Worker Placement

In Asara, you take on the role of a wealthy builder competing to bring the most prestige to your name through constructing the largest and most ornate towers in the city. The game is played over 4 rounds (years), during which you will be acquiring the pieces for your towers and assembling them.

Players are given a hand of cards with different colors. On their turn, players play a card from their hand to an action space on the board. These spaces allow players to acquire tower pieces, get money, build a portion of their towers, etc. Once a card has been played in one of the action spaces on the board, all subsequent cards played in that area have to follow the original card’s color. Turns continue around the table until all players are out of cards for that round.

Scoring happens at the end of each round based on the number of towers a player has and the ornamentation present on those towers. After the scoring at the end of round 4, a final scoring occurs and bonus prestige points are given to the players with the largest towers of each color, the most towers, and the largest tower overall. The player with the most prestige points is the winner.

Easter Island is a tiny triangular speck of land at the eastern edge of Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The island has fascinated travelers, mystics, and scientists for years as people have wondered how such a small, isolated area could have been home to a society that created the world's most spectacular outdoor museum. In the 1940s, Norwegian archeologist Thor Heyerdahl sailed the reed boat Kon-Tiki from South America to Easter Island to show that the technology available made it possible for Polynesia to be settled from the Americas. In the 1970s, Erich Van Daniken popularized the idea that the world was visited by ancient astronauts and the beautiful and enormous stone statutes, the Moai, of Easter Island were used as some of his "evidence."

Today, scientists around the world generally agree that Easter Island was settled from other Polynesian islands to its west, and the extreme culture that produced hundreds of stone Moai is related to other cultures in the region. The history of the island is a history of constraint, and the carving of the Moai, the rapid deforestation of the island, and the limited food sources available all worked together to build an extreme culture that became the victim of its own consumption. In this way, Easter Island today represents more than just a wonderful place to travel, but also is a reminder of the greater resource limits of our entire planet. As populations continue to grow and we put further strains on sources of fuel and food, are we heading toward the same fate that this small island suffered hundreds of years ago? The island today is owned by Chile, and the small population thrives with a few weekly flights to mainland South America and the occasional cargo ship visit.

Moai is a game that closely follows the developments and excesses of the island until the arrival of Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen, the first European to discover the island and name it for the day of his discovery. Combining many of the historical features of the island's culture in an exciting and well-playing strategic game, players can have fun reliving the dramatic history of this exciting little island.

In 12th century Japan, the Minamoto and Taira clans vie for power while retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa plays his rivals against one another. One of the three factions will triumph to impose the coming social order. In the shadow of these elite powers, a few ninja scheme to exploit the chaos. Daring raids, skill mastery, and subtle intrigue are essential to establishing one’s honor. When the new era dawns, one ninja will flourish as the Ninjato, the Invisible Sword of the ruling family.

Ninjato is the newest board game from CrossCut Games, makers of Galactic Emperor, and published by Z-Man Games, IELLO, and White Goblin Games.

An official expansion to Glenn Drover's Empires: The Age of Discovery, the Builder Expansion contains:

1) A NEW SPECIALIST: THE BUILDER
Abilities:
a) When placed on the colonist dock and sent to the New World it will increase the VP's scored for the region: +4 VP/Builder (of any color) for 1st place; +2 VP/Builder for second place. (The idea is that the colony is much more developed with cities and infrastructure).
b) When placed in the Capital Building track, the player pays $5 less.

The Builder may be acquired via new Capital Buildings or when a player places a colonist on the 5th spot (Builder is Free, other specialists cost 5)

2) 20 NEW CAPITAL BUILDINGS
These include some "buildings" that cost zero, but offer a one-time instant effect such as $7, 2 free specialists, and 2 free trade goods. So even if a player is short on cash, a building action is available.

3) A RULES SHEET with the new Builder Rules, Capital Buildings, and even special rules for a historical start (Each Nation has a special ability and one or two Capital Buildings to start the game). The idea is that the Spanish will feel like the Spanish (Conquistadors, etc.), The English will feel like the English, the Dutch like the Dutch, etc.

4) The MINT and OVERPOPULATION will, indeed be a part of the new expansion.

5) Expands the game to 6 players with a Complete set of purple colonists

From the designer of Glen More comes a new title published by Queen Games: Lancaster.

In 1413, the new king of England, Henry V of Lancaster, has ambitious plans: The unification of England and the conquest of the French crown! Each player takes the role of an ambitious aristocratic family. Who will be the best supporter of this young king, and the most powerful Lord of his time?

In Lancaster the players want to proceed from simply being a Lord to the most powerful ally of the king. They may achieve this by developing their own knighthood as well as by clever deployment of individual knights in the counties of England, at their own castle, and to conflicts with France. In parliament, they try to push laws from which they will benefit themselves most. The player with the most power points at the end of the game is the winner.

Every turn, players send their knights to the different locations:
• Counties, where they compete with knights from other players for rewards and the favor of the nobles.
• The castle, to receive income or new knights.
• Into conflict with France, where all players combine their power and try to gain power points.

In the counties the strength of the knights is important as you can remove the knight of another player by placing a knight of your own with higher strength in the same location.