Game Arrivals: Aug. 26th - Sept. 1st

This week's arrivals include the following games:

Dominion: Dark Ages
Rio Grande Games

Rio Grande Games' newest 500-card Expansion to Dominion has arrived.  In Dominion: Dark Ages there are new Kingdom cards as well as new bad cards to be given to your opponents, new cards to replace starting Estates, and cards you can get via specific other cards.

Munchkin Zombies 3:
Hideous Hideouts
Steve Jackson Games

Also newly released and arriving this week is this Expansion to Munchkin Zombies from Steve Jackson Games.   In Munchkin Zombies 3: Hideous Hideouts you will find places for more yummy brains and portals that will keep your hungry undead on the move as you hunt for tasty survivors.

Trajan
Ammonit Spiele

Newly released in the USA and arriving to our store this Friday is Trajan.  This is another Stefan Feld designed strategy game.  As with Stefan designed games there are many ways to score points.  Trajan is a development game set in 110 AD Rome.  It uses an interesting Mancala-type mechanism at the start of each players turn.  This movement of stones from one bowl and redistributed to the other bowls will determine what action a player will make.

Also back in stock are:

• Adventures - The Pyramid of Horus
• D&D Red Box Starter Set
• Elder Sign
• Last Night on Earth

Continue to tune in for the latest in board games.

Come and visit our store. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area. 

Game Profile: TransAmerica

Name TransAmerica

Byline Railroads are booming! Stay One Step Ahead.

Mechanics Network Building

Theme Railroads

Publication Rio Grande Games, 2001

Ages 13+

Time 30

Players 2 - 6

Description

 

TransAmerica is a fast-paced-track-laying game.  Each player tries to connect their five cities scattered across the United States with a network of tracks.  Players may connect their networks to others and then use the connected networks as their own.  As soon as a player has connected all of their cities the round ends.  The other players lose points for unconnected routes thereby moving their scoring marker down the track towards zero.  The game ends when at least one player’s locomotive score marker has reached zero points.  The player with the least penalty points wins.

 

Included in the edition is the Vexation Expansion that adds a whole new layer of strategy. The game follows the same rules as the basic game.  However, in addition to shared railroad tracks, each player has 3 colored tracks that can be placed to block routes from being used by other players.

Game Profile: At The Gates of Loyang

Name At The Gates of Loyang

Byline Uwe Rosenberg’s First Big Agriculture Game

Mechanics Set Collection, Card Drafting

Theme Farm to Market

Publication Z-Man Games, 2009

Ages 10+

Time 60 – 120

Players 1 - 4

Description

At the Gates of Loyang is the immediate predecessor to Agricola.

After each harvest, you as framers meet at the gates of Loyang to trade your produce. You make deliveries to your regular customers and sell vegetables to casual customers for lucrative profit. But vegetables can also be bartered at market stalls or used as seed to plant new fields. Helpers, each with different skills are available to assist you in your strategies and tactics.

A game of At the Gates of Loyang is an agriculture game played over 9 rounds with 3 phases per round.  Players will plant their fields, harvest and sell their produce to two kinds of customers, casual and regulars.  Regular customers demand shipments each round.  Casual customers are a one-time buy. Your customers provide your income in which you use to purchase victory points on the Path of Prosperity track. The most successful farmer will be the one who makes the most progress on the Path of Prosperity.

Game Profile: Lancaster

Name Lancaster

Byline Be More Than Simply a Lord; Become The Most Powerful Ally To The King.

Mechanics Set Collection, Voting, Worker Placement

Theme Medieval England

Publication Queen Games, 2011

Ages 10+

Time 60

Players 2 - 5

Description

Lancaster is a worker placement game that takes place during the time of Henry V of Lancaster, King of England. During the course of the game, players will deploy their knights to counties within England, to their castles, or to conflicts with France. Each location type brings its own reward. A player's knight can be forced out of a county location by an opponent's stronger knight. Conflicts can be won through cooperation among players, with the rewards being split based on the strength of the knights committed to the conflict. Additionally, players will vote on laws coming out of Parliament. These laws affect the abilities that players have on their turn.

