Penterwaltz, an abstract game for two players.

Components:

- 36 specially-marked pentominoes pieces, four each of PFVYTZUNL (excluding WXI)
- a cloth bag to hold them, from which they are drawn randomly during play.

(If you're not familiar with the pentonimo shapes, I can't help you without a picture, here, but Google knows where plenty of them are.) The pieces are made of wood, similar in heft and feel to Jenga pieces. Note that this game is not about balancing or coordination, but they are likely to stack 4 to 6 high, and you don't want them to slip.

Every pentomino piece is colored so that three of the squares are white and two black on one side and two white & three black on the other side. The coloration varies, so that the four examples of each shape are colored differently, but always 3/2 on one side, 2/3 on the other.

In addition to the colors, every piece has two or three stars on it, where the stars indicate the stability points of the piece. When a player places a piece, both (or all three) of the starred squares must be directly supported by at least two different pieces at the level immediately below, or it is not a legal placement. For pentominoes of the same shape, the stars are in the same spot, because they are chosen for structural stability. The squares without a star may be resting on another piece, or not, as the player chooses.

Players place the pieces (chosen randomly) one at a time, alternating turns. The goal of each player is to have more of his color showing at the end, once all the pieces are placed. Except for the first piece, any piece placed directly on the table must be adjacent to a previously-placed piece (diagonal doesn't count). When playing a piece atop other pieces, remember that the squares marked with stars must rest on existing pieces. Players may choose which side up to place their pieces, though they will usually choose the side with 3 of their own color up.

The scoring consists of looking straight down at the final structure and counting how many squares of each color are visible. A square is not scored if there is any piece directly above it, at any distance.

With each placement, a player can always gain one point just by placing a piece on the table with three of his color showing and only two of the opponent's color. If he can tuck some of his piece under the overhang of a higher piece, he might be adding three of his color and only one or none of his opponent's color. If he places the piece on top of existing pieces, he might find a legal placement which covers several squares of his opponent's color, and few or none of his own, for a large swing!

SQUARES CUBED
Score points by placing your tokens inside cubes used to build a pyramid. Four players, 30 minutes.

GAME COMPONENTS
264 CUBES (one inch hollow cubes, open on one side)
- 64 each of 4 colors are black outside and colored inside.
- 8 are black inside and out

64 TOKENS (three quarter inch solid cubes)
- 16 of each color

1 BOARD An 8 by 8 grid of one inch squares, each edge colored.

DECK of 32 cards, 8 of each color

Score pad and pen

GAME SET-UP
Place all CUBES on table open side down so color inside can not be seen. This is the FIELD.
Each player gets all 16 TOKENS of their color
Shuffle deck and turn over a card. The player with these colored TOKENS is the first player on the first round.

BASIC GAME PLAY
On each round one card is turned over by the first player to reveal the KEY COLOR for the round. Only CUBES with this KEY COLOR may be scored.

Starting with the first player, each player will -
1 - Select one CUBE from the FIELD and choose whether to play it on the BOARD or return it to the FIELD.
CUBES may be played with the opening up, down, or facing a colored edge.
Once a CUBE has been played it may not be moved.
CUBES are played on top of other CUBES only by centering them squarely over the point where four CUBES come together. There may not be any missing CUBES below.
The totally black CUBES may only be placed with the open side down. The player should not tell others what, if any, color is inside a face down cube.

2 - Choose whether to place one TOKEN in any CUBE.
CUBE must match KEY COLOR
TOKENS may only be placed in CUBES with an accessible open side. TOKENS may not be placed in face down CUBES.

3 - Score points.
Base Points - 1 point for each level high the cube is. i.e, if the cube is on the first, base level they get 1 point, if it is on the highest, 7th, level they get 7 points.

Double Points - If KEY COLOR matches the player’s TOKEN, double the points.
If the KEY COLOR matches the EDGE the CUBE is facing double the points. There is no EDGE point multiplier for cubes facing up.

