New Game Round-up: More from Nürnberg 2013 – Devils and Magicians, Racers and Rumpelriesen

In Super Race, players try to be the first to complete a lap around the track, using the dice to hug corners and race as quickly as possible. Players first decide which racetrack to use on the double-sided player boards. Then they start racing!

On a turn, a player rolls the five dice, sets aside any she wants to keep, then rolls up to two more times, rerolling dice set aside, if desired. The dice depict curves or straights in three different colors, and after the player stops rolling, she chooses all the dice of one color and must use all of them to move on the track. Colored track on the player board can be moved through only with dice of the appropriate color, while any die color can be used to cross gray track; if a player can't use all movement for a color, she must choose a different color. A player cannot cross the same square twice. End your movement in a tight corner, and you take another turn immediately.

Players take turns until one reaches the finish line, which triggers the final round. After all players have taken the same number of turns, whoever has driven the farthest across the finish line wins. Variants in the rulebook include an option for oil slicks that take two dice to cross, a point system for a multi-race world championship, and a two lap race on the Indianapolis board that includes a shortcut. The challenge in this latter race is that you're still restricted from crossing the same square twice. Take special care the first time around, or else you'll be weaving like a maniac on lap two!

In Die verzauberten Rumpelriesen, the magician players want to find imps hiding in the leaves that cover the forest floor around them – but they must search carefully to find these imps so that they don't wake the sleeping giants guarding the land. Oh, and they'll need to search quickly, too, or else the giants will wake from the sleeping spell cast on them and run the searchers out of the forest. Who can combine speed, control and a good memory to find the imps where they hide?

To set up, players place the 16 imp tokens in the holes on the game board, cover these imps with the 85 cardboard leaves included in the game, then place one large wooden giant on each corner of the board. On a turn, the active player reveals a search card showing one of the imps. An opponent flips the sand timer, then the player uses her magic wand to push the leaves aside and (fingers crossed!) find the imp on the search card. She can use her wand to move the giants as well, but if they fall of the game board – or even so much as a single leaf falls – the giants awaken and chase the player away empty-handed. If the player reveals the target imp, though, she keeps the search card to record her find. After each search, players cover the board again and return the giants to their places. In the end, whoever has collected the most search cards wins!

Die verzauberten Rumpelriesen includes rules for cooperative play, with the players using their wands together to search for the imps one by one as they're revealed by the search cards. If the players find more than eight imps without the giants awakening, they win.

While practicing his powers, Linus, the little magician, has enchanted some of his toys! Can you help him pick up these toys from the floor of his room and put them away?

To set up Linus, der kleine Magier, you shuffle 18 magnetized toy tiles (three each of six different toys) with 12 non-magnetized toy tiles (two tiles of each type), then spread them out on the table. Shuffle the 18 search cards (showing three each of six different toys) as well, then give the youngest player the Linus wooden figure, which has a magnet on its underside.

On a turn, the player looks at the top search card, then places Linus on one of the toy tiles that matches this image. Did you find an enchanted toy that sticks to Linus? Super! Keep the toy tile and the search card, then give Linus to the next player. If, however, you found a regular toy tile, leave it on the table in the same location, then give Linus to the next player, who must now search for the same item (but with the hope of finding an enchanted one this time).

Once all the enchanted toys have been cleared from the table, whoever has found the most toys wins!

What was once unthinkable has started to become a reality: Hell is freezing over. Naturally you and your fellow devils aren't pleased with this situation, so you're trying to surround yourself with as many hot things as possible in order to keep the home fires burning, so to speak. Can you end up on top down below?

In Dice Devils each player takes on the role of one of six devils, each ranked from 1 to 6 and each with a different special ability. On a turn, players roll their dice in secret, then one by one they each choose one of the hot items on offer on the table, starting with devil #1. When players have chosen the same item, then their dice and special abilities come into play to see who gets the goods. Fewer items are available each round than the number of players, so conflict must take place!

Don't think you can rely on that ability the entire game, though, as a devil's rank in Hell is never secure and the top devil might find himself demoted to Clean Freak or Problem Child. In the end, whichever devil collects the most valuable hot stuff wins!