Closed Drafting

Devious is an anti-set collection card game. Build the strongest faerie alliance over five rounds and claim the crown. To do so you must play and hold in your tableau a single faerie from each of the faerie tribes, of the highest rank possible. But be wary, a second faerie of a given tribe negates your score - and more than two plunges your score into the negatives. Seek only the highest ranking faerie from each tribe for the strongest alliance possible. But each tribe has a unique power and the ability to manipulate faeries from around the table, including your own. Gaining the upper hand will be both chaotic and devious.

To set up before the game, players decide which six faerie tribes to use in the game from the 13 suits included in the box. They can be mixed and matched so game play varies from game to game.

In each round, all players are dealt three cards. But interestingly, they are not yours, they are your opponents. You look at them, decide the order in which to stack them - and therefore in which order your opponent will later encounter them, then pass that stack in the direction of play. Likewise, you'll receive your stack in the same way.

Then look at the top card of the three-card stack and announce your intention to keep the card for your tableau or discard it, hoping for a better card your opponent may have buried deeper. If you choose to keep, discard the remaining stack of cards, without seeing them. If you choose to discard, look at the second card and choose to keep or discard. If the first two are discarded, the third card MUST be played. Did your opponent trick you into playing the worst card at the bottom of the stack. Was the best card the first card, which you discarded?

Once everyone has chosen their faerie card for the round, they are played in order of their Rank. The highest Rank plays their card into their tableau and executes the faerie's ability. Some Faerie Powers are only important for scoring purposes at the end of the game. Others have effects that target one or more faeries in play. A cunning player may choose to pass on a high ranking faerie for an ability that is more powerful when played later.

After the fifth round, players score each faerie suit in their alliances:

1 card of a Tribe: Score its Rank (from 1 to 5, depending on the card).
2 cards of the same Tribe: Score 0 points.
3-4 cards of a given Tribe: Lose points equal to the highest Ranking faerie in the Tribe.
5 or more cards of a Tribe: Score the summed value of all the fairies in the Tribe.
The player with the highest favor score wins.

Then, change the faerie bands in the deck, with their own unique powers for a new challenge and constant variety in play.

Nobura is a forgotten planet shrouded in mystery. The story told that a cosmic being sacrificed its divine essence to breathe life into its desolate lands. Etherstones shaped the planet's biomes and interconnected all living beings with nature. Yet, the lurking threat of the Vacuous, a parasitic force born from the depths of Nobura, poses a challenge to life on the surface, weaving a tale of divine sacrifice. Nobura has always been part of a paradoxical loop of life and death, where the forces of creation and destruction dance in an eternal cosmic struggle.

In Etherstone, players embody faction leaders uniting forces to avert the impending extinction, striving to gain the most victory points through various means, such as summoning cards, overcoming threats, and utilizing their abilities as effectively as possible.

The first stage of the game will be drafting your hand of 7 cards and your leader card. Alternatively, for the first few matches, players can take a pre-made hand of cards with the matching Leader. Leaders have a set number of life points, a strength value, and a persistent asymmetric ability.

During your turn, you can take only one action among the following: Dice Draft, Summon, Attack, Rest, Void Pact.

Players will win by gaining victory points while doing several different actions and the game will end if any of the end-game conditions are met:
The active player has no cards left in their hand.
There are no cards left in the Threat deck.
The victory point pool has no more tokens in it.

A certain something filled the air. While energizing the magic crystal in his wand, Orly suddenly felt a change he couldn’t name. Usually this ritual took only seconds before the crystal power kicked in. Not today … it took him minutes to obtain the desired power required to load his wand for the adventurous travel ahead of him. While waiting for the blessing of the crystal power he noticed something dark. Something was lurking in the mist absorbing the essential and much needed crystal power from the crystal fragments orbiting around their world, Amanaar. In light of the immense threat to their habitat, Orly decided to set off on a journey, visiting some of the remarkable creatures of Amanaar in order to seek out the dark power that threatens their very lives. Never in his humble existence would he have imagined that some of his friends would turn against him in a battle for the Lost Lights of Amanaar.

In Lost Lights, two players battle with their party of diverse animalistic characters for control over the Regions of Amanaar. In the beginning each player drafts 10 out of 27 beautifully and individually illustrated cards. On your turn you play a card from your hand and take a number of actions equal to the action point value on the card.

Actions allow you to reinforce your party with new followers or to move your followers between the Areas on the map. In Areas where both parties meet, you’ll battle each other. To resolve battles both of you secretly choose one character card from your hand as a leader in this battle, using their special ability. After the special abilities are resolved, your combined battle strength is added up. If you lose the battle, remove your party from the contested area. If you win you are now the dominant force in that area.

The game ends immediately if one of you has no party members left on the map or if both of you run out of cards. When the game ends you add up your scores for each Area. Whoever achieved the higher score wins.

—description from the publisher

In The Great Split, you draft cards to collect riches such as gems, gold, artwork, and tomes, adding them to your collection to make it the most prestigious of all!

You start each round by splitting your cards into two groups, then you pass your wallet to the player on your left — but only one group of cards will be given back to you. You split, they choose! Don't despair, though, because while your opponent is looking at your split, you also receive a similar offer from the player on your right, so choose wisely. When your hand is complete, play your cards to add all those riches to your collection.

Each type of riches awards you prestige points in different ways, so maintain a balanced collection of gems, keep an eye on the value of the art market as it evolves, and pile up priceless tomes. Depending on how each player builds their collection, different riches will take on a different value for each of them. Show off your best haggling skills in crafting your split, and create the perfect offer to push your opponent to take what you want them to take...leaving you with the tastiest loot!

Be prepared for when the mid-game scorings are triggered. Manage your gold reserves sensibly to get additional riches, and make your collection just right!

—description from publisher

Come Sail Away! is a board game for 1-4 players in which you compete to board passengers upon your luxury liner, bringing them to their favorite cabins and facilities. Players can enjoy a deliciously thoughtful and brightly illustrated game that is simple to learn, yet always challenging.

The aim of Come Sail Away is to guide passengers into your cruise ship as smoothly as possible, earning points in the process. In addition to earning points for filling each room on the ship, you can earn bonus points for filling certain rooms faster than other players. Further, by guiding passengers with luggage to their cabins, players can advance on the luggage track, allowing you to place additional small cabins, gain additional passengers, and earn bonus points. As the game progresses, it is also important to think ahead and make sure your ship has room for passengers, or else you will have a crowd of disgruntled passengers at hand!

---from the publisher