New Game Round-up: Three Players Needed for Three Kingdoms Redux, Munchkin Joins the Toy Shelves & Another Day, Another Apocalypse

The Han Dynasty, founded in 206 BC, ruled the central plains and much of modern day China for nearly four hundred years. However, by late second century, court politics and poor governance has left it in rapid decline. The government was dominated by corrupt eunuchs and officials who levied heavy taxes on the peasants, resulting in public discontent. This culminated in the Yellow Turban Rebellion led by Zhang Jiao in 184 AD during the reign of Emperor Ling (168-189 AD).

Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion was defeated eventually, many surviving followers went on to become bandits and continued to create problems for the government. The Han army was unable to control the bandits and Emperor Ling granted direct administrative power over provinces and command of regional military to local lords. Many feudal lords took the opportunity to sever ties with the Han government and ruled independently on their own. The more ambitious annexed neighboring territories to expand their power bases. This led eventually to the emergence of the three power blocs of Wei, Wu and Shu, which ushered in the Three Kingdoms period.

Three Kingdoms Redux is a board game that seeks to recreate the tripartite between the states of Wei, Wu and Shu. You assume the role of one of the three lords: Cao Cao leading Cao Wei, Sun Jian leading Eastern Wu and Liu Bei leading Shu Han. Players start the game from asymmetrical positions, reflecting the manpower advantages Wei enjoyed in the early part of the period. The weaker states of Wu and Shu protect themselves by forming an alliance.

As a feudal lord, you manage the different aspects of running a state whilst guarding your borders against both rebellious internal tribes and external enemies. Managing each aspect well earns victory points for your state — but beware as the balance of power shifts constantly during the game. Understand and take advantage of the power shifts, and you will fulfill your grand ambition of re-unifying China!

Millions of people from around the world were killed as the Z-B13 epidemic spread like wildfire. Within weeks, however, those who had been killed by the virus began returning to life. These living dead victims of Z-B13 are known as The Infected. In addition to the infected, thousands of survivors banded together, seizing the opportunity granted by the societal chaos created by the virus. A number of powerful, violent gangs have surfaced, raiding cities and terrorizing everyone in their path as they scour the country for supplies.

The situation is bleak, but not hopeless. A small number of survivors have set their differences aside to work together toward a common goal — find out who is responsible for the Z-B13 virus and put a stop to them. Since its release, rumors have circulated about secret military bunkers and high-tech medical labs which had been commissioned to research and monitor Z-B13. Multiple sources corroborate the entire epidemic stemmed from the unauthorized exposure to a single person; the doctor responsible for originally engineering the plague infected himself first and has somehow kept himself alive to continue his work. Meanwhile, the survivors seek vital information on stopping the epidemic, as well as important resources and items that will prove invaluable in their search for Patient Zero.

Players explore cities looking for resources and clues. The longer the group stays in a city, the more attention they attract from nearby Infected, forcing them to balance their need for resources with their own personal safety. Based on their actions, the players may fully explore and clear a city, might choose to retreat, or may even be forced to flee. After leaving a city, the players will encounter a variety of different events that may put their safety and their resources at risk, or perhaps allow a brief respite. But take too long resolving these events and you risk arriving at the next city at night, a much riskier proposition than exploring during the day time.

Gameplay continues alternating between exploring cities and resolving events until one of the following occurs: the players have assembled enough information to confront Patient Zero in a final showdown or the players run out of critical supplies and die horrible deaths. However, even in failure, not all hope is lost. Every time the players lose a game, they pass along one item or piece of information to the next play group so each subsequent attempt is slightly easier.