Death Wish

Designed by: Jason Hibbert of Sketchy GamesPublished by: Zafty Games (2017)Players: 2 to 8Ages: 15 & upTime: 20-45 minutesUnearthed by: Ed

Death Wish is a light-hearted party card game where the goal is to be the first player to die from fictional diseases.Players take turns collecting matching symptoms and “afflicters”, with the aim of contracting one of the diseases displayed on the table before they’re snapped up by another player. You strive to collect a set of the same colour for most diseases, or one of each color for the wild diseases. Contract a disease by showing the completed set to describe how you caught the disease, and gain “skulls” based on its severity. White strains are most common; less harmful types (one skull) contrast with the rare and deadly red strains (four skulls!)Some diseases trigger outbreaks, which have an array of random creative effects that change the dynamic of the game.The goal is to collect enough “Skull” points to die; the amount required is set by the number of players. First one to die . . . wins the game!

Fist of Dragonstones: The Tavern Edition

Designed by: Bruno Faidutti & Michael SchachtPublished by: Stronghold Games (2018)  Players: 3 to 6Ages: 8 & upTime: 45 – 60 minUnearthed by: Evan

Fist of Dragonstones: Tavern Edition is a closed-fist, bidding game. Players try to outwit their opponents by bidding with different types of gold or silver coins to buy control of an ever-changing cast of enchanted character cards. The powers from those characters help collect valuable Dragonstones, lend their magical powers, help foil other players, and convert Dragonstones into victory.This new Tavern Edition has been updated greatly from the original to improve gameplay. The King’s Favor is introduced to the game, which speeds up play. The game includes more than 70 special character cards, compared to 25 in the original. But we are not comparing this version to the original; we intend to judge it on its own merits.

Squadro

Designed by: Adrián Jiménez PascualPublished by: Gigamic (2018)Players: 2Ages: 8 & upTime: 20 minUnearthed by: Mike

Each player starts with five pieces on their side of the game board, with each player sitting perpendicular to the other. When you move a piece, you move a number of spaces based on the speed indicated in the row that you’re leaving.

Once a piece has made its way across the board, you move it back based on the speed on the other side. If your piece passes over an opposing piece while moving, then that opposing piece must return to its last departing base — and your moving piece advances one cell further than where the opposing piece was.

The first player to return 4 of their pieces home (facing the right direction!) wins.