New Game Round-up: A Quartet from Kosmos – Ubongo Dice, Ubongo-Ish, Memo Non-Ubongo & Name That Tune, Star Wars Style

La Boca, the most famous neighborhood in the Argentinian capital of Beunos Aires, was populated by many Italian immigrants went first founded. The area is best known today for its eccentric skyline, with the houses having been built from scrapped fishing boats and the metal being colorfully painted to create a patchwork effect across the neighborhood.

Creating skylines of similar beauty and eccentricity is the goal of the construction teams that play La Boca. In shifting teams of two that sit across from one another, players try to create skylines on challenge cards – but the players can see the completed image only from their point of view, so they must consult with one another constantly to make sure each colored block ends up in the right location while racing against the timer. The faster the players complete their building, the more points they score. Then the next team takes a seat, breaks down the blocks, then begins building anew. Whoever has the most points after a certain number of rounds will stand atop La Boca and glory in the cheers of the Argentinian public!

In Ubongo: Das Würfelspiel, players are once again trying to place polyominoes in order to fill in shapes – but this time the polyominoes are determined via dice rolls, forcing players to scramble to grab what they need before anyone else can snatch the shape.

Each player has a scoring sheet that contains a shape she needs to fill. On a turn, the active player rolls all eight Ubongo dice in the center of the table, then each player must grab exactly one black die and one white die. The player then uses the shapes on these dice to fill in her playing area, if possible. When a player completely fills the space, she yells "Ubongo!" and scores points. The other players continue to play until they have also completed their shapes and scored, then they move onto the next area on their scoring sheets.

Whoever has the most points after six rounds wins!

Take a card and remember what you took. Easy, no?

No, because in Memento each card has both a color and shape on it, and each color and shape has a different scoring method with different priorities. On top of that, you'll want to remember the order in which you took various cards because their sequence matters, too. If this game proves too simple for a memory mastermind like yourself, then step up to the professional version of gameplay and see whether you can still keep things in order.

This game takes you and your fellow players into the huge Star Wars universe in the role of bounty hunters.

Each round, Darth Vader issues a decree as to which rebel you now need to capture, then the players take turns bidding on how many dice and dice rolls it will take them to roll what's needed and capture the rebel in question. The boldest player (i.e., the lowest bidder) will have the first chance to attempt a capture, but if you've overestimated your abilities, you'll end up with nothing to show for it. After fifteen rebels – including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa – have been captured by the bounty hunters, whoever holds the most task cards wins.