In 1566, Jean Parisot de Valette, 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, laid the foundation for Valletta, the future capital of Malta.

In Valletta, players take inspiration from Jean Parisot de Valette in order to procure raw materials; hire merchants, bricklayers and roofers; and build their own version of the magnificent capital, with its mighty bastions, baroque buildings, and a right-angled street network. Cultivate your contacts with the Order of Malta to improve your reputation.

Players are supervised in their work by de Valette, who patrols his streets as a building inspector. When he reaches the end of his patrol, the game ends and a winner is determined.

The abstract strategy game Quoridor is surprisingly deep for its simple rules. The object of the game is to advance your pawn to the opposite edge of the board. On your turn you may either move your pawn or place a wall. You may hinder your opponent with wall placement, but not completely block them off. Meanwhile, they are trying to do the same to you. The first pawn to reach the opposite side wins.

Zooloretto: The Dice Game takes the basic Zooloretto / Coloretto game play – on a turn either add to the offerings on display, or take one set of offerings – and replaces the cards with dice so that you'll never know which animals will pop up for you to take. Each player has her own scoresheet, which represents her zoo, with space for five types of animals: one crocodile, two ostriches, up to five lions. The scoresheet also has space to collect coins and barns for animals that don't fit in the appropriate pens.

On a turn, the active player takes one of two actions:

Take two dice from the reserve, roll them, then assign each die to a transport cart on the game board.
Take all the dice in one transport cart, then tick off the animals/coins on those dice on your scoresheet.


Dice can be placed in separate carts, and the number of dice is limited to six, eight, or ten depending on the number of players. The round continues until each player has taken dice from a cart, then a new round begins. The first player to fill the pen of a particular type of animal receives a bonus; if a player takes more animals than she has room for, however, she ticks off the barn for each type of overflow animal.

The game ends once a player has filled all her animal pens or has space in only one pen. Players score one point for each animal and any bonus points they received; they lose two points for each barn ticked off, but for each group of coins collected, one penalty can be ignored. (Alternatively, coin groups are worth one point.) The player with the highest score wins!

Cacao is a tile-placement game that immerses players in the exotic world of the "fruit of the Gods". As the chief of your tribe, you must lead your people to prosperity through the cultivation and trade of cacao — and to do that, you'll need to put them to work in the best way possible.

In the game, each player has an individual deck of square worker tiles, with the number of workers on each side of the tile varying from tile to tile. The playing area starts with only a couple of jungle tiles in play: a cacao field and a small market; two jungle tiles are laid face up, and the remaining jungle tiles stacked as a draw pile.

On a player's turn, he places one of her worker tiles on the board adjacent to one or more jungle tiles already in play, then (if two worker tiles are next to an empty space) adds one of the jungle tiles to the playing area in this space. Her workers then get busy and deliver the results of their effort: If you placed workers next to a cacao field, you receive one or two cacao markers per worker; if they're next to a market, you can choose to sell one cacao marker per worker at the listed price; if next to a well, you receive water; if next to a temple, they stand and look good until the end of the game; and so on. He then refills her hand from her personal deck to three worker tiles.

Once all players have used all of their worker tiles, the game ends. Players score (or lose) points based on their water supply, and each temple rewards whichever players sent the most workers to it. In the end, whoever has collected the most gold wins.

In Russian Railroads, players compete in an exciting race to build the largest and most advanced railway network. In order to do so, the players appoint their workers to various important tasks.

The development of simple tracks will quickly bring the players to important places, while the modernization of their railway network will improve the efficiency of their machinery. Newer locomotives cover greater distances and factories churn out improved technology. Engineers, when used effectively, can be the extra boost that an empire needs to race past the competition.

There are many paths to victory: Who will ride into the future full steam ahead and who will be run off the rails? Whose empire will overcome the challenges ahead and emerge victorious?


Game Summary
Each player has their own board, with space for factories, and 3 rail tracks (to 3 different cities). On each track, use a track token to mark the progression of your rails (different colored marker for each type or rail). Some interesting twists:
- The different track types must be built in a specific order (black, gray, brown, natural, white). Later tracks may never be advanced further on the track than the earlier tracks.
- On each track, as the track head advances, you cross several thresholds that provide awards: the ability to start a new color of track, victory points, bonus tiles, etc.
- Each track line can have one (two for the first rail) engine(s) associated with it; the size of the loco(s) determines how far down the track you actually score VP.

