It's almost Halloween all you children of the night. So I dug up some spooky games to celebrate this scary time of year in style.
A pirate ghost, dungeon monsters, a blood thirsty computer, and a mysterious weather system are just some of the creepy foes you may have to face. (The card game La Beast really has nothing to do with monsters, but the name--La Beast--how scary is that?)
Cast your votes or be at the mercy of those who do. Hope to see you there.
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Dungeoneer: Tomb of the Lich Lord
Danny Ferguson
Voters:
Danny Ferguson,
Playing time: 60 minutes
Players: 1 to 4
Year published: 2003
Designer: Thomas Denmark
Description: Dungeoneer - Perilous Adventures in an Ever-Changing Labyrinth.
In Dungeoneer, you take up the mantle of a great Hero set out to prove your valor in the Tomb of the Lich Lord. To triumph over your rivals, you will need to explore the labyrinth of corridors, defeat the heinous monsters, overcome nefarious traps and be the first to complete all your Quests. But beware, the gods are fickle and to test their Heroes even further, they often bestow upon them Banes as well as Boons.
Game Description:
This simple card game is very reminiscent of Wiz-War (and the Atari video game Gauntlet). Players are dealt one of 4 Heros, each with varying movement, fighting and magic abilities. The Dwarf for example is very tough, but has no magic value at all. Each Hero also has a value for hit points, the amount of Treasure he can have (carry) at any time and also the number of "Boons" (special abilities) he may have. Players are dealt 3 quest cards initially in front of them (public knowledge) and have 5 Adventure cards in hand.
Each turn a player may:
- 1 Discard unwanted cards and draw back to 5 cards.
- 2 Play Encounters and/or Bane cards (always on opponents never on yourself).
- 3 Build the Dungeon.
- 4 Move (collect Peril and Glory tokens).
Players will collect Peril tokens as they move which then makes them targets for others to play Encounter/Bane cards against them (Encounter/Bane cards have a fee to play - which is paid for by the person who the card is played ON with Peril tokens). This simple mechanic balances the game by spreading the attacks around as you can't attack someone that can't pay the Peril price.
Players attempt various quests (some are simple die rolls in a certain room, some are tough combat and some a series of things to do), with each completed quest having you Hero "go up a level" which increases his abilities.
Treasures & Boons help you, Banes, Traps & Encounters hurt you (which are played on you by other players).
The dungeon map is different each time as it is made up of cards played one at time onto the table by each player.
This game was introduced at DunDraCon 2003, in San Ramon, Ca. There are several planned expansions (which may/may not be collectable depending on to whom you talked), and two special cards available by mail if you purchased at the convention.
Expansions:
Epic Levels
Legendary Levels
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Omega Virus, The
Danny Ferguson
Voters:
Danny Ferguson,
Playing time: 20 minutes
Players: 1 to 4
Year published: 1992
Designer: Michael Gray
Description: You and the three other greatest heroes of planet earth must save the BattleStat1 spacestation from the evil Omega Virus. Using a computer, you explore the station collecting access cards (red, yellow, blue) and weapons (negatron, decoder, disruptor) - all of which you must find in order to locate and destroy the Omega Virus. The BattleStat pleas for help and the Virus taunts as you try to locate which room the virus is hiding.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Techno Witches
Matt Sears
Voters:
Matt Sears,
Playing time: 30 minutes
Players: 2 to 4
Year published: 2005
Designer: Heinrich Glumpler
Description: Heinrich Glumpler is well-known for his original game ideas. With Zauberstauber (Magic Duster), he's tackled witches - but not the kind of witches that are known to most, that is, wrinkled old crones that fly about on dusty broomsticks. His new generation of witches are totally hip and savvy, and they use high-tech vacuum cleaners to take to the skies - those would be the Magic Dusters. The complicated magical duster technology makes special demands of its pilots. In the good old days, you could simply sit on your broomstick and fly off. But now, the flight pattern of the duster must first be properly programmed into the machine. No surprise then, that witches who aren't yet completely familiar with the new technology often end up on the wrong track while programming their flight routes.
Online Play
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Industria
Matt Sears
Voters:
Matt Sears,
Playing time: 60 minutes
Players: 3 to 4
Year published: 2003
Designer: Michael Schacht
Description: Description from designer Michael Schacht (swiped from the Terminal City Gamers site, who in turn got it from Erwin Broens):
You play chronologically in 5 time periods with specific industries and technologies. It is bidding game. The new bidding system is: You have an auctioneer. He sells several open cards. He decides the selling order (one by one). The others make clockwise just one bid or no bid. The auctioneer can accept the highest bid, take the money and sell the next card or the auctioneer can take the card by himself then he is no longer the auctioneer (next clockwise is). If no one bids something the auctioneer must take the card (that can be hard because money is really short) - so you have to be careful what you sell.
