BGG | The Hotness

In Harmonies, you will create beautiful landscapes by placing colored tiles. These tiles will create territories for animals and will bring them in to settle in your tiny world! Tactically combine your landscapes and animals to earn the most victory points and win the game. Harmonies captivates with its innovative mechanics: 3D landscape creation, tile placement, and pattern development. Each decision impacts the ecosystem you create, offering a deep and satisfying gaming experience. The game includes a solo mode and an "expert" mode, adding the spirits of nature to the game's animal cards.  STRATEGIC YET POETIC GAMEPLAY: Engage in a unique gaming experience where you create your own dreamlike world, combining landscapes and animals to earn victory points. EASY TO LEARN WITH DEEP TACTICAL PLAY: Harmonies offers straightforward rules that open the door to profound tactical decisions, making each game a new challenge. INCLUDES SOLO VERSION: Whether you're looking to enjoy a thoughtful solo game or engage in competitive play with friends, Harmonies caters to all your gaming needs. STUNNING ART DIRECTION: Benefit from Libellud's signature artistry, with 42 beautifully illustrated cards that bring your oneiric landscapes to life. PREMIUM COMPONENTS: Immerse yourself in a tactile gaming experience with 120 wooden tokens and high-quality cards, ensuring durability and a visually appealing setup.

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  Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace' 2007 masterpiece, Brass. Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870. As in its predecessor, you must develop, build, and establish your industries and network, in an effort to exploit low or high market demands. Each round, players take turns according to the turn order track, receiving two actions to perform any of the following actions (found in the original game): 1) Build - Pay required resources and place an industry tile.2) Network - Add a rail / canal link, expanding your network.3) Develop - Increase the VP value of an industry.4) Sell - Sell your cotton, manufactured goods and pottery.5) Loan - Take a £30 loan and reduce your income. Brass: Birmingham also features a new sixth action: 6) Scout - Discard three cards and take a wild location and wild industry card. (This action replaces Double Action Build in original Brass.) The game is played over two halves: the canal era (years 1770-1830) and the rail era (years 1830-1870). To win the game, score the most VPs. VPs are counted at the end of each half for the canals, rails and established (flipped) industry tiles. Birmingham features dynamic scoring canals/rails. Instead of each flipped industry tile giving a static 1 VP to all connected canals and rails, many industries give 0 or even 2 VPs. This provides players with the opportunity to score much higher value canals in the first era, and creates interesting strategy with industry placement. Iron, coal, and cotton are three industries which appear in both the original Brass as well as in Brass: Birmingham. New "Sell" system Brewing has become a fundamental part of the culture in Birmingham. You must now sell your product through traders located around the edges of the board. Each of these traders is looking for a specific type of good each game. To sell cotton, pottery, or manufactured goods to these traders, you must also "grease the wheels of industry" by consuming beer. For example, a level 1 cotton mill requires one beer to flip. As an incentive to sell early, the first player to sell to a trader receives free beer. Birmingham features three all-new industry types: Brewery - Produces precious beer barrels required to sell goods. Manufactured goods - Function like cotton, but features eight levels. Each level of manufactured goods provides unique rewards, rather than just escalating in VPs, making it a more versatile (yet potentially more difficult) path vs cotton. Pottery - These behemoths of Birmingham offer huge VPs, but at a huge cost and need to plan. Increased Coal and Iron Market size - The price of coal and iron can now go up to £8 per cube, and it's not uncommon. Brass: Birmingham is a sequel to Brass. It offers a very different story arc and experience from its predecessor.

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Arcs is a sharp sci-fi strategy game for 2-4 players, set in a dark yet silly universe. Ready yourself for dramatic twists and turns as you launch into this galactic struggle. Seize the initiative: Take actions with multi-use cards. Copy the leader, pivot to new tactics, or take the initiative for next round. Timing is everything. Declare ambitions: In each game, you define the objectives that everyone competes over to win. Crush your foes: Amass your navy for battle, plan your strategy with three kinds of dice, then roll them all at once to resolve the battle in a flash. Each game contains: 100 wooden ships and agents; 18 custom engraved dice; 1 beautiful six-panel board; Tons of cards with over 60 pieces of unique art.

