Rival wildlife photographers snap photos of the elusive birds of paradise!
Birdwatcher is a fast, competitive game where players are rival wildlife photographers on a hunt to snap photos of the elusive and illustrious birds of paradise.
[previewyoutube="zJ8oNfsb-vA;full"] Players will lure birds to their tree from the jungle, take photos of the birds in their tree, and publish their findings. The photographer with the most citation points at the end of the game is awarded the Global Geographic Photographer of the Year, and is the winner!
[previewyoutube="PJK8fS5Zy1Q;full"] In Birdwatcher, each player has three actions on their turn. These actions may be spent calling birds to their Tree from the central Clearing and Jungle, snapping photos of birds in their Tree, or running into the Jungle to flush new birds to the Clearing. Players can also use their actions to set up a zoom lens to capture a bird from another player's tree, or to Publish a paper. Photos and Publications will be assembled from left to right in the player's photo journal, where they will score points at the end of the game.
By the way, if you've never seen a bird of paradise do a mating dance, it's... a whole thing 😅
Fight for an ancient artefact, the key to immortality!
Tales of War is a competitive, skill-based strategy board game that places players in the roles of the two generals whose armies clash in a campaign of battles for The Cross of Eternity.
Players' progress carries over from battle to battle until the end of the campaign as their armies develop and their heroes learn new skills. As the campaign progresses, their initially small force expands to include units, such as Elves, Dwarves, Fire and Ice Sorceresses, Giants, Hydras, Fire Elementals or even Vampires.
[previewyoutube="bt7Ffj1sl5U;full"] Players alternate between being the Attacker and Defender in each battle and pass the Attacker token before each encounter. The Attacker plays first and draws an Objective card, which shows victory conditions. The first player to complete them wins the battle. The card also shows the number of Terrain tiles each player must secretly draw from the bag. Players alternate placing terrains on the game board and then discreetly pick the units they want to take to battle and alternate deploying them on the board.
Tales of War is a turn-based game, and when it's their turn, the player selects one of their units and opts to either move it or attack with it. Making a move is mandatory. The encounter finishes when a player completes its objective.
After the battle, players draw Reward cards, reinforce their armies and either play another one or save campaign progress.
Amongst Reward cards are Special units, Hero Skills and the Cross of Eternity. The player who finds The Cross of Eternity card and wins the consecutive battle achieves campaign victory and wins the game.
Ready to go, worms? AwSHUX returns again... again!
[previewyoutube="6ZiVU0JD6X8;full"] All you need to do is visit https://awshux.show and... you're in! You may want to create a Discord account (free) to do demos at exhibitor booths or hang out with other attendees. A Twitch account (also free) will come in handy if you want to interact/comment on Twitch streams over the weekend but you do not need one to watch the stream.
Your favourite publishers and designers will be on standby specifically, especially just for you ready to show you their hot new releases. The lineup of streams from the SHUX team is also jam-packed - join them on their Twitch channel at any point during the weekend!
A game of history, language, fate, luck, strategy, and conquest.
The place: Ancient Rome. The year: 44BCE (Before Common Era). The date: March 15.
In a bid to end power being in the hands of one person, you (as an acting Roman Senator) have conspired to end the reign of the current dictator and leader of the Roman Republic – Gaius Julius Caesar with the intent of placing power in the hands of a collective group.
To overcome your rivals and win the title of "Citizen One," you will be forced to deploy devious tactics - such as changing the direction of your rivals’ roads (causing their journeys to lengthen), demolishing (sabotaging) their constructions, or ultimately fighting them for access to Rome.
The player that successfully negotiates their way back home, raises an army, promotes themselves to Commander, and avoids the pitfalls. Roll dice, play tiles, and make sure you obey the Fatum cards!
Coach your super team, and shine like a superstar!
Super Team is a highly-tactical football game featuring a unique deck of cards for each team and captain, containing offensive and defensive tactical moves along with amazing skills to create a fast and exciting match.
On a turn each player simply plays 1-3 cards from their hands, resolving each card’s actions by rolling dice. The number of dice a player can roll for each action relates to that action’s stat set by the player at the start of each half of the game.
Super Team is also a game of resource management: each team gains morale (stars) by performing tactic cards and can spend those stars on critical events such as a perfect pass through, saving a chip shot or simply an extra movement!
Shy Monsters (Mutlose Monster) is an asymmetric bluffing game for two players in which a player builds a dungeon and their opponent tries to escape from it.
[previewyoutube="kr0gsy7KVAk;full"] The Dungeon Master leads a band of shy monsters. Make sure to respect their favourite places in the dungeon, otherwise they will not attack the Hero. The Hero must properly decipher the dungeon’s structure and use its special actions soundly to escape from it alive.
Warlord Protocol is a competitive asymmetrical deck-building game where you take on the persona of a Warlord, a charismatic leader with a unique and powerful ability. As a Warlord, your ultimate goal is to lead your faction to victory; and to accomplish this goal you will construct a deck by recruiting the best Action, Infantry, and Fortification cards to compliment your strategy. Not only will you use these cards to engage in direct combat with your enemies, but you will also use them to claim valuable Territory cards by eliminating monstrous Bioweapons.
There are a total of six factions within Warlord Protocol, each featuring a distinct theme and play style. And each game of Warlord Protocol is played with just three of these factions. Learning how the cards of one faction interact with the cards of another will be the key to your success. And coming to an understanding of how you can chain these cards together to maximize their synergy will increase your chances of winning.
Build, explore, and hunt to become a lord of these beautiful lands.
You are the leader of settlers who have discovered new lands. Using powerful artifacts, you will explore terrains, hunt monsters, construct buildings, and create outposts. Collect diamonds and gold and welcome mighty heroes to make your settlement the most famous one!
[previewyoutube="a1z8Qo9NnAo;full"] In Settlement, you need to effectively manage settlers and resources. The goal of the game is to score as many victory points as possible by the end of the last round.
On your turn, if you have the required resources, you may spend them to invite a hero to your settlement. Heroes are useful because they bring you victory points. Sometimes, a hero's score depends on your buildings, terrains, or outposts; some heroes also provide you with extra settlers. When you pass, you take a new artifact among the available ones, then return your previous artifact. Once all players have passed, the round ends.
At the end of the sixth round, the game ends, and you sum points from your hero cards and buildings. The player with the most victory points wins, and their settlement becomes the main outpost of the land!
Collect shells and build sandcastles before the tide comes in.
Strand Unter is a three-dimensional family game in which everyone places their castles in the sand so that they are close to the water, while trying to stay out of the way of the tide.
[previewyoutube="jw2tzdlodB4;full"]German-language video
Plenty of shells can be found in the ankle-deep sand trenches, and those who collect enough of them in competition with their fellow players can build a total of four sandcastles. These castles differ in size, value, and required building material. In the end, the best castles are those that escape the approaching tide by a hair's breadth...
Unable to make it to Germany right now? Getting FOMO seeing all the hottest new releases being played? Are you craving those wacky spiral potatoes on a stick?
...ok, so we can't exactly help you with that bit, but we've got you covered for the games part!
The following games are at SPIEL '21 either making their debut, being demo'd for upcoming release, or being released in a new language. The 58 titles below are all on Tabletopia for you to play at home!
This list is sourced from the BGG SPIEL '21 Preview list, which you can check out to see the full list of releases at the event! Click here to see the table below in a BGG list.