The central board has (almost) all the locations for placing workers. Each location requires 1-3 workers (of one player; played all together). Players, who start the game with 5 workers (or 6 workers, in 2-3 player games), will take turns using a location. These provide a variety of abilities, for example:
- advance 1 or more track heads by 1-3 spaces
- acquire an engine or factory; engines are allocated to rail lines, while factories (the reverse side of the tile) are placed on your factory line.
- earn 2 coins
- take 2 temporary workers
- jump ahead in turn order
- acquire an engineer, which has a unique power and becomes a worker-placement location only for you

Each round ends when all players have passed on placing/using workers. Then, score VP for each track and factory line. On each track line, only spaces as far down the track as the loco level will score. Each track type scores VP for every space from its track head back to where the next color of track starts. Track types built earlier (e.g. black) score less/space than later tracks (e.g., white). On each factory line the position of the purple industry marker(s) show how many VP are scored.

After 7 rounds (or 6 rounds, in 2-3 player games), the game ends; most VP wins!

Players in Butterfly use a hedgehog piece around the board to collect tiles. By skillfully moving the piece to the right spots on the board, players can grab rare items while leaving fewer choices for their opponents. The player who accumulates the most valuable collection at the end of the game wins.

This is a game that can be played on several levels. As a game for children or families, the rules are easy to learn, the pieces are attractive and fun, but experienced and older game players can play it as a tactical fight, looking for the right move that will optimize your points while leaving the opponents with few good options.

Hadara carries you off into the world of cultures and countries of this earth. Over three epochs, you will experience the transformation of your new world from a small settlement to a high culture. You want to populate this world with people who come from different cultures and continents as well as different ages. To bring glory and honor to your world, you should choose the persons and accomplishments skillfully. But you should not ignore agriculture, culture, and military power, otherwise one of your competitors might get bigger and more successful than you. Who will succeed first in creating a new flourishing high culture?

—description from the publisher

•••

Hadara entführt dich in die Welt der Kulturen und Länder dieser Erde.

Über 3 Epochen hinweg erlebst du die Verwandlung deiner neuen Welt von einer kleinen Siedlung zu einer Hochkultur.
Du willst diese Welt mit Personen besiedeln, die dabei aus verschiedenen Kulturkreisen, Kontinenten aber auch Zeitaltern stammen.
Um deiner Welt zu viel Ruhm und Ehre zu verhelfen, solltest du die Personen und Errungenschaften geschickt aussuchen. Dabei solltest du aber die Landwirtschaft, die Kultur und die militärische Macht nicht außer Acht lassen, sonst kann es passieren, dass einer deiner Mitkonkurrenten größer und erfolgreicher wird. Wem gelingt es zuerst, eine neue blühende Hochkultur zu erschaffen?
—description from the publisher (German)

Get rid of your Payoo!

There are no jacks, queens or kings in Papayoo – just an unusual die and a fifth suit called Payoo. The aim is to score the fewest points possible; to do so, try to avoid collecting those dreadful Payoos and especially the Papayoo, that confounded 7, whose suit changes with each new hand. That cursed die!

If you are unhappy with your hand, don't fret; just give your hand to the player on your left before starting. Be sure to make the right choice because you'll be getting the player's cards on your right. Then play your hand with no trumps or qualms. The best player doesn't always win!

Once upon a time ...
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. The expansion Caylus Expansion: The Jeweller was included in the 2nd Edition.

Each turn, players pay to place their workers in various buildings in the village. These buildings allow players to gather resources or money, or to build or upgrade buildings with those resources. Players can also use their resources to help build the castle itself, earning points and favors from the king, which provide larger bonuses. Building a building provides some immediate points, and potentially income throughout the game, since players receive bonuses when others use their buildings. The buildings chosen by the players have a heavy impact on the course of the game, since they determine the actions that will be available to all the players.

As new buildings are built, they stretch along a road stretching away from the castle, and not all buildings can be used every turn. Players have some control over which buildings are active by paying to influence the movement of the Provost marker. The final position of the marker is the newest building that can be used that turn. The Provost marker also helps determine the movement of the Bailiff marker, which determines the end of the game. Generally, if players are building many buildings and the Provost is generous in allowing them to be used, the game ends more quickly.

For generations, the fertile Hiddenlands were shared by the peoples of the Five Realms. The Elves, Mages, Dwarves, Halflings and Humans lived peacefully with each other, though they increasingly engaged in fierce competition for the prosperity and glory of their respective nations.

And so it was that when the divisiveness threatened to break the thousand-year peace, the Goblin Hordes from across the sea unleashed a devastating surprise attack, and the peoples of the Hiddenlands could not unify quickly enough to repel them. Remnants of each of the realms fled by ship, until they at last discovered a new, unoccupied land upon which they could begin building their civilizations anew. The old rivalries would remain, of course, but perhaps this time, their competition with each other would not welcome disaster. It was a time of hope, a time for exploration and construction, and a time of renewed competition in a new world they called Pandoria.