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In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a eurogame for 1-4 players, you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. The game draws inspiration from current or emerging technologies and efforts in space exploration. Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions. Decide whether to land on their surface to collect valuable samples, or stay in orbit for a broader survey. Additionally, by directing your telescopes to gaze into distant star systems, you may detect traces of alien signals or undiscovered exoplanets, and collect promising data to examine and study back home. Back on Earth, you can invest in upgrading your equipment so you can analyze incoming data more efficiently, boost your telescope signal capacity, or increase your supply of resources—all to expand the scope of your search that could lead to a discovery of extraterrestrial life forms. You will also make use of over 200 cards to aid your efforts or focus your research in a particular direction for additional bonuses and rewards. Each card has unique effects and illustrations and depicts real-life technologies, projects, and discoveries (like the ISS, Large Hadron Collider, Perseverance rover, Voyager probe, and many more). Finding traces of extraterrestrial life is only a matter of time—utilize the resources you have at your disposal strategically and you may well end up being the one to make the biggest scientific contribution towards advancing our understanding of alien life within our galaxy.

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Powerful Spirits have existed on this isolated island for time immemorial. They are both part of the natural world and - at the same time - something beyond nature. Native Islanders, known as the Dahan, have learned how to co-exist with the spirits, but with a healthy dose of fear and reverence. However, now, the island has been "discovered" by invaders from a far-off land. These would-be colonists are taking over the land and upsetting the natural balance, destroying the presence of Spirits as they go. As Spirits, you must grow in power and work together to drive the invaders from your island... before it’s too late!

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In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal. Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards in question are: CARDS: Allows you to gain new zoo cards (animals, sponsors, and conservation project cards). BUILD: Allows you to build standard or special enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions. ANIMALS: Allows you to accommodate animals in your zoo. ASSOCIATION: Allows your association workers to carry out different tasks. SPONSORS: Allows you to play a sponsor card in your zoo or to raise money. 255 cards featuring animals, specialists, special enclosures, and conservation projects, each with a special ability, are at the heart of Ark Nova. Use them to increase the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo and collect conservation points.

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  In Feya's Swamp, you take on the role of a clan of swamp dwellers aiming to become the most prosperous in the area. To succeed, you need to adapt to your surroundings by finding the best fishing and settlement spots, as well as choosing the right trading partners. You can also venture into nearby abandoned temples where powerful deities lie in wait to be awakened. The game takes place over four rounds, with each round consisting of three phases: the income phase, the turn phase, and the maintenance phase. During the turn phase, you use unique characters to position your clan's workers in order to take various actions that help you gain victory points and gain advantages over the other players. You take actions by moving your boats across the swamp, and these actions include fishing, trading with other clans, exploring abandoned temples in Feya, and building new settlements that will enhance your clan's abilities. Some actions don't require moving through the swamp, such as improving your navigation, which increases your boat speed; hosting festivals where each clan contributes fish to earn victory points; or building new cult spaces that bring prestige to the small islands that form in the swamp. The main objective is to become the clan that contributes the most to the development of Feya, and to achieve this, you will also need to meet the variable goals specific to each game session. LEAD YOUR CLAN TO PROSPERITY: Guide a clan of swamp dwellers as you adapt to shifting conditions, optimize resources, and compete to become the most influential force in Feya. NAVIGATE THE SWAMP FOR STRATEGIC ACTIONS: Move boats through the wetlands to fish, trade with rival clans, explore abandoned temples, and build settlements that expand your abilities. PLACE UNIQUE CHARACTERS FOR TACTICAL PLAY: Position specialized workers during the turn phase to unlock powerful actions, gain advantages, and earn victory points across four evolving rounds. AWAKEN DEITIES AND DEVELOP CULTURE: Venture into ancient temples, improve navigation, host festivals, and construct cult spaces that bring prestige to your islands without always traveling the swamp. REPLAY WITH VARIABLE GOALS EVERY GAME: Pursue session-specific objectives alongside long-term development, ensuring each game of Feya’s Swamp offers new strategies and challenges. Contents: 1 swamp board 4 Double sided Clan boards 1 Round board 4 Turn order pieces 12 Objective pieces 21 Worker pieces 12 Boat pieces 4 Sailing pieces 80 Settlement tiles 1 Island totem 1 Blocking piece 8 Neutral Worker pieces 4 Score markers 4 VP tiles 5 Special Salamander Clan tiles 40 Manage gems 10 Spirit tiles 52 Gold pieces 80 Fish pieces 20 Temple tiles 20 Round Bonus tiles 10 Guide cards 8 Race cards 6 Score cards 6 Fish cards 4 Reference cards

