We are glad to inform you about new products and renewal of goods in our store Meet the fresh arrival and what's new in our store :) Hurry up, the games are great and for all tastes, be the first to buy :)..

 We would like to share a little of our impressions about the Euro card game Ark Nova , dedicated to the construction of a zoo. Contrary to the theme, which is more suitable for a non-serious family, the game turned out to be large and complex. And very complex. After all, it is important not only to house animals in an enclosure, but also to participate in environmental programs, breeding and releasing animals into the wild. Hence, actually, the name of the game is "New Ark". The game rocketed to the top of the BGG rankings, easily entering the top 10 best decks. And the number of awards won by her is not worth enumerating, it is easier to say that she won all the awards in which she participated. The game has been translated into dozens of languages and sold in large quantities. Surprisingly, such a rating game does not produce any "wow effect". There are no original game mechanics like spinning wheels in " Tzolkin " or pyramids of cards in " 7 Wonders: Duel ". There is no bright, colorful design like in the fairy-tale "Everdell" with its tree (be it okay) or solidly designed " Brass " with poker chips as coins. There is neither the brevity of "Res Arcana " nor the scope of "The Terraforming Mars " with its many additions. In a word, Ark Nova wins not by some unique chip, but by the overall high level of the game. The basic mechanics are simple: in his turn, the player performs one of five actions represented by 5 cards. Actions are simple: take cards, build enclosures on the tablet, play cards of animals, sponsors and projects. Each action card occupies a slot numbered from "1" to "5". The higher the number, the stronger the effect of drawing the card. After the draw, the card is placed in cell "1", while the others move. So it is possible to play the same action twice in a row, but it is not profitable. Also, actions can be improved by turning the card over, but it is impossible to improve all 5 actions in the game. You will have to choose.  There are more than 250 cards in the game, each unique, but there are only three types of cards: animals, sponsors and projects. In order to play an animal card, you need to have a free enclosure of the appropriate size and money. However, many cards have additional requirements: for example, a hippopotamus will only need an enclosure near water, a bison needs a contract with a zoo from Europe, and a lion needs 3 other predators in the zoo. Animals increase the popularity of the zoo (this is also income and SP) and also give some kind of instant effect. Sponsor cards are played for free and give either a permanent property, or at the end of the game if a condition is met, or income when drawn. And sometimes all three such effects at once. There are the fewest project cards in the game, in fact they are targets for obtaining software. When a player draws, a project card is placed on the table, and opponents can also execute it. However, in addition to the actual condition of the card, it is necessary to have a free worker and perform the action from the cell with maximum force. Interaction between players here is weak. Of course, no one expected the opportunity to curse continuously, as in "Munchkin". But it will not work here even to seriously interfere, to close the centers of action, as in other Euros. Therefore, it is better to play it together. A large number of players will not affect the gameplay, but the wait for the turn will be longer. For two experienced players who are not prone to narrow-mindedness, the game will take about 2 hours. DESIGN Although the photos on the cards were collected on the Internet, they look beautiful and harmonious. At least much better than Mars Conquest or Underwater Cities. But various tokens, money, enclosures and other components were pumped. In general, the design is not bad, but it is difficult to call it a standard of beauty. THEME OF THE GAME Themes in the game feel good. For example, after releasing an animal into the wild, the player vacates the corresponding enclosure. But that doesn't sit well with zoo visitors, and attendance drops to the level of a departed animal. The game is often compared to Terraforming Mars. Indeed, there is something in common: a large number of cards, a long game time, labels on the cards. However, "Mars" is significantly simpler. It's like: a good card has arrived, there is money and conditions for drawing it - you can play without thinking. In Ark Nova, you have to consider your strategy several moves ahead, remember all the numerous factors. WHY IS THE GAME SO POPULAR Well, of course, the hype is largely related to the topic of animals. Animal games are loved by everyone, and the ratings of such games are often inflated. In addition, the game appeals in every possible way to environmental issues, care for nature, and this is a very popular topic. There is also a second point. Usually, card engine games are simple and winning depends a lot on luck with the arrival of the cards. In Ark Nova, you can see the strategicness unusual for a card game, the need for the player to plan his actions several moves ahead, taking into account the open cards on the market. In our opinion, this is one of the most difficult Euros we have played. Overall, the game certainly isn't some kind of milestone in the gaming industry, but it's an excellent big euro card engine. I do not recommend the game to beginners in dungeons and area control lovers, it is more suitable for lovers of complex Euros like Lacerda fans. Our rating: 8/10. USEFUL LINKS  Ark Nova on BGG https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342942/ark-nova  Ark Nova on the Game Theory portal https://tg.in.ua/boardgames/113946/ark-nova VIDEO REVIEWS ..