In the "gamer's game" 'Pandoria', players discover this new land by placing tiles, and they claim its territory and resources by placing their people. When a type of terrain is completely surrounded by other terrain, every worker on the borders of that terrain gains its resources. Although more than one civilization will usually benefit, each player tries to gain more than the others. Mining gold gives you income to buy cards that have two options: buildings and spells. Acquiring wood allows you to build that side of the card for permanent advantages, while mining crystals gives you the power to use the card for its one-time spell instead. Excess resources can be converted into prestige Points, and some buildings can generate more. When the new land has been fully explored (all tiles have been placed), the player with the most prestige is declared the most powerful nation of Pandoria and wins the game!

The game includes a streamlined beginner game, as well as expanded rules for the complete game that includes asymmetrical player powers.

The second edition from 2024 has the following changes:
- The game board is double-sided
- The 5 realms are newly designed
- the cover is brighter/friendlier
- the cards have a little different size
- some realm characteristics are revised
- the rule book has 4 pages more
- the starting player tile is newly designed
Find everything here: https://www.irongames.de/wordpress/index.php/the-games/pandoria-2024-2/

—description from the designer

From the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 to the beginning of WWI in 1914, there was an amazing development of bigger, faster, and more modern steamships. Whereas in 1870 there are still many clippers around and the good old paddle steamer "Scotia" sails the North Atlantic, sea trade is dominated by the end of this era by huge vessels like "Mauretania"(Cunard), "Olympic"(White Star), or "Imperator"(Hapag).

In Transatlantic, 2 to 4 players lead their own shipping companies, which transport freight, mail, and passengers around the globe. They purchase new steamships from the market, each of them historical with their individual technical data (tons, knots etc.). Competition is tough, especially in the North Atlantic where winning the "Blue Riband" is not only a matter of prestige, but may also be a profitable investment. In order to let a shipping company flourish, purchasing the best steamships is not enough, if one fails to acquire enough coal bunkers and trade posts as well.

The game is driven by cards; on each turn, play one card and execute the related action. As new cards enter the game, build your individual deck of cards with new or improved possibilities. The task is to manage your merchant fleet most efficiently. It's a maritime strategy game with low luck, lots of interactive choices, and tough decisions.

In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!

Sushi Go! takes the card-drafting mechanism of Fairy Tale and 7 Wonders and distills it into a twenty-minute game that anyone can play. The dynamics of "draft and pass" are brought to the fore, while keeping the rules to a minimum. As you see the first few hands of cards, you must quickly assess the make-up of the round and decide which type of sushi you'll go for. Then, each turn you'll need to weigh which cards to keep and which to pass on. The different scoring combinations allow for some clever plays and nasty blocks. Round to round, you must also keep your eye on the goal of having the most pudding cards at the end of the game!

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a standalone game in the Carcassonne series set in the stone age.

As in other Carcassonne games, players take turns placing tiles to create the landscape and placing meeples to score points from the map they're creating. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Instead of cities, roads, and farms, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers has forests, rivers, lakes, and meadows. Players' meeples can represent hunters (when placed in the meadows), gatherers (in a forest), or fishermen (on a river segment). They also have huts, which can be placed on rivers or lakes to get fish from the entire river system.

It includes many of the familiar mechanics from Carcassonne with a few new rules, including:
- A player who completes a forest with a gold nugget in it gets to immediately draw and place 1 of 12 bonus (menhir) tiles.
- A meadow is worth 2 points for every animal in it, except tigers, which negate certain other animals.
- A river segment is worth the number of tiles in the segment plus the number of fish in the lakes at each end.
- A fishing hut scores at the end of the game and is worth the number of fish in all the lakes connected by rivers.

The Devir edition includes (the relevant part of) the Carcassonne: King & Scout expansion

In the 2020 edition
- Some of The Scout special tiles are transformed into menhir tiles of which there are more now.
- A deer scores 1 point, an aurochs 2 points and a mammoth 3 points on meadows.
- Rivers score for fish in the river segments as well, not only the fish in the lakes at each end. Fishing huts likewise.
- Players each get 3 huts instead of just 2.

San Juan is a card game based on Puerto Rico. The deck of 110 cards consists of production buildings (indigo, sugar, tobacco, coffee, and silver) and "violet" buildings that grant special powers or extra victory points. Cards from the hand can be either built or used as money to build something else; cards from the deck are used to represent goods produced by the production buildings, in which case they are left face-down. A seven-card hand limit is enforced once per round.

In each round (or governorship), each player in turn selects from one of the available roles, triggering an event that usually affects all players, such as producing goods or constructing buildings. The person who picks the role gets a privilege, such as producing more goods or building more cheaply.

Though similar in concept to Puerto Rico, the game has many different mechanisms. In particular, the game includes no colonists and no shipping of goods; goods production and trading are normally limited to one card per phase; and trades cannot be blocked. Victory points are gained exclusively by building, and the game ends as soon as one player has put up twelve buildings.