Triple Points - If the Key Color matches both the player’s TOKEN and the EDGE the cube is facing triple their points.

After each player has had a turn the last player of the round becomes the first player for the next round.

GAME END
Once the 7th level is filled the next player places a single, face down CUBE on top to ‘Cap the Pyramid’ and end the game.

A game of strategic stacking for 2 or 3 players. Tri and see all the angles.

Components

A large wooden game board shaped like a hexagon with 24 equilateral triangles drawn on it. There are pegs at each of the points of the triangles (19 pegs total in five rows 3, 4, 5, 4, 3). Each player receives 30 coloured beads with holes in them that can be stacked up to three high on the pegs. Each player also receives 15 coloured triangular pieces that can be stacked in the triangle spaces between the pegs.

Gameplay

The players take turns placing one bead at a time on a peg. A player gets a bonus action if the newly placed bead gives that player control of a triangle space (meaning the player has the topmost bead on two or more pegs surrounding the triangle). The bonus action is to either place another bead or place a triangular piece in the triangle space. A chain reaction where a player places multiple beads in succession is possible. However, a player may not place two beads on the same peg in the same turn. The triangular pieces can be stacked on top of each other until no more beads can be placed around that triangle. Each player’s triangular pieces are limited so choose wisely whether to place one or not. It is also possible for one bead to give a player control of multiple triangles. He or she chooses a bonus action for each newly controlled triangle.

Game End

The first player to form a TriXagon or have the topmost triangular piece in any 9 triangle spaces wins. A TriXagon means 6 triangles around a central point forming a hexagon (two rows of three triangles).

Piles of the Dead

Intro

You are a small group of survivors, and have barricaded yourselves behind a wall. Each night, hordes of zombies push against the barricades, climbing on top of each other to get over the walls and into your camp. To survive you must kill attacking zombies, reinforce the barricades, and find supplies.

Components

1 Board

1 Die

1 Scavenge Die

Survivor Figures

Wall Tiles

Zombie Tiles - Two sides: Undead Zombie or Dead Body

Ammo Tokens

Zombie Cards

Setup

Zombies have 3 lanes of attack, plus one for each player. Make a wall 3 tiles high at the end of each lane. Players get 3 survivors each.

Gameplay

Day

Survivors prepare for the night by taking actions including:

• Scavenge - Roll the scavenge die to get wall tiles or ammo tokens
• Reinforce Wall - Add 3 wall tiles to the wall
• Remove 3 bodies (Bodies will pile up, and need to be cleared out)
• Defend Wall with a gun (Costs 1 ammo)
• Defend Wall

Night

Make a deck of Zombie Cards, which gets more difficult each night. Each turn during the night:

1) Draw a Zombie card to see how many zombies are placed, and in which lanes of attack.

2) Move each Zombie 3 spaces if able, starting with those closest to the wall.

Zombie movement is blocked if a stack of tiles is too high. Zombies can climb onto a stack of tiles that is one higher than the stack the Zombie is on, or two stacks higher if climbing onto a Dead Body.

Zombies move forward if able. Otherwise, the Zombie moves to another lane. Zombies next to the wall only move to another lane if it has a higher stack with a body on top. Players decide which lane if there is more than one option. Once on the other side of the wall, Zombies will move to the closest survivor.

3) Zombies next to a survivor attack it. Zombies next to the wall but not a survivor attack the wall. If a 1 or 2 is rolled, the attack is successful, removing the survivor or a tile from the wall.

4) Defending survivors take an action:

• Get a Wall Tile from the supplies.
• Place a Wall Tile on the Wall (not on top of a dead body).
• Defend a lane of attack (only one survivor per lane)

Defenders with a gun shoot at the closest Zombie. Roll a die, killing the Zombie if the range to the Zombie is matched or exceeded.

Defenders without a gun can only attack a Zombie next to them, or next to the barricade in their lane. Roll 3 or higher to kill the Zombie.

When a Zombie is killed, its tile is flipped over and left where it was. In this way, the Zombies pile up outside the walls.

