Game Profile: Thunderstone Dragonspire

Name Thunderstone: Dragonspire
Byline The Doomgate is open, and an ancient evil has
been released into the world!
Mechanics Hand Management, Deck Building
Theme Fantasy
Publication Alderac Entertainment Group, 2011
Ages 12+
Time 45
Players 2 – 5
Description
Thunderstone returns
with Thunderstone Dragonspire, a deck building game of fantasy adventure! Dragonspire is a
stand-alone game that allows you to combine cards from past Thunderstone
releases.

You are the leader of a band of heroic adventurers. You have come to
the legendary Dragonspire. Your goal is to build a party of mighty heroes,
magic spells, and powerful weapons to find one of the fabled Thunderstones.
Dungeons are dark and dangerous places. Your Heroes must bring their own Light
with them if they hope to combat the Monsters effectively. If you do not have
enough Light, you will suffer. Each player constructs his own deck of cards during
the game. Your deck represents the abilities and gear of your adventuring
party. How you build your deck determines if victory and glory will be yours!
Keywords:
Thunderstone Dragonspire, Deck Building, Fantasy, Game Profile

Game Profile: Ticket To Ride Asia

Name Ticket To Ride Asia
Byline Embark On An Incredible Adventure
New out for 2011 is Ticket To Ride Map Collection: Asia (Ticket
To Ride Asia) an expansion to Ticket To Ride orTicket
To Ride Europe.  Ticket To Ride Asia has a
double-sided board allowing players to embark on an incredible Asian adventure
with partners on the Team Asia map or individually on
the Legendary Asia map.

Team Asia is designed specifically for team play with 4 or 6 players.
 Players pair up in teams of 2 and should sit next to each other so that
players on the same team always play in succession.  Players on the same team score together but must keep their own set of trains
separate from each other.  Teammates on the same team also share 2
cardholders. At the start of the game each player is dealt a hand of
destination cards and train cards.  Next, each player selects a
destination card from their hand and places it in their team’s common
cardholder.  The remaining cards in their hand are to be kept secret from
the other players including their teammate.  When train cards are drawn
the player must place one in their team’s common cardholder and the other in
their hand.  When playing a Destination, players can use a combination of
 train cards from their own hand and from their team’s common cardholder.
 Tunnels in Team Asia play similar to tunnel play
in Ticket To Ride Europe. 

Legendary Asia is
designed for players to travel alone.  At the start of this game players
are each dealt 1 Long Route and along with the 3 regular Destination Tickets,
of which at least 2 Destination Tickets must be kept.  Legendary
Asia also includes designated mountain routes.  On those
routes some spaces will be marked with an X.  A player who claims those
routes must play a second train on the space.  It will count as 2 extra
points, but will leave you less trains to finish the game.  In this
version of the game there is a 10 point bonus to the player who connects to the
most cities.

Keywords: Ticket To
Ride Asia, Game Expansion, Euro Game, Game Profile


Game Profile: Togbago

Name Tobago
Byline Land Ahoy! … After years of searching you have
found her: Tobago, the island of forgotten treasures.
Mechanics Modular Board, Hand Management, Set Collection
Theme Adventure
Publication Rio Grande Games, 2009
Ages 13+
Time 60
Players 2 – 4
Description

In Tobago the adventure begins when you assemble
the modular board into one of 32 different scenarios.  Then three types of
monuments are placed randomly around the board.  Somewhere on the island,
four different treasures are buried.  The adventurers now use clue cards
to narrow down and finally identify exactly where each of the buried treasures
are located.  Now, the race is on to get your ATV across the various
terrain tiles to be the first to arrive at and claim a buried treasure.
 Once the treasure is claimed, treasure cards will come into play to
distribute the treasure amongst the adventurers who contributed clue cards for
that treasure.  Powerful amulets become available on the board once a treasure is raised and distributed.  These amulets are
claimed by racing your ATV in the same manner as you do for the treasures.
 Amulets grant powers that help players in almost every aspect of the
game.  The game ends after the treasure card deck runs out, but not before
the treasure is distributed.

AWARDS: 2010 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game Winner

Here is an overview of Tobago

Game Profile: Top Dogs

Name Top Dogs
Byline A Dog-Eat-Dog Card Game
Mechanics Math, Memory
Theme Dogs
Publication Playroom Entertainment, 2005
Ages 8+
Time 20
Players 3 – 5
Description

Mush! It’s dog sledding time!  Welcome to Alaska, where your
team of dogs led by the Musher of your choice is ready to compete in the
Iditarod.
Players must pick their best combinations of dogs to form the
strongest team to compete for each race and win the trophies of diffent values.
 But other players have the same dogs to choose from, and the competition
can become sneaky!

As soon as each player has chosen their team, each set of dogs are
evaluated for team strength and the trophy is awarded.  So jump on your
toboggan and choose wisely in this dog-eat-dog game of psyching out oppponents!

Top Dogs is
a fun and fast math game for kids.

Keywords: Family Game,
Card Game, Game Profile

Game Profile: Trailer Park Wars!

Live the dream…be a Trail Park Manager.


Mechanics Modular Board
Theme Trailer Park, Humor

Publication Gut Bustin’ Games, 2007
Ages 13+
Time 60

Players
2
– 6
Description

Trailer Park Wars! is the third game
designed by local game designer, Lisa Steenson. 

To be the best darn Trailer Park Manager in town you must place
quality tenants in your trailers, create a fun and friendly atmosphere by
adding some sweet amenities, and go about destroying the other trailer parks in
town … no matter what it takes!  Win by collecting the most pink flamingos.

