Western Canada’s Largest Tabletop Gaming Convention! Join us March 14-16, 2025, at the Vancouver Convention Centre - East (aka Canada Place) in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Island Spirits join forces using elemental powers to defend their home from invaders.
This game plays exactly like Spirit Island so I am not sure why BGG lists it as less complex. The only difference is that it's capped at 3 players and the components are all cardboard. So if you wanted to play Spirit Island this is exactly the same game.
Spirit Island is a co-operative game of defending your island from invading colonizers. Play as an asymmetric spirit and unleash your powers against those threatening your shores. (I have almost all of the expansions if you have a particular spirit you want to play)
It's a time where the civilizations of the Alpha Quadrant can boldly go where no one has gone before. Until they encounter each other - or the local inhabitants. Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and/or Ferengi will explore, expand, exploit or exchange, and more in this 4X race to ascendancy over the civilizations of Star Trek.
This year, Holi takes place on March 14th- why not celebrate with a game?
In HOLI: Festival of Colors, players gather to celebrate the end of winter as they spread colorful powder on each other, dancing and celebrating new beginnings.
Mechanisms & Features:
Area Control - Colored powder tokens spread across the board and onto other players, covering the board in the pattern selected. 3-Tier Board - Players ascend to have their powder fall from above, giving up victory points for better control. Puzzle-like Action Selection - Color cards determine the pattern colored powder will fly in, giving players room to select the pattern that works best for them. Variable Scoring Condition - Each game can have slightly different scoring conditions, adding depth and replayability.
Worker Placement meets Tug of War as you influence multiple battles. Very fun, breezy, highly interactive Paolo Mori design. SUSD re-publishing later this year.
In Molly House, players take the roles of the gender-defying mollies of early eighteenth century London. Throw grand masquerades and cruise back alleys while evading moralistic constables who seek to destroy your community. Be careful, there may even be informers in your midst!
Over the course of an hour, players will draft hands of vice cards representing the different gestures, desires, and encounters that were frowned upon by the Society for the Reformation of Manners, a citizen group that sought to stamp out any behavior it deemed deviant in late 17th and early 18th century London. These cards allow players to host festivities with the help of their fellow mollies and create joy. But, those same cards can also lead players to be arrested and to the ultimate ruin of the molly house.
As players encounter the Society’s enforcers, they will often have to pay bribes or may be coerced into becoming informers for the Society. Informers must try desperately to undermine the community around Mother Clap’s Molly House without being discovered by their fellow mollies.
Through dreams, Freud's followers delve into their clients’ unconscious minds.
Please only sign up if you are willing to watch the How To video prior to the start of the convention (https://youtu.be/6lI8D58Rk68?si=oGuA6px4gsqJuoNp), as we will only have 3 hours to finish the game. Thanks!
Before Essen 1999, a group of students founded Splotter Spellen to publish their own games. Bus is one of their standout designs. Players compete to transport passengers by expanding routes, adding buses, and developing the city. Destination types (work, bar, home) change each turn, requiring strategic planning.
Actions include buying buses, extending routes, adding buildings, and introducing passengers via bus. A unique turn order mechanic forces tough choices—some actions let the first player execute last, creating tense decision-making.
Bus routes follow Settlers-style placement, extending from either end. Passengers arrive at two train stations, making route planning crucial. Blocking opponents by manipulating building placement can disrupt their efficiency. Smart play involves setting up repeat passengers for future turns.
Red Outpost is a worker movement game set on the backdrop of a soviet space outpost. Resources are shared by the players which gives it an interesting new take on the worker movement genre.
The Midnight Queen is dead… As her kingdom weeps, the Queen’s dying command was to invoke the Rule By Midnight: a trial of combat and guile, where the Princesses of the Twelve Lands meet in secret to battle and scheme against one another. At the stroke of midnight, the most powerful Princess left standing will be crowned the new Midnight Queen!
Queen By Midnight is a battle-royale deck-building card game of guile, deception, and brawn! Six Princesses each feature unique tactics to battle for the right of the Midnight Court, but only one (and maybe their inner circle) will be the winner.
Play as families of the East India Trading company exploiting India for all its resources Negotiate to gain a better foothold and retire in luxurious homes, but beware of the locals rebelling to your actions
In John Company, you play as one of the wealthy British families that have a stake in the East India Trading Company and your goal is to enrich your family while exploiting the lands. The families hold positions of power in the company and each office has duties that they perform that will help the company make money, most of the actions are to benefit the company and the stakeholders. You're not the good guys here. You will need to make deals and play to your strength to get the most out of the company so that your wealthy family becomes even more wealthy, you want to work together to prop up the company but at the same time you want to enrich yourself more than the company.
Be a part of the reconstruction of Lisboa after the great earthquake of 1755. You will work with the architects to build Lisbon anew, with the Marquis to develop commerce and with the King to open all the buildings. The overarching gameplay is largely play a card, take an action and then draw a card. The complexity comes in when deciding which action combo to take to build your economy, gain influence, and maximize scoring.
New players welcome as a teach will be included. On the other hand, this game (4.5/5) is best for players with experience in heavy euro or other Lacerda games.
Worker Placement meets Tug of War as you influence multiple battles. Very fun, breezy, highly interactive Paolo Mori design. SUSD re-publishing later this year.
Wolves is a semi-cooperative board game. You take on the role of a community leader attempting to manage limited resources to help get your people through the winter. To survive, you need to co-operate and share through the gifting of what you've gathered and grown, which will dwindle as you head toward winter.
Smartphone Inc. is a economic strategy game where you step into the shoes of a tech CEO during the mobile phone revolution. Balance production, research, and global expansion while setting competitive prices to dominate the market. Its simultaneous action planning keeps gameplay fast and engaging, with clever decision-making and minimal downtime. Whether you're a fan of Eurogames or just love the idea of crushing your competition, this is your chance to outsmart your rivals and build the ultimate tech empire.
