Don your white coat, grab your Gaussmeter, and join us in the Game Lab!

Lucio and Stephen take a deep dive into magnetism and explore the many ways magnets are used in games.

It seems we have gotten pirates all wrong. They are not the crude barbarians many landlubbers make them out to be. Pirates of the High Teas clues players into a very well kept secret: every captain is a foodie! The biggest challenge a crew faces is assembling delicious dishes and pairing them with a tasty beverage at tea time. 

Over the course of nine rounds you will assign your crew to various parts of the ship to gather recipes and ingredients and serve your captain a combination of treats and tea to earn doubloons. The closer you are to matching the captain’s tastes or the fleet bounty on a recipe, the more you’ll earn. You’ll also have help from monkeys, parrots and the ship’s cannon, each providing bonus actions that could tilt the balance of booty in your favor!

Read on to discover why we love Pirates of the High Teas!

Ddinbych y pysgod is the name of one of the most charming seaside towns in Wales. It means little fortress of fish. Its long beaches, colorful terraced houses, and landmarks like a medieval city wall make it an ideal spot for a quiet holiday or a cozy place to call home. Ages ago English invaders renamed the town Tenby. Visitors now flock to Tenby from across the British Isles. In this game, players get the chance to build their own miniature version of Tenby, street by street, hoping to assemble the right combination of features, icons, and residences to make their little fortress of fish shine the brightest and score the most.

Read on to discover why we love Tenby!

In Reforest, players strive to create a thriving pyramid of Pacific Northwest plant cards over three short rounds. Your cardstock ecosystem will include trees, herbs, ferns, and shrubs - each with their own set of needs, attributes, and abilities. At what elevation will the plant grow best? Does the plant need full sun or can it thrive in the shade? How much energy does the plant need to grow? 

There are three slots for cards at the base of your forest, two in the middle, and one at the top. Your forest, like any forest, will be built with layers of organisms at each level, new plant cards in each slot growing higher and higher over their neighbors. Some plants will die off becoming energy for the next generation, while others will continue to thrive. Every card in your hand could become a vital part of your ecosystem or be the fuel for others to grow. The type and effect of each plant in your forest can create beneficial relationships with others, enhancing your options and increasing your score.

Read on to discover why we love Reforest!

Welcome to the cardboard arcade! You don’t need tokens or quarters. You don’t even need electricity. Just the flex of a finger! housed within this humble cardboard box is a pinball machine complete with all the challenges and excitement of its blinky flipper-based forefathers. Line up three box tops from tallest to shortest in a stairstep pattern. Add walls, bumpers, and monsters, and you have yourself a good old-fashioned Halloween themed haunted house. 

Use a cardboard pedestal to launch dice from the top of the pinball machine, scoring points based on where each die lands and the number you roll. Haunted realm areas will multiply your score. Face down clue  tokens could offer a windfall or a pittance.  Wandering monsters provide juicy targets. Knock down Medusa,  Frank (enstein) and  Bob the flaming skull to cash in a hefty bonus. Aim for the summoning circle, and you’ll gain an extra die, giving you even more chances to score. 

This haunted house is no walk in the park, though. It takes a combination of good aim and coordination to send your die careening into just the right place. And there are many literal pitfalls to avoid. If your die falls through the box, it’s gone for the round. No one scores points until the end of round, though, so even the best shot can be wrecked by the flick of another player’s finger.

Read on to discover why we love Boxtop Pinball: Haunted House!

In Compile, you are an AI trying to understand the world and your place in it. To do this, your goal is to gain control of Protocols by playing Command cards faster than your opponent. This is a tense digitial duel. Jockeying for a majority is always balanced by the desire to find powerful synergies between card abilities in play. How long can you last before taking a turn to refill your hand from the small 18 card deck?  Compile three protocols to win and take another step closer to sentience.

Read on to discover why we love Compile!

In Cabanga! (also released as Snailed it!), you want to shed cards and avoid points. 

Four rows, each in a different color, are placed at the center of the table and randomly seeded with two grey starting number cards.

On your turn, you play a number card to a matching colored row. You can play atop either card in that row, attempting to keep the range between these numbers as narrow as possible, so you can avoid the dreaded Cabanga!  If your opponents hold any matching color number cards within this range, they can shout, “Cabanga!” and throw them to you. You must draw a new card for each card you were Cabangaed with. 

Sometimes taking a penalty card can be the right call. Other times you may have to throw caution to the wind and create a wide number gap, praying no one else can pounce.

Read on to discover why we love Cabanga!

Captured at age 10 and made a eunuch, young Ma He was sent to serve the prince and protector of Beijing. By age 20 Ma He rises from servant to soldier and trusted advisor and general to the prince. He eventually helps the prince become Emperor. By age 30 Ma He is given the title Zheng and becomes Grand Director of Palace Servants and chief envoy for the empire. He is tasked with expanding trade and awareness of Chinese imperial power from Southeast Asia to Arabia, to the Horn of Africa. Over the next twenty years Zheng He embarks on seven voyages with fleets of treasure ships - the largest wooden sailing vessels in recorded history. Great wealth traveled through these voyages: from natural resources and gifts of art and exotic animals like giraffes and lions to cultural knowledge including scholars and ambassadors from the wide expanse of trade routes along the Indian Ocean.

In the game players serve as fleet commanders, taking turns directing the course and purpose for each of Zheng He’s seven voyages. Will you focus on trade? Or ridding the seas of pirates? Or establishing diplomatic relations? Each port will offer a new array of decisions, each one defining a chapter in the grand story you help unfold. The commander who contributes the most to the success of these incredible adventures wins the game.

Read on to discover why we love The Treasure Ship of Zheng He!

Can you say several slippery phrases consecutively without getting your tongue tangled? Slide through without a mistake and the silly sentence will grow for the next victim! Stumble a bit and you’ll take the card that tripped you up (and any cards stacked beneath) as a penalty. An arrow on the card back will tell you which way to read the line of words, adding even more potential for pronunciation pandemonium. The first player to collect six penalty cards will end the game. The player with the least penalties wins.

Read on to discover why we love Betty Botter Bought Some Butter!

It started with rumors.  An island beyond all maps, teeming with animals and plants beyond our imagination. Suddenly the race was on! A small group of Natural scientists set sail to explore and catalog  all the wondrous creatures of this mysterious land. Each turn your crews will compete to collect and study the flora and fauna of the island, from the highest mountains to the swampiest bogs. Manage resources and your research vessels to attract creatures to your preserve. earn trophies and achievements. Collect and hatch eggs for further study. In the end you may have to rely on your captains unique abilities to lead your voyage to fame and history. 

Read on to discover why we love Wondrous Creatures!