Game Arrivals: July 7th – 13th

This week’s arrivals includes some newly released games as well as some new expansions and a Spiel des Jahres award winner.


Hanabi
R&R Games



Hanabi is this year’s winner of the prestigious Spiel des Jahres family game award.

Hanabi is a cooperative card game with a clever game mechanic.  Players will race against the clock to create an amazing fireworks show.  Players will hold their cards up and facing out towards the other players. You will be able to everyone’s cards except your own.  Working together, you will give each other essential information in order to play your cards in the proper launch sequence.
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Morels
Two Lantern Games

Newly released from Two Lantern Games is Morels, a light strategic foraging and feasting card game for 2.  The object of the game is to cook mushrooms, thus garnering the most MVP’s (mushroom varietal points) at the end of the game.  Points are obtained by cooking sets of 3 or more like mushrooms.  Each mushroom card has 2 values: the MVP values for cooking and the foraging value for selling.  Selling 2 or more like mushrooms earns foraging sticks that expand your options for collecting cards in future turns.  As players collect, cook, and sell, each turn will result in 1 card form the forest (the line of cards face-up on the table) moving into a decay pile.  Cards in the decay remain available for a short time and are then discarded.  The Day Deck continuously refill the forest from the back, creating the the effect of a walk in the woods along which some strategic morsels are collected, some are passed by and others lay ahead.




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Targi
Z-Man Games

Also recently released is Targi from Z-Man Games.  Targi is a 2 player card game in which each player is a leader of a Tuareg tribe.  The goal is simple: travel across the desert, look for oases and camp where you will be able to acquire the goods needed to make your tribe the biggest and the richest.  Both tribes are competing for these valuable goods so each must hasten their travel.  Additionally, bands of robbers are scouring the desert looking for an easy  prey.  Each player must always keep their eyes ahead and their mind open, lest they be deceived by a mirage.


The game is played on a grid of 25 cards, which symbolize the goods of the tribes. There is a fixed number of cards of 16 before you reach the edge of the desert. The 9 central cards are never in the same place from one game to another. The result: always a new game situation. 

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The 2 game expansions are:

Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Labyrinth of Ruin Expansion
Fantasy Flight
Android Netrunner
Humanity’s Shadow Data Pack
Fantasy Flight
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Restocks:
  • King of Tokyo
  • Fresco
  • Formula D
  • CO2
  • Flash Point – Fire Rescue


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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, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

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


2013 Spiel des Jahres Game Winners Announced

It looks like it’s a good year for cooperative games.  Both the prestigious Spiel des Jahres (Family Game of the Year) and the Kennerspiel des Jahres (More Strategic Game of the Year) for 2013 are cooperative games.
And the winners are…..

2013 Spiel des Jahres
Family Game of the Year:


Hanabi
R&R Games



Hanabi is a cooperative card game with a clever game mechanic.  Players will race against the clock to create an amazing fireworks show.  Players will hold their cards up and facing out towards the other players. You will be able to everyone’s cards except your own.  Working together, you will give each other essential information in order to play your cards in the proper launch sequence.


Hanabi is by the same board game designer as 7 Wonders, Antoine Bauza.















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2013 Kennerspiel des Jahres
More Strategic Game of the Year:

Legends of Andor
Fantasy Flight

Here is Fantasy Flight’s brief overview of Legends of Andor 

Legends of Andor is a cooperative adventure game in which players are a band of heroes working together to defend a fantasy realm from invading hordes.  In order to secure Andor’s borders the heroes will embark on dangerous quest over the course of 5 unique scenarios.  But as the clever game system keeps monsters on the march toward the castle, players must balance their priorities carefully.  Will their heroes roam the land completing quests in the name of glory, or devote themselves to the defense of the realm?


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Continue to tune in for your board game news!
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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: Week of July 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. July 10th
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.


Oregon
Rio Grande Games
World Without End
Mayfair Games

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Date: Fri. July 12th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store


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


Yspahan
Rio Grande Games
Automobile
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 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.

Most Popular Games: 2nd Quarter 2013 Results

For curious minded folks, we have tallied the numbers and below are our Top 10 Best Sellers for the 2nd quarter ended June 30th at Off The Charts Games.




And the winners are….


1. Small World
Days of Wonder
2. Flash Point- Fire Rescue
Indie Boards & Cards


3. Castle Panic
Fireside Games
4. Pandemic
Z-Man Games
5. Formula D
Asmodee
6. Star Fluxx
Looney Labs

7. Tsuro
Calliope Games
8. Forbidden Island
Gamewright
9. Carcassonne
Z-Man Games
10. Fluxx
Looney Labs

As you can see, it was a good quarter for cooperative games (Flash Point: Fire Rescue, Castle Panic, Pandemic, and Forbidden Island).  If you’re not familiar with cooperative style board games come in and we’ll enlighten you.  We have several open in our library of demo games for you to try out while you are here.