I recently went to Spain and picked up a few recently released trick-taking games that are not yet available in North America. Games I will be featuring are Avio, 3 Chapters, Danger, Plata and more
The bees have discovered economics. The queens believe that if they sell honey to the bears, badgers, and woodland creatures, they will find peace and prosperity. Spring has arrived and it's time to build the hive, find nectar, make honey, and, for the first time ever, set up shop.
Honey Buzz is a worker bee placement game where players expand a personal beehive by drafting various honeycomb tiles that grant actions that are triggered throughout the game. Each tile represents a different action. Whenever a tile is laid so that it completes a certain pattern, a ring of actions is triggered in whatever order the player chooses. A tile drafted on turn one could be triggered up to three times at any point during the game. It all depends on how the player places their beeples (bee+meeple) and builds their hive. After all, in the honey business, efficiency is queen.
As you continually expand your hive, you'll forage for nectar and pollen, make honey, sell different varieties at the bear market, host honey tastings, and attend to the queen and her court. There's only so much nectar to go around, and finding it won't be easy. Players will have to scout out the nectar field and pay attention to other players searches to try to deduce the location of the nectar they need for themselves.
Locomotive Werks is an economic game in which players purchase the ability to produce engines, pay workers to produce them, and sell to the volatile, dice-driven market.
End the evening with a relaxed word-game cooldown!
If you were going to head back to your hotel to get in a daily Wordle before bed, come try this game! It's Wordle, but where the sneaky Lie-brarian will try to mislead players, who work co-operatively to provide guesses, by swapping correct/false/wrong place clues.
This game usually includes a timer, but I will not enforce this unless the group wants it. This game is also played over multiple rounds with each player getting chance to try out the Lie-brarian - I believe 1.5 hours will give us time to play multiple rounds even without strictly sticking to the timer times. Feel free to come and go as table-space allows :)
Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road is an economic game charting the rise and fall of the greatest city in the world. In Merv, players are vying to amass power and wealth in the prosperous heart of the Silk Road. Through careful court intrigue, timely donations to the grand mosque, and favorable trade deals, players attempt to redirect as much of that prosperity as possible into their own pockets. Meanwhile, beyond the city walls Mongol hordes approach. If you help construct the city walls, you give up on precious opportunities to build up your own stature, but leave it unprotected and you will burn with the city. Every decision is weighty and the consequences of each misstep are dire. Will you rise to prominence or fade into oblivion? Learners are welcome.
In Comic Hunters, you and the other players are hunting to make your collection the most complete and distinguished comic collection of various Marvel Heroes
In the game, each player represents one of the seven "Great Powers of Europe" in the years prior to World War I. Play begins in the Spring of 1901, and players must negotiate and make deals with other players in order to have any success in expanding their borders. They will make both Spring and Autumn moves each year. with two kinds of military units: armies and fleets. On any given turn, each of your military units has limited options: it can move into an adjoining territory, support an allied unit in an attack on an adjoining territory, support an allied unit in defending an adjoining territory, or hold its position. Players instruct each of their units by writing a set of "orders." The outcome of the various orders is basically determined by the total strength of the units involved. There are no dice rolls or other elements of chance. With its incredibly simplistic movement mechanism fused to a significant negotiation element, this system is highly respected by many gamers.
Based on simple and intuitive hand management, Heat: Pedal to the Metal puts players in the driver's seat of intense car races, jockeying for position to cross the finish line first, while managing their car's speed if they don't want to overheat. Selecting the right upgrades for their car will help them hug the curves and keep their engine cool enough to maintain top speeds. Ultimately, their driving skills will be the key to victory! The game takes about 90 minutes with the full player count, so we can probably get in a second round in enough of us want to.
Edo — what we now know today as Tokyo, Japan — was a thriving city with an estimated population of one million, half townspeople and half samurai. With a huge shopping culture, Edo's main district, Nihonbashi, was lined with shops, selling kimonos, rice, and so much more. Nihonbashi is the focus of IKI: A Game of EDO Artisans, which brings you on a journey through the famed street of old Tokyo. Hear the voices of Nihonbashi Bridge's great fish market. Meet the professionals, who carry out 700-800 different jobs. Enter the interactivity of the shoppers and vendors. Become one with the townspeople. Learners are welcome.
In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal.
Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards in question are:
CARDS: Allows you to gain new zoo cards (animals, sponsors, and conservation project cards). BUILD: Allows you to build standard or special enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions. ANIMALS: Allows you to accommodate animals in your zoo. ASSOCIATION: Allows your association workers to carry out different tasks. SPONSORS: Allows you to play a sponsor card in your zoo or to raise money.
255 cards featuring animals, specialists, special enclosures, and conservation projects, each with a special ability, are at the heart of Ark Nova. Use them to increase the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo and collect conservation points.
In Lorenzo il Magnifico, each player takes the role of the head of a noble family in a city during the Italian Renaissance to gain more prestige and fame — that is, victory points (VP) — than anyone else. To do so, you send your family members to different areas of town, where they can obtain many achievements. In one location, they get useful resources; in another, development cards that represent newly conquered territories, sponsored buildings, influenced characters, or encouraged ventures; and somewhere else they activate the effects of their cards. Family members are not identical. At the beginning of each round, you roll three dice to determine their value. You must choose carefully where to send your most valuable family members. Learners are welcome.
Wolves is a semi-cooperative board game. You take on the role of a community leader attempting to manage limited resources to help get your people through the winter. To survive, you need to co-operate and share through the gifting of what you've gathered and grown, which will dwindle as you head toward winter.
