Puzzle

SETUP

In SETUP, you create a set or sets, scoring points to move around the board. How many points on each turn depends on how good you are at spotting sequences and by playing a set which will create multiple combinations on the board. Even when it's not your turn, unwitting opponents may gift you points by creating sets using tiles in your bonus spaces, so always keep your eyes peeled to claim those extra points.

SETUP is a game of strategic tile placement, making sets of numbers of matching suits. You can't always plan in advance though as the tiles stack, so a sequence you had in mind may disappear when your opponents take their turn.

The strategy is even more intense when you try team play mode, work with a partner to plan your sets together. You'll work hard to maximize points, help your partner create sets, and gift each other bonus points. Careful how many points you score because the game ends when the first player crosses the finish line, but being in first place doesn't decide the win; it's the team that avoids finishing last when the game ends!

—description from the publisher

Power Plants

Every wizard in the neighborhood knows that the best spell components are grown fresh. Unfortunately, only one particular plot of fertile soil in the area is the best for growing magical plants. Everyone agrees to "share" the garden, but you have a plan: Your team of loyal sprites will use the powers of the plants to infiltrate the garden as it grows, so that when everything is in full bloom, the most potent patches will belong to you!

In Power Plants, you are a wizard growing a shared garden of magical plants with your rivals. Each turn, you choose one of the patch tiles from your hand and add it to the growing garden. You can activate the added tile for its dynamic "plant" power or activate all the tiles it touches for their slightly weaker (but still very cool) "grow" powers. As the fields expand, you strategically deploy your sprites to gain control of more and more of the fantastic flora. Will your magical horticulture skills pay off?

Manipulate the garden's growth, gather magical gems, and deploy your team of loyal sprites to repel your competition and be in control of the most valuable fields when the garden is complete!

—description from the publisher

Stack'n Stuff: A Patchwork Game

In Stack'n Stuff, a more streamlined version of Patchwork, players are on the move. However, packing all of your stuff into a moving truck is quite tricky, costly, and time consuming — and the day runs out fast!

During the game, the last player on the time track chooses one of the next three furniture items. After paying the transportation cost and spending the loading time, the player places the patch on their truck game board. Whoever manages to pack their truck best, as well as earns the most money during the game, is a moving master and wins!

—description from the designer

Samarkand Bazaar

Sid Sackson's classics Samarkand & Bazaar are now combined as two games in one box with this new edition of both games.

Samarkand is a fast-paced trading and selling game set in exotic Asia Minor. Cunning Merchants buy, exchange, and sell goods to build wealth. When visiting Nomad Camps and after offering gifts for their hosts’ hospitality, Merchants trade for the goods they desire. When visiting Oases, they may purchase random goods. Ultimately, these Merchants travel to the bazaars in Cities such as Samarkand or Isfahan to sell the goods they have acquired. Merchants must plan which desert paths to use to travel efficiently between the Nomad Camps, Oases, and Cities so they can earn the quickest (and greatest) profit!

In Bazaar, players attempt to gain the right combination of colored cubes through skillful trading to purchase the wares displayed in the Bazaar. Values of the various wares are determined by the number of cubes the purchaser has left over following the transaction. Trading is governed by the current rates posted at the Exchange. When the wares from two stalls have been completely sold, the Bazaar is closed, and the game ends. The player with the highest score wins!

-description from publisher

Verdant

Verdant is a puzzly spatial card game for 1 to 5 players. You take on the role of a houseplant enthusiast trying to create the coziest interior space by collecting and arranging houseplants and other objects within your home. You must position your plants so that they are provided the most suitable light conditions and take care of them to create the most verdant collection.

Each turn, you select an adjacent pair of a card and token, then use those items to build an ever-expanding tableau of cards that represents your home. You need to keep various objectives in mind as you attempt to increase plant verdancy by making spatial matches and using item tokens to take various nurture actions. You can also build your "green thumb" skills, which allows you to take additional actions to care for your plants and create the coziest space!

—description from the designer