Simultaneous Action Selection

Legend has it that a long time ago, mankind was ignorant to the extent of not knowing how to count or tell the years apart. The ever-benevolent Jade Emperor wanted to help mankind out. From there, the idea of a twelve-year cycle and the naming of each year in the cycle after an animal was born.

But how should the Jade Emperor choose twelve animals from among so many animals in the living world, while remaining impartial? To resolve this equitably, the Jade Emperor decided to hold a race involving all animals on his birthday. The first twelve animals to cross the river and reach the Heavenly Palace will have a year named after them, in the order of how they finished the race. The race became known as The Great Race and the twelve-year cycle was named the Chinese Zodiac.

Race for the Chinese Zodiac is a board game that recreates The Great Race. Each player has a hand of eight action cards (numbered 1-8) as well as energy cards of different values and karma tokens. Each player selects one animal token and takes the corresponding animal card, which grants the player advantages during the race. All players place their animal token on the start space of the racetrack. Players assemble the dual-layered and double-sided action wheel that's used to determine the effectiveness of each action and place it in the center of the table.

On a turn, all players select an action card and an energy card from their hand, then they reveal these cards simultaneously. If the action card selected is one value lower than the player's previously played action card, the player must spend one karma token; if two or more values lower, they must spend two karma tokens. Players then resolve all played actions based on the orientation of the wheel, ideally gaining movement, new energy cards, and karma. Everyone places their played cards face up in front of themselves, then rotate the wheel clockwise by one space and start a new turn.

The first animal to complete the race earns the coveted right of having the first year of the Chinese Zodiac named after it!

—description from the publisher

In the world of Galecrest, sky pirates set sail on the winds in search of adventure, treasure, and glory. As an admiral, you command a vast and varied crew...but so do your rivals sailing other ships in the pirate fleet. Each day the fleet lands on a different island where you'll send a crew member to collect your share of the loot, hoping they'll return to boost your growing group of characters.

Libertalia was originally released in 2012. Ten years later, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest celebrates the foundations of the original design with a revised and expanded edition that includes all-new art, 40 characters per player, a reputation system to resolve tiebreakers, deluxe loot tokens, a robust solo mode, and much more.

—description from the publisher

Gutenberg is a board game for 1-4 people in which players will play as the pioneers of printing in the 15th century. By carrying out orders, they will build their wealth and fame. By improving their printing workshops and gaining the support of patrons, they will develop their production capacity. The game will be won by a printer who boasts the greatest recognition and wealth.

By bidding for specific actions, players will develop their workshop, acquire new fonts, inks and decorations. The unique system of rotating gears allows you to combine bonuses and earn a large number of points.

The game is won by the player with the most points after six rounds.

The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is able to use.

A Type I civilization, also called a Planetary civilization — can use and store all of the energy available on its planet.

A Type II civilization, also called a Stellar civilization — can use and control energy at the scale of its planetary system.

A Type III civilization, also called a Galactic civilization — can use and control energy at the scale of its entire host galaxy.

Race your neighboring planets for control of the galaxy by achieving technological and cultural advancements that harness the energy of your people and your planet. Engage in conflict, trade, or research as a means to cultivate your civilization, capture the energy of your home star, and ultimately the energy of the entire galaxy! The most advanced civilization at the end of the game wins!

Each round, you'll choose one of four actions to perform at a Summit: collecting one of 3 types of resources or purchasing Advancements. In a rock-paper-scissors fashion, you will compare your chosen action to the actions chosen by your left and right neighbors. Win against one or both of them, and you'll collect 2 of your chosen resources. Tie and you'll gain 1. Lose, and you gain nothing. If you chose instead to Advance, you won't get any resources (and your neighbors will each gain 2 of their chosen resource), you will be able to purchase an Advancement card which will give you VPs and allow you to start building your engine. The game ends once one player reaches 25 or more VPs, and the player with the most points is the winner!

—description from the publisher

Darkness is a strategy card game set in ancient Northern Europe where druids vie for control of powerful artifacts. It's a simultaneous action game where players play a progressing amount of colored cards in order to acquire unclaimed artifacts and relics, in a complex, and fun game of prediction, observation, and thought.

Game play takes place over the course of six rounds. In each round player try to acquire cards that give them end game points, and special abilities. The objective of the game is to score the most points at the end.

Each round is separated into four phases. In the first phase, players place three of their colored cards from their hand in front of them, face down. Then everybody reveals their cards.

Next, everybody places two cards down in front of them, and then reveals those. Then players play one final card face down and reveal that one, for a total of six revealed cards. Finally, there is a resolution phase where the players determine who has the largest amount of dominant, and sub-dominant colors for each of the available artifacts, and they are divided up accordingly.

Players have the same hand of 15 cards throughout the course of the game, thus limited luck. The 15 cards a comprised of five colors, with three cards of each color. Once a card is played during a round, it is put back in a player's hand at the end of the round and can be played again.

On each artifact card this is a dominant, and sub-dominant color. The card goes to the player that has played the most color cards that match the dominant color. In the case of a tie, the player with the largest number of color cards played that match the sub-dominant color gets the card. The reason the game is complex and fun is, there are many different dominant and sub colors on the board at the same time, and people have to predict what other people are going for based on set collection, and the optimization of color specialization.

The game ends after six rounds. The person who wins is the person with the most number of points, which is determined by how much of a type a player has in each of their sets, and how many gem relics they have.