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Minecraft: Portal Dash

2022-10-23T21:22:06-04:00

Vendor: Ravensburger
Type: Board Games
Price: 51.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Ravensburger
Players	1-4
Playtime	30-60 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	368956/minecraft-portal-dash http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368956/minecraft-portal-dash/forums/63

In the co-operative adventure game Minecraft: Portal Dash, players try to escape from Minecraft's fiery underworld, the Nether. You sprint through rugged landscapes full of magma and lava and have to prove yourself against dangerous monsters. Only if the players complete the portal in time and defeat its monstrous guardians can they survive the adventure together.

On their turn, players use their equipment to perform two actions. They collect valuable blocks with pickaxes, move around the game board with boots, and use swords and bows to defend themselves against monsters. As the game progresses, they collect increasingly powerful equipment and equip themselves for the arduous adventure. To win the game together, players must traverse the rugged landscapes of the Nether maps and defeat the boss monster that awaits them at the end. On the way, it is important to collect the missing portal stones, which requires a large number of blocks. Players lose if they are late in delivering them or if the supply runs out of blocks. If a player's life points drop to zero, the team has also lost.

—description from the publisher

Spaceship Unity

2022-08-06T23:19:21-04:00

Vendor: Pegasus Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 59.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum Jens Merkl
Publisher	Pegasus Spiele
Players	2-4
Playtime	60-120 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	367361/spaceship-unity http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/367361/spaceship-unity/forums/63

Spaceship Unity takes gaming to a whole new level, transforming your home into a spaceship! As recruits of the IPA, i.e. the Interplanetary Alliance, the players experience an extraordinary story full of action and adventure and have to steer their own spaceship, with the fan turning into a jet engine, the blinds into a protective shield, the bookshelf into a diplomatic database, and much more!

In Spaceship Unity – Season 1.1, the focus is on the story. As in a TV series, the story continues over several episodes (five in this case). Each of them is divided into multiple chapters with branching story paths for a different experience. As in real life, the story keeps going no matter how the crew performs. However, that doesn't mean the mission is to be taken lightly! After all, the players are the last hope for galactic peace, and the course of the story will change depending on the players' success or lack thereof, for better or for worse.

—description from publisher

Doodle Dungeon

2021-01-20T15:22:16-05:00

Vendor: Pegasus Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 31.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Pegasus Spiele
Players	2-4
Playing Time	45-60 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	299939/doodle-dungeon http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/299939/doodle-dungeon/forums/63

A visit to the dungeon can be quite the tormenting affair on the hero side of life, so why not switch sides and become a certified dungeon architect instead? In Doodle Dungeon, each player works on their own dungeon blueprint. Drafted cards determine which elements — monsters, traps, and treasures — they have to add immediately. After fourteen cards have been drafted, the blueprint is passed to the next player, who then draws the route an anthropomorphic test hero will take because these days, even in the dungeon business, nothing works without quality inspection. The players receive their own blueprints back and try to keep the dummy hero from killing their monsters, stealing their treasures, and — obviously — making it out alive. They can use the drafted cards to fight off the hero or to support the heroes in their opponent's dungeons. In the end, only the creator of the most devious dungeon will triumph.

Doodle Dungeon combines the rewarding elements of creating, then defending one's own dungeon, and mixes it with engaging draft-and-draw gameplay.

—description from the publisher

Minecraft: Farmer's Market Expansion

2020-11-24T12:20:17-05:00

Vendor: Ravensburger
Type: Board Games
Price: 21.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Ravensburger
Players	2-4
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	301055/minecraft-farmers-market-expansion http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/301055/minecraft-farmers-market-expansion/forums/63

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes – Farmer's Market Expansion adds a new element to Minecraft: Builders & Biomes by adding a new way to win: Growing vegetables.

Vegetable patch tiles are shuffled among the building and monster tiles and laid out with everything else at the start of the game. If a player builds a vegetable patch, they can grow vegetables in the form of small wooden cubes on it — and once they have enough vegetables, they can buy unique items with powerful abilities from the villagers at the market, such as the Crafting Table that can transform any stone into an emerald, i.e., a wild. With the Minecart with Chest, you can always take three blocks instead of two. The Beacon allows a player three actions each turn instead of two, and the Enchanting Table grants 20 experience points at game's end.

Items are revealed in the market at the start of the game, as well as after the first and second scorings, and they're first come, first serve, so grow your crops quickly to make the best use of them.

Divvy Dice

2020-08-10T11:44:27-04:00

Vendor: Stronghold Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 24.95

Designers	Ulrich Blum Jens Merkl
Publisher	Stronghold Games
Players	1-4
Playing Time	30 mins
Suggested Age	8 and up
Additional Info	297895/divvy-dice http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/297895/divvy-dice/forums/63

In the dice-rolling game Divvy Dice — first released as Man muss auch gönnen können ("You have to also grant others something") — players determine their own targets for what to roll by buying cards during the game to build their own score sheet.

All players are involved in the game because if the active player re-rolls their dice, then everyone else can use those results for themselves.

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes

2020-04-22T22:27:09-04:00

Vendor: Ravensburger
Type: Board Games
Price: 49.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
Players	2-4
Playtime	30-60 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	269603/minecraft-builders-biomes http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/269603/minecraft-builders-biomes/forums/63

As in the original Minecraft digital game, in Minecraft: Builders & Biomes players explore the Overworld, build structures, and mine resources, earning points for structures and the largest connected biomes of forest, desert, mountain, or snowy tundra spaces on their player boards.

Familiar foes like Endermen, Creepers, and other mobs also appear throughout the game, and they need to be defeated using weapons collected from the board. Defeating mobs earn players points in addition to granting additional awards. Game scoring occurs as the resource cube's layers are depleted. As soon as the third layer runs out, the adventure comes to an end, and the builder with the most points wins.