The cards you're bidding on are production places, technologies, resources and improvements (bonus). After the bidding phase you can build production places and improvements and develop technologies then you get immediately victory points. For that you need money and resources (mainly from other production places).
Problem: If you build late (next period started) you get less or nothing.
At the end you get extra points for good improvement combinations and production places that work together.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Midnight Party
Voters:
Playing time: 30 minutes
Players: 2 to 8
Year published: 1989
Designer: Wolfgang Kramer
Description: Although billed as a Children's game, Ghost Party (Midnight Party) is actually quite enjoyable by adults as a light, fun game.
Each player controls a number of guests (depending on the number of players) at a party. They start the round in the gallery's spaces, one per space --this initial placement is a large part of a player's strategy. Hugo the ghost starts in the cellar and climbs the stairs towards the gallery where the guests circle.
The mechanism for Hugo's movement is very simple: on a player's turn, he rolls a special die. If he gets a number, he moves his pieces; if he gets a Hugo, Hugo moves. This means Hugo moves a lot more frequently when the number of players increases, so you must adjust your strategy accordingly.
Once he has reached the gallery, the guests can start ducking into rooms adjoining the gallery --one guest per room! A couple of rooms are special and give or subtract extra "fright points" from your score. As Hugo catches up with the remaining guests, they are sequestered in the cellar and then the stair steps. The first caught get the most fright points, those caught later get less and less fright points.
Once everyone is caught, the fright points are tallied. After a few rounds like this, the player with the least fright points wins.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Dead Man's Treasure
Voters:
Playing time: 0 minutes
Players: 3 to 5
Year published: 2005
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Description: Who will lift the most valuable treasure chests?
Generations of seafarers have spent their time searching for the fabled treasure, but none have managed to find it. But now Flint's old chart has turned up, on which the hiding places are marked. Multiple pirate ships simultaneously reach the island group in which the treasure chests are hidden. But the restless ghost of Flint is guarding the treasure. Who will be successful and recover the most valuable treasure chest?
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Poison
Voters:
Playing time: 15 minutes
Players: 3 to 6
Year published: 2005
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Description: From the Playroom Entertainment website:
"The mad doctor has cooked up something evil in Reiner Knizia's Poison, a clever strategy card game. Players choose a potion card from their hand to add to one of three colored cauldrons, being careful not to let the pot go over a total value of 13.
The player who causes the cauldron to go over 13 must take all of the cards within it, trying to avoid taking a potion mixed with poison.
Be the player with either the most or none of any potion and you're safe - otherwise take the risk of receiving a deadly dose!"
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Knightmare Chess
Voters:
Playing time: 60 minutes
Players: 2 to 2
Year published: 1996
Designer: Bruno Faidutti
Description: Knightmare Chess adds a whole new element of unpredictability to the occasionally stale game of standard Chess by giving players cards that they can play before, after, or sometimes instead of their turns. Big fun for an evening of relaxed Chess play, but not recommended for purists.
Re-implemented by:
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Nexus Ops
Voters:
Playing time: 60 minutes
Players: 2 to 4
Year published: 2005
Designer: Charlie Catino
Description: Nexus Ops is a light-medium science fiction war game from Avalon Hill (Hasbro). Players control competing futuristic corporations that battle each other for control of the moon's rubium ore. By winning battles, you can obtain victory points, although you'll earn more if you plan your battles to correspond with the Secret Mission Cards in your hand to earn bonuses.
Units are composed of various alien races and have stats not unlike those used in the Axis and Allies series (Milton Bradley). Combat is also performed in a much similar way to Axis and Allies. Players who lose battles are compensated with "Energize" cards which grant them special powers later. The game boasts a hexagonal board that is dealt differently every time, as well as cool "glow" miniatures, and lots of combat.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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Bermuda Triangle
Voters:
Playing time: 30 minutes
Players: 2 to 4
Year published: 1976
Designer: (Uncredited)
Description: In this game, you try to run a successful ship-transport operation in the mysterious Bermuda Triangle.
There is a track that runs round the board from port to port and you roll a die and move one of your your ships to reach a port to deliver the commodity required by that port. The prices offered by the ports change with each delivery, so you try to arrive when the price is high. There is a lot of scope for blocking other ships and for bumping them back to their last port.
So where does the Bermuda Triangle bit come in? There is a ‘mysterious cloud’ - a plastic construction raised from the board on a central column - which moves about the board and twists around above the ships. There are magnets on the underside of the cloud and on top of the ships, so ships can be picked up and moved or destroyed when the cloud passes over. Each turn, a player moves a ship and the cloud - usually trying to protect their own ships and attack those of other players.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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La Beast
Voters:
Playing time: 20 minutes
Players: 3 to 7
Year published: 1992
Designer:
Description: The object of the game is to win as many bean bills as possible and to loose as few bean bills as possible and to avoid the treacherous legume-loving monster. Wager with bean bills and test your trump and bluff skills.
More info at boardgamegeek.com
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