This second edition of San Juan includes all the cards of the original game as well as the additional building cards from the alea Treasure Chest but not the event cards from that expansion. This edition also contains a new building card not previously available: "The Hut," a building that grants a card when nothing is sold in the trader phase.

Through tactics and karma to wealth and fame...

In 16th century India, the powerful empire of the Great Moguls rises between the Indus and the Ganges rivers. Taking on the role of rajas and ranis – the country's influential nobles – players in Rajas of the Ganges race against each other in support of the empire by developing their estates into wealthy and magnificent provinces. Players must use their dice wisely and carefully plot where to place their workers, while never underestimating the benefits of good karma. Success will bring them great riches and fame in their quest to become legendary rulers.

Potion Explosion is a game for 2 to 4 players by Horrible Games.
It was designed by Lorenzo Silva, Andrea Crespi and Stefano Castelli.

Dear students, it's time for the final exams of the Potions class! The rules are always the same: Take an ingredient marble from the dispenser and watch the others fall. If you connect marbles of the same color, they explode and you can take them, too! Complete your potions using the marbles you collect, and drink them to unleash their magical power. Remember, though, that to win the Student of the Year award, being quick won't be enough: you'll also need to brew the most valuable potions in Potion Explosion!

Spexxx could be described as a combination of Yahtzee and Connect Four, but it's more than that. After a player rolls the 5 dice, (s)he places a cube on the board in the square that represents the rolled dice combination. The objective is to score the most points by placing cubes in squares. When players place three or more of their own cubes in a row, they score points. They can take a risk by aiming for difficult combinations and score more points accordingly. The game ends when all players' last cubes are placed on the board.

Rallyman: GT is a Roll and Move racing game that will have you rolling dice and pushing your luck to be the first over the finish line!

Will you risk it all to win?

THE GAME

The base mechanics of Rallyman GT are simple. You have 6 Gear dice, representing the gears of your car. You'll be rolling these dice to move, and each one allows you to move 1 space along the track.

The dice must be rolled in ascending and/or descending order, and each die can only be rolled once per turn.

You also have a Coast dice that allow you to maintain your current speed, which can help you wring a few extra spaces of movement out of your turn.

If there's a sharp corner coming up, you can use Brake dice to drastically reduce your speed, but beware, they also make maneuvers more dangerous.

Each die has a certain number of Warning symbols. If you get 3 in one roll, you'll spin out! Losing control of your car will lose you time and distance, and even causing damage to your vehicle.

You can choose to play it safe by rolling your dice one by one. If the warning symbols start stacking up, you can end your turn whenever you choose without suffering any consequences.

Rallyman GT is a fast, exciting racing game with simple mechanics and rules. The Hexagonal tiles allow players to create their own tracks in a flash.

—description from the publisher

High-stakes bidding on million-dollar race cars. Frantic bets placed in secret even as the cars race around the track. And to the victor, the biggest purse of all. But in the world of motor racing, the margin between victory and defeat can be a single moment: a steep banked turn, tires screaming and spitting out smoke, and the downforce, pressing you down in your seat and keeping you on the track as you make your move inside to pull ahead.

Downforce is a card-driven bidding, racing, and betting game for 2-6 players based on Top Race, the award-winning design by the legendary Wolfgang Kramer. Players first bid to own the six cars in the race, then they play cards from their hand to speed them around the track. However, most cards will also move their opponents' cars. So figuring out just the right time to play a card is the key to victory. Along the way, players make secret bets on who they think will win the race. Whoever has the most money from their prize money, winning bets, and remaining bank wins.

This is a game whose design needed no attention. Years of play and multiple versions have honed it to near perfection. On the contrary, one of the design challenges was figuring which of the many rules modules to incorporate to create the most fun version. Downforce also adds variable player powers to improve replayability. But mostly, it improves the look of the game to make it gorgeous and easy to play. Special attention was paid to the colors, the layout of the cards, the design of the cars, the details on the board, and more.

The "Stone Age" times were hard indeed. In their roles as hunters, collectors, farmers, and tool makers, our ancestors worked with their legs and backs straining against wooden plows in the stony earth. Of course, progress did not stop with the wooden plow. People always searched for better tools and more productive plants to make their work more effective.

In Stone Age, the players live in this time, just as our ancestors did. They collect wood, break stone and wash their gold from the river. They trade freely, expand their village and so achieve new levels of civilization. With a balance of luck and planning, the players compete for food in this pre-historic time.

Players use up to ten tribe members each in three phases. In the first phase, players place their men in regions of the board that they think will benefit them, including the hunt, the trading center, or the quarry. In the second phase, the starting player activates each of their staffed areas in whatever sequence they choose, followed in turn by the other players. In the third phase, players must have enough food available to feed their populations, or they face losing resources or points.