The game lasts five rounds with players earning points by gathering up noblemen from the counties, by being victorious in conflicts with France, by adding the most strength to their knights, and by building the most extension onto their castles. The player with the most points after 5 rounds will be the winner.

Game Events: Week of Aug 26th - Sept.1st

Come and join in on the fun with Game Night. It's a great way to meet other game enthusiasts. Here is this week's schedule:


Date: Weds. Aug. 29nd
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Weds. Featured Games

To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it's picture.

Cargo Noir
Days of Wonder

Automobile
Mayfair Games

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Date: Fri. Aug. 31st
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Friday's Featured Games

To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it's picture. 

7 Wonders
Asmodee

Dragon Valley
Diamond K Games

No Experience is Necessary. We are happy to teach you the rules and you started.

While these are the featured games any of the games in our Demo Library are available for play while you are here.

Come Play ~ ~ ~ It's Free ~ ~ ~ It's Fun!

Coming Soon: Star Trek The Original Series

Star Trek fans: Coming this fall from Bandai is Star Trek: The Original Series the third in their Star Trek Deck Building Games.

Star Trek: The Original Series
Deck Building Game
Bandai

Star Trek: The Original Series is designed to be played not only as a stand alone game but is also compatible to combine with the other two Editions - The Next Generation: Premier Edition and The Next Generation: Next Phase Edition.

Continue to tune in for the latest in board games.

Come in and see our fabulous selection of strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, family games, card games, dice games.  We carry Chess set, Backgammon, Cribbage, and Go sets as well.   Additionally for the puzzle enthusiasts, we have a great selection of  quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Table Top Episode 11 Features: Elder Sign

Here is the next episode in the Table Top  biweekly series hosted by Star Trek's Wil Wheaton on Felicia Day's Channel Geek and Sundry.  Take a seat and let's watch below as Wil and guests play a game of Elder Sign.

This week Wil's guests; Felicia Day (actress, producer, writer), Bill Prady (co-creator, exec. producer, writer - Big Bang Theory), and Mike Morhaime (pres., co-founder - Blizzard Entertainment) work as a team in this cooperative card game of dice and insanity to defeat the Great Old One.  See who ends up carrying the team.

Elder Sign
Fantasy Flight Games

Continue to tune in for more Table Top Episodes

Come in and see our fabulous selection of strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, family games, card games, dice games. We carry Chess set, Backgammon, Cribbage, and Go sets as well. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Arrivals: Week of August 19th - 25th

This week's arrivals include the following games:

7 Wonders: Cities
Asmodee

Newly released is the 7Wonders Cities: Expansion. This expansion includes a new set of cards comprising of mercenaries, thieves, spies and diplomats that add another level to player interaction as well as two new Wonders and other goodies.

The Cities Expansion also offers a team-variant feature for up to 8 players.


From Zobomondo/Front 9 are these two dice games:

GoLo

GoLo is Golf in a cup.  The nine dice represent 9 holes and features eagles, birdies, pars, bogeys, and the dreaded "others".  And just like real golf, there is pressure, decision making, and the total joy of going low.

GoLo is easy to learn and quick to play.





~and~

Go500 Racing
Front 9 Inc.

Experience the thrill of racing action with Go500 Racing dice game. It's a race to 500 miles, and the first driver there pulls into victory lane.  But to get there they'll have to avoid crashes, pit stops, flat tires, caution lights, and the dreaded black flag.

Go500 is easy to learn and quick to play.

ARC: The Game
Tech Lab Games

Newly released from Tech Lab Games is ARC: The Game.

ARC is an "expandable card game" based on time travel designed for 2-4 players. Each player represents an Aeon: a time traveler with special abilities who can rift in and out of eras in time. "Eras" are cards that form a playing surface similar to a game board. Depending on which Aeon you choose, the Eras in the game will change. Your goal is to defeat all other Aeons so that you can control time and change the future how you and your allies see fit!

The first edition of ARC is comprised of five themed pre-constructed decks: Cyborg, Engineer, Mercenary, Politician and Purist. Each pre-constructed deck of 64 cards contains multiple copies of most cards included.

Continue to tune in for the latest in board games.

Come and visit our store.  We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area. 

