September 2009 Notable Toys — Board Games

Central Spain, A.D. 1600. You play a member of a family famous for making exquisite swords from renowned Toledo steel. By engaging the services of the skilled sword smiths, you hope to present the finest and most beautiful swords ever crafted to the great emperor of the Spanish Empire. These strong, sharp, and often gem-laden weapons-magnificent works of art and swordcraft- provide your pathway to power and glory! Travel the hilly streets of Toledo to acquire the fine metals and gems you need to craft these beautiful swords. Forge your magnificent swords and carry them to the grand Alcazar palace. You might also visit the storied artist studio of El Greco to buy some of his works. But beware! Toledo can be a dangerous place. You may duel, engaging in swordfights to protect your honor. In the end, whomever presents the best set of swords to the emperor claims glory and victory.

Culture, Conflict, Civilization! This revised edition contains a new 2-sided game board, 4 new civilization buildings, and a new advanced scenario. Step back to the dawn of recorded time. Take command of a young dynasty in fertile Mesopotamia. Here, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, lies the cradle of civilization. Here, as the Bible tells, rose man's first cities: Ur, Nineveh, and fair Babylon. Play a part in the epic saga of the rise of these great urban centers. Guide your dynasty to develop and control the most vibrant culture in the rich land between the two rivers.

In Steam™ you build railroads and deliver goods along an ever changing network of tracks and stations. You build the tracks, upgrade towns, improve your train, and grab the right goods to make the longest, most profitable deliveries. Score your deliveries and add to your income or victory points, balancing your need to invest against your quest to win the game. Steam contains a beautiful, double-sided game board. The map on each side depicts terrain, towns, and cities at the start of the railway age. The map of the northeastern USA and neighboring Canada is ideal for 3 or 4 players. Use the map of Europe's lower Rhine and Ruhr region when playing a 4- or 5-player game. One can play Steam on any number of current and future variant and expansion maps from Mayfair Games, so game pieces for up to 6 players are included.

Discover the curious civilizations and wild lore of the wondrous, neighboring red planet Mars. Celebrate one of the mankind's most vital and enduring passions: railroads. Use your initial investment to build track. Then pick up commodities where they are grown, mined, or manufactured and deliver them to a lucrative place of demand. Complete a delivery and make the money you need to buy larger, faster trains, and expand your railroad empire. Win the game by building and operating Mars' most effective railroad empire. With over a million variations, Martian Rails™ never grows old. You decide where to lay your tracks. Your only obstacles are rival tracks and Mars' great mountains, canals, deserts, and jungles. So, dominate a whole new planet. Capture the pioneering spirit on the sands of Mars and learn to build an empire.

Fabulous caves containing the artistic legacy or our ancient ancestors were discovered in a cave complex at Lascaux in the southwest of France. In testament to their struggle for survival, our forefathers created these stunning images that capture your imagination. Fantastic paintings of large animals long extinct leap from the walls of these caves--animals known only from fossils and seen only in dreams. In the game Lascaux, you try to win majorities of animal cards by spending stones at the right moment and cleverly outfoxing other players.

Be the boss in this fast-paced card game of survival on the mean streets.  "Family Business" pits mobsters against each other, all who are working to make sure theirs is the last family standing. A player's gang members get placed on the Hit List. Can your "Family Influence" save them?  Will they "Take it on the Lam", seek "Police Protection", or perhaps up the ante with a "Double Contract"? Family Business is fast, furious, and fun! Your goal of the game is survival.

A Game of Discovery, Geography, and History in the land of Poets and Thinkers. Explore and settle the storied land of Germany using the elegant, award-winning game design from The Settlers of Catan®. Here, you will find great social interaction, simple rules, beautiful German geography, rich history and lore, and 12 wonderfully-sculpted landmarks. “Catan Geographies: Germany” is a game about trade, building, and settlement. Start with town halls in 3 cities. Then build roads to neighboring cities, where you can purchase landmarks and new town halls. Town halls create resource production, while the unique landmarks generate special awards. Both yield victory points— as do the Longest Road, Largest Army, and the historically-based victory point cards.

It is 37 AD and Caligula is the extravagant Emperor of Rome! It is a time of excesses. It is a time of intrigue. And the latest gala in Caligula’s short reign is starting tonight—Bacchus’ Banquet! As a player, you are one of the nine “honored” guests—each with his or her own secret objective. You might be a glutton who is only there for the food and wine. You might be an avaricious opportunist longing for the presents that are often bestowed. You might be a conspirator in one of the many plots to kidnap or assassinate the Emperor. You might even be Caligula himself, exploiting the all too human foibles of his groveling subjects.

