BGG | The Hotness
Galactic Cruise
Hello, and welcome to Galactic Cruise. Here, we offer our guests something special: the comfort of a luxury cruise with the innovation of space travel. As the first company to offer extended-stay space vacations, we are excited to have you working for us! As a supervisor of this company, you’ll be expected to not only build these ships and satisfy our guests, but also to help the company thrive by enhancing our company network, inventing new technologies, and growing our workforce. We are a united company, and you’ll often find that what another supervisor does will make your job easier. Let me be clear, though, this is a competition. Our current CEO will be stepping down in three years, and the supervisor who comes out on top will take his place. On your turn, you will either place a worker to take two actions in the ever-expanding network, launch a ship and send one of your workers to space as a pilot, or recall all your earthbound workers to collect funding bonuses. Actions include acquiring blueprints, constructing ships, attracting guests, and building developments connections between locations that increase action selection throughout the game. You will also be affecting resource markets that ebb and flow with the actions of all the players. When you launch a ship, one of your workers will accompany it as a pilot, navigating the ship to various destinations and “days in space,” where guests will reward you for all your hard work. Throughout the game, you will also be competing with your fellow supervisors to complete company goals, which will earn you progress cubes throughout the game. Progress cubes are also placed when you launch ships, and when a certain number of cubes are placed onto the company’s progress track, the game ends, and the player with the most Victory Points becomes the new CEO of Galactic Cruise. Do you still think you have what it takes to work for us? You do? Great. Let’s get started.
$167.00$140.00
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Ark Nova
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.
$105.00$90.00
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Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon
In the very near future, mankind is setting up a base in the center of the Shackleton crater at the Moon’s South Pole. Players lead space agencies working together to expand the human presence on the Moon. The mission is sponsored by 3 major corporations, each pursuing its own goals. EXCITING LUNAR EXPLORATION: In Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon, players lead space agencies working together to build and expand the first human base on the Moon’s South Pole, set within the mysterious Shackleton crater. STRATEGIC SPACE AGENCY MANAGEMENT: Each player controls a space agency tasked with developing infrastructure, conducting missions, and advancing technology to establish a thriving lunar colony in the harsh environment of the Moon. COMPETITION FOR CORPORATE GOALS: Sponsored by three powerful corporations, each with its own set of objectives, players must balance cooperation and competition to succeed, as the corporations pursue differing goals on the Moon. COMPETITIVE GAMEPLAY: Shackleton Base is perfect for 2-4 players, offering hours of strategic gameplay, where decisions about resource management, research, and development will determine the fate of the lunar base. IMMERSIVE SCI-FI EXPERIENCE: Immerse yourself in a compelling, future-driven narrative of space exploration, corporate rivalry, and teamwork, all while expanding humanity’s footprint on the Moon’s surface.
$126.00$88.00
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Covenant
The Dwarven King has issued an order to the houses of each clan. It is imperative to reclaim Karrak-cüm-Kazar, the sacred mountain, ancestral home of the Dwarves since the first Age of the Beard. For too long it has been occupied by the poison of the dark lords, with their creatures defiling the halls that once housed the noblest of all Dwarves. The insult cannot last any longer. The Dwarves return to the mountain. Covenant is played in turns over three ages. During their turn, players will assign the Dwarves of their clan to different tasks that will allow them to explore the ancient halls of the ancestors and drive out their enemies while rebuilding their ancestral home. Your dwarf tokens and tools will allow you to do all kinds of actions: dig into the mountain, defeat the enemies that live there, and build all kinds of buildings that will bring the legendary dwarf city back to life. At the end of the game, the clan that has accumulated the most glory will take the recognition of the monarch and the victory.
$112.00$90.00
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Take Time
Take Time is a cooperative game where players either win or lose together. To succeed, you must strategically play 12 cards facedown around a Clock, following specific rules for each Test. You can work together through a series of games to pass all 40 Tests available in the game. COOPERATIVE TIME-THEMED CHALLENGE: Work together to strategically place cards around a clock, solving unique puzzles with evolving difficulty. 40 INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING TESTS: Progress through 10 chapters, each with 4 unique tests, requiring communication, planning, and logical thinking. UNIQUE CARD PLACEMENT MECHANIC: Players must arrange Solar and Lunar cards face down around the clock while following specific rules to succeed. HIGHLY REPLAYABLE WITH TEAM STRATEGY: Plan, discuss, and adapt to new challenges as you play through multiple sessions, aiming to complete all 40 tests. PERFECT FOR FAMILIES & PUZZLE LOVERS: Designed for 1-4 players, ages 10 and up, offering engaging, thought-provoking gameplay for groups and solo play. Contents: 1 rulebook 24 cards : 12 Solar cards and 12 Lunar cards 1 Clock Hand 3 Reminder tokens 3 Bonus tokens 10 Chapter sleeves each containing 4 Clocks and 1 Rules Sheet 1 Sleeve of Regrets 1 Rebirth sleeve containing 1 Second Hand and 6 tokens.
$47.00$28.00
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Harmonies
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.
$56.00$41.00
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Slay The Spire: The Board Game
Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a co-operative deck-building adventure. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and finally become strong enough to slay the Spire! Ages 12+1-4 players45-60 min or less play time Contents:4 miniatures450 art sleeves650+ cards112 small cards26 large cards4 player boards2 main boards1 merchant board1 HP board1 die1 meeple50 cubes113 tokens1 token trayReference bookRulebook
$175.00$140.00
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Brass Birmingham
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.
$76.00
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Arcs
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.
$84.00$68.00
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SETI: Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence
In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a eurogame for 14 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.
$98.00
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Spirit Island
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!
$126.00$90.00
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Earthborne Rangers
Earthborne Rangers is a sustainably produced, customizable, cooperative, adventure card game set in the wilderness of the far future.You are a Ranger, a sworn protector of a bountiful valley and a friend to its people. You’ll explore perilous mountains and lush forests, encounter dangerous and fascinating wildlife, and guide the fate of the Valley in an expansive open world campaign.Contents• 540 Cards• 35 Card Set Dividers• 92 Tokens• 48 Page World Guide and Rulebook• 56 Page Campaign Guide• 1 Valley Map
$140.00
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Lost Ruins of Arnak
Explore jungles, find artifacts, and discover the Lost Ruins of Arnak!Players lead rival expeditions to a newly discovered island. Through a unique combination of worker placement and deckbuilding, each expedition attempts to uncover the lost island’s secrets.In addition to traditional deckbuilder effects, cards can also be used to place workers. Decks are small, and randomness is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. Building a solid resource base will be essential.With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the setup for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge.Ages 12+, 1-4 players, 90-120 min or less
$84.00$70.00
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Old King's Crown (Pre-Order)
This item is a pre-order item with an expected release date of Q2 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.
$126.00
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Evenfall
EVENFALL - It's Evenfall, and the Clans of Magic are preparing for a new era. Evenfall is the time when the boundaries of reality collapse and the supernatural awakens. The World-Tree opens its glowing gateways to unknown distant regions. Send Witches from your clan to discover and control new Places of Power. Use them for arcane rituals and battle for the favor of the Powerstones. But there is only one seat on the Enchanted Throne! Do you have the skills to lead the world into a new era? Evenfall is a card-driven, engine-building game with both novel and familiar mechanisms for 1 to 4 players. Manage your resources, execute your actions in an efficient order, and discover card and action synergies that generate victory points. The game ends after three rounds, then the player with the most points wins.
$84.00$54.00
