Game Arrivals: Week of June 15th – 21st

Come in and
check out this week’s arrivals.This week’s shipment includes several new games and a truck-load of restocks.


Two of the new games in this week, Istanbul and Dragonheart are by game designer Rüdiger Dorn who also did the dice rolling game, Las Vegas and the card game Jambo.

Istanbul AEG

Rüdiger Dorn’s newly released strategy game, Istanbul has been nominated for this year’s Kennerspiel des Jahres Award (Game of the Year – Expert category). 

Hustle and bustle in the bazaar district of Istanbul: merchants and their assistants are hurrying through the narrow alleys attempting to be more successful than their competitors. Good organization is key: wheelbarrows have to be filled with goods at the warehouses and then swiftly transported by the assistants to the various destinations. The goal of the merchants is to be the first to collect a certain amount of rubies.

In Istanbul players will each have a team of one merchant and 4 assistants, plus a family member, and a wheelbarrow.  They will take their merchant/assistants team through the various places within the bazaar with the goal of collecting the necessary rubies to win the game.  Each place within the bazaar has as a specific action that will be performed when a merchant and his assistants stop at it.  However, in order to perform the action the merchant must leave behind one assistant.  To use that assistant again, the merchant must return to that location to retrieve the assistant.  Players must plan carefully so as not to end up with no assistants thereby not able to do anything.  Your family member may also visit places within the bazaar performing the action of that place. But beware, other player’s merchant may catch your family member and send him to the Police Station and score a bonus card for the catch.  Rubies can be obtained from several methods that include: increasing one’s wheelbarrow capacity, acquiring mosque tiles, delivering goods to the Sultan, and buying from the gemstone dealer.

Dragonheart Fantasy Flight

New on our shelves is Rüdiger Dorn’s 2-player card game Dragonheart.   It’s easy-to-learn and plays in 20 minutes making this a great filler game and/or travel game.

An evil wizard has placed the Great Dragon, the protector of the realm, into a stony slumber, its fiery breath locked away in a ruby jewel called the Dragonheart.

In Dragonheart, one player will take the role of a disciple of the Great Dragon and try to break the spell on it. The other player will take the role of an evil wizard’s minion and try to prevent the awakening of the Great Dragon. To accomplish their goals, players take turns playing cards on the board in order to collect cards for their score piles. Both players will have their own deck of cards from which they will play from. The cards in both decks are identical except one deck is red-backed while the other is green-backed.  Each card is worth from 1 to 4 points. At the end of the game, the player with the most points succeeds at their goal and wins.

Winter Tales Fantasy Flight

Alice was on her way to Dorothy’s Mansion and hoped a place of safety could be established there for all the rebels.  She darted through the streets of the town, but a massive figure leaped down from above: Wolf! Luckily, Alice grabbed a discarded frying pan, which she swung against Wolf’s snout with a resounding thump! Could the rebels really create a safe haven in Wintertown?

Valley of the Kings AEG

Valley of the Kings is a deck-building game of ancient Egypt for 2 to 4 players that plays in 45 minutes.  Players will take on the role of Egyptian nobles at the time of pharaohs, preparing for their deaths.  Players will fill their tombs with food, organ preserving jars, statues, amulets, and other treasures in an attempt to end the game with the most valuable collection.  The game utilizes a crumbling pyramid mechanism for the acquiring of artifacts.  Artifact cards may only be purchased from the base of the pyramid which then creates a crumbling effect of the pyramid. The artifacts from the higher levels then crumble down a level eventually working their way to the base while new cards are placed at the top.  Points can also be gained by entombing a card from your hand instead of purchasing one from the pyramid.

Munchkin Legends Steve Jackson Games

Munchkin Legends is the most recent Munchkin card game about legendary adventure and boasts that there is no roleplaying stuff.  In Legends you will defeat mythic monsters and grab fabled magic items.  Put on the Death Mask and Achilles’ Heels or wield Thor’s Hammer or the Magic Bassoon.  It’s time to raid the world of myth and legend!