Order of the Gilded Compass is a dice assignment game for 2-5 players. In this game, each player takes on the role of a treasure hunter seeking invitation to join the most prestigious of archaeological secret societies. Players scour the globe to unearth fantastic and valuable artifacts. By assigning their archaeologist dice to the right locations at the right time, players acquire treasure maps and specialists to follow them, dive for sunken treasure, acquire rare finds at the auction house, and even enlist the help of the Illuminati. The player who has the most treasure at the end of the game earns an invitation to The Order of the Gilded Compass and wins.

Order of the Gilded Compass uses a variable set-up in order to create fresh and interesting game play experiences. Each game has five locations in play to which players may assign their dice for various kinds of treasures and bonuses, and the game includes nine different buildings to allow for many unique combinations.

Battle the elements in Waypoints as you hike through a landscape of mountains, valleys, lakes, and woodlands. Climb vast summits or take to the rivers, marking your route and recording your experiences as you go.

Each turn, a die is rolled which determines the weather for that hike and how much time is left of the day. Clear skies mean good hiking, while snow or rain will slow you down. With the weather set, all players simultaneously mark a route on their player sheet, moving from waypoint to waypoint. Mountains and valleys are harder to traverse, but the rewards may be worth it.

After four days, each player will have a unique map of their hike, scoring points for animals and features they have encountered.

-description from publisher

HexRoller is a roll-and-write game in which each round players draft two of the dice rolled, then fill in spaces on a hexagonal grid, attempting to both complete regions and create lines of identical numbers in order to maximize their score. Who can use their bonuses at the right time to zoom into the lead?

Redevelopment of Lost Cities, first published with altered rules as Keltis, and then published by Rio Grande as Lost Cities: The Board Game with Knizia's original rules and theme.


Reiner Knizia: "The original version that we developed is exactly what Jay [Tummelson, owner of Rio Grande Games] has now published [LCBG]"


Primary differences between Lost Cities: The Board Game and Keltis:

1. In LCBG you play 3 rounds, scoring at the end of all 3 for the monuments you collect. (Normal scoring occurs each round.) In Keltis, you only play 1 round, and score everything each round. This is not just a rule difference, as the scoring is different for the monuments/stones based on the number collected.

2. In Keltis, you may play your cards in either order, descending, high to low, or ascending, low to high. In LCBG, you must play in ascending order.

Note: the rules for LCBG have the Keltis rules as variants, and have the board elements necessary for #1 above. Keltis does not have the rules nor board elements to play LCBG.


Kosmos (Keltis publisher) changed the card play to ascending and descending order to lower the luck level and add balance to the game.
Kosmos changed the theme to fit in with other Kosmos abstract game series.


There are more differences, which are non-substantive. Lost Cities: The Board Game has a different-looking board, tiles and figures (meeples) to connect with its predecessor. Card-play in descending order is an optional variant in this edition. The numbers have been multiplied by 5 to strengthen the relation to the card game, and instead of a scoring track you collect your points as golden coins.


From the Keltis entry:

Players play cards to move their playing pieces along stone paths. There are cards with 5 different colors/symbols, each corresponding to one path; in addition, each card shows a number (0-10, twice each). In each color, each player can play his cards either ascending or descending. Like Lost Cities, it's better to concentrate on a few paths, since the last spaces grants high points, but ending early gives negative ones.

The player in turn plays one card (out of a hand of 8), or discards one. He moves the corresponding playing piece on the path. Many of the spaces have a token that grants some bonus - either direct points (counted on the scoring track), an extra move on a path, or wish stones that are needed at game end to avoid negative points.

The game ends when a total of 5 playing pieces have reached the 7th space (or more) on their paths. Now, scoring happens:


Pieces which only moved 1-3 steps give negative points (-4, -3, -2).
Pieces with 4+ steps grant points (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10).
One piece of each player is higher and scores double.
Fewer than two wish stones grants negative points (-3 / -4)
5+ wish stones yield a bonus of 10 points.
All this is added to the points scored during the game

My City: Roll & Build is a dice game in which over four chapters, each with three episodes, you create a unique city. The roll of the dice shows everyone which building to draw on their game pad, and from episode to episode, you have to face new challenges. First the land is developed and later gold is found. This brings bandits into your city who must be surrounded and taken into custody.

You can play through the campaign or pick your favorite individual episodes or chapters to play over and over again.

The witch is finally going on holiday and will hand over the potion house to her best apprentice.

Choose how many ingredients your potions will contain.
Search the attic and memorise where they are hidden.
Make your potions using the magic wand.


Keep an eye on what your opponents are doing to make the best potions as fast as possible!

—description from the publisher

America in the 19th century: You are a rancher and repeatedly herd your cattle from Texas to Kansas City, where you send them off by train. This earns you money and victory points. Needless to say, each time you arrive in Kansas City, you want to have your most valuable cattle in tow. However, the "Great Western Trail" not only requires that you keep your herd in good shape, but also that you wisely use the various buildings along the trail. Also, it might be a good idea to hire capable staff: cowboys to improve your herd, craftsmen to build your very own buildings, or engineers for the important railroad line.