Once all Zombies are killed, the next Day begins, for survivors to prepare for the night. If the defending survivors are killed, the survivors lose.

Beaverdam

Components

Board – - It’s a walled board that is set on an angle. The angle can be adjusted to make the game more or less difficult.
- The board has peg holes in it to accommodate ‘trees’. The closer to the bottom, the more disperse the trees are - At the bottom of the board, there is a building area for the dams.

Trees – - Plastic trees of different sizes and shapes also come with the game. Mostly these are the barren and dead type trees you would see in a swamp.
- You can set up the board so that the smaller trees are higher up on the board producing a 3-D perspective layout. OR just randomly place trees on the board.

Water – - There are marbles (glass may be too heavy) of varying sizes.
- After the board has been set up, put the marbles at the top of the board, supported by the trees.

Basic Game Play:

1. Start by removing a tree from the game board and using it to build a dam in the building area.
2. Build up your dam to catch as much water as possible.
3. Continue until all of the water (marbles) has passed into the building area.
4. Whoever can collect the most water (number of marbles) wins the game.

Alternative Rules

When I came up with this concept I thought it was too simple and basic, but the more I thought about it, the more interesting things got. It doesn’t seem like a lot of strategy, but there is. The plinko style board means you want to try to create a river path to your dam. But you also want to use the largest trees first. You could also try to block or direct the water towards your goal and away from your foe’s. Being able to adjust the angle of the board is also a sure way to keep things interesting. Anyways, this game leaves itself open to many alternative rules and missions. Here are some examples

Scenario #1 – divide the bottom of the board by the number of players. These are towns you are trying to save. Try to flood your opponents village.

Scenario #2 – place the house miniature on the board below the building area. Players work cooperatively to try to save the house from the flood.

Scenario #3 – Players work together trying to collect all of the water. Make a dam that will not break.

Scenario #4 – Try making a dam into a water ramp. See who can get the most water to jump the wall of the board.

Skyward
War above the Stars

Setting
The United Planets (UP) are being attacked by the Devastators - treacherous aliens from another galaxy. One player takes the role of the UP and fights to take back the planets it lost, while one player takes the role of the Devastators and battles to capture the remaining UP planets.

Goal
Capture all of the other faction's planets.

Board
A modular hex map that contains 8 planets (4 each for each side). Each planet is composed of 7 ground tiles, but the rest of the board is made up of space tiles.

Pieces
There are two types of pieces, units and markers.

Units
There are two categories of units, ground units and space units. The space units include, in order from weakest to strongest: fighter, bomber, corvette, frigate, destroyer, cruiser, and capital ship. Ground units include: infantry and armor. Each unit is a tokens, and these tokens can be stacked on each other in certain situations. Each unit(s) must be placed on a hex. Ground units may only move on ground hexes. However, they may be transported through space by a ship. When they are carried by a spaceship, they are stacked on top of the ship. Ground units are used for defending a planet or attacking a planet. Space units may travel through space.

Dimension markers
Integral to the game is the concept of dimension markers. The game is uniquely 3 dimensional. Unlike traditional board games, there are three levels on the vertical axis. To represent the level the space unit is on, each space unit must be stacked on a dimension marker when it is on a space hex. There are three colors of dimension markers: red, yellow, and blue. Each of these colors correlates to one of the levels. Red is the base level (level 1), yellow is the second level, and blue is the top level (level 2).

Combat
To initiate combat, a unit must be within range of an opposing unit, and must be on the same plane (as in geometrical axis). For example, two space units may be on two hexes that are adjacent; however, if the units are stacked on different dimension markers, they may not be able to shoot at each other. Because most units (with the exception of cruisers and capital ships) cannot shoot up or down, navigating ships between the vertical levels to avoid attacks or setup attacks is crucial to the game.

Each unit has a strength value and an evade value. The number determines how many dice the player gets to roll. After rolling dice, each player takes their highest dice and compare them. If the attacker has a higher value than the defender, the attacker scores a hit. If the defender has a higher value than the attacker, the defender evades the attack.

