New Game Round-up: More Gloom from Atlas, Talisman Meets 40K in Relic & Play M for Murder

In Relic, players each assume the role of a powerful hero from the Warhammer 40,000 universe and bravely venture forth to shield the Antian Sector from certain doom. By completing missions and defeating enemies, characters compete to gain rewards and experience, furthering their chance of being the first to defeat whatever evil lies beyond the Warp rift.

Building on the foundations of the Talisman system, Relic is an adventure game in which seemingly straightforward choices mask scores of possibilities. For those who haven't played the classic fantasy adventure game Talisman, this means that on each turn, a player rolls a single six-sided die before moving his playing piece that number of spaces clockwise or counter-