November 16, 2023 Rules of Play

Next Week's New Releases! Nucleum, Unlock 11, Roll Player Adventures, and more!

NUCLEUM

When Elsa von Frühlingfeld presented her invention to King Frederik Augustus II of Saxony, people thought it was trickery. She used the recently isolated element Uranium to heat up a jar of water and used the resulting steam to power an engine that kept the Uranium active via a process she called “atomization.” Her device, the Nucleum, ushered in a new era of energy and prosperity over the next decades. Saxony went from a minor regional power to the hub of European science and engineering. Now, a generation later, factories are still hungry for more power, demanding bigger and more Nucleums to be built, more Uranium imported from the nearby country of Bohemia, and railways and power lines built across the country to carry the tamed power of the atoms to Saxony’s great cities. Inventors, engineers, and industrialists flock to the Saxon court, vying to be the leader in this new industrial revolution.

Nucleum is a heavy euro board game in which players take role of industrialists trying to succeed during the economic and technological boom of 19th-century Saxony, fueled by the invention and spread of the Nucleum (a nuclear reactor).

Players earn victory points by developing their networks, building and powering urban buildings, securing contracts, and meeting milestones (randomized endgame goals). Each player also gets unique asymmetric technologies, giving them special powers when unlocked. Gameplay is continuous; players take turns one after another with no rounds or phases.

GLOWING REVIEWS! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

UNLOCK 11: EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES

Unlock! is a cooperative card game inspired by escape rooms that uses a simple system which allows you to search scenes, combine objects, and solve riddles. Play Unlock! to embark on great adventures, while seated at a table using only cards and a companion app that can provide clues, check codes, monitor time remaining, etc.

Unlock! Extraordinary Adventures includes three separate scenarios for you to explore:
• Restart
• Hollywood Confidential
• The W.A.F.F. Odyssey

CO-OPERATION IS THE KEY! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

EARTHBORNE RANGERS

Earthborne Rangers is a customizable, co-operative card game set in the wilderness of the far future. You take on the role of a Ranger, a protector of the mountain valley you call home: a vast wilderness transformed by monumental feats of science and technology devised to save the Earth from destruction long ago.

You begin by building a deck that reflects your Ranger's interests, personal history, and personality. Then, as you explore the open world and your story takes shape, you augment your deck with improved equipment, refined skills, and the memories of your journey.

The story of Earthborne Rangers is presented as a branching narrative campaign consisting of a main storyline and a multitude of side stories. In it, you can choose to follow the critical path or to strike off on your own to discover the Valley's many engaging characters, mysterious ruins, and beings both familiar and strange.

HAH, BRANCHING NARRATIVE! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

PLANTAGENET: COUSIN'S WAR FOR ENGLAND, 1459 - 1485

In Plantagenet—the newest volume in Volko Ruhnke's Levy & Campaign Series—players lead one of the two factions across the three main periods of war, as individual scenarios or the entire Wars of the Roses. Designer Francisco Gradaille adds overall and local political influence to Volko’s medieval operation system to reflect the ever-changing loyalties of the time while keeping play familiar to fans of the Series.

Players will create and maintain a network of allied lords and nobles in order to obtain the provender and coin needed to supply and pay their armies. As ravaging and looting will damage each side’s reputation, each faction will strive to convince cites to join its side. Great battles will seek to kill or capture enemy lords—perhaps even a king. Two kinds of operational moves will be in play: the military and the political. In the end, when the dust settles and all arrows have flown, one rose will sit on the throne. White or Red, York or Lancaster, gather your troops and banners and join the fight.

TO WAR! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

ROLL PLAYER ADVENTURES

Your Roll Player characters have been called to adventure! In Monsters & Minions, you went to war against Dragul invaders. In Fiends & Familiars, you befriended wild beasts and dispelled cruel spirits. Now your fully formed, battle-hardened heroes must defend the kingdom of Nalos and uncover a mystery that lies at the heart of the Abandoned Lands.

Navigate your missions with care. It's up to you who to befriend and who to battle. Will you slay the giant troll or attempt to make peace? Will you do the vampire's bidding or defend the mysterious cultists he wants to destroy? Will you remain loyal to king and country — or side with the enemies of Nalos? Whatever choices you make, someone will remember and respond.

QUITE THE PARTY! CHECK IT OUT HERE!