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Continue to tune in for your board game news!
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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.

Happy Independence Day

From Off The Charts Games we wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July.


In observance of the holiday we will be closing early today at 4:00 pm.  We will see you tomorrow morning when we open at 10:00 am.  And, don’t forget Friday Game Night is still on tomorrow night.

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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: Week of July 1st – 6th

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. July 3rd
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.


Pergamon
Gryphon Games
Keyflower
R&D Games

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Date: Fri. July 5th
Time: 6 pm
Place: Off The Charts Games Store

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



Seasons
Asmodee
Nexus Ops
Fantasy Flight

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 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 Goes Off The Charts: Tsuro

It’s been a little while since we took a board game “off the charts”.  Yesterday was a perfect day to head for the mountains to beat the heat and so we did.





It was an incredible drive to the trail head as part of the way was lined with Bear Grass sentinels on both sides of the road.  We had Tsuro, the game of the path with us today as we headed to one of our favorite paths, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).  The section we were hiking today took off from Olallie Lake.

At this rest stop along the path we had an awesome view of the lake and of Mt. Jefferson to the south. 
Fresh mountain air and surrounded by the beauty and wonderful scent of bear grass and other wild flowers in bloom made a perfect atmosphere for our relaxing games of Tsuro.
Tsuro
Calliope Games

In Tsuro you place a tile and slide your stone along the path created, but take care!  Other players’ paths can lead you in the wrong direction–or off the board entirely!  Find your way wisely to succeed. You can learn more about this board game by clicking here on Tsuro.



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Continue to tune for more games that go “Off the Charts”
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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 Profile: Yspahan


Caravan your way to riches!

Mechanics Dice Rolling, Area Control/ Area Influence
Theme Arabian Merchants
Publication Rio Grande Games, 2006
Ages 8+
Time 45 – 60
Players 3 – 4
Description

Join the caravan to Yspahan, the fair.  This game is a
great mid-level strategy game.  It
features colorful boards, straight-forward rules and enough strategy to make
players think about every action in their 21 turns.  The game comprises of 4 types of boards; a
city board, a tower board, a desert caravan board, and individual player boards
along with special ability cards, gold coin disks, and cute little camels.




In a game of Yspahan, the turns are broken down into 3 weeks of 7 days.  At the beginning of each week, the starting
player rolls at least 8 die and places them in sequential order on the tower
board. A player may roll as many as 3 more dice purchased for the right price.  Next players take turns selecting a group of
dice from the tower board which in turn allows them one of various
actions.  These actions consists of
acquiring gold, camels, or special ability cards, or securing shops on the city
board, or sending goods to the desert caravan board.  Your camels and gold can be spent to
construct buildings on your player board that yield additional abilities and
victory points.


Scoring takes place at
the end of each week.  Points are award
for completely occupying a section of the city market and for positions in the
desert caravan.  The player with the
highest score is the winner.  So get on
your camel and ride to Yspahan.

You can also watch an overview of Yspahan in this video:

An open copy of Yspahan is available on our Demo Game shelves for you to try out while you are here.
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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, TDC, White Mountain, and Cobble Hill.

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


July Game Events

July’s Game Events Calendar has been updated.  To access our all of our events just click above on our “Calendar” tab.  As the event date nears you will find more information posted under our “Game Events” tab.

Come and join in on the fun at this week’s Game Events. It’s a great way to try out some games and meet other board gamers.

Demo Games
Lot’s of Demo 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 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 Profile: Tsuro

The game of the path.

Mechanics Hand Management, Tile Placement, Network Building
Theme Asian
Publication Calliope Games, 2004
Ages 8+
Time 15 – 20 min
Players 2 – 8
Description
Tsuro; the game of the path is an easy to learn, quick playing game for
2 to 8 players.  Players will select a starting
position for their dragon marker anywhere around the outside of the board.  Players begin the game with 3 tiles that have
a variety of paths depicted on them.  On
their turn a player will select one tile from their hand and place it on the
board on the open space in front of their dragon.  Next the player will move their dragon to the
end of the path on the newly placed tile and as well as across any other tiles
it may connect to – always ending at an open space.  Additionally, any opponent’s dragon that borders
this tile must move to the end their connecting path ending at a new open
space.  The object of the game is to be
the last dragon remaining on the board.  Players
will want to place tiles that move themselves out of harm’s way and their opponents
hurtling off the board.  Dragons are also
eliminated if they collide on a path.

Tsuro works well with 2 or 3 players, and gets totally
insane with 6, 7, or 8 players as we found out when we played it.  This is a great 15 to 20 minute board game.

We have a copy of Tsuro open in our Store Demo Games Library for you to come in
and try out while you are here.



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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, White Mountain, Cobble Hill, and Dowdle.


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