Celestia

Designed by: Aaron Weissblum

Published by: BLAM! (2015)

Players: 2 to 6

Ages: 8 & up

Time: 30 minutes

Unearthed by: Evan

In Celestia, you board an aircraft with a team of adventurers to perform many trips through the cities of Celestia and recover their wonderful treasures.

At the beginning of a journey, all players place their pawns within the aircraft; the players start the game with six cards in hand (or eight depending on the number of players). At the beginning of each round, one player is chosen to be the captain of the trip and he rolls 2-4 dice to discover the challenges that they will face: fog, lightning bolts, killer birds, or pirates. He must then play the appropriate cards — a compass, a lightning arrester, a foghorn, or even cannons — to continue on the journey and reach the next city. But before the captain plays the appropriate cards, each player must decide whether to stay within the aircraft:

If you exit, you’re guaranteed the victory points that come from exploring the current city.

If you stay on board, you hope to make it to the next city in order to catch more precious treasures. If the captain can’t overcome the challenge, though, everyone comes crashing down empty-handed and you’ll need to begin a new trip with all passengers on board.

The winner is the first player to accumulate 50 points worth of treasure.

Power Grid Deluxe

Designed by: Friedemann Friese

Published by: Rio Grande Games (2014), originally published in (2004)

Players: 2 to 6

Ages: 12 & up

Time: 120 minutes

Unearthed by: Ed

The goal of Power Grid Deluxe is to supply the most cities with power!

Each round players will:

Bid for power plants that they need to power cities. However, as power plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants may become available, so by merely purchasing, you’re potentially allowing others access to superior equipment.

Buy fuel (coal, oil, natural gas, or uranium) needed by your power plants. As resources are purchased, the supply dwindles rising the cost for the following buyers due to demand.

Build generations in cities striving to expand your network to get the cheapest routes before your competitors.

Get paid for powering cities, to use those funds next round to further improve their Power Grid.

The game ends when the grid has reached a set threshold, and whoever powers the most cities, wins.

Mid-Life Crisis

Designed by: Michael Stern

Published by: The Game Works (1982)

Players: 2 to 6

Ages: 18+

Time: 60 min

Unearthed by: Mike

In Mid Life Crisis, players wind their way through the treacherous bowels of their middle years (30-55 according to the designers). Your goal is to get to the end of the game without cracking up from stress, getting a divorce, or going broke. If any of those things happen, it will set you back several spaces and cost you a turn or two to recover. When someone reaches the end of the board, the game ends and the player with the most money wins.