Have a view at which games were bought lately by the Club either during the Essen Fair or somewhere else.

Essen 2014 is now over and more than 800 new games were presented. The club has sent his emissaries to the fair and here is the loot they’ve brought back:

– Zombie 15′ : A frantic, scenario-based survival game in which time is scarce and cooperation is key. The game features easy rules but real choices to be made as quickly as possible if you don’t want to get overwhelmed by zombies!

– Deus : Players work to develop their own civilizations in a shared environment. Each player starts the game with five building cards, and on a turn a player either uses one of these cards to construct a building or discard one or more cards to make an offering to a god. Cards come in six colors: red for military, green for resource production, blue for trade, brown for scoring, purple for temples, and yellow for a variety of effects.

– Samurai Spirit : A co-operative game in which each player is a fierce samurai defending a village surrounded by a horde of bandits. The game plays out over three turns during which each player takes turns drawing bandit cards, then choosing whether they want to fight the bandit, defend the village, or let the bandit pass in order to help the other samurai.

– Hyperborea : A light civilization game that begins at the time when the magic barrier protecting access to the mythical continent of Hyperborea suddenly falls. Each player takes the role of the leader of a small kingdom situated just outside the now open to be conquered and explored land. Her kingdom has limited knowledge of housing, trade, movement, warfare, research, and growth, but new and exciting powers are hidden in Hyperborea. During the game, this kingdom will grow in numbers and raise armies, extend its territory, explore and conquer, learn new technologies, etc…

– Five Tribes : In a unique twist on the now-standard “worker placement” genre, the game begins with the meeples already in place – and players must cleverly maneuver them over the villages, markets, oases, and sacred places tiles that make up Naqala. How, when, and where you dis-place these Five Tribes of Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers determine your victory or failure.

– Black Fleet : In this tactical card-driven board game, you’re in command of three different types of ships: your merchant ship earns you doubloons by conveying goods from one port to another, your pirate ship by attacking and stealing goods from merchants and burying them on islands, and the Navy ships by sinking your opponents’ pirate ships. With your (not-always-honestly-won) money, you’ll improve your ships by buying advancement cards, giving you powerful additional abilities.

– Historia : A civilization game. A set of action cards is available to the players to guide their civilization, and used actions form a discard queue from which they are taken back into a player’s hand during the game. Wars and raids are carried out in a non-disruptive way. When modern times have been reached or the Singularity technology developed, the game ends and the player with the most VPs wins.

– Imperial Settlers : A card game that lets players lead one of the four factions and build empires by placing buildings, then sending workers to those buildings to acquire new resources and abilities. The game is played over five rounds during which players take various actions in order to explore new lands, build buildings, trade resources, conquer enemies, and thus score victory points.

– Istanbul : You lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge, though, is that to take an action, you must move your merchant and an assistant there, then leave the assistant behind (to handle all the details while you focus on larger matters). If you want to use that assistant again later, your merchant must return to that location to pick him up. Thus, you must plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything…

– Camel Up : Up to eight players bet on five racing camels, trying to suss out which will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. The earlier you place your bet, the more you can win — should you guess correctly, of course. Camels don’t run neatly, however, sometimes landing on top of another one and being carried toward the finish line. Who’s going to run when? That all depends on how the dice come out of the pyramid dice shaker, which releases one die at a time when players pause from their bets long enough to see who’s actually moving!

– Essen The Game : Spiel’13 : A strategy game where each player is a visitor at the International Game Fair of Essen. With your wishlist, face the crowd and make your way to the stands of your favorite publishers. However, beware that games availability is limited. To achieve your goals, you have to manage your budget and encumbering. The number of games that you carry will reduce your moves in the fair. You will need to come back to the parking lot to store your purchases in your car before getting back to the fair in search of that special game.

– Prohis : Each player embodies a smuggler who tries to make a fortune by transporting illegal goods — a highly precarious activity since the other players have the opportunity to check your cargo or even seize it if they find suspicious items. Each player starts with an Inspector, a Captain, and a hand of four cards, with the deck being comprised of legal goods, illegal goods, and Lieutenants. Four cards are placed face-up on the table. On a turn, a player either draws 1-2 cards from those on display or from the deck, or attempts to smuggle a convoy of 2-4 cards by placing them on the table face down.

– Concordia : A peaceful strategy game of economic development in Roman times. Instead of looking to the luck of dice or cards, players must rely on their strategic abilities. Be sure to watch your rivals to determine which goals they are pursuing and where you can outpace them! In the game, colonists are sent out from Rome to settle down in cities which produce bricks, food, tools, wine, and cloth. Each player starts with an identical set of playing cards and acquires more cards during the game.

