Coming
in January!
PGSLDR00101
Gear
& Piston
$55.00
SRP
SDI
It
is 1888, and everywhere you turn, people are talking about the horseless
carriage. They are also talking about Jenatzy and Cugnot, Benz and Diesel,
Atkinson and Butler – visionaries now remembered for their passion to create,
to progress, and to succeed.
But
this game is not about them, these giants of engineering. No, in Gear &
Piston, you play one of the unsung heroes of history, an engineer of meagre
means but great ambition, trying to build a prototype for picky investors
seeking to profit from the future of transport. Will you make a name for
yourself as an automotive pioneer, change the history of motorized
transportation, and win the race that is Gear and Piston? With a lot of skill
and a little luck, maybe. If nothing else, try not to blow yourself up in the
process.
In
the game, each player builds an automobile prototype by taking actions in
different locations. You may patent brand-new parts in the Patent Office, look
for rejected, volatile pieces of machinery in the chaos of the Junk Yard, try
to gain an edge through the Back Alley, and finally build your prototype in the
Workshop. All this just to please the two investors who are doing the rounds of
the different engineering outfits, and who will be evaluating your rickety mess
of an automobile. Good timing, keeping an eye on your competitors, and even a
dash of luck are all you need to succeed in this business. So grab a wrench,
some elbow grease, and your wits, and put some gears and pistons together!
2-6
players
Ages
8+
30-60
minute play time
PGSLDR00102
Byzantio
$55.00
SRP
SDI
Byzantio
is a game of medieval intrigue in the east in which players take the role of
the heads of the main Byzantine dynasties, and scheme to choose the successor
to the imperial throne.
In
the 11th century A.D. the empire is torn between four factions, two of them
provincial, military aristocracies (the houses of Comnenid and Phocas) and two
of them urban, secular aristocracies (the houses of the Dukes and Angels). It
is 1025, and the emperor Basileios II has ascended into the heavens without
providing for an heir. In Constantinople, representatives from the most
important aristocratic families vie for their favored to inherit the Emperor’s
ring and throne.
It
is a futile and petty dispute as each family is not about to surrender the
throne to any of the others, but they ultimately decide that the winner will be
the one who’s supported by most of the wealthiest cities of the empire. Every
ambitious successor raises the banner of his dynasty and begins the struggle to
win over the cities that will secure him the throne.
Each
family secretly chooses seven imperial cities that they will seek to control
through the actions available to them: Commandment, Diplomacy, Exile, Trade,
Garrison, Espionage, and Corruption. May the rightful heir arise!
2-4
players
Ages
10+
30-60
minute play time
PGSNSK006
Progress:
Evolution of Technology
$59.00
SRP
SDI
Progress:
Evolution of Technology is 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.
Unlike
other civilization games, Progress focuses on a single aspect of civilization
building: researching technologies that help a society advance. The 210
technology cards in the game are divided into three ages (Ancient, Middle Ages,
Industrial) and three types (Military, Science and Culture). With every
advancement on a path, you gain easier access to its more advanced technologies
and you’ll end up opening the door to the next age.
Each
tech card provides one bonus, which can vary from one extra knowledge to a
larger hand size. Even though most tech cards in the game come in multiple
copies (usually one per player), the key technologies occur less frequently,
forcing players to specialize and granting them unique advantages. Every
technology you research decreases the cost of up to three more advanced
technologies, accelerating the race towards the end of the game.
The
game play is streamlined, with players usually taking two actions, thus making
each turn short and ensuring that you use the time when the others are playing
for planning rather than seeing it as downtime.
1-5
players
Ages
12+
90
minute play time
PGSLDR145000
[redacted]
$55.00
SRP
SDI
[redacted]
is a game of spycraft, intrigue, betrayal, and bluffing set in the golden age
of the cold war, when men knew how to drink a Martini, and women knew not to
trust a man who claimed to know how to drink a Martini.
In
this cold war game, spies must infiltrate the embassy during the reception that
the ambassador holds every year to show how important he is. Moving from room
to room, they have to recover files and escape in the helicopter, or make sure
that the other side’s pilots have a really bad day.