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This item is a pre-order item with an expected release date of Q4 2026 Orders containing a pre-order items WILL NOT SHIP until the final pre-order item is able to be shipped. Dates and product details are subject to change as new information from the manufacturer is updated. Listen up, I'm absolutely fizzing about this one. The Old King's Crown is a phenomenal board game that absolutely deserves your attention. This is the type of rare box that is able to induce that kind of bounding enthusiasm the excitement that gets you day dreaming about when you're able to get it to the table, that promise that shivers through you as each rule rattles with possibility. And not just the rules, but the presentation too!" - Shut Up and Sit Down The Old King’s Crown is a game of card-driven conquest, where you play as heirs to a vacant throne, vying for control of an ancient, overgrown kingdom. Wield unique abilities and leverage your followers’ traits to best outwit your opponents across a map that stretches from the teetering heights of the castle to the dappled light of the necropolis. As leader of your faction you will be staking claims with Heralds openly as well as positioning your forces in secret, hoping to claim the locations that fit your designs. However, keep an eye on your rivals, as they too have agents and agendas, poised to undo your best laid plans. Royalty, rebels or ruses. What crown will you wear? In The Old King's Crown, players move their Herald to locations, hoping to claim them. Then simultaneously players play cards from their hand, facedown to regions of the board. These are then revealed and resolved. Winning these clashes will result in different rewards that further their position and grant them the game's primary goal, influence. The player with the most influence by the end of a set number of rounds will be declared the winner. What We're Saying We're big fans of Root's asymmetry, Inis' art styling, and the bluffing mechanics of Dune; Old King's Crown somehow combines all three into a package that is fairly accessible given just how big it is. That doesn't mean the gameplay is easy or by any means simple, but it does mean it's intuitive and won't send people used to more medium weight games running for the door when you bring this box out.  We're really excited for Old King's Crown and we're expecting to see this on the Hotness list more and more as the initial Kickstarter run is supported by a mass-market printing hitting in Spring. This game will be hitting your table often, and if the secondary market is any indicator it's going to be highly sought after for years to come. 

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This item is a pre-order item with an expected release date of 06/19/2026 Orders containing a pre-order items WILL NOT SHIP until the final pre-order item is able to be shipped. Dates and product details are subject to change as new information from the manufacturer is updated. The year is 2010, and the global balance of power is shifting… As the once-dominant United States sees its influence drop, other major powers are poised to redefine the global landscape. China emerges as a rising force, while Russia plays an intricate chess game with Washington. At the same time, the European Union seeks to assert its place on the world stage. Be one of four global superpowers. Utilize your unique abilities and strategic mindset to expand your influence and achieve global Hegemony. Immersive Simulation: Navigate real-world international relations by managing alliances, diplomacy, and military threats.Dynamic Strategies: Blend Diplomatic, Economic, and Military tactics. Form alliances, trade, and build military bases to expand influence.Dominance Decks: Play as a global superpower with unique strengths and weaknesses, using area control and deck-building for adaptable strategies. World Order was brought to life through the support of over 13,000 backers, raising more than €2,000,000 on Kickstarter and Gamefound, a testament to the enthusiasm for deep, strategic, and meaningful gameplay. Are you ready to conquer the new world order? Your destiny awaits. Ages 14+2-4 players120-180 minute play time

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This item is a pre-order item with an expected release date of 2026 Orders containing a pre-order items WILL NOT SHIP until the final pre-order item is able to be shipped. Dates and product details are subject to change as new information from the manufacturer is updated. Nippon: Zaibatsu is a new edition of Nippon, a fast-paced, area-majority economic game. Players control "zaibatsu": massive conglomerates of interconnected companies driving Japan's economy in the Industrial Revolution era. During the game, players invest in new industries, build factories and railroads, and produce goods to saturate local markets and fulfill contracts — all to grow their influence and power and to become rulers of the new modernized country. Players are free to choose their playstyle and winning strategy: They choose what they score victory points for, control the game's pace with income turns, and race each other to get the most beneficial factories, markets, and bonuses. All the core mechanisms of the original Nippon are present, but the components, art, and design are upgraded, and many gameplay features are reworked to get the game in line with modern trends. Nippon: Zaibatsu features new resource types, ships are heavily revised with new Iwakura mission rules, factories are much more variable, consolidation turns provide players with new rewards, and much more. Also, the game now has an automa-driven solo mode.

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