Game Profile: Origin

Evolve, migrate, innovate, and score!


Classification Family Strategy Game
Mechanics Area Influence, Hand Management, Set Collection
Publication Matagot/Asmodee, 2013
Ages 8+
Time 45+
Players 2-4
Description

We had a chance to play Origin for the first time last night. This new game from Matagot features some great looking wooden pawns used to designate three tribes. These tribes will evolve and migrate from central Africa across the world. Players use village tokens to designate which tribal pawns belong to them. Tribal pawns are introduced to the board via evolution. Once on the board players can move their villages with respective tribal pawn across the board or swap places with weaker pawns of another player. The pawns have three characteristics: color (tribe), width (strength), and height (speed).


The object of Origin is to gather more victory points than anyone else.  Points are scored for achieving objectives
from the purple deck of cards, for hunting animals, for controlling straits
between continents, and for developing innovation technology trees.  Along the way players will use green cards
for one time benefits and orange cards for game-long benefits.  Cards and innovation tiles are acquired by evolving
on or moving to a country of the matching deck color. Therefore, players will
gain something on every turn.
Origin is a game of tactics. 
Goal cards will drive actions because they can require certain
combinations of countries, tribes, etc. 
But, the key will be outmaneuvering everyone else.  A two player game will be a real chess match
trying to position your tribal pawns without setting up your opponent.  In a three or four player game players will
need to be able to shift gears quickly. 
The board can evolve and change between your turns making your next move
definitely different than the one you were planning on when you finished your
last turn.  Origin has great components, quick
game play – 45 minutes, and enough decisions to definitely deep your head in
the game.


We have an open copy of Origin available
in our Demo Games Library for you come in and try out.

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Continue to check in for the latest in board games.
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Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Events: March 2nd – 8th

Come and join in on the fun at this week’s Game Events. It’s a great way to try out some games. Here is this week’s schedule:


Date: Weds. Mar. 5th
Time: 6 pm

Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Weds. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


Origin
Matagot/Asmodee
Sunrise City
Cleavor Mojo

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Date: Fri Mar 7th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Fri. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.

Alhambra
Queen Games
Automobile
Mayfair Games
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No experience is necessary! We are happy to teach you the rules and get you started.
Also, while you are here any of the games in our Store Demo Game Library are available for play.


Come Play ~ ~ It’s Free ~ It’s Fun!




Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown GreshamWe have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.


We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.




Game Arrivals: Week of Feb. 23rd – March 1st

This week’s arrivals include more new games and more new game expansions.


Origin
Asmodee – Matagot
New in from Asmodee is Origin, a wonderful family game.  Players will use cool-looking tribal pawns to evolve, migrate, and innovate starting from central Africa and radiating around the world.  Players earn victory points by completing objective cards as soon as they fulfill the conditions specified on the card. Victory points are also gained from claiming straits, hunting animals, and achieving the highest innovation level.

  Watch this video by Matagot for a game overview

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Expand your empire, outwit your enemies, and evolve your fleet in this new game of strategy and conquest from Funforge – Quantum.
Quantum
Funforge
In Quantum players are fleet commanders from various factions of humanity, struggling to conquer a sector of space. Each die represents a spaceship where the die value determines the ship’s movement as well as its power. A [6] is a swift but fragile scout whereas, a [1] is a slow but devastating battlestation. You win by constructing Quantum Cubes – massive planetary energy extractors. Each one you build evolves your fleet in new ways.


The game board is made up of modular tiles. There are 30 prescribed map layouts or you can configure your own setup.  The ship powers, player abilities, and board designs combine to create endless possibilities.

Here is a short video by Funforge




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Ricochet Robots
Z-Man Games

The classic returns! This new edition of Ricochet Robots from Z-Man Games contains every released board in one box.


Warning! Warning! The central computer has failed. The robots are unable to reach their destination on their own. Help them by planning their trajectory as efficiently as possible. Optimize your moves and ricochets to arrive at your goal. Remember: robots are obstacles too; and they can easily be moved. Can you find the shortest trajectory before the other players?













