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Given that 2017 is coming to a close, Plan B Games has now released an overview of the next title in the line — Century: Eastern Wonders, a 2-4 player game that will debut on June 13, 2018, which is opening day of the 2018 Origins Game Fair. Here's a game overview from the publisher:
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Centuries ago, the lucrative spice trade compelled the prosperous nations of the world to explore alternate routes to the sources of these precious goods. These nations took to the seas to seek out exotic lands. This led to the discovery of the famed Spice Islands where the most valuable spices of the world were found. This discovery also led to further exploration, competition....and later, war! During this time of prosperity and opportunity, you find yourself traveling on the high seas in search of these exotic wonders. As a merchant and privateer representing your nation, you seek to control this region for glory and profit. Your journey continues in the Far East...
Century: Eastern Wonders invites fans to return to the exciting world of spice trading as players take to the high seas in the role of merchants seeking to prosper in the exotic Indonesian islands. Century: Eastern Wonders offers new, satisfying game mechanisms that provide infinite replayability and countless strategies.
Century: Eastern Wonders invites fans to return to the exciting world of spice trading as players take to the high seas in the role of merchants seeking to prosper in the exotic Indonesian islands. Century: Eastern Wonders offers new, satisfying game mechanisms that provide infinite replayability and countless strategies.
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Sample market tile
Each player takes a player board and loads it up with twenty outposts, then players take turns drafting starting spice cubes and placing them in their cargo hold. Players start with their lone boat on one of the market tiles.
On a turn, a player may move their boat once to an adjacent space for free. If they want to move more, they need to leave a cube from their cargo hold on each subsequent tile as they move away; end your turn on a tile with spice cubes, and you can pick those up before doing anything else. End your turn on a tile with other player merchants, and you'll need to pay them spice so that they don't get grumpy and pants you when you're not looking.
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Player board, with cargo hold on right
Once you stop moving, you can harvest two yellow ginger cubes from the supply and add them to your hold. Alternatively, if you're on a market tile, you can choose to build one of your outposts there by paying one spice cube to the supply for each outpost another player has already built there. You must place your leftmost outpost on that tile, and if you've emptied a column of outposts, you take one of the available bonus tiles and place it next to your board. These tiles grant points, spice cubes, additional cargo hold space, or other bonuses.
If you have an outpost on a market tile, you can take the action depicted on that tile, such as trading three ginger cubes for one clove cube.
If your boat is at port, you can discard the depicted spices from your cargo hold to claim the VP tile located there, after which the port gets a new VP tile. If the closed post tile is placed, then obviously the port is closed! No more trading there! Well, until another VP tile is claimed at a port, that is, after which the closed port tile moves to this new location and a new VP tile is placed at the port previously closed. No sitting in dock churning cubes over and over!
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Midgame promo shot
Once someone claims their fourth VP tile, the game ends at the end of that round. Players score points for the VP tiles they've collected, bonus tiles worth points, non-ginger spice cubes in their hold, and all empty spaces on their player board that depict a number. Whoever has the most points wins!
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Each player starts with the two starting cards from Spice Road, and the merchant cards are shuffled to form a deck, with four cards being revealed at the start of the game. On a turn, you take one of four actions:
• Acquire a card: As in Century: Spice Road, you can take the leftmost merchant card into your hand for free. If you want to take another merchant card, you must place a spice cube on each card you skip.
• Play a card: This is performed exactly as in Century: Spice Road.
• Move: Unlike in Eastern Wonders, in From Sand to Sea you must discard a card from your hand facedown for each tile that you want to move. You still have to pay others if you end your movement where they are, and you still need to place outposts before you can take the action on a market tile. You claim VP tiles in ports as in Eastern Wonders.
• Rest: Pick up all your cards.
The game ends the same way as in Eastern Wonders, and you score points identically as well.
An overview of all components in the game
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