Misc: Lowest Score Wins

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.

Pueblo - the ultimate building challenge! Work with the other players to create a mighty home for the Chieftain, stone by stone. You are a craftsman, but you cannot let the Chieftain see your trademark stones, or you will be penalized. The longer you play, the more difficult this task becomes! Take on your opponents and become the Chieftain's Master Builder.

The theme setting is the Native American Pueblos of the Southwest tribes of the Zuni and Hopi. The board is a fairly small square. Each player gets a number of building blocks in their own color, and also some neutral colored blocks (1 fewer than the colored). Starting with the odd colored block, the player places it on the board, and then gets to move the "Chieftain" around the outer track surrounding the board. If the Chieftain can look straight across and see any colored blocks, those players gain points -- but points are bad. And when the Chieftain lands on the corners of the track, he looks down on the Pueblo from above, and all visible player's blocks gain them more points. Now, on each subsequent pair of turns, you have a choice of a colored block and a neutral block. Once all players' blocks are played, the Chieftain makes one last trip around the board, players gaining points all along the way. The player who has gained the fewest number of points is the Master Builder and the winner of the game.

There are also some extra components for making the game more challenging by adding an element of bidding for turn order, and from 1 to 4 sacred sites that cannot be built upon.

Original description from box.

In the trick-taking game Seas of Strife, formerly Texas Showdown, originally published as Strife, you want to avoid taking tricks as skillfully as you can, but playing off-suit might not keep you safe as the suit can change during the trick, possibly stinging you in the end.

Before play, all the cards are distributed evenly among the players. Once a player leads a single card for the first trick, all other players must play a card of the same suit, if possible. If a player can't play on suit, they can play a card of any color — but after they do this, all subsequent players can play a card of either matching color (or possibly a third color if they have neither of the first two).

Once all players have played to the trick, you see which color has been played most frequently in the trick. Whoever played the highest card of this color wins the trick. If two or more colors are tied, then the highest card counts as the winner.

You play several rounds until someone reaches the target number of tricks taken. At that point, whoever has captured the fewest tricks wins!