Economic

Finca

The gameboard of Finca shows the mediterranean island of Mallorca. Players try to crop and deliver the fruits of Mallorca (such as oranges, lemons, almonds, grapes etc.) by means of moving workers on a traditional windmill. Object of the game is to distribute your crop as effectively as possible in order to deliver faster than your opponents.

From the Box: Mallorca, Island of the Wind. A place of golden beaches and a light-blue sea. The almond harvest is at hand, in addition, juicy oranges, lemons, and figs are ready to be picked and taken to the market. Olive trees bewitch the country with their curled branches and sumptuous vineyards invite passers-by to walk among their warm earth. In the midst of this landscape, your centuries-old natural stone farmhouse provides a home and supports your large windmill: your FINCA.
Listen to the wind, which propels your windmill! Then take in the course of the yearly harvest the sweetest and most valuable fruits from the land. Load them on your old donkey cart and travel around the island, selling them everywhere. If you manage this quickly, you will soon be the richest farmer on the island.

Note: The Pandasaurus Games edition from 2024 plays up to 5 players while earlier editions play up to 4.

Recommendations:

2011 Hungarian Boardgame Prize Winner
2011 Ludoteca Ideale (Italy)
Nominee "Spiel des Jahres 2009"
4th place "Deutscher Spielepreis 2009"
Nominee "Graf Ludo 2009"
Adult Game of the year 2010 (Finland)

Foundations of Metropolis

In Foundations of Metropolis, players will compete over three rounds to be the greatest architect in the city by purchasing deeds to empty lots and constructing new buildings on them.

More complex buildings require more lots, but will bring you even greater prestige. The player with the most prestige will be appointed Grand Architect!

Gameplay is the same in this standalone game as in Foundations of Rome, but with polyomino pieces and a brand new theme.

—description from the publisher

Dom Pierre

At the end of the 17th century, a French Benedictine monk in charge of the cellar at Hautvillers Abbey made an important contribution to differentiate wines from that region. As a result, it became possible to produce wines of superior quality, particularly in white wines made from black grape varieties. While Dom Pierre Pérignon initially felt the sparkling of the wine was a negative feature, the consequent increase in both quality and quantity created the path that lead to the appreciation and recognition of champagne.

Throughout the 18th century, several "champagne houses" — or Champagne Maisons — were founded, and a new business dynamic grew in the region. These houses replaced small farm and monastery production in leading the evolutionary process of champagne, and by planting more vineyards or buying grapes from other producers or both, they mastered the specialization. To promote their product, the houses hired sales agents to take samples of their champagne wines to the Royal Courts of Europe, a crucial factor in generating the glamorous fashion of drinking champagne.

Despite production growth, improved quality, and increasing popularity, trade did not reach spectacular rates during the 19th century — which is why the game Dom Pierre is much more about winning prestige than earning money. In the game, you are responsible for one of the oldest Champagne Maisons, producing and selling wine all over Europe, not to mention the other side of the Atlantic. The local economy will be boosted, employment increased, and your brand will become universally recognized.

To make all this happen will require a chain of actions that starts in your vineyard. You will need to look for continuous improvement, constantly react to your opponents, and optimize your choices to build the most prestigious Champagne Maison. In game terms, on a turn you move up a disc on the winery game board and perform an action, with the actions become more powerful as the game progresses. You will plant in the vineyards, harvest crops, buy grapes from neighbors, make wines in your cellar (some more valuable than others), allocate salespeople on four market routes and workers in the vineyard and cellar, and acquire the necessary accessories to improve production.

Imperial Steam

The Industrial Age is starting to boom. You are in need of more workers for your factories, and you also need more workers to build railroad tracks to expand your railway network. This, in turn, will enable you to deliver the goods from your factories to cities with high demand — but be sure to earmark goods for fulfilling profitable public contracts because when the connection to Trieste is made, your net worth is all that matters.

Imperial Steam is a highly strategic yet accessible economic and logistics game that sees you making difficult decisions as you manage your business's operations while navigating fierce competition to ensure your victory!

—description from the publisher

CoLab

The dawn of a new age approaches and we stand at the precipice. The unbridled power of nature awakens something within. Mysteries demand to be explored and the results are not always what we expect. Creepy creatures, dangerous devices, precarious potions, CoLaboratory Incorporated provides a shared laboratory space that is the perfect home for your and your outlandish creations.

Build interesting devices that open new possibilities. Brew potions that grant you fantastic on-demand abilities. Create strange monsters and earn great renown. All while keeping an eye on your fellow scientist and their minions. Scientists bring research into the lab to use on their experiments but they are not the only ones who benefit. Occupy a space adjacent to the research dice held by any minion and you can use it for your own creations.

Collect monster, device, or potion dice to generate more research that can be used on your creations.

Expand the laboratory giving everyone new opportunities.

With each new creation, your collection grows and the placement of each creation in your grid can create new opportunities or gain more renown. Once a player builds their 12th creation the end of the game is triggered and the player with the most renown (points) wins.

CoLab worker and dice placement game with dice collection. Players compete to gain the most renown through building monster, device, or potion cards over the course of the game. Each turn you send a minion to a tower space to gather resources or return a minion. Your minions also hold your resource dice. This resource can be used by players at either adjacent laboratory location. Then you place your player miniature on a laboratory location and either put the adjacent minions to work collecting more resources or build cards according to what is available at that lab. As the game progresses the board expands giving new opportunities for all players who visit that location.

Build a wide variety of monsters, potions, and devices or focus on one type to gain the most renown and win the game.

CoLab employs a series of '“take this”' mechanics where players provide resources, minions, or other opportunities to their opponents in exchange for resources or points. Balancing how much you give away with the opportunities your opponents may create is the real trick to becoming the most renowned scientist in CoLab.

—description from the publisher