While
interacting with each other, the players seek to interrogate, steal or injure
when they can. With a double-blind interaction mechanism that never really lets
the tension ebb, a skilled agent will need to do a lot more than see through a
bluff if they want to win.
2-6
players
Ages
12+
45-90
minute play time
PGSNSK007
Versailles
$55.00
SRP
SDI
In
Versailles, players become master builders competing over the favor of King
Louis XIV and the title of main architect of the legendary palace. On every
turn, a player moves their workers through a network of locations. Each
location provides valuable resources, or a way to spend those resources on
tiles. These tiles represent parts of the palace, its surrounding gardens, and
decorations and technologies to bolster gathering and building abilities. A
unique movement and location activation system requires clever workforce
management, which makes every move count and makes every game tense right to
the end...when a single master builder is chosen to be the King’s personal
architect.
2-5
players
Ages
12+
45-75
minute play time
Street
Date: February 13th!
PGSARG0015
Yunnan
$50.00
SRP
SDI
Yunnan
- home of the delicious (and hard to get) Pu’er tea. For more than 1000 years,
the tea dynasties have been providing this sought-after good via their horse
caravans to faraway Tibet. A network of paths and roads leading through the
jungles of Yunnan, the steppes of Sichuan and over the peaks of the Himalaya -
the Tea-Horse Road is the traditional travel route of the tea traders.
In
Yunnan, players control the fate of their tea dynasties. Their main goal is to
establish a broad and secure trading network to deliver the tea to the farthest
provinces...and doing it better than their opponents. The main work behind the
scenes is done in Pu’er, their home location: New traders need to be trained,
better horses need to be acquired, and a good number of border passes need to
be requested to be able to reach the farthest provinces.
However,
mere trading is not enough to beat the competition. Great social influence and
building a prestigious tea house may come in handy to sway the province
inspector. Bridges provide shortcuts and trading posts in faraway places secure
the own path along the Tea- Horse Road.
Yunnan
is perfect for players who like tactical development games. Due to the
interleaving game mechanisms, the players are involved in the game at all
times. The great variety of available actions allows for different strategies.
Only the player who calculates really tough, goes against the proper opponents
and reacts to the actions of the other players swiftly and effectively will win
this game -- which uses no elements of chance.
3-5
players
Ages
12+
90
minute play time
PGSARG1003
Hansa
Teutonica
$50.00
SRP
SDI
The
Hanseatic League (also known as Hansa Teutonica) was a spectacular medieval
alliance between merchant guilds of cities in lower Germany, which quickly
exploded into the North Sea and Baltic Sea as well. Many of the participating
cities became very fabulously wealthy and powerful, and proudly proclaimed
themselves “Hansa cities.”
Players
compete for wealth and prestige as merchants in the Hanseatic League. Players
may set up a network of branch offices in as many cities as possible in an
effort to expand their base of power, but they must also develop their talents
and trading skills if they wish to be the best and take down the opposition.
Developing
trading skills allows players to become more efficient in their activities.
They may gain additional actions, higher income, new privileges, and improved
prestige point return. Developing a preferred profile will create an
advantageous position that will be paramount in developing a winning strategy
against the other players.
Hansa
Teutonica is very open to players’ preferred strategies, and gives players the
freedom they need to maneuver their way to the top. Clever use of traders,
perpetual observation of opponents’ activities, continuous improvement of
skills, and the well-timed use of prestigious activities are key to becoming
the most successful merchant in the history of the Hanse.
2-5
players
Ages
12+
45-90
minute play time
PGSARG1002
El
Gaucho
$50.00
SRP
SDI
In
El Gaucho, you take the role of a cattle baron bent on sending your gauchos to
the Pampa to collect as many of the best-looking cattle they can find.
Gauchos
exercise their abilities at the dice rodeo. The better they do during training,
the easier they’ll catch cattle in the field. Players must be smart and get in
their opponents’ way with mean tricks -- snatching the most valuable cattle
from under their noses, or swinging a lasso to abduct their animals.
Back
at the ranch, players must sort their cattle and assemble them in herds in
order to sell them for as many Pesos as possible!
2-4
players
Ages
10+
60 minute play time