PAVE YOUR WAY TO VICTORY This wonderful tile-laying game created by Michael Kiesling has taken the world by storm. Read our Azul review to find out why this Spiel des Jahres -nominated game keeps people talking about it so much! Originally blue and white, but later made in many bright colors, azulejo tiles have been around for a very long time. The beginning of these functional works of art dates back to the 13th century. Originally Moorish in origin, the art form really took off when King Manuel I of Portugal visited Spain in 1503. While there, he was mesmerized by the gorgeous tiling that covered almost every visible surface. Enchanted and inspired, upon his return he ordered the production of Portuguese azulejos. In Azul, you take on the role of one of the commissioned artists. Your goal is to decorate the estate with azulejo tiles (i.e. score the most points) before the end of the game to please the king. After all, the king's mercy is worth its weight in gold. SO LET'S START THE REVIEW) During each round in Azul, players will take turns building tiles from multiple collections of tiles in the center of the table. The tiles a player chooses directly affect the pool of tiles left for other players to choose from. After taking all the tiles of the same color from one of the factories, the player will place those tiles on the "pattern line" section of his board according to certain placement rules. Once all the tiles have been stacked, any completed lines of the pattern will result in the tiles being added to the "wall" area of the player's tablet and points will be awarded. The game continues in this manner until one player has completed a horizontal line of tiles on their wall. A final tally is then made and the player with the most points wins. If you're just wondering what we think of the game, feel free to scroll down to the Opinions section of this review. However, if you want to know more about the game, read on. PREPARATION FOR WORK First, each player takes a game tablet and places it in front of him and places his cube on division 0 of the victory point track:  Then several "factory tokens" (depending on the number of players) are placed in the center of the table in a ring. These Factories are then replenished with 4 tile tiles drawn from the bag: The first player is selected and receives the corresponding tile of the first turn:  Now you are ready to play. WE BEGIN TO FORM OUR PATTERNS At the core of Azul is the tile selection that takes place each round. Before the first player begins his turn, the player's starting tile is placed in the center of the factory circle, and the first player places 4 tiles per factory. On his turn, the player chooses a group of tiles from any factory, takes all tiles of the same color and places them on his board in the pattern line area. All unselected tiles are moved to the central area between factories. Alternatively, a player may take all tiles of the same color or pattern from the center area, but if a player's starting token is present, they must also take it and immediately add it to the "floor line" area on their board (more on that later). Placing tiles on a pattern line requires players to follow some basic rules: All tiles on the same line must be of the same type. A player cannot place tiles on a pattern line if the wall row corresponding to that pattern line already contains tiles of that color. WE TAKE A BREAK AND COUNT THE POINTS After all the tiles have been taken from the factories (any tiles that cannot be used by the players are placed on the floor line), each line of the pattern is examined from top to bottom. For each completed pattern line, the rightmost tile is moved from the pattern line to its corresponding location on the wall. Tiles remaining on a completed pattern line are removed from the player's board and returned to the box for a specified time. Each tile placed on the wall is counted both vertically and horizontally. A tile alone is worth one point. However, if that tile completes a line of tiles, it gets points for each tile in that line. To better illustrate this, consider an example.  In the above example, there are several finished pattern lines - line 1, line 2 and line 4. Lines 3 and 5 are incomplete. Pattern line 1 consists of a single tile in a classic blue and white azulejo style. Since this line is complete, the tile is placed in the corresponding location on wall line 1. There is already a black tile on wall line 1, and since this newly placed tile touches the black tile, the player will receive 2 points. There is currently nothing in wall line 2, so the newly placed tile will not score vertically. The second line of the pattern contains two red tiles. As this line is completed, one of the red tiles is moved to its corresponding location on the line of Wall 2. The remaining red tile is placed back into the box. Since there is already a yellow tile on the Wall 2 line, this newly placed tile will score points for both itself and the yellow tile. And, because of the black tile above the newly placed tile, it will also get a point for itself again, just like the black tile. As a result, the player gains 4 more points.  Row 3 is incomplete, so those tiles remain where they are. Ditto for pattern line 5. As pattern line 4 is completed, one of the tiles from there is moved to wall line 4, where it receives the corresponding points. The other tiles in pattern row 4 are placed back into the box. Finally, after scoring points for each pattern line completed, players look at their floor line. Any tile will give players negative points. The more tiles in that area, the more negative points they get. After all players have finished scoring, any tiles on their floor lines are placed back into the box. The player with the first player's tile places it back in the center area and then fills the bag factories with new tiles. If the bag runs out of tiles, it is replenished with tiles from the box. THE WORK IS FINISHED, THE FINAL POINTS CAN BE CALCULATED Play continues in this manner until the end of a round in which at least one player completes one horizontal line of the wall. Then the final scoring is done. Players earn bonus points for completing wall lines, vertical rows, and collecting all 5 items of the same color. After the final tally is completed, the player with the highest number of points is declared the winner. NOW FOR OUR IMPRESSIONS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GAME Azul is very attractive at first with its design and excellent components. The colors are bold and bright, and the tiles have a pleasant massiveness and tactility. It's just a very attractive game. Looking at it, we can totally understand the obsession of King Manuel I. Kudos to Chris Quilliams and everyone else involved in the visual aesthetics of this game. When we first saw Azul on the table, we sat down to play knowing nothing about the game other than its popularity. To be honest, we didn't know what to expect. When we read the rules, they were pretty easy to understand and we couldn't wait to start playing once the rules were explained. The first game didn't go very well. By the end of the fifth or sixth round, one of the players managed to earn only 17 points. In the very next round, the player was stuck with a huge pile of red tiles, which all went to his floor. In one fell swoop, almost all of his progress was wiped out. We were a little disappointed and ready to throw Azul into the fire and never return to it. Fortunately, cool heads prevailed. We still convinced ourselves to come back and try the game. Our terrible experience with the first game taught us lessons we didn't even realize. To repeat a banal expression, it's as if a light bulb has gone out in our heads. Suddenly, we were able to look at the mechanics of the game and see the smart strategy behind it. Going from Azul's number one detractor to one of his biggest fans.  Playing Azul is very similar to playing chess. You should always be aware of what your opponent is doing. Sometimes it's very obvious, sometimes less so. If you can clearly see that their execution of one pattern line will earn them a ton of points, then your strategy should change accordingly. You may want to try to send as many tiles of that color to the center as possible so that they are forced to take more than they need. Or maybe you decide to try to collect all those tiles for yourself. However, if you go this route, you'll want to try to maximize your scoring opportunities accordingly. It's a clever game of cat-and-mouse as you try to force your opponents into undesirable positions while trying to force them to open up good scoring opportunities for you. This is where the essence of Azul lies - the constant guessing and re-guessing (and even triple or quadruple guessing!) as you try to figure out how your opponents might react to your actions. “If I take those tiles, they'll probably go to the ones over there, which will leave THOSE other tiles in the center, and then I can grab them next turn and complete this pattern line here. But, if they don't go for those other tiles, they can choose that group instead. Maybe I should take that other group, even if it doesn't help me much, to try to get them to go to the tiles I really want them to take. But, wait…” And it goes on. While these types of mental gymnastics may not appeal to some, for us they really make this game great. The constant need to make interesting decisions even helps to overlook randomness when displaying tiles. I almost don't notice it anymore. I'm all about getting the brain on fire. No wonder this amazing game received a nomination for Spiel des Jahres. In a few short months, it became our second most played game. Easy-to-learn rules, super-fast set-up, and thought-provoking gameplay that keeps you coming back for more. Add to..

