Digital Implementations: Board Game Arena

In Gunsen: The Battle for Toshi Ranbo, Rokugan teeters on the brink of upheaval as the Great Clans—the Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion, and Unicorn—clash for control of the legendary fortress, Toshi Ranbo. Once a strategic gem on the borderlands, the castle now stands at the heart of a war-torn battlefield, its banners contested by rival warlords seeking glory and vengeance. The air hums with the tension of drawn steel and elemental magic, as ancient shrines smolder and village alliances shift like the wind.

In this strategy game, players take on the role of ambitious daimyō representing one of the seven Great Clans: recruiting samurai heroes, drafting powerful orders, and building their clan's military might and strategic influence. Through tactical maneuvers and clever engine-building, they strive to fulfill seven victory objectives—from capturing and holding the coveted castle to completing secret missions and claiming sacred locations. Only one clan will write its legend in the blood-soaked chronicles of Toshi Ranbo.

Unearth the Past, Piece by Piece!

Welcome to Digging for Dinos, where adventure, discovery, and competition collide! As a team of daring paleontologists, you’ll explore dig sites, unearth ancient fossils, and race against rival teams to assemble the most complete dinosaurs. Every move counts as you compete to claim the rarest finds and piece together prehistoric giants.

With simple yet strategic gameplay, Digging for Dinos is perfect for families, friends, and fossil fanatics of all ages. Grab your tools, out- dig the competition, and bring history to life—one fossil at a time!

Players control 2 paleontologists. Each turn they move one to a new dig site card, collecting the card from where they moved. Each card represents a section of a dinosaur fossil. Collect all the fossils needed to complete a specific dinosaur to score more points at the end of the game.

Icarus & his friends have crafted handmade wings. Day and night, jubilant with their newfound freedom, they fly higher & higher... A trick-taking game of flying, flipping, & trying not to soar into the hot, hot sun.

With competitive (2-5p) and co-operative (3-5p) modes, players win tricks to fly higher in the sky. The winner of each trick moves to the next open space above them on the scoring track unless they fly into the sun, in which case they will plummet to below the bottom-most player.

Every card has two different values which alternate - along with the trump suit - whenever a 5-card is played. With rules simple enough to teach in a few minutes, Trickarus is accessible for those unfamiliar with trick-taking, while also having enough challenge for more experienced trick-takers to experiment with different strategies.

US EDITION Changes:
Smirk & Dagger Games has made the following adjustments for the English edition.
The Lightning Bolt card has a new function. It no longer causes the winner of a trick to fly down the track. 2 copies of the card now exist in the Stormy Weather rules.

Stormy Weather rules:
Add 2 Lightning cards and the second (new) poker chip token.
A Lightning card may be played at one of two times, as the first card of the round when you are the Lead player – or – if you are unable to follow suit during a trick.

Playing the Lightning card swaps the Day / Night chip with the one currently out of play. This will change the Strongest Suits (Trump) from Sun & Moon to Clouds & Raindrops and vice versa. Note: swapping the chip does not change Day / Night and cards are not rotated. If the Sun is face up (Day) it swaps for Clouds (also Day). If the Moon is face up (Night) it swaps for Raindrops (also Night) and vice versa.

This means that Clouds and Raindrops are no longer always “junk” suits but have the ability to be the
Strongest Suits.

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New 2 Player game

A dummy score tracker token (Icarus) is added to the game. Icarus is dealt a three card hand, face up, so both players know what Icarus will play over the span of three rounds. Then, a new set of cards comes out.
Unlike the 3-5p mode, a player does not win by being highest on the track at the end of the game. Instead: One player has the goal of the game ending with Icarus either above or below all the other
players on the score track.
The other player has the goal of the game ending with Icarus between the two other players on the score track.
While both are tested as equally balanced ways to win, players will have personal preferences and strategies. This push and pull mechanic makes for a far more engaging two-paler experience.

Dive into First Giants, a race to create the most prestigious prehistorical animal exhibit!
Build your engine by collecting cards with powerful effects OR score points by playing your cards in the exhibit area.
But beware! Once displayed, you’ll lose their beneficial effects.
Timing is crucial to win!

First Giants is a game of set collecting and combinations in which players recruit cards representing dinosaurs, flying reptiles, giant mammals… of various sizes.
These cards have many different powers and you can create powerful combinations to earn amber, victory points and the ability to exhibit your fossils.

The rules are simple. Each turn, players have two options:
play one of their chips to avoid picking up the current face-up card
pick up the face-up card (along with any chips that have already been played on that card) and turn over the next card
However, the choices aren't so easy as players compete to have the lowest score at the end of the game. The deck of cards is numbered from 3 to 35, with each card counting for a number of points equal to its face value. Runs of two or more cards only count as the lowest value in the run - but nine cards are removed from the deck before starting, so be careful looking for connectors. Each chip is worth -1 point, but they can be even more valuable by allowing you to avoid drawing that unwanted card.

The first versions of the game supported up to five players, but the German 2011 edition supports up to seven (simply by increasing the number of chips).

This game was originally published in Germany in 2004 by Amigo as Geschenkt ...ist noch zu teuer!, meaning Even given as a gift, it is still too expensive!. Amigo's 2006 international edition, titled No Merci! (a delightful multi-lingual pun), had rules in several languages, including English. The game has subsequently been released in other countries under an assortment of names. The German 2024 edition includes additional cards to allow for play with variant rules.