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Two new game expansions hitting our shelves are:

Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords
Fortress of Stone Giants Adventure Pack

Paizo
Android – Netrunner
Fear and Loathing Data Pack

Fantasy Flight
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Restocks:
  • Australian Rails
  • Friday
  • Morels
  • Takenoko



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Continue to Tune in for the latest in board games!
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Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, Cobble Hill, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Events: Feb. 23rd – Mar. 1st

Come and join in on the fun at this week’s Game Events. It’s a great way to try out some games. Here is this week’s schedule:




Date: Weds. Feb 26th
Time: 6 pm

Place: Off The Charts Games Store

Weds. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


Patrician
Mayfair Games
Bora Bora
Ravensburger

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Date: Fri Feb 28th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store


Also tonight a local gamer is running a test play session of a game that is currently under development.  Come and get a chance to try something new.


Fri. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


Kingdom Builder
Queen Games
Caylus
Rio Grande Games
Cubicle
Test play tonight.
No experience is necessary! We are happy to teach you the rules and get you started.
Also, while you are here any of the games in our Store Demo Game Library are available for play.




Come Play ~ ~ It’s Free ~ It’s Fun!




Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown GreshamWe have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.


We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.


Game Profile: Carcassonne the Castle

An exciting tile-laying completion between 2 players.


Classification 2-Player Strategy Game
Mechanics Tile Placement, Area Control, Area Enclosure
Publication Rio Grande Games, 2003
Ages 8+
Time 30-45
Players 2
Description

Carcassonne the Castle uses the same draw a tile – play a tile system that
is used in
Carcassonne.  Like Carcassonne players can choose to place one of their
followers on one of the scoring elements of the castle tile at the time it is
placed.  Score completed elements and
retrieve your follower for future use.  The
scoring elements on the castle tiles are paths, houses, towers, and markets.  There is a scoring track (the castle wall) that
encompasses the playing area.  The
scoring track serves two additional functions in addition to keeping score.  First it provides 7 different starting
locations for castle tiles to be played. 
Second, there are 12 corner spots for special wall tiles which can be gained
when a player’s score lands exactly on one of these spots.  Wall tiles provide significant advantages
when claimed.  They can double the score
of a completed house or tower.  They can
yield victory points, an extra turn, or the ability to score an unfinished element
at game end.  This brings up some interesting
tactical decisions.  If I am within easy
reach on the scoring track of a special wall tile do I used my drawn castle
tile to complete a low scoring element and take the special wall tile?  Or, if I have the opportunity to use this
castle tile to complete a higher scoring element do I take the higher score and
miss out on the special wall tile leaving it behind for my opponent to shoot
for.  There is only one special wall tile
per location and any left behind can be claimed by your opponent if they can
manage their score to land on them.
Another interesting scoring
twist is the award of points at the end of the game to the player with the
largest completed house.  This bonus value
is based on the largest unoccupied area inside the castle.  This puts a premium on the one point per
castle house tile over the two points per castle tower tile.  Castle paths score one point per tile unless
at least one of the castle paths is connected with a fountain which then
doubles the score.  Castle markets claimed
with a player’s follower scores 3 points per tile.  However, a special wall tile for markets will
increase the value to 4 points per tile. 
During the game a player claims a market tile by laying his follower down
on it.  This follower remains on there
through the end of the game and cannot be reclaimed and played again like followers
positioned on other scored elements.

We have an open copy of Carcassonne the Castle available in our Store Demo Library for you come in and try out.

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Continue to tune in for the latest in board games.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~



Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.







Game Goes “Off The Charts”: Agricola All Creatures Big and Small

This past Monday, another game got a chance to go “Off The Charts” when we headed to Pendleton to meet up with family.


The weather was rainy and windy as we left Portland and headed up the gorge.  It continued to be nasty until we reached Arlington.  With a break in the weather, our pit stop in Arlington provided us some blue skies and an opportunity to sit and play a quick board game.


This gazebo provide the perfect dry spot for

Agricola All Creatures
Big and Small

Z-Man Games

 
This was a great spot to hang out for awhile, even the ducks found this to be idyll.


It was not long after leaving Arlington and continuing on that we were back in the rainy weather.  What a lucky break Arlington had been.

You can learn all about this 2-player strategy game by clicking here our Game Profile: Agricola All Creatures Big and Small.



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Continue to tune for more games that go “Off the Charts”
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~


Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area. 




Game Arrivals: Week of Feb. 16th – 22nd

Here’s are some of the games that came in this week:

Flash Point 2nd Story
Expansion Pack

Indie Boards & Games



2nd Story is the 2nd expansion for the cooperative game, Flash Point: Fire Rescue.  Take your fire fighting skills to a whole new level – literally.