Game Events: Week of August 19th - 25th

Come and join in on the fun with Game Night. It's a great way to meet other game enthusiasts. Here is this week's schedule:


Date: Weds. Aug. 22nd
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Weds. Featured Games

To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it's picture. 

Tobago
Rio Grande Games

Ticket To Ride
Days of Wonder

Ticket To Ride was featured on an episode of Table Top hosted by Star Trek's, Wil Wheaton.  Table Top features board games and is a bi-weekly YouTube series on Felicia Day's YouTube channel, Geek.  If you are unfamiliar with the game Ticket To Ride, this episode is a great way to get a feel for the game.  Click here on Ticket To Ride to watch this Table Top episode posted on our website.

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Date: Fri. Aug. 24th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Friday's Featured Games

To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it's picture. 

Airlines of Europe
Rio Grande Games

Maharani
Queen Games

We have not written a Game Profile on Maharani yet. In the meantime to get a feel for this newly released game you can watch this game overview video done at the 2012 Origins convention:

Remember, No Experience is Necessary. We are happy to teach you the rules and you started.

While these are the featured games any of the games in our Demo Library are available for play while you are here.

Come Play ~ ~ ~ It's Free ~ ~ ~ It's Fun!

New Games Played

This week we had a chance to play 3 games that we had not played before.

Bull's-eye  ~  Edo  ~ Africana

AFRICANA from Z-Man Games
Doug R. was kind enough to let us play his copy of AFRICANA.  This board game is one you can learn to play in minutes, but has enough going on to keep you coming back many times. The pace is fast and players get to travel to many cities in Africa completing and collecting artifacts.  Thank you Doug R.

You can read our Game Profile to learn more about this game - just click here on AFRICANA.

BULL's-eye from DNA Family Games
The BULL's-eye word game turns out to be an easy, fast paced game. Rounds are a minute long and score management takes on new meaning as players race to 100 points.  Designers Doug and Nilda Loriz put on an enthusiastic demo for us.

You can read our Game Profile to learn more about this game - just click here on BULL's-eye.

EDO from Queen Games
We grabbed  EDO off our demo shelf and got a chance to experience its interesting planning system with game enthusiasts, Schel and Jessica. The game provides lots of options for actions and worker placement on every turn.  The minute this one got done we started thinking of the many ways we could have played better.

You can read our Game Profile to learn more about this game - just click here on EDO.

Continue to tune in for the latest in board game reviews.

At Off The Charts Games, we have a store full of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Arrivals: Week of Aug 12th - 18th

This week's arrivals include the following games:

Africana
Z-Man Games

New out from Z-Man Games is Africana.  Step back in time to the late 19th century where European nations set out to explore the secrets of the African continent.

Players travel from city to city completing multiple expeditions under contract.  Clever utilization of the travel routes and completion of many expeditions will yield the finances necessary to acquire adventure cards that contain valuable artifacts.

You can learn more about this game from our connecting here to our Game Profile: Afriana

Cthulhu Fluxx
Looney Labs

New out from Looney Labs is this card game that will drive you insane! 

"The Necronomicon has been stolen, a Farm is undergoing a horrifying Metamorphosis, and abominations stir in Penguin-riddled Tombs beneath the ice.  Will your curiosity lead you to inevitable Doom, or are you actually a secret Cultist?  Gaze upon the ever-changing face of madness with Cthulhu Fluxx."

Diplomacy
Avalon Hill/Wizards of the Coast

Another classic board game hits our shelves.

Diplomacy challenges players to rely on their own cunning and cleverness, not dice, to determine the outcome of this game of conspiracies and conquest.

This is a classic game of international intrigue, trust, and treachery.






Also back in by popular demand:

• Mr. Jack
• Ticket to Ride: Alvin & Dexter
• Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game
• Say Anything

Continue to tune in for the latest in board games.

At Off The Charts Games, we have a store full of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Profile: Africana

Name Africana

Byline Join an Expedition – Travel – Complete the Expedition

 Mechanics Set Collection, Card Drafting, Point-to-Point Movement

Theme Africa, Adventure

Publication Z-Man Games, 2012

Ages 13+

Time 60

Players 2 - 4

Description

Africana is a game set in 19^th century Africa where European nations set out to explore the secrets of this continent.  Each player will represent a European nation.  Players will use travel cards to move about the board.  In the process they will join and complete expeditions.  Players can buy adventure cards that will require them to travel to a particular city to claim the artifact on that card.  The money to buy cards is awarded for joining expeditions, completing expeditions and claiming artifacts on adventure cards.

