Tile Placement

Saboteur: The Lost Mines

Saboteur: The Lost Mines is a board game inspired by the famous Saboteur card game. While it uses ideas of the basic game, the expansion, and the two-player game, it is also very different.

In this game, players are divided in two clans; each clan contains loyal dwarves, selfish dwarves, and a saboteur, secretly working for the opposite clan. Players have their own pawn, and the dwarves must move over the paths in order to physically reach the four goal cards, one of which contains a sleeping dragon that you don't want to wake, so try to avoid that one, if possible. The (non-dragon) goal cards yield a variable number of points, depending on the displayed, but secret, treasure cards.

Sabotage isn't performed against a specific player, but directly on the board by playing blocking path cards or adding tokens. In this way, the sabotage affects always all players, including yourself. As opposed to Saboteur: The Duel, path cards you play don't have to be linked to your own start card, which offers many more sabotage options. Even so, no player is ever out of the game, either temporarily or permanently.

—description from the designer

Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon

From the award-winning designer Bruno Cathala, Ishtar is a game in which you play the role of a gardener aiming to transform the dry desert into the Lost Hanging Gardens of Babylon. To accomplish your mission, you will have to plant flowers, which, if you place them well, can help you gather precious gems and activate actions. Whether to buy Trees (which will block the link between two Flower spots, as well as earning you points) or to purchase upgrades (such as getting two more points per Tree card at the end of the game), collecting gems will be a crucial part of the game. Get them before your opponents, recruit apprentices, send them to earn points in the copses of flowers you have created, block others and think carefully of the upgrades to purchase if you want to become the best gardener at the end of the game!

—description from the publisher

Climbers

They gazed at the large structure of colorful blocks neatly stacked before them. The goal was simple: climb to the highest level possible. Getting there was more challenging than originally thought. Only one climber will make it to the top. Will it be you?

Your goal is to climb to the highest level of the structure. To help with your climb, you may move and rotate blocks. Ladders can be used to climb large distances. Your blocking disk will prevent other players from using a specific block. Use your tools wisely and at the right time to make the best possible moves in your adventure to the top!

Tapestry

Tapestry is a two-hour game for 1-5 players designed by Jamey Stegmaier.

Create the civilization with the most storied history, starting at the beginning of humankind and reaching into the future. The paths you choose will vary greatly from real-world events or people — your civilization is unique!

In Tapestry, you start from nothing and advance on any of the four advancement tracks (science, technology, exploration, and military) to earn progressively better benefits. You can focus on a specific track or take a more balanced approach. You will also improve your income, build your capital city, leverage your asymmetric abilities, earn victory points, and gain tapestry cards that will tell the story of your civilization.

—description from the publisher

Black Angel

Humanity, through its irresponsible behavior, has exhausted the natural resources of Earth, making it almost uninhabitable. In a burst of lucidity, pressed by the irreversible degradation of your planet, the great nations are forced to put aside their differences and share their knowledge in order to create the most vast spacecraft ever constructed. Thus, the BLACK ANGEL project is launched.

The Black Angel, the first intergalactic frigate in history, must transport the genetic heritage of humanity beyond known worlds, over a journey that is likely to last several thousand years. Her crew will be composed of only robots. Because no nation is willing to trust creation of the AI (artificial intelligence) that will control this crew to any other nation, a compromise is found: The Black Angel will be co-managed by several AIs, and the utility of each decision will be evaluated in VP (Validation Process).

At the completion of this long and perilous voyage, when a new inhabitable planet has been reached, the AI that has earned the most VP will be entrusted with reawakening Humanity, and overseeing its new start….

All the reports are in agreement: The Black Angel is approaching Spes, a planet with the highest probability for habitability by the human species. Take advantage of our approach to maintain the good relations you have gradually woven with the benevolent Alien species populating the galaxy, and watch out for the dreaded Ravagers, who would do anything to prevent you from reaching Spes.