CONCEPT

Stapel is an Abstract game for 2 players. It is a short game, where the object of the game is to control more areas than your opponent, by trying to stack your pieces on top of your opponent’s pieces.

COMPONENTS

1 3x3 Squared Grid board
5 Black Discs (in different sizes)
5 White Discs (in different sizes)

SETUP

Each player starts the game with 5 discs of different sizes outside of the board.

TURN

In your turn, the active player can choose:

• Place a new disc in the Board;
• Make a move.

PLACING A DISC ON THE BOARD

You can choose to place one of your remaining discs in the board. To do so, you must place it in any EMPTY space OR on TOP of YOUR OWN pieces. To place a piece on top of one of your others discs, the new disc MUST be smaller than the one already in the board.

MOVING

To make a move, you must choose one disc in the board and move it one space orthogonally adjacent. NO DIAGONALLY MOVES.

You can only make moves to EMPTY spaces OR to spaces that have a disc bigger than the one you are moving. It does not matter which color that disc is.

CONTROL OF AREAS

A player control an area when it has the top disc of the stack in that area. Consider a single disc as a stack of 1 disc.
You cannot move discs that have other discs on top of it.

END OF THE GAME

The game ends when the last disc is placed on the board.
The winner is the player that have more areas in his control.

Overview

• One to four players
• Players cooperate to build barricades, defend against the army, and inspire an uprising across Paris.
• Players win by reaching 10 uprising points. Points are gained by “raising the flag” (placing a player piece) on top of a barricade (wall of wooden cubes). Higher barricades gain more points.
• Players lose if any street no longer has a complete barricade in it.

Components

• Board
• Map of three streets meeting in a Y-intersection. Evenly spaced along each street are three “chokepoints” (the width of 5 wooden cubes) where barricades can be built.
• Along each side of each street are two shopfronts (behind the outer and middle chokepoints).
• Uprising point track
• 60 wooden cubes.
• 50 Item cards
• 40 loot cards
  Used to claim cubes for barricades. Each card has a diagram specifying how cubes can be placed (eg. “Chair” 3 cubes in an L-shape, “Beam” a line of 3, “Table” a square of 4).
• 10 cobblestone cards
  Used to EITHER place 2-4 cubes in anywhere on a barricade, OR take a fight action.
• 4 player pieces
• 4 player ability cards (eg. take extra build action; take extra move action etc.)
• 15 army pieces (1 cannon and 4 unique soldiers per street)
• 18 army action cards
  Each card specifies which piece will take what action. Soldiers either wound a player in line of site, move up to a barricade, or remove a cube from an adjacent barricade. Cannons remove a cube from barricade in line of site.

Game setup

1. Place a cobblestone card behind each chokepoint.
2. Place five loot cards on each shopfront.
3. Place player pieces in the intersection.
4. Place barricades one cube high across the three chokepoints surrounding the intersection.
5. Start the Uprising track on 1

Round sequence

One player takes actions, followed by army and uprising phases.

Player

Player takes any three actions:

• Move: anywhere on a street
• Take: a cobblestone card from under you or loot a shopfront next to you.
• Drop: (for no action cost) Place a card you hold underneath you.
• Build: Discard a card from underneath you. Following the card diagram place the cubes on the nearest barricade.
• Fight: Discard a cobblestone from underneath you. Remove an adjacent army piece.

Raise the flag (optional): place your piece on the nearest barricade

Army

Draw and resolve three army cards. Pieces are initially deployed to end of a street. If a piece has already been deployed resolve its action.

If a player is wounded she returns her piece to an intersection and discards her ability.

If any street no longer has at least one complete barricade (five cubes across and one high) players lose the game.

Uprising

If active player’s piece is on a barricade:

1. Move Uprising track up the number of points equal to the number of complete layers in the barricade.
2. Move player piece behind the barricade.

At 10 Uprising points players win the game.