If you cleverly manage your herd and navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of Great Western Trail, you surely will gain the most victory points and win the game.

The second edition of Great Western Trail includes solitaire rules, making for a player count of 1-4.

Second Edition:
Remember the old days in the West? Well, the times they are a-changing’! From new solo opponent to incredible landscapes, you won't know where to start. And there is a new herd of cows for you to sell!

Great Western Trail is the critically acclaimed game of cattle ranching by Alexander Pfister. Players attempt to wrangle their herd across the Midwest prairie and deliver it to Kansas City. But beware! Other cowboys are sharing the trail with you. We invite you to saddle up!

The changes in the Second edition:


Brand New Artwork by Chris Quilliams
Solo Mode: A New Challenger in the West
Dual-Layered Player Boards
Addition of a new breed of cows: The Simmental breed
Two new reversible buildings (#11 & 12)
Twelve Exchange Tokens, First introduced in the Rails of North Expansion, for more interaction with other players
Four new Master Tiles added for more strategy, replayability, and challenges


—description from the publisher

SCOUT is a ladder-climbing game in which cards have two potential values, players may not rearrange their hand of cards, and players may pass their turn to take a card from the current high set of cards into their hand.

More specifically, cards are dual-indexed, with different values on each half of the card, with the 45 cards having all possible combinations of the numbers 1-10. During set-up, whoever is shuffling the cards should randomize both the order of the cards in the deck and their orientation. Once each player has been dealt their entire hand of cards, they pick up that hand without rearranging any of the cards; if they wish, they can rotate their entire hand of cards in order to use the values on the other end of each card, but again they cannot rearrange the order of cards in their hand.

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

• Play: A player chooses one or more adjacent cards in their hand that have all the same value or that have values in consecutive order (whether ascending or descending), then they play this set of cards to the table. They can do this only if the table is empty (as on the first turn) or the set they're playing is ranked higher than the set currently on the table; a set is higher if it has more cards or has cards of the same value instead of consecutive cards or has a set of the same quantity and type but with higher values. In this latter case when a player overplays another set, the player captures the cards in this previous set and places them face down in front of themselves.

• Scout: A player takes a card from either end of the set currently on the table and places it anywhere they wish in their hand in either orientation. Whoever played this previous set receives a 1 VP token as a reward for playing a set that wasn't beaten.

Once per round, a player can scout, then immediately play.

When a player has emptied their hand of cards or all but one player have scouted instead of playing, the round ends. Players receive 1 VP for each face-down card, then subtract one point for each card in their hand (except if they were the player scouted repeatedly to end the game). Play as many rounds as the number of players, then whoever has the most points wins.

Orchards is a strategic card game in which players will plant, grow, harvest and sell fruit in order to fulfil orders from the market. Each order fulfilled earns the player victory points. At the end of the game the player with the most points wins.

Plant the domino-shaped cards in a grid to form the orchard. Grow by adding cards to your hand matching the cards adjacent to the one planted. Harvest fruit by enclosing a card of that type within the orchard. Sell harvested fruit at the market to earn victory points and win the game.

—description from the publisher

October 1888: During the construction of the Metropolitan Police headquarters near Whitehall, which would later be known as Scotland Yard, the remains of a body were found. In September, a severed arm had already been discovered in the muddy shore of the River Thames.

There is another murderer roaming the streets of London in Whitehall, amusing himself by spreading the pieces of a poor woman around Whitehall, like some kind of macabre treasure hunt. The identity of this monster and his unfortunate victim are a mystery, the Whitehall Mystery.

The fun mint-tin sized dexterity game that gamers and non-gamers will love!

Tinderblox sets players in a campfire setting, where each player will attempt to grow the fire. But watch out! Place the blocks badly and you risk burning down the camp!

Each turn, players draw a card from the campfire deck which instructs them to place a log, an ember, or any combination of them in various orientations on top of the campfire. Players use tweezers to "play with fire" and if you drop anything, you're considered a fire hazard and you're removed from the game. The player who is the most careful with fire wins!

Differences between Tinderblox Day, Night and Sunset:
Tinderblox Day is the original game.
Tinderblox Night is a limited edition version which includes more challenging cards.
Tinderblox Sunset includes the Marshmallow mini-expansion (otherwise sold separately) and is made from FSC-compliant materials.

In Ligretto, each player has their own deck of forty cards, with cards 1-10 in four colors and a unique symbol on the back to identify which cards are theirs. At the start of each round, each player lays out 3-5 cards (depending on the number of players) face up in front of them to create their row; places a face-up stack of ten cards, seeing only the top card, next to their row to create their Ligretto stack; and holds the remaining cards in hand face down.

Playing at the same time, each player tries to empty their Ligretto stack. If a player has a 1 card on top of any face-up stack, they play it to the center of the table. If they have a 2 card of the same color as any 1 in the center of the table, they can place the 2 card on the 1. All cards in the central piles must be played in ascending order and must be the same color.

