Liar's Dice, a.k.a. Bluff, Perudo or Dudo, is a South American dice game in which each player is given five dice and cup to roll and hide them with. Players make successively higher declarations regarding the results of all the dice remaining in the game, e.g. "there are ten sixes". However, someone can always contest the bid. When that happens, all the dice are revealed and either the bidder or the caller loses dice, depending on who was correct. The last player with dice is the winner.

As a public domain dice game, there are a number of variants or similar games called Liar's Dice. This includes one that is often played with Poker Dice, and differs from the marketed versions in that players only declare on their own hand's value (as opposed to all dice being in play), using poker-hand values.

Down Under is a tile placing game where players place their tiles trying to increase their route. The player with the longest route at game end is the winner. As tiles also contain animals, players score or lose extra points for having groups of specific animals in their route.

Down Under includes a separate game Sturt's Stony Desert, played using the flipside of the tiles. If you own Down Under, you own Sturt's Stony Desert.
user summary

Granada, 1278. At the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, one of the most exciting and interesting project of the Spanish Middle Ages begins: the construction of the ALHAMBRA.

The best master builders in the whole of Europe and Arabia want to demonstrate their skill. Employ the most suitable teams of builders and make sure that you always have enough of the right currency. Because no matter whether they are stonemasons from the north or horticulturalists from the south, they all want a proper wage and insist on their "native" currency. With their help towers can be constructed, gardens laid out, pavilions and arcades erected and seraglios and chambers built.

In Alhambra, players are acquiring buildings to be placed within their Alhambra complex.

The money in Alhambra comes in four different currencies and is available in the open money market. The 54 buildings of six types become available for purchase in the building market four at a time; one building is available in each of the four different currencies. On a player's turn, a player may 1) take money from the open money market, 2) purchase a building from the building market and either place it in his Alhambra or reserve, or 3) engage in construction and re-construction projects with buildings that have been placed in the player's Alhambra or reserve. The game rewards efficiency, as when a player purchases a building from the market for the exact amount of money, the player may take another turn.

Players with the most buildings in each of the six building types in his Alhambra score in each of the scoring phases, and points are awarded for players' longest external "wall" section within their complex. The game ends when the building market can no longer be replenished from the building tile supply, and there is a final scoring, whereupon the player with the highest score wins.

Integrates with:

Alhambra: The Dice Game (a variant in which you can combine Alhambra buildings with Alhambra dice.)

A light-security prisoner is trying to escape through tunnels starting underneath his cell. Will you be able to join forces and cards to stop him? Bandido is a cooperative game of strategy and observation for the entire family.

Can be combined with the sequel, Bandida.

Four Knonsters compete in a race in order to find out who is the fastest Knonster. Is it the anxious Rithle, the snappy Aristas, the self-confident Celya or the devious Elaari? Choose your two Favorites and help them to get a good rank in the race.

Gameplay:
The starting player is chosen randomly. Then, starting with the starting player, each player in clockwise order plays one of his cards and executes the instructions of the card. In most cases this means, that a certain Knonster will be moved forward a few steps. But there are cases where the card does not have an effect in the current game situation; in that case, no Knonster is moved. If a Knonster crosses the finish line after position 60, it will be placed on the best still available place on the podium. If a player has fewer than 5 hand cards, the player draws a card from the draw pile (if there are any cards left).

End of Game:
The game ends immediately after the third Knonster has crossed the finish line. Theoretically it can also happen, that the draw deck is depleted when a player is about to draw a card, but fewer than 3 Knonsters have reached the goal. In that case, the game also ends, but only for the Knonsters which have reached the goal the points will be distributed.

In Concept, your goal is to guess words through the association of icons. A team of two players – neighbors at the table – choose a word or phrase that the other players need to guess. Acting together, this team places pieces judiciously on the available icons on the game board.

To get others to guess "milk", for example, the team might place the question mark icon (which signifies the main concept) on the liquid icon, then cubes of this color on the icons for "food/drink" and "white". For a more complicated concept, such as "Leonardo DiCaprio", the team can use the main concept and its matching cubes to clue players into the hidden phrase being an actor or director, while then using sub-concept icons and their matching cubes to gives clues to particular movies in which DiCaprio starred, such as Titanic or Inception.

The first player to discover the word or phrase receives 2 victory points, the team receives points as well, and the player who ends up with the most points wins.

In Kingdom Builder, the players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming to earn the most gold at the end of the game.

Nine different kinds of terrain are on the variable game board, including locations and castles. During his turn, a player plays his terrain card and builds three settlements on three hexes of this kind. If possible, a new settlement must be built next to one of that player’s existing settlements. When building next to a location, the player may seize an extra action tile that he may use from his next turn on. These extra actions allow extraordinary actions such as moving your settlements.

By building next to a castle, the player will earn gold at the end of the game, but the most gold will be earned by meeting the conditions of the three Kingdom Builder cards; these three cards (from a total of ten in the game) specify the conditions that must be met in order to earn the much-desired gold, such as earning gold for your settlements built next to water hexes or having the majority of settlements in a sector of the board.

Each game, players will use a random set of Kingdom Builder cards (3 of 10), special actions (4 of 8), and terrain sectors to build the map (4 of 8), ensuring you won't play the same game twice!

Kingdom Builder FAQ - please read before posting questions in the forum.

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.

Gaïa is a 2-5 player game in which you create a world, instill life in it, build cities, try to satisfy their needs, and use godly powers to shape the world to your benefit.

In game terms, Gaïa involves tile placement, area control and influence with a twist of power cards. Each player has five wooden figures, and if you're the first to place all five of your figures on the board, you win!

Gaïa includes two levels of rules, with the basic rules allowing for play with those as young as eight thanks to the game's simple mechanisms and non-attacking nature. The advanced rules give you the opportunity to use godly powers — lightning, volcanoes, rain, sun, earthquakes, etc. — to shape the world after it has been created. You can even steal an opponent's cities, making it a more aggressive game with a higher level of strategy.

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)

Hanabi—named for the Japanese word for "fireworks"—is a cooperative game in which players try to create the perfect fireworks show by placing the cards on the table in the right order. (In Japanese, hanabi is written as 花火; these are the ideograms flower and fire, respectively.)

The card deck consists of five different colors of cards, numbered 1–5 in each color. For each color, the players try to place a row in the correct order from 1–5. Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite, as in this game you hold your cards so that they're visible only to other players. To assist other players in playing a card, you must give them hints regarding the numbers or the colors of their cards. Players must act as a team to avoid errors and to finish the fireworks display before they run out of cards.

An extra suit of cards, rainbow colored, is also provided for advanced or variant play.

Hanabi was originally published as part of Hanabi & Ikebana.

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.