In more detail, on a turn you take two different actions from the following possibilities:

• Collect two blocks: At the start of the game, you set up a 4x4x4 cube of building blocks with 16 wood, 14 sand, 12 stone, 10 obsidian, and 12 emerald being placed together at random. When you collect a block, the top face and at least two other sides must be revealed.

• Move: Your character starts in the center of a 4x4 grid of tile stacks, with each stack holding four tiles. Weapon tiles are placed at the end of each column and row. Move 0-2 spaces between stacks, then reveal all adjacent tiles that are face down.

• Build: Discard blocks from your personal supply to match the building requirements on a tile next to your character. Place this tile on your personal 3x3 building board.

• Fight a mob: Choose a mob adjacent to your character, then reveal three tiles from your weapon stack, which starts with a stone sword, a wooden sword, and three poisonous potatoes. Tally the number of hearts revealed; if this sum is at least as large as the number of hearts on the mob, you defeat it. Remove it from the board, and place it next to your personal building board. Mobs might grant you an endgame scoring bonus, immediate points, or a one-shot bonus action.

• Collect a weapon: If your character is next to a weapon tile at the edge of the playing grid, you can shuffle it into your weapon stack.

Scoring takes place three times during the game, specifically after the final block is removed from the first, second, and third level of the building block cube. In the first round, you choose one of the four biomes (forest, desert, mountains, or snowy tundra) and score for the largest connected area of this biome on your personal building board. The board comes pre-printed with biome spaces, and as you place buildings on this board, you can alter the biome of a space. In the second round, you choose one of three materials (wood, sand, stone, or obsidian) and score for the largest connected group of structures on your personal building board that are made of this material. In the third round, you score for the largest contiguous group of structures (decoration, dwelling, animal house, or bridge) of your choice on your board. After scoring in the third round, tally bonus points from the mobs you've collected.

Man muss auch gönnen können (German Import)

2020-03-21T19:30:24-04:00

Vendor: Schmidt Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 23.95

Designers	Ulrich Blum Jens Merkl
Publisher	Schmidt Spiele
Players	1-4
Playing Time	30 mins
Suggested Age	8 and up
Additional Info	297895/man-muss-auch-gonnen-konnen http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/297895/man-muss-auch-gonnen-konnen/forums/63

Note: This game is in German. For a preview, English rule can be found here.

In the dice-rolling game Man muss auch gönnen können ("You have to also grant others something"), players determine their own targets for what to roll by buying cards during the game to build their own score sheet.

All players are involved in the game because if the active player re-rolls their dice, then everyone else can use those results for themselves.

Mondo: Der rasante Legespaß

2015-08-22T02:48:00-04:00

Vendor: Pegasus Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 22.95

Note: This game is in both English and German

Mondo: Der rasante Legespaß is a tile-laying game along the lines of Mondo with modified rules and only 64 landscape tiles. Mondo: Der rasante Legespaß can be combined with the Mondo base game. Detailed differences to come later.

Speed Snacks

2015-08-22T02:48:00-04:00

Vendor: Pegasus Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 19.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Pegasus Spiele
Players	2
Playtime	15-30 mins
Suggested Age	8 and up
Additional Info	172506/speed-snacks https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1608620/speed-snacks/reviews

Note: This game is multi-language including English. English rules can be found here.

As competing fast food entrepreneurs in the card game Speed Snacks, players must take and fulfill orders as quickly as possible to satisfy the growling stomachs of waiting customers — but the choice of six dishes on offer seems to overwhelm many guests because their needs can sometimes change as quickly as their mood. The responsiveness of the players is as important as their memory when it comes to serving their customers!

Speed Snacks includes small expansions that add cockroaches, bulk orders, specialty dishes and new menus for more variety and fun.

Antigua

2014-08-08T01:06:00-04:00

Vendor: Adlung-Spiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 12.95

Designer	Ulrich Blum
Publisher	Adlung-Spiele
Players	2-4
Playtime	35 mins
Suggested Age	9 and up
Additional Info	85338/antigua http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/881080/antigua/reviews

Note: Multilingual first edition including English instruction

Antigua in the year 1717: It is rumoured that the wild pirate Black Sam has hidden all the gold he captured when boarding the Whydah on the "islands in the wind." Only two men survived when the ship afterwards ran aground on a reef near Cape Cod. Black Sam took the map with him to his watery grave – but perhaps the surviving navigator can help to find the treasure by locating the exact position of the islands. Is Antigua one of them?

GAMEPLAY:
Players start with a ship and its crew. Each player during his/er turn uses the actions provided by the crewmen of the ship. Each player may have a maximum of 4 crewmen. Each crewman has an action that may change during the game, thanks to the officer mechanism. A player, by using the officer, may
change the crewmen available actions and thus change the gameplay for all players.
The purpose of the game is to discover islands with treasure (with the help of the crew's Navigator), or while traveling, clash with other players and steal their treasure.

CREW MEN:

Kanonier: one kanonier crewman draws a card from the crew deck and adds its attack to the battle with a +1 bonus. Two kanoniers add +2 bonus
Offizier: changes the crewmen actions and then is discarded from the ship's crew.
Navigator: reveals a sea card your ship is on. If it is an island, gain a crew card from the deck for its treasure value and then discard the Navigator.
Steuermann: one Steuermann moves your ship twice. Two move your ship three times.
Maat: one Maat hires two new crewmen. Two hires three new crewmen. (if you have more than 4 crewmen, you must discard down to four).

GAME END:
The game ends when the biggest part of the sea has been discovered (how big is this part varies, according to the number of players), or when a pre-defined number of battles has happened and the winner is the player with the most treasures.