If a player can't play anything, they can reveal cards from the stack in their hand, counting them out in groups of three, then laying them face up while revealing only the top card. They can play this top card onto a central pile as long as the rules for doing so are met.

As soon as a player empties their Ligretto stack, the round ends. Each player scores 1 point for each of their cards among the central piles, then loses 2 points for each card remaining in their Ligretto stack. In some versions of the game, the player with the highest score wins; in other versions, players then sort all the cards and play another round, with the first player to reach 99 points winning.

A rules variant for Ligretto allows a player to play cards from their Ligretto stack or the cards in hand onto the cards in their row, but only if the numbers are in descending order and the colors of adjacent cards are not identical.

Point Salad is a fast and fun card drafting game for the whole family. There are over 100 ways to score points. Players may use a variety of strategies and every game of Point Salad is unique!

Cards come in six different types of veggies, and the back of each card has a different scoring method. So for instance, one scoring method may award 2 points for every carrot you have, but deduct a point for every onion. By drafting combinations of veggies and point cards that work for your strategy, you can amass the most points and win.

—description from the publisher

Choose your dice cleverly in Ganz schön clever (German for "That's Pretty Clever") to enter them into the matching colored areas on your score sheet, putting together tricky chain-scoring opportunities, and racking up the points! The dice you don't use are as important as those you do, because every die with a lower value than the chosen one can be used by the other players, keeping everyone in the game at all times.

The fierce and friendly pick and pass card game.

Collect enclosures, rescue animals and install upgrades over 3 years and build the highest scoring wildlife park you can in this fast paced card game. Don't let the cutesy looks fool you into thinking this is going to be easy though! Can you keep the Lions away from the Anteaters on the Savannah plains? Are your sloths lonely or living a happy life on an Open-Air island? Your Zuuli adventure awaits!

—description from the publisher

The city of London has commissioned you to redesign its underground network! Optimise connections, serve as many sights as possible and exploit the tunnels that pass under the Thames. Be careful to respect the specifications set by the city.


Reveal the next Station card.
Draw a new section
Optimise the 4 tube lines


Who will be the best project manager?

Which of you will be the best project manager?

—description from the publisher

The residents of Town 66 can't stand it when houses with the same shape or color are lined up with each other. Try to build as many houses as you can while keeping in mind which houses in your hand can be built at the end.

In Town 66, each player has a hand of tiles, with each tile showing one of six house styles in one of six colors/patterns. (The color/pattern of a tile also shows on its reverse side.) The game has 36 tiles in total, one of each possible combination.

The first player places a tile in the upper-left corner of an imaginary 6x6 square, then on each subsequent turn a player adds a tile to a row or column in this square so long as this tile is adjacent to at least one other tile and the color/house style isn't already present in this row and column. After playing a tile, a player can choose to draw anew tile or not. If you play your final tile, you win, but if you don't draw new tiles, you might find yourself unable to play!

Artisan dragons, the smaller and magically talented versions of their larger (and destructive) cousins, are sought by shopkeepers so that they may delight customers with their flamecraft. You are a Flamekeeper, skilled in the art of conversing with dragons, placing them in their ideal home and using enchantments to entice them to produce wondrous things. Your reputation will grow as you aid the dragons and shopkeepers, and the Flamekeeper with the most reputation will be known as the Master of Flamecraft.

In Flamecraft, 1-5 players take on the role of Flamekeepers, gathering items, placing dragons and casting enchantments to enhance the shops of the town. Dragons are specialized (bread, meat, iron, crystal, plant and potion) and the Flamekeepers know which shops are the best home for each. Visit a shop to gain items and a favor from one of the dragons there. Gathered items can be used to enchant a shop, gaining reputation and the favors of all the dragons in the shop. If you are fortunate enough to attract fancy dragons then you will have opportunities to secure even more reputation.

—description from publisher

From the nine fields of the Sudoku Moyo board, each player receives four areas. The remaining field is a common area, which is filled at the beginning of the game. Then each player in turn, sets numbers into his own areas, according to the Sudoku rules: in each field, each line and each column, each number may occur only once. Each player tries to block his opponent from playing his numbers; if a player sets a number, his opponent cannot set the same number in his area in the same line. The winner is the player who can place the last number piece.

Online Play


Yucata (turn-based)

Machi Koro Legacy features the same gameplay as Machi Koro. You are still rolling dice, you are still collecting income, and you are still racing to build landmarks — but then you unlock the [censored] and you start earning a little extra income by [censored], and then you start to explore the [censored] and you have to make a choice between [censored] and [censored]. Even if you aren't in contention to win a given game, you still have [censored] to set up exciting [censored] for the next one. And then the [paragraph deleted]...

Machi Koro Legacy features a ten-game series that tells a complete story set in the world of Machi Koro in which player choices create a unique gameplay experience.

—description from the publisher