GAME REVIEW RAIDERS OF SCYTHIA Are the Horsemen of Scythia just a clone of the Raiders of the North Sea? What new will the Scythians show us? Recently, we managed to play several games of the game Raiders of Scythia , which is localized in Ukraine by the Lord of Boards publishing house, so we want to share a little about our impressions of the game. Also in this article we will compare Riders of Scythia with the mechanically similar game Raiders of the North Sea. So let's start the review! In Raiders of Scythia, the first installment in Garphill Games ' Ancient Anthology series (which includes games like Hadrian's Wall and the recently announced Legacy of Yu), players take on the role of the Scythians (an empire that spanned large swathes of Central Asia and Eastern Europe from at least 1 10th century BC to 2nd century AD) as they advance south in their attempts to expand their power and influence.  At its core, Raiders of Scythia is a game with a worker placement mechanic. Each player on their turn will place a worker to perform an action and then pick up a new worker to perform another action. At the beginning of the game, the choice of actions will mostly focus on accumulating your resources and building a team. However, during the game, you will send your team to raid different locations of the playing field to earn the most victory points before the end of the game. If this sounds familiar, it's most likely because you've played Raiders of the North Sea before. And it's not just a coincidence. Also designed by Shem Phillips, Raiders of Scythia borrows many of its mechanics from its big brother and its expansions. So much so, in fact, that instead of telling you how to play Raiders of Scythia, we're going to talk about the similarities and differences between Riders of Scythia and the games that influenced the Scythians. WHAT ARE THE SIMILAR CHARACTERS IN THESE GAMES In essence, the Horsemen of Scythia function in the same way as the Raiders . As mentioned earlier, you place a worker from your supply into the action area, take that action, then take another worker off the board and take that action as well. Unless you're raiding. Unlike city actions, a raid does not give you a second action.  A raid requires you to use a worker of a certain color, a certain number of team members and the right amount of provisions to do so. Successful raids will reward you with certain resources, upgraded workers and possibly victory points depending on the overall strength of your team. These enhanced workers must visit certain locations and can be used for other purposes if desired. In the city area of the playfield, the results of most actions shown will vary depending on which type of worker is used to perform the action. And for the most part, the actions available are very similar to what you'll find in a settlement in Raiders of the North Sea: stockpile money and/or provisions, draw cards, hire team members, and use team members' unique abilities. Even the team card structure is similar: each team member has a hire cost, a unique raid ability, a unique city ability, and a specific skill. In addition to this, raiding units receive wounds that reduce that unit's strength (as in the Raiders: Fields of Glory expansion), and players can artificially increase their team's strength by using koumiss (similar to mead from Raiders: Hall of Heroes ). Another attribute that has been carried over is the concept of quests (introduced in the Raiders: Hall of Heroes expansion). DISTINCTIONS There are some minor differences between the Raiders of Scythia and the Raiders of the North Sea, and some very significant ones. For example, in the Raiders: Hall of Heroes expansion, you had to use a special action area on the expansion field to complete the quest. This feature is now in the Chieftain's Tent (one of the city actions) in Raiders of Scythia. The Chief's Tent also offers one of several ways to obtain kumis. The koumiss equivalent, mead, could only be obtained by taking cards from the expansion field in Raiders: Hall of Heroes and, occasionally, through a team member's ability. Also, in Raiders: Hall of Heroes, quests were added to the field as various raid locations were emptied, and they mostly just served as additional ways to get more victory points. In Riders of Scythia, they are deployed during training and actively function as one of the two endgame triggers. These are just a few minor differences.  As far as significant innovations go, the first thing you'll notice is the inclusion of horses and eagles. They can be purchased through one of the actions in town and added to your team board above (Eagles) or below (Horses) a specific team member location. Even if that team member dies, the Eagles and Horses will remain on the board and await the next host. Horses give players victory points at the end of the game and increase power during raids. Some Eagles will do the same, while others may double the ability of the added team member, or even provide an additional City Center action that can be performed without discarding a card. Another difference is in the way raids are conducted. In Vikings, many raids required certain strength thresholds to be reached before they could be undertaken. In Raiders, this restriction has been removed and replaced with the need for carriages (obtainable through another town action). Thematically, the further inland you go, the longer your supply chain needs to be to drive this activity. EXPERIENCE FROM THE GAME Raiders of Scythia is a great Euro-strategy that will make you strain your brain. The components of the game are simply incredible, which is only worth the wooden kumis tokens). The rules of the game are easy to learn and easy to explain to beginners. Also a big plus is the theme of the game, which fully corresponds to the gameplay and draws you into the events of the game and this era. VIDEO REVIEWS ..