– Progress : Evolution of Technology : A card game about researching technologies. Each player takes his civilization from early antiquity and learns various technologies, moving progressively to the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, and Modern Times and ending with today’s Internet or Social Welfare.

– Defenders of the Realm :  A cooperative fantasy board game in which players take a role as one of the King’s Champions (Choose from Cleric, Dwarf, Eagle Rider, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Wizard). You, as one of the King’s Heroes make use of strategy, special abilities, cooperation, card play and a little luck in Defenders of the Realm for a unique experience every adventure. But be forewarned! There is never time to rest. As each Enemy General is struck down in battle, the remaining dark forces only grow more difficult to vanquish and their march to Monarch City gets faster with each Hero victory!

– City of Iron : Compete to build up a small nation in a world of machines, magic, and money. Become the leader of one of four rival nations: the industrious humans, the toad engineers, the scholarly Cresarians, or the clever hogmen. Produce goods like machine parts and bottled demons to gain wealth, or research steam-age technology and recruit mercenaries to control the continent. If you want to establish new cities, you’ll build schooners or airships to reach faraway lands and flying islands. Your cities have limited capacity, so you’ll have to decide what to keep and what to demolish when building advanced structures. The future of a nation is in your hands. Build unbreakable foundations for an empire or disappear into the dusty pages of history.

– Aristo-Maze : Players are influential aristocrats who are now given the chance to seize some of the legendary loot for themselves. You must hire teams of adventurers and send them into the dangerous trap-filled catacombs to bring back your fortune.

– Blekoteco : Mental agility Game for all ages. Answers before time runs out the four responses to the initial guilding you each die, or think about it more and accounts for as many points as possible.

– Duelo the Game : You’re in the Wild West, a ruthless place where only the toughest survive and get the reward. Will you be the fastest in the duel? Will you know play the right weapons at the right time? The purpose of the game is to defeat your opponents and be the only one to survive.

The following games were also bought in the last months :

– Tales of the Arabian Night : You are the hero or heroine in a story of adventure and wonder just like those told by Scheherazade to her spellbound sultan! You will travel the land seeking your own destiny and fortune. You will learn stories and gain wisdom to share with others. Will you be the first to fulfill your destiny? The next Tale is yours to tell! There is, of course, a winner in Tales of the Arabian Nights, but the point of the game is less to see who wins and more to enjoy the unfolding and telling of a great story!

– Heroes of Normandie : A miniatures game without miniatures. A fast-paced WW2 strategy wargame inspired by Hollywood war movies. A tactical scale board-game opposing two players and two armies, with the Germans on one side and the Americans on the other. Players use order tokens to determine initiative and to bluff. While a single six-sided die determines combat, action cards are played to spice things up. Secretly plan your attacks and outwit your opponent. Block the opposing strategy and surprise the enemies. Deploy your units and don’t turn back!

– Alchemists : Budding alchemists compete to discover the secrets of their mystical art. Points can be earned in various ways, but most points are earned by publishing theories – correct theories, that is — and therein lies the problem.

– Tragedy Looper : A scenario-based deduction game: one mastermind and one to three protagonists. The game consists of four location boards and a number of character cards. Each scenario features a number of characters, hidden roles for these characters (serial killer, conspiracy theorist, friend), and some pre-set tragedies (murder, suicide).

– Eldritch Horror : A cooperative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas.

– The Last Banquet : The king is holding a great banquet for all the nobles in the realm so that they can bathe in his splendour. Artists and troubadours will bring the necessary entertainment. It is meant to be a feast that will long be remembered! The guests attending the feast hall feel the same, for in the corners of the castle deadly plots are being developed. The guests are divided into two factions, with both planning to “dismiss” the king. One faction plans to smuggle a dagger into the feast hall to “open the king’s heart to the realm” at the right time, while the other faction hopes to give the king “renewed motivation” with a poisoned drink.

– Dead of Winter : A Crossroads Game : A meta-cooperative psychological survival game. This means players are working together toward one common victory condition — but for each individual player to achieve victory, he must also complete his personal secret objective. This secret objective could relate to a psychological tick that’s fairly harmless to most others in the colony, a dangerous obsession that could put the main objective at risk, a desire for sabotage of the main mission, or (worst of all) vengeance against the colony! Certain games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Work toward the group’s goal, but don’t get walked all over by a loudmouth who’s looking out only for his own interests!

– Krosmaster : Arena – Frigost : Welcome to Frigost. Home of the cold-hearted Count Harebourg and the site of the first Extension for Krosmaster: Arena. The Demons of the Hours and Minutes have selected this desolate region as your next battleground and they are particularly excited for the new dangers awaiting you. Give them a good show, but be sure to keep your head!

All the games are or will be soon available in our cupboards.

Presentations of the games will be organized during the coming months on request so feel free to ask José, Ciro, Jean, David or Renaud if interested.