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Lords of Waterdeep: Explore a Detailed World

From the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons comes Lords of Waterdeep, a strategy board game that pits secretive and power-hungry masked rulers against one another in a campaign to grasp control of the city. Lords of Waterdeep combines resource gathering with card playing in an intricate and fantastical experience that will have you backstabbing your closest friends to win some much-needed victory points. The fantasy and political intrigue of Lords of Waterdeep elevate this board game from a forgettable worker placement game into a magical quest.

The Masked Lords of Waterdeep

In the Forgotten Realms, there lies a most fantastical city named Waterdeep, the City of Splendors. As one of the masked Lords of Waterdeep, you’ll secretly recruit adventurers to embark on quests and bring back rewards with which you can grow your political influence. Lords of Waterdeep is all about the secret back-alley dealings and double crosses that determine who holds the true power of the city.

At the beginning of the game, each player will take on the role of one of the five Lords of Waterdeep. The game box comes with five different cardstock player mats with which you’ll conduct your various deeds. It also comes with hundreds of different cards, cubes, meeples, and other little colored trinkets that fill the game with colorful flourishes.

Adventurers, Rewards, and Quests

As one of the Lords of Waterdeep, you’ll control agents who will recruit adventurers to perform certain quests for them and earn rewards. These rewards will sometimes come in the form of victory points, which boost your influence over Waterdeep and get you one step closer to winning the game. Whoever wins the most victory points by the end of the eighth round is declared the winner, so you’ll have to act fast if you don’t want to fall behind.

The adventure resources are represented as purple, orange, black, and white cubes that are based on the four character classes of Dungeons & Dragons. Certain adventurers are better suited for certain quests—will your adventurer succeed in Skullduggery or does their strength lie in Commerce? You’ll need to stay on your toes and strategize if you want to block the other Lords from gaining control.

Scoundrels of Skullport Expansion

A single expansion was released in 2013 called Scoundrels of Skullport, which adds two expansion modules to the base game of Lords of Waterdeep. Whether you dive into the Undermountain module; explore the Skullport module; or add both expansions to the game, you’ll get a whole host of new game boards, cards, and tokens with which to play.

Undermountain adds an interesting new mechanic that allows you to place resources on the game board spaces while also offering you more expensive but rewarding quests. Skullport adds the corruption mechanic to the game, which includes the new corruption track game board and 25 corruption tokens. These can rob you of crucial victory points and make winning the game that much harder. If you’re a fan of Lords of Waterdeep and are looking to further explore the magical Forgotten Realm, the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion is an excellent addition to the base game.

Take Over the City of Splendor with Lords of the Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep is playable by 2-5 players, so it’s perfect for small to medium groups of friends who are looking for a new strategy board game to add to the mix. Dungeons & Dragons lovers will enjoy the familiar fantasy elements, while fantasy lovers in general will marvel at the creative imagination of the game’s designers.

Lords of Waterdeep is a somewhat lengthy game, with a playing time of one to two hours. However, hardcore strategy gamers will find gameplay completely manageable, especially when compared to most D&D quests. Lords of Waterdeep is also suitable for ages 12 and up, so it’s a great game for younger players who are looking to get into more advanced concepts of strategy and fantasy. While there are many tokens and cards to keep track of throughout the game, both beginners and advanced players alike can enjoy the adventure that lies within the Lords of Waterdeep.

Adjust your mask and plot your way to victory!

 

Unstable Unicorns: Building An Army Of Cuteness

What could be more adorable than a game about unicorns? After all, these magical creatures have always been portrayed as gentle and majestic creatures that wouldn’t hurt a fly. The unicorns in Unstable Unicorns, however, are about as far from this depiction as you can possibly get. In this entertaining and colorful card game, you’ll build an army of vicious and conniving Unicorns through which you can harness their magical powers for your own nefarious means. With creative drawings and unique twists, Unstable Unicorns is a card game with limitless imagination.

Building Your Army Of Magical Unicorns   

You begin Unstable Unicorns with a single Baby Unicorn in your stable, which you must then grow into an army of magical Unicorns, each with their own distinct powers. There are 20 different kinds of Unicorn cards that you can collect during the game, and the goal of the game is to be the first player to collect seven different kinds of Unicorns. There are also Basic Unicorn cards, which are hilariously drawn “basic” stereotypes such as modern hipsters or pumpkin spice latte-lovers.

The wacky and imaginative Unicorn cards are one of the biggest highlights of Unstable Unicorns. From the Extremely Destructive Unicorn to the Rainbow Unicorn, each comes with a hilarious drawing and a dynamic set of powers that can help or hinder your efforts to win the game. While cards such as the Extremely Destructive Unicorn can force everyone else to sacrifice one of their own Unicorn cards, the Narwhal Unicorn card has no special powers at all—aside from its own cuteness!

The Righteous Ruler Of All Things Magical

The first player to build a Unicorn army with seven different Unicorn cards is declared the Righteous Ruler of All Things Magical and winner of the game. While it may seem easy to collect seven Unicorn cards, the strategy of the game comes from annihilating your competition’s armies while protecting your own Unicorns from harm.