Players start with hand of cards, and an array of trailers arranged in an oval in front of them making up their trailer park.  Each trailer park must have a name and included in the game are numbered name tiles that you will use to name your trailer park.  Now you’re ready to start managing your park and trying to destroy your opponent’s .  Players take turns playing their cards and collecting pink flamingos subtracting any black (negative) flamingos gained.  
Place “Phil McCrackin”, the plumber, as a tenant in your
trailer park, add the ‘Above Ground Pool’  as an amenity, then launch a
‘Surface To Trailer Missile’ over to another trailer park, to blow up their
trailer and the tenant.  All in a day’s work at the Trailer Park!  Play continues until the last pink flamingo is taken.  The player with the most pink flamingos wins.

Other Lisa
Steenson games include:
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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.

New Release: Friday, A Solo Adventure

Just released and now available, Friday is a solo adventure – only you can win the game!

You are helping Robinson, who came ashore on your island, fight against many hazards.  At the beginning, Robinson is not very skillful.  With each fight he wins you will improve his abilities, but defeats are also helping to get rid of his worse habits.  However, life on the island is energy-sapping, so that Robinson not only gains experiences during his time there, but also starts aging and tends to get clumsy.
In this game, Robinson is represented as a card stack of different behaviors.  You are forced to improve this card stack, so you can collect the cards at the end of the game to give Robinson the best chance to win against the tough pirates! 

Come in and see us at Off The Charts Games for this and other great games.  We are located at 30 NW 2nd St. in Historic Downtown Gresham.  Come in and get the tour of games.

This Just In: Piece o’ Cake

How about a dessert game to play while you’re having dessert?  Piece o’ Cake is a deliciously fun 20 minute game.

Everyone knows the cake rule:  one person cuts, the other chooses.  In this way, one makes the slices as equal as possible so that one does not end up with the short end.  But this rule does not apply to Piece o’ Cake.  Here a person can cleverly offer larger pieces to the others and still get the most in the end.
Five cakes with eleven slices of different varieties are divided.  Each variety awards a different amount of points.  Only skilled dividers with an eye on their opponents’ pieces can score the most points and win the game.

Stop in and take home “dessert”.  At Off The Charts Games we offer a smorgasbord of board games, card games, dice games, and puzzles.  We are at 30 NW 2nd St. in Historic Downtown Gresham.

Another release in the Ticket To Ride Map Collection

Ticket To Ride India
Days of Wonder has released another in the Ticket To Ride Map Collection.  This latest release, Ticket To Ride India contains a map of India and a map of Switzerland.  As with Ticket To Ride Asia, this is an expansion and requires either Ticket To Ride USA or Ticket To Ride Europe.


Embark on a tour of India and create a Grand Tour for extra bonus points.  Or, discover Switzerland’s challenging geography as well as neighboring countries that include Austria, France, Italy, and Germany.  So jump on board and choose your trip.


Stop in at Off the Charts Games for this expansion to Ticket To Ride and for other fabulous games.  We are located at 30 NW 2nd St in Historic Downtown Gresham.

Game Profile: Ticket To Ride India

Name Ticket To Ride India
Byline Embark On An Incredible Adventure

Mechanics Hand Management, Network/Route Building
Theme India and Switzerland
Publicaiton Days of Wonder, 2011
Ages 8+
Time 45
Players 2 -4
Description

Days of Wonder has released another in the Ticket To Ride Map Collection Series.  This latest release, Ticket To Ride India contains a map of India and a map of Switzerland.  As with Ticket To Ride Asia, this is an expansion and requires either Ticket To Ride USA or Ticket To Ride Europe.

The map of India is a 2 to 4 player game.  Ferries come into play and require a locomotive to be played on specific ports of ferry routes.  There are two end game bonuses awarded.  One is the usual ten-point bonus for having the longest continuous path.  The Grand Tour of India bonus is awarded for any ticket whose two destination cities are linked by at least two distinct paths.  The paths may intersect but cannot share trains.  The bonus escalates for the number of tickets that qualify for the Grand Tour Bonus and can yield from five to forty additional points.

Ticket to Ride Switzerland is designed for 2 to 3 players.  Destination tickets in this game can connect city to city, city to country or country to country.  There are tickets to Austria, France, Italy, and Germany.  In this game destination tickets not selected to keep by players are removed from the game.  It is possible to run our of destination tickets during the game.  Wild locomotive cards can only be played on tunnel routes.  Tunnel routes are claimed similar to Ticket To Ride Europe.  Play the cards to claim the route, then turn over the top three cards of the draw deck.  Any cards that match the color used to claim the route must be matched by additional cards from the players hand to claim the route.  The player with the longest continuous route gets the usual 10 point bonus at the end of the game.

Keywords:  Ticket To Ride India, Map Collection, Game Profile

Game Profile: Undermining

In 2247 an incredible discovery was made.

Mechanics Pick Up and Deliver
Theme Asteroid Mining
Publication AEG, 2014
Ages 8+
Time 45
Players 2 – 5
Description



Undermining casts you in the role of rival miners, hollowing out an alien world in your Universal Mining Vehicle (UMV) for fun and profit.  Alongside prized resources like uranium, titanium, diamond and niobium, your’re also likely to find powerful alien technologies left behind by an ancient civilization.




Players drill through solid rock and rubble to find resources and alien technologies.  When their UMV is loaded they drive back to the refinery on the planet surface where they unload their resources, buy expansions to their equipment, and fill mining contracts that ear star bucks.







Upgrading UM equipment allows player to dig deeper
and faster to fulfill more contracts. 

The game ends when most of the contracts have been filled. The winner is the player who has the most star bucks at the
end of the game.  

The key in Undermining  is to be adept at outmaneuvering your opponents in your Universal Mining Equipment.

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



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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, Cobble Hill, and Dowdle.