A House Divided simulates the epic struggle of the American Civil War that was fought over the twin issues of slavery and states´ rights. The period from 1840 to 1861 saw these issues brought to a boil, and in 1861 the nation became tangled in a terrible war that lasted four long years.

In this 5th Edition of Empire Builder®, players use their initial investment to build track, then pick up commodities where they are grown, mined, or manufactured and deliver them to a lucrative place of demand. Complete a delivery and make the money you need to buy larger, faster trains, and expand your railroad empire. Win the game by building the most effective railroad empire! The game features over a million variations, so the game never grows old.

The Catan Dice Game™ is a fast, fun way to experience Catan on-the-go. Play it in only 15-30 minutes! It's a great casual introduction to the world of Catan. With 6 colorful, high quality, embossed plastic dice, a generous pad of full color double-sided score sheets featuring two maps for alternate play, and an exquisite lidded leather dice cup. the dice cup will hold dice, rules and score pad. Roll your way to victory. So get ready to toss! Challenge the odds and discover a fresh way to master Catan.

Players do not have to be music buffs to enjoy and succeed at Consensus® Music Edition. It's not a trivia game — it's a game about opinions. Consensus® Music Edition takes about a minute to learn and requires only minimal knowledge of some of the most popular songs of all time. Consensus® Music Edition is as much about bonding as it is about friendly opposition, but most of all it is a wild and wacky game where players can learn how their friends and family view things by their taste in music.

Consensus® Junior Edition is an educational and parent friendly game. It is well suited as a family game. Consensus® Junior Edition is a game about opinions. Consensus® Junior Edition is not a trivia game, nor is it a strategy game. It is a game that allows its participants to express themselves as individuals and/or as part of a group.It has received the following awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Products 2009; Dr. Toy 10 Best Socially Responsible Products 2009; Major Fun Award 2009; Tillywig Laugh Out Loud Award 2009; Creative Child Magazine: Game of the Year 2009; Family Review Center Gold Award 2009; and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award 2009.
— Bernie DeKoven (Major Fun) proclaims that Consensus Junior Edition “is as much a tool for family harmony as it is a game for family fun.” With gameplay similar to Apples to Apples, Consensus Junior Edition challenges players to choose the noun card they feel best fits the revealed adjective card. Players who are able to come to a consensus and choose successfully move ahead. Everyone’s opinion matters, no matter their age, and even kids below the recommended age of 8 can play with a little parental help.
— At Toy House and Baby Too in Jackson, Mich., Consensus Junior Edition is a best-selling game, Owner Phil Wrzesinski told TDmonthly in November 2009.

In this game for two or more players, participants are confronted with interesting and, often, totally gross facts about the human body. One multiple choice question, for example, reads, "Most people fart about how many times a day?" It includes 130 question cards, 30 wild cards, six mover pieces, a game board that offers an intestinal look at the body, and a player guide. Launch date: 2009.
This game was formerly distributed by IMAGINATION ENTERTAINMENT.

TAKE ME TO THE CLEANER$! is a hilarious new couples game designed to take a light-hearted look at relationships. The game pits “spouse against spouse” and revolves around the irritating traits/habits that all individuals bring into a relationship. The underlying theme of the game is about “acceptance” and “compromise” but on the surface, it’s about getting back at your spouse/partner for driving you crazy for all of the time you’ve been together. The game is one part “reality” and one part “fantasy” and includes “real life” consequences for the “minor” infractions committed by either partner throughout the game. Players roll dice to advance around both sections of the game board. Once any player accumulates 3 Busted cards, they could be “Taken to the Cleaners” by their partner. Once a call to be “Taken to the Cleaners” has been made and accepted, both spouses move their tokens into the center ring on the board to play for the “matrimonial assets”. Once either spouse has accumulated the 20 assets, they are declared the winner of the game and get to choose 3 “real life” tasks for their partner to perform within one week of the conclusion of the game.

The hilarious parody of the government bailout where When You Lose, You Win. In this role reversal of the classic board game; debt is king.

Players compete as rival banks (Bankruptcy O’ America, Worth Farless, No Cashvia, Liquidation Brothers, Greedy Investors of America, or Washed Up Mutual) who must make risky investments to lose it all and get a Bailout.

Don't think this is going to be easy. You have to earn this Bailout!

As you follow the money trail, you will be forced to undermine the competition, endure the uncertainty of the stock market, avoid hostile takeovers, deal with the instability of the housing market and your bank may even be forced to take a bank holiday.

