becomes one of these people, trying to increase their power and influence by hiring Employees, creating New Departments and taking over the sought-after positions of Divisional Heads to procure influence and privileges. Divisional Heads can resign to join the Board of Directors (in the hopes of becoming the Chairman, of course) or get hired as an External Consultant. All the while, players are investing in stocks and bribing other players to make their way to the top.

Contents:

• 1 Game board,
• 110 wooden managers,
• 60 wooden employees,
• 5 Bribe folders,
• 100 notes of money,
• 21 blocks of shares,
• 44 cards,
• 5 player reference mats,
• rules

When the Spaniards conquered the Incan Empire, only a few princes managed to flee into the mountains. Well-hidden high above the river Urabumba is a place the Spanish would never discover: The lost city of Machu Picchu. But beware! Is there a traitor among the princes, ready to reveal the location of the secret city to the Spaniards?
Each player represents an Incan prince, whose workers will grow corn, feed llamas, plant coca, and manufacture ceramics and cloth. They try to engage Priests of the Condor, Priests of the Puma, and Virgins of the Sun. The game can end in 2 different ways:
Either the Incans win by activating all priests and virgins in time,
or the Spaniards win when they discover Machu Picchu.
With an Incan victory, the prince who made the wisest sacrifices to the gods will win. With a Spanish victory, the princes who accumulated the most gold will get a multiplier to their score... but it may not be enough to win the game.
Players choose their actions by walking around with their prince on the city map.

Prospector, captain, mayor, trader, settler, craftsman, or builder?
Which roles will you play in the new world? Will you own the most prosperous plantations? Will you build the most valuable buildings?
You have but one goal: achieve the greatest prosperity and highest respect!
This is shown by the player who earns the most victory points?

Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, the city of Québec is, without a doubt, one of the most historically significant cities in North America. In this game, you are in charge of a rich family whose goal is to acquire influence by building the city of Québec. The game covers four centuries during which you will build the most prestigious buildings and places of the city, all the while ensuring your presence in the great spheres of power. It is up to you, and your adversaries, to build Québec in your colours!

Québec is a strategy game different from other Scorpion masqué light games. That's why you'll find 3 rules sets, perfect for players of all skills!

In Québec, you're at the head of a rich family who wants to leave its name in history by building Québec city. The game spans four centuries during which you erect the most prestigious buildings and places of the city. Construction is not enough: you also have to ensure your presence in the great spheres of power. It is up to you and your opponents to build Québec City in your colors!

In 2007, Québec won the Plateau D'or and was shortlisted at Boulogne-Billancourt.

Each age has its special challenges. The stone age was shaped by the emergence of agriculture, the processing of useful resources, and by the building of simple huts. Trade begins and grows and civilization takes root and spreads. In addition, traditional abilities like skillful hunting are in demand, in order to be able to nourish the growing population. 
The goal of the players is to master all these challenges. There are many ways to do so, so everyone can work to achieve his goal in his own way.
 Find your own way and learn at the end whether it was the best way.

Prepare yourself for the battle of the ages, be you the Defender or the Invader, the struggle will be epic and the story will be glorious.

Valley Games is proud to announce the reprinting of STRONGHOLD. We have been working with a number of people to rework the rules into 2 separate handbooks, one for the Defender and one for the Invaders. The artwork will remain the same so those of you with the first edition will be able to download the newest rules.

Stronghold is a 2-4 player game telling the story of a siege. Players take opposite sides, one has to defend the stronghold, the other has to break into the castle as soon as possible. As time passes, defenders get Victory Points every turn for their efforts on the walls.

The game board represents the stronghold itself as well as the surrounding terrain, where enemy forces are placed and from where they proceed to the walls.

The defender has a small amount of soldiers manning the walls, while the invader has an infinite legion of them! A desperate fight is taking place every single turn. The invaders build war machines, equip their soldiers, train them and use black magic rituals to achieve victory. Meanwhile, defenders repair walls, build cannons, train soldiers and do everything they can to hold the castle as long as possible.

A long time ago at the Japanese Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear as a symbol of peace to the Japanese Emperor. Since then, the Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court members (the players) with the difficult task of caring for the animal by tending to his bamboo garden.

In Takenoko, the players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of bamboo (Green, Yellow and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo garden. They will have to bear with the immoderate hunger of this sacred animal for the juicy and tender bamboo. The player who manages his land plots best, growing the most bamboo while feeding the delicate appetite of the panda, will win the game.

Tikal was discovered and explored during a very successful expedition led by Profs. Kramer and Kiesling. A decade later, a scroll is found, that hints of a lost temple near the first site. This rumor rekindles their passion for Tikal and the two scientists start to discuss the prospect of another expedition to Central America. In the midst of their planning they encounter Profs. Braff and Pauchon at an international archaeology conference in Geneva, who want to know the truth about the enticing rumor.

Later that day, sitting in front of a roaring fire, after a fine meal, finished off with Cuban cigars, and a few brandies, the two Swiss scientists listen enthralled by the unfolding plans of their German colleagues. To a man they clamor their unanimous assent and it is decided to join forces and go back to Tikal. Appointments are made, patrons are found, equipment is assembled, notes are compared, and then they are off.

An uneventful journey takes them to Guatemala, and then on to the old site. Not too long after, they discover that there is indeed an undisturbed temple, in an adjacent valley. As it belonged to a long-forgotten king, the temple promises many surprises and much, much gold. And so the adventure begins...

