It's New Game Friday! David Wiley (Cardboard Clash) is here to tell us about the new games.
Here’s what is new this week:
- Pocket Aquarium: Goldfish & Castle
- Skulls of Sedlec: Expansion Collection
- Adventure In Ancient Greece
https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Skulls of Sedlec Expansion collection:
Champions
Even in death, some still seek the roar of an approving crowd.
Champions benefit from gathering followers alongside them for one last hurrah. Much like the previously-seen Executioners, Champions score points for connected skulls of a certain type. Connected skulls are those either adjacent to the Champion or in an unbroken chain of the same type. Each Champion is associated with a different group from the basic game. Connect as many of that group’s skulls as you can to get the full favor of each Champion.
These champions change the landscape, looking for connected sets of the type they are aligned with. Lining up multiple Romantics, Criminals, Peasants, etc. can lead to a lot of extra points. Champions add fun dynamics that either require great preplanning, or lucking into the correct Champion coming out later in the game to reap nice rewards.
Merchants
They say you can’t take it with you...but the Merchants have certainly tried.
These captains of industry profit from Peasants and make a tempting target for Criminals. Merchants can be a mixed bag, scoring points for adjacent Peasants but taking a penalty for adjacent Criminals. Unlike most skulls, this can cause an unwary player to actually lose points on poorly-placed Merchants. Keep your eyes on your money or you’ll end up buried in debt.
Perhaps the simplest and easiest to score of the mini expansions here, the Merchant interacts with two base-game types of characters: scoring points for being next to Peasants and losing them for being next to Criminals. Plan wisely, even though like everything else it will be unavoidable sometimes to put them in a less-than-ideal location that you’ll come to regret.
Zealots
Faith, like hope, springs eternal. Zealots served their mission well in life. Now they must be rewarded with proximity to other practitioners.
It will come as no surprise that Zealots interact with Priests. Each Zealot will score points for Priests that are either above or below them in the stack. Check each Zealot individually, choosing whether to score above or below, and then count the Priests in that direction. Devoting yourself to Zealots can be a huge boon to your score, as long as you can keep the faith.
Pocket Aquarium: Goldfish & Castle
Create a bigger (and even bigger) aquarium with more fish and features with these 2 expansions.
The Goldfish expansion adds 4 goldfish to the base game, each with a new unique action. You also get a Net to help you with its own special action.
The Castle expansion is used together with the Goldfish expansion for an even bigger aquarium. It has (you've guessed it) a castle, as well as an extra fish of each species - which means larger schools and higher points targets to aim for.
Adventure In Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece and its myths await you for an adventure of Mediterranean taste. Defeat the mythological creatures and the enemies hiding among the temples. Then face the terrible Minotaur and become the hero of Greece.
Pick up all the new games here:
https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Game of the Week: Skulls of Sedlec for just $1
The Black Plague and Hussite Wars have overcrowded the graveyard. Help the Bone Collector, a half-blind monk, by exhuming graves and arranging the skulls inside the crypt.
You are novice monks, competing to create the best arrangement of skulls. Dig up graves from the graveyard to reveal cards, take cards into your hand to collect skulls, and arrange the cards from your hand into a stack. Whoever better honors the deceased’s last wishes will score more points. The Bone Collector will then declare one player's stack as the most exceptional.
This one I can speak to the fun inside the game’s package. You’re making a pyramid with the cards, each card having a top skull and a bottom skull, and different skull types have varied scoring conditions that center around things such as adjacency in relation to other skulls. For instance, the Lovers’ skull scores when two are adjacent to each other - wherefore art thou, Romeo? Dig up graves, assemble some skulls, and have a ton of fun in 15-20 minutes with 1-2 other players.
Check out Game of the Week here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/game-of-the-week
See you next week with more information on our newest print and play games!