Machi Koro

Designed by: Masao Suganuma

Published By: IDW Games & Pandasaurus Games (2012)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 10 +

Time: 30 min

Unearthed by: Joe

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. Collect income through development, public works, and of course, robbing your neighbors! And always remember & never forget: everyone else wants to do this to you.

To win, you must build all the required landmarks faster than your rivals. Each player rolls one or two dice each turn. If the sum of the dice rolled matches the number of a building that a player owns, they get the effect of that building; sometimes you can even benefit from your rival’s rolls. Stay sharp, because the action’s fast on this one!

Ticket To Ride: Europe

Designed by: Alan R. Moon

Published By: Days of Wonder (2005)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 30 – 60 min

Unearthed by: Ed

In Ticket to Ride, players collect cards of various trains used to claim trans-European railway routes! Each turn, you can get: a) more train cards, b) more Destination Tickets, or c) start building a lucrative route! The longer the route you claim, the more points can you earn when you build it.

You also get points from the Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; but be careful, if you fail to finish that route, it will cost you points.

At game’s end, the player with the longest continuous route gets a bonus, possibly winning the game even if they were never in the lead!

“The tension comes from being forced to balance greed – adding more cards to your hand; and fear – losing a critical route to a competitor.”

Just Desserts

Designed by: Andrew Looney

Published By: Looney Labs (2015)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 25 min

Unearthed by: Mike

In Just Desserts, each player starts with a hand of three Dessert cards; three Guest cards are placed in the center of the table. Each Dessert card shows 1-3 tastes that it satisfies, such as “chocolate, fruit, and pastry.” These must be matched with Guest cards, showing which tastes each Guest wants – and which ones they don’t.

On your turn, draw a Dessert card and add a Guest card to the table. Then take one of three actions: 1) draw another Dessert card, 2) serve (and claim) one or two Guest cards on the table, or 3) refresh your deck by exchanging Dessert cards for the same number of new cards from the deck.

If you’ve served three guests of the same type, or five guests of different types, you win!