Let's highlight a few titles on this list, starting with Pessoa, a 1-4 player game from designer Orlando Sá and publisher PYTHAGORAS that has a fascinating background driving the action of the game. Here's an overview from the publisher:
In Pessoa, you are one of Pessoa’s most famous heteronyms — Alberto Caeiro, Ricard Reis, Álvaro de Campos, and Bernardo Soares — and move between the metaphysical space of Pessoa's head and the physical spaces of Lisbon to gain inspiration from the iconic cafés, visit bookshops to expand your library and knowledge, and seek inspiration to write poems, thereby scoring victory points. Whoever has the most victory points at the end of the game wins.
In more detail, Pessoa is a worker-placement game with special rules in which players can place their heteronyms since each player is a different heteronym, but all players are also the same physical person, that is Fernando Pessoa.
The game comes with two modules that can be switched on and off as the players wish. If you play with only the base game, Pessoa fares well as an advanced family game with straightforward rules, but interesting decisions and a more tactical nature. With the modules, Pessoa becomes a more crunchy game, in which extra layers of strategy combine to offer you a rich experience that tries to shine light on the complex figure that Fernando Pessoa was.
The game's rulebook includes historical notes to explain how theme and mechanisms are interconnected, providing you an accurate historical background about this extraordinary poet and his metaphysical creations that had their own personality and writing style: his heteronyms. We hope that at the end of your first game, we have spiked your interest to learn more about Fernando Pessoa and his poetry.
Reveal the top card of each deck. Each player then takes turns playing a card from their hand in front of them, building up to three piles — one in each color — and rotating a player card as desired to make it one color or another. Continue around the table until all players have passed or have no cards remaining in hand. Whoever has played the highest total in red discards their played cards and claims the matching ocean card; all other players return their played red cards to hand. In the event of a tie, all players return their cards to hand, with the red ocean card remaining in place. Do the same with the blue and green cards.
All players draw two cards from their personal deck, then you reveal a new red, blue, and green ocean card, piling up cards of the same color if they weren't claimed the previous one. Continue playing rounds until all players' decks are empty. Total your claimed ocean cards. Whoever has the highest sum wins!
Here's an overview of this 2-4 player game due out in Q4 2021:
In Eriantys, a game full of strategy, tactics, and twists and turns, you run one of these four great schools and compete with other wizards to increase your fame! Carefully plan your moves and try to control your opponents' moves. On your turn, play a card, place three students, and advance mother nature a certain number of steps across the islands. The island on which mother nature lands is evaluated, and whoever controls it can erect one of their own towers, possibly taking control from an opponent. Additionally, adjacent islands controlled by the same player can merge with that one.
The game ends if only three islands remain, if the students run out, or if a player builds all of their towers. At this point, the player who built the most towers wins.
With three different game modes, including team play, Eriantys always offers different and interesting games. In addition, if you play with the expert version, you can use the fantastic skills of the special characters; each adds many possibilities, enriching the fun and beauty of the challenge.