Each player has five cards in their hand at any time (in addition to the cards in their stable that represent their Unicorn army). These cards can consist of certain types of cards that allow you to better build your army or attack other players. Upgrade cards such as Rainbow Mane allow you to add Basic Unicorns to your stable, while Magic cards such as Good Deal let you draw three cards and discard a single card.

Downgrade cards are used to attack other players or even strategically cull your army, such as the Sadistic Ritual card that allows you to sacrifice one of your Unicorn cards and draw a new one. The Neigh card is one of the most powerful cards in the game, as it allows you to stop a player from playing their card at any time and force them to toss it in the discard pile. Even the smartest strategies can fall apart when hijacked by a powerful “Neigh!”

Unstable Unicorns Expansions

Unstable Unicorns is already an incredibly imaginative and hilarious game, but its expansions make it even more diabolical and entertaining. The Rainbow Apocalypse expansion add double-edged cards that hurt both the player and the recipient of the card, while the Dragons expansion allows for brutal attacks on your opponents that can break up even the closest of friendships.

Find Out Who Your True Friends Are With Unstable Unicorns

Unstable Unicorns is perhaps best for parties or friendly game nights, as it can accommodate anywhere from 2-8 players. You can quickly inject some high stakes fun into a casual gathering among friends thanks to the strategy and double-crossing required by Unstable Unicorns. Playing time lasts around 30-45 minutes, so it’s a game you can easily play a round or two of without anyone losing interest.

Unstable Unicorns is suitable for ages 14+, so it may be better for adults or families with older kids than for younger players. However, the humor and imagination of Unstable Unicorns can be just as enjoyable for kids as it can for older players. If you’re looking for something that fosters friendly (or unfriendly) competition while keeping everyone laughing, Unstable Unicorns is the perfect game to spice things up.

Be careful, your neighbor is out to get you!

 

Small World: Choose Your Magical Race and Conquer

Magical creatures abound in this fantastical strategy board game that’s fun for ages 8+.  Whether you’re looking for a new rotation in family game night or a creative game for you and your friends, Small World is a simple game that can be played time and time again.  From troops of orcs to tribes of wizards, Small World allows anyone to choose their magical niche and conquer the world.

Discovering Small World

If you’re a fan of Philippe Keyaerts’ 1999 game Vinci, you’ll love Small World, his fantastical follow up game that came out in 2009.  Small World not only includes the addition of dice, but also reworks the original strategy board game into a fantastical adventure involving magical races and special powers.  Players are pitted against each other to try to conquer a world that’s only big enough for the strongest.

This board game combines strategy and fantasy, as each player has to decide on the best combination of fantasy races and special powers to expand their empires and conquer the world.  The language of Small World is force—you’ll deploy troops to occupy territory and expand to adjacent lands.  But tough decisions have to be made from within as well, because the path to victory may require you to abandon your own empire in order to build a new one that can succeed.

Races and Special Powers

Small World is populated with 14 different magical races, from fantastical Elves to mythical Giants.  Each race has its own special characteristics and skills that can help you conquer regions and obtain Victory coins.  The colorful race banners and tokens add a visually stunning element to the game as you deploy your races on the different regions of the board.

As if magical creatures weren’t already powerful enough, you can also combine your magical races with one of 20 Special Power Badges.  Not only does this make for some funny combinations (Commando Dwarves and Flying Sorcerers being some of the best), but it also gives you extra abilities that you can use to trick your opponents and attack. 

Certain combinations are more powerful than others, allowing you to build on the race’s innate abilities and deliver a crushing blow to your opponents.  Diplomat Skeletons can keep an opponent from attacking for a turn and then ruthlessly attack the rest of the board, earning some serious tokens and leaping ahead in the gameplay.  Discovering the best combinations is part of what makes Small World so great for repeat playing!

The Decline Of Civilization

While the goal of Small World is to expand your empire and earn as many Victory coins as possible, sometimes your race will become over-extended, requiring you to sacrifice your current empire in order to build a new one.  Not everyone has the stomach to make the hard calls and put their weakened magical race “In Decline”, but this kind of ruthlessness is often required to fight your way to victory.

Putting your weakened race In Decline forces you to get rid of your Special Power and void one of your turns, but your next turn allows you to build a new civilization with a new race and Special Power combination.  It takes a lot of strategy and a bit of luck to maneuver, but it adds a fun and challenging dimension to the game that makes Small World more than just what it seems on the surface.

The Fun Of Small World

Because Philippe Keyaerts designed Small World as a follow up to his game Vinci, players who grew up playing Vinci will recognize many similar elements of gameplay such as conquering territories for points and choosing special abilities.  However, the addition of dice to the game adds an interesting element of luck that can turn strategy on its head.

The magical creatures are creative and zany, and the ability to mix and match magical races with Special Powers means that no two rounds of gameplay will ever be alike.  Although they may not usually like the same games, fans of strategy board games and fans of fantasy will both find plenty to love with Small World!

 

 

How to Play Small World

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