This expansion pack contains 2 double-sided mounted boards, each representing one floor of a building.  Additionally, there is a counter sheet that contains ladders, windows, an explosion marker, and more.  Ladders and stairs provide access to the upper building level, and windows let firefighters enter and leave the building without causing structural damage.










Thunderstone Advance
Towers of Ruin

AEG



A new adventure awaits you in Thunderstone Advance with new rules, new cards, dividers, a two-sided board, and more.


Get to the dungeon fast with new cards.  Familiars join up with your heroes in the fight to defeat the monsters.  A good thing, as there are new more powerful monsters.


Thunderstone Advance is a stand-alone game that is completely compatible with previous Thunderstone games.










Qwirkle
Mindware



Qwirkle is an award winning family game for 2 to 4 players ages 6 and up.  The awards include Mensa Select, Major fun! award, and Parents’ Choice Gold Award.


Qwirkle is quick to about matching colors and shapes with a little tactical maneuvers thrown in.  Players score points by building lines of tiles that share a common feature – either color or shape.  Completing a line of 6 makes a Qwirkle and scores bonus points.









Catan Junior
Mayfair Games


Based on the concepts of Settlers of Catan, Catan Junior is a quick to learn game for kids 6+.

Catan Junior takes place
on a ring of tropical isles.  Each island generates a specific resource: wood,
goats, barrels of molasses, or pirate cutlasses.  You can also find gold.  Use
the resources to build ships, more pirate lairs, or to get help from the wise
Coco the Parrot.  You can even trade in the nearby market.  Just watch out for
the dreaded Ghost Captain. The first player to control 7 pirate lairs wins the
game.




Cosmic Encounter
Fantasy Flight
Munchkin Apocalypse
Mars Attacks

Steve Jackson Games
Start Player
Z-Man Games


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Continue to Tune in for the latest in board games!
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~


Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, Cobble Hill, and White Mountain.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

TableTop Season 2: Lords of Vegas

Take a
break from your daily routine and pull up a chair to watch the next episode
in 
the TableTop series
hosted by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame, on Felicia Day’s YouTube
Channel
 Geek and Sundry. Today Wil has chosen to play the board game Lords of Vegas an economic strategy game. Buy hey, it’s Vegas so risk and luck are involved!


Lords of Vegas
Mayfair Games

Joining Wil is Miracle Laurie, Angela Webber, and Aubrey Webber in a battle to develop and control their version of the Las Vegas strip.  Today, it’s all about building and controlling the most casinos to become the “Lord of Vegas”.  Let’s watch and see who takes the big risks,  has the touch with dice, and makes the best investments.








We have an
open copy of
 Lords of Vegas available in our Store Demo Library for you come in and try
out.





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Continue to tune in for more Table Top Episodes
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Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown Gresham. We have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.

Game Events: Feb. 16th – 22nd

Come and join in on the fun at this week’s Game Events. It’s a great way to try out some games. Here is this week’s schedule:


Date: Weds. Feb 19th
Time: 6 pm

Place: Off The Charts Games Store


Weds. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


OddVille
Whats Your Game?
Village
Pegasus

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Date: Fri Feb 21st
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store


Fri. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


Tobago
Rio Grande
Airlines Europe
Rio Grande






No experience is necessary! We are happy to teach you the rules and get you started.
Also, while you are here any of the games in our Store Demo Game Library are available for play.



Come Play ~ ~ It’s Free ~ It’s Fun!


Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown GreshamWe have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.



We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.


Game Events: Feb. 9th – 15th

Come and join in on the fun at this week’s Game Events. It’s a great way to try out some games. Here is this week’s schedule:


Date: Weds. Feb 12th
Time: 6 pm

Place: Off The Charts Games Store


Weds. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


7 Wonders
Asmodee
Revolution
Steve Jackson Games

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Date: Fri Feb 14th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store


Fri. Featured Games
To learn more about each featured board game click on the game name below it’s picture.


Relic Runners
Days of Wonder
World Without End
Mayfair Games
No experience is necessary! We are happy to teach you the rules and get you started.
Also, while you are here any of the games in our Store Demo Game Library are available for play.




Come Play ~ ~ It’s Free ~ It’s Fun!


Come and visit us at 30 NW 2nd Street in Historic Downtown GreshamWe have a full range of family games, strategy games, Euro-style games, war games, card games, dice games and more. Also for the puzzle enthusiasts we carry quality puzzles from Ravensburger, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.


We proudly serve Gresham and the greater Portland and Vancouver area.