![New Game Round-up: Welcoming Tides of Madness, Succeeding Alexander, Revisiting Barony & Eating Fresh Fruit](https://cf.geekdo-images.com/19id0AqxHXIp5ynnE5V_oQ__medium/img/tJv3jGJLRe2J2jZRrz2I5OGq0I0=/fit-in/500x500/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic470993.jpg)
After all cards have been drafted for the round, players total their points based on the suits of cards they collected and the scoring objectives on each card, then they record their score. Each round, the players each select one card to leave in their kingdom as a "relic of the past" to help them in later rounds. After three rounds, the player with the the most prosperous kingdom wins.
Tides of Madness adds a new twist to the above game: madness. Some cards, while powerful, harm your psyche, so you must keep an eye on your madness level or else risk losing the game early as your mind is lost to the power of the ancients. More specifically, eight of the eighteen cards in the game feature a madness icon, and while scoring, you receive a madness token for each such icon in your collection of cards. Whoever has the most madness in a round either scores 4 points or discards 1 madness token — and the latter option is valuable because if you ever have nine or more madness, you lose the game immediately.
• Speaking of time, a couple more publishers have decided it's time to start unveiling information about titles they'll release at Spiel 2016 in October. Designer/publisher Bernd Eisenstein of Irongames explores a similar era as in games past with Phalanxx, which bears this brief description:
Each player in Phalanxx leads one of four competing factions that are ready to rule that vast empire. To do this, you must become the most powerful faction by reinforcing your troops, ensuring sufficient supplies, and occupying the most important cities and oases.
• At Spiel 2016, Matagot will expand Marc André's 2015 release Barony with Barony: Sorcery, which includes components for a fifth player — new tiles, new wooden components, new player aid — as well as something new to the gameplay itself:
Barony: Sorcery stays true to the base game as the new elements add no luck to the game, instead opening up possibilities for players to bend the rules, thereby adding even more tension to the board.
Crash of Games plans to release its new version of Finca in Q2 2017, keeping the farming-based nature of the original game, but moving the setting to North America and using new artwork throughout the game. CoG's Patrick Nickell has raved to me about the wondrous wooden bits of the original version of Finca, so I'd expect something similar in this version.