Tikal II: The Lost Temple is a sequel to 1999 Spiel des Jahres winner Tikal, from world-famous duo Kramer-Kiesling.

Actions points have given place to two actions per turn :
1) move part of your expedition around the board to choose an action tile and then
2) move your head scientist within the temple to explore new rooms and find gold.

There are many ways to score. Collecting and delivering treasures is one, having the majority in some rooms, exploring the main temple as well as an outer secret chamber are others.

Tikal II calls for careful planning, as your scientist can't move freely within the temple without specific items, and tension, as the actions around the board grow scarce. A game consists of two rounds, each concluded by a scoring. In the end, the player with the most gold is declared winner.

Bow down before the Tribune, ye citizens of Rome! Rich and poor, strong and weak, patricians and plebians, hear your Tribune's words! It is he who guides you and who is guided by you. He is one of you, but he is the Tribune, he is the Primus Inter Pares, the first among equals! Welcome to the most complex metropolis of the ancient world — Rome. More than 2000 years ago, Rome was a town full of life whose inhabitants, although they could not have been more different, still had one thing in common: They were all Romans. In Tribune, 2-5 players each control one of the large and ambitious patrician families of ancient Rome who thirst for influence and power, exerting their influence on the city's many varied factions. Send your followers out into the streets of Rome to win influential allies and use them to control the city. Will you win over the Legions? Will you be crowned with laurel wreaths, control the Senators, and gain the favor of the Gods?

This expansion also adds a new faction to Tribune, which allows for a game of up to six players. The Brutii are an old and noble family who work in the shadows of Rome to accumulate influence and plot to take the reigns of power.

In the year 1200, the foundation is laid for the cathedral of Troyes, but it will not be fi nished until four centuries later, after innumerable incidents. This game invites you to experience four centuries of history by participating in the development of one of the finest medieval cities ever
to make its mark on Western culture.

Troyes is a strategy game in which players represent a rich family from the Champagne region, using their influence to recruit and supervise individuals in three prominent domains: military, religious, and civil. Each domain is represented by its own color (utilized on the cards) and offers its own benefits.

The inhabitants of the city provide a work force, created by rolling 18 dice at the beginning of the round. Next, the players will meld sets of 1 to 3 of the same color in order to execute an action: the nine activities of the city include such things as building the cathedral, grappling with an unfortunate event, or even recruiting new residents in order to be able to roll more dice next round. The dice used by a player are free if they are his own citizens, but each player also has the opportunity to open his purse to recruit his enemies. Players can use their infl uence to change the result of the dice, giving them a degree of control rarely seen in a dice game! Additionally, each player receives a secret character card at the beginning of the game, whose principles he will defend with the most clever of schemes. In order to gain still greater fame, he will also try to divine the other players’ agendas. The player who has garnered the most fame, as a result of his every action, will win the game. To ensure plenty of replay value, there are 27 Activity cards available, but only nine of them are used each game.

The search for a viable route to India was, since the mid-15th Century, the main goal of almost all expeditions made by the Portuguese Kingdom. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope and Pedro da Covilha found a
land route, but it was only in 1498 that Vasco da Gama reached the goal and became the first European to reach, after some stops along the way, the legendary Calicut by sea. Vasco da Gama accomplished something exceptional, granting Portugal the possibility to achieve a monopoly on the spice trade between India and Europe.

Vasco da Gama was charged with finding a maritime route to India. Players play the part of rich shipowners who, under his patronage, aim to achieve prestige and riches. To succeed in the enterprise, they must manage the money and actions at their disposal in order to hire captains, recruit crew, build Ships, launch them and send them to the Landings of Natal, Terra de Boa Gente, Mozambique, Malindi, Mombasa and Calicut. For each Ship sent, Players will receive an immediate reward and will gain prestige (Victory Points). The further the Ship is sent, the lower the compensation, but the higher the victory score that the Player will earn. Ships at Landings that are “complete” at the end of the Round (i.e. reached by a certain number of Ships) will earn further Victory Points for their owners and will then advance, under certain conditions, to the next Landing. This creates the opportunity to earn again Victory Points in the following Rounds.

During each Round, Players take actions in various Areas (Navigation, Recruiting, Purchase Projects or Characters). Planning is fundamental: The right to take an action could be free
of charge or paid for.

The earlier a Player plans to take an action, the more likely that he will have to pay for it. Players will have to ask themselves if and how much they are ready to pay for the right to act first in a certain area. Vasco da Gama himself will decide which is the first free of charge action for each Round. He will also help some of the Players by making some money available to them. This great maritime enterprise raises the interest of 4 influential Characters. Aiming to have a substantial role in the development of the new commercial route, they will also provide their favors free of charge to the Players. Francisco Alvares (The Priest) will make available a number of Missionaries to be used as crew members, Girolamo Sernigi (The Merchant) will organize Ships built and manned, Bartolomeu Dias (The Leader) will grant an increased initiative and additional Victory Points; Manuel I (The King) will allow Players to take an additional action in the name of the Portuguese Kingdom.

Each player is the leader of a band of Vikings. His task is to scout and then settle the islands off the coast of his homeland. As the Vikings uncover the size and shape of the islands, each band seeks to control as much of these new lands as possible. The bands build yards and churches and invite goldsmiths, scouts, fishermen, and nobles to settle on their island to establish the most profitable settlements. But, warriors are also necessary! As, the islands soon attract ships bound to attack them to pillage the new settlements.

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