New Game Round-up: AMIGO Spiel in Early 2014 - Bullheads, Lemmings, Kobolds, Wombats & More

To play the game, you shuffle the 104 number cards, lay out four cards face-up to start the four rows, then deal ten cards to each player. Each turn, players simultaneously choose and reveal a card from their hand, then add the cards to the rows, with cards being placed in ascending order based on their number; specifically, each card is placed in the row that ends with the highest number that's below the card's number. When the sixth card is placed in a row, the owner of that card claims the other five cards and the sixth card becomes the first card in a new row.

In addition to a number from 1 to 104, each card has a point value. After finishing ten rounds, players tally their score and see whether someone has scored enough points for the game to end. If not, players record their scores, then play another round. When someone does pass the point threshold, the game ends and the player with the fewest points wins!

Each player controls two lemmings that must make their way across a game board of hexagonal spaces; most spaces contain grassland and can be entered no matter which card a player lays down, but some spaces contain special terrain (water, hills, etc.) that can be entered only when the appropriate card is played.

Each player starts with 2-6 cards in hand, with the number dependent on the player count. On a turn, a player either:

• Discards any number of cards from hand, then refills her hand to six cards, or
• Plays a card, then moves one of her lemmings.

Each card is one of five landscape types and numbered 0-4. If the card played is equal to or lower than the value of the top landscape card of the same type, then the player adds the values of all landscape cards of this type, then moves her lemming up to this many spaces, crossing grassland and the depicted landscape type freely. If the card is higher than the top card of the depicted landscape type, then discard all cards of this type and start a new pile. Before moving her lemming, though, she places a bonus landscape hex of this type on the game board — ideally stifling the future movement of her opponents while scooting her own lemming further toward the goal.

If one or more lemmings are in your intended path of movement, you can push them aside before moving into the space, spending one point of movement for each lemming so moved. You can push your own lemming, if you set them up right — even across the finish line.

The first player to move both of her lemmings across the finish line wins.

Before the game begins, players seed the 6x8 game board with four keys and a candy tile by rolling two dice — one color, and another symbol — and placing the tiles on the appropriate locations on the game board. Shuffle the 27 path tiles and 10 dragon tiles together.

On a turn, a player draws a tile. If it's a dragon tile, she places it on the first empty space on the dragon path; if a path tile, she places it at the end of a path already on the board. (The first path tile is placed in the upper-left square of the game board, while the treasure is below the lower-right square.) If the path is placed on a key, the players claim the key. If the path crosses the candies, the players can place one dragon tile on the candies, delaying the dragon on its way to the treasure.

Once the players have collected three keys, they can then lay a tile on the treasure chest — and if they reach the treasure before the dragon does, they win!

Players in Ene mene miste... need to keep a sharp eye on the chalkboards to see — and sum — the items that appear more than once.

To start the game, lay out the two starting chalkboard cards, then shuffle the remaining 28 cards face-down and set 14 out of play. Turn the top card face-up and place it near the starting cards. If anyone spots an item — or multiple items — that appears on two or three cards, she yells out the combined sum of all items that appear on two or three cards. For example, if three bananas appear on one card and two on another, yell out "Five!"; if in addition one pear appears on a card and one pear appears on another, yell out "Seven!" Each player can yell out at most one number, and whoever first yells the correct sum claims one of the face-up cards, then replaces it with the top card of the deck. Whoever claims the most cards wins.

With younger players, you can lay out only two cards at a time to keep the sums smaller and minimize the calculation; with older players, keep four cards in play, possibly adding more cards to the deck to make the game last longer.