This strategic game provides both elements of skill and chance; every action you take compounds upon the next creating a unique outcome every time you play.

Be the bank, lose billions, get a bailout!

Numbers of Players: 2-6 | Ages: 14 to Adult | Play Time: 30-60 min.

Made in the USA

Visit www.bailoutthegame.com for more information.

Builds competence in identifying all eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections!  Understanding parts of speech is the key to good grammar.  Sentences provide necessary context clues along with interesting science and geography facts.  Tailor to learner needs by selecting specific sentence cards. Claiming spaces on the four center grids involves strategic thinking.  Includes 50 sentence cards, a reference card, answer keys, and assessment masters, For 2-4 players.

Did you know that more than 100 trillion bacteria live and work in the large intestines, or that the stomach makes a new lining every three days so its walls don’t digest themselves? These facts only hint at what players will learn about the parts and functions of the human digestive system. Players become aware of how food is treated at each stage as it travels through this system. Good nutrition and health habits receive appropriate attention. Players progress from status as medical students to physicians as they internalize information. The content of the Fact Cards makes excellent lesson material for study apart from the game. State and national standards emphasize the study of systems. Includes 56 Fact Cards and 14 ID Cards. For 2 players or teams.

Spin the spinner and create sentences by piecing together the colored word or phrase cards you collect. Sensationally simple but immensely engaging, this game is a winner. Earn five points for every correct sentence you construct! Level One includes 40 each of the Who, What, and Where cards. Level Two adds 20 When cards. Contains 140 word cards and game board with spinner. For 2-4 players.

Managing My Allowance offers valuable first money experiences. Players use coins and bills to pay for purchases, compute change, handle allowances and gifts, collect earnings, and make deposits into college savings accounts. They are rewarded for accuracy, taking advantage of sales, saving money for college, and making thoughtful decisions. Transactions mirror the real world, adding value and excitement. Game variations offer two difficulty levels. In Allowance, the winner is the player with the most money in college savings. No financial transactions are recorded. In Managing My Allowance, players keep simple financial records. The winner is the player with the most money in college savings plus what is saved because of sales. For 2-4 players.

Ticket to Ride - USA 1910 is a card expansion for the original Ticket to Ride board game. It consists of 181 new large-format cards that include 35 new Destination Tickets, a new GlobeTrotter bonus card for completing the most tickets, and a complete replacement deck of all the cards from the original game. Also included is a new rulebook that gives Ticket to Ride players three new ways to play: games using only the new Destination Tickets; the Mega Game, featuring all the tickets; and Big Cities, which uses only tickets to certain large cities. Launch date: 2001.

The Ticket to Ride Europa 1912 expansion for the Ticket to Ride series includes 101 Destination Tickets — the 46 original tickets, plus 55 new ones that enable three new variants to the Ticket to Ride Europe map. This expansion also introduces Warehouses & Depots — new game rules and pieces that create an additional strategic layer and can be played with any of the Ticket to Ride maps. "Wooden Train Depots are placed on cities selected by each player. Throughout the game, each player's Warehouse will accumulate Train cards and those who have the foresight, clever timing, or just plain good fortune to build a route to a Depot can make off with a fistful of Train cards. Depot placement and skillful Warehouse tactics become a key part of a winning Ticket to Ride strategy!" Elizabeth Case, marketing assistant for Days of Wonder, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 6, 2009.

In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. Picking the right combination from the 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, players rush to expand their empires — often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory. "Designer Philip Keyaerts has expertly interwoven the fantasy worlds with competitive game play to create a game that appeals to casual players of all ages and experience while simultaneously maintaining a complexity that draws in the more serious crowd," Elizabeth Case, marketing assistant for Days of Wonder, told TDmonthly. The game has received the following awards: 2009 Bruno Faidutti's Game of the Year; 2009 Finalist for the International Gamer's Award; and 2009 Spiele Hit (Vienna Game Academy). Launch date: January 26, 2009.

In this game, players are Gypsies trying to earn as much gold as they can and bring it to the Big Gypsy Gathering. They need to finance the various festivities of weddings, baptisms, meetings, feasts and entertainment before border checkpoints are closed, preventing them from traveling and earning a living. Players have only two rounds of events to accomplish their goal of raising money for the Gathering. The game includes a 17" x 22" board, four movers and matching caravan cards, 26 colored wagons, 24 trades, 24 gold payments for trades, 56 events, and rules for regular and advanced games. In this cooperative game, individuals play together, not against one another. Launch date: August 2009.