Star Realms

A fast-paced deck-building card game of outer space combat.

Designed by: Robert Dougherty, Darwin Kastle

Published By: White Wizard Games (2014)

Players: 2

Time: 20 min

Ages: 12+

Unearthed by: Mike

Mike brought this game to the WGF table to show some of the diversity in deck-building games.

The Basics:

Star Realms is a space combat card game, in which players grow their deck’s starting fleet from a fledgeling force into a powerful armada. Each player starts with the same number of trade ships and warships. To improve their decks they will purchase cards granting new ships or bases.

Both players try to access better ships and bases that are more efficient at trading or combat. Finally players will attack their opponents with warships, weakening their opponents’ authority. Once a player’s authority reaches zero, the game ends.

 

Century: Spice Road

Discover the beauties of the spice trading road and its colorful markets.

Designed by: Emerson Matsuuchi

Published by: Plan B Games (2017)

Players: 2 – 5

Time: 30 – 45 min

Ages: 8+

Unearthed by: Ed

Ed unearthed this short game about trading, and was drawn to its large cards, colorful art and nice components.

The Basics:

You are a caravan leader searching for wealth and fortune on the Spice Road. There are 4 spices of increasing value: turmeric (yellow), saffron (red), cardamom (green), and cinnamon (brown). Players  turn in specific sets of spices for Victory Point cards; in addition, Merchant cards offer different ways for spice to be gained, upgraded, or exchanged.

Each round, players take one of 4 actions:  Play a Merchant card from your hand, Acquire a new Merchant card from the display, Return all your played Merchant cards back to your hand, or Claim a Victory Point card.  When any player takes his 5th victory Point card, the game ends at the completion of that round. The player with the most victory points wins.

 

As the World Turns

“As played by the Hughes family on the Television Show As The World Turns.”

Designed by: (uncredited)

Published by: Parker Brothers (1966)

Players: 2 – 6

Time: 60 min

Ages: 10+

Unearthed by: Evan

Evan unearthed this game along in a batch of 8 vintage games that were ordered online. As the title of the game indicates, this game was played live on TV by the Hughes Family, during an episode of the daytime soap opera As The World Turns.

The Basics:

This board game is a race to travel around the world. At the start, each player is dealt Passport Cards and Travel Cards, and pays the Customs Fund (bank) the value of those cards. Players then take turns rolling dice and moving their pawns around the board. If they land on a city space, they pay the indicated amount to the owner(s) of the passport(s) for that city. Landing on other types of spaces results in various actions like drawing a Customs card, spinning the world spinner, and moving off-course. The winner is the person with the most money when the game ends.