We are glad to inform you about new products and renewal of goods in our store Meet the fresh arrival and what's new in our store :) Hurry up, the games are great and for all tastes, be the first to buy :)..

Pre-orders for the game are open! Friends, we are pleased to announce that we are announcing the start of pre-orders for the board game Coup: Steampunk (Ukrainian). The game will be printed in Ukraine, which means that very soon the game will be on store shelves, and that we all support the economy of Ukraine together! The game is expected to go on sale mid-late November. " Coup: Steampunk (Coup: Steampunk) (Ukrainian) " - The action of the game takes place in 1886 of the alternate reality of steampunk. You are the head of a clan fighting for influence in smoky London. In a city ruled by a weak and corrupt court, full of intrigue and power-hungry people. You must manipulate, bluff, and influence your way to power. By placing a pre-order on our website for future localizations, you get the best price fixed for your order regardless of exchange rate changes. You will be one of the first to get the game, and you will also help us work on several projects in parallel. The promotional pre-order price will last until the game is released. We provide a super discount of 20% , so you will get the game for UAH 360 . The full price for the game will be UAH 450 . The game is printed in Ukraine, so there shouldn't be any delays at all, we expect the games to arrive at the warehouse by the end of November. We always welcome your comments and appreciate your support, so reposts are welcome, take advantage of the opportunity to get another plus point in your karma...

Hello friends, We are glad to announce that from next Monday, September 5, 2022, the sale of the board game 13 Clues will start. Everyone who pre-ordered will be the first to receive the games, we are already preparing the first packages for shipment...

Hello friends, We would like to introduce you to the board game Sequence, it is a very popular game all over the world, and its popularity is already gaining momentum in Ukraine. Number of players 2 - 12 Age (years) 7+ Read more on the game page...

We are glad to inform you about new products and renewal of goods in our store Meet the fresh arrival and what's new in our store :) Hurry up, the games are great and for all tastes, be the first to buy :)..

We are glad to inform you about new products and renewal of goods in our store Meet the fresh arrival and what's new in our store :) Hurry up, the games are great and for all tastes, be the first to buy :)..