Africana is a 60 minute game with simple mechanics but requiring plenty of tactical decision-making.  Players must manage their travel cards and their money supply to be able to purchase adventure cards that match well with the ever-changing expedition cards as they become available.  Completed expeditions are replaced by new expeditions until the expedition card deck is exhausted.  Final scores include points for completed expeditions, claimed adventure cards, plus points for collecting sets of artifacts.  Excess coins can also be resold for points at the end of the game.  The player with the most points wins.

Game Events: Week of Aug. 12th - 18th

Come and join in on the fun with Game Night. It's a great way to meet other game enthusiasts. Here is this week's schedule:


Date: Fri.  Aug. 17th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Friday's Featured Games

To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it's picture. 

Edo
Queen Games

Trollhalla
Z-Man Games

No Experience is Necessary. We are happy to teach you the rules and you started.

While these are the featured games any of the games in our Demo Library are available for play while you are here.

Come Play ~ ~ ~ It's Free ~ ~ ~ It's Fun!

Game Profile: Edo

Name Edo

Byline An Extraordinary Strategy Game Involving a Completely New Planning Mechanism

Mechanics Worker Placement, Resources Management, Simultaneous Action Selection

Theme Japan 1603 - 1868

Publication Queen Games, 2012

Ages 12+

Time 60

Players 2 - 4

Description

Edo is a worker placement and resource management game set in Japan in the years 1603 to 1868.  Players use a unique planning system at the start of each turn.  This involves secretly selecting three actions out of a possible twelve actions to perform and placing them on a player planning board.  During this planning phase players assign their workers to each of their selected actions which will determine how many times they will be able to perform the actions.  Each player starts the game with four workers (officials).  Some of the possible actions include: ◙ allowing players to move a worker from their planning board to the main board as a Samurai; ◙ allowing players to obtain additional workers for their planning board.  Some actions require the pairing of workers on a players’ planning board with Samurais on the game board before they can be performed. The primary function of a player’s workers and Samurais is to obtain necessary resources for construction of houses, trading posts, and fortresses, and for feeding their Samurais.  Each building type requires a combination of resources and money to construct.  Points are awarded for the construction of each type of building.  Buildings can be constructed in any of the various cities including Edo. Each city yields different levels of income at the end of each round based on the number and type of buildings within that city.  Points and resources can also be gained through trading with a roving merchant. The first player to gain 12 victory points through building and trading will be the winner.

Game Profile: Kairo

Name Kairo

Byline Become the Richest and Largest Bazaar Merchant in Cairo

Mechanics Tile Placement, Hand Management

Theme Cairo Bazaars

Publication Queen Games, 2012

Ages 8+

Time 45      

Players 2 - 4

Description

Kairo is another game from Queen Games with colorful tiles and multiple colors of money.  In addition this game brings six customers into play each a different color.  Each player starts the game with three different market stalls (out of a possible six) placed in the market area.  Throughout the game players will place additional stalls and expand their existing stalls at a cost, of course. Points are gained by increasing the size of your stalls.  In order to pay the cost of placing more market stalls you must earn money by luring customers to your stalls.  Market stalls, money and customers all come in six different colors.  The key to success will be to lure the right color customer to the right color stall.

An interesting twist in the game is that only five of the six customers are available in the market at a given time.  When a customer (say red) reaches a market stall that customer (red) is replaced by the customer (say white) currently absent from the market.  Therein lays the challenge, luring the color of customer you need to your market stall of the respective color.  The color of money is important because it is most cost effective to use the same color money as the color of the market tile being placed than to spend different color money.

Not only do players score for adding to their respective stalls but bonus points are earned for building the largest stall of a particular color. Space in the market is limited so grab the best sites early, lure as many customers and expand wisely to gain the most victory points and victory.  This is a game that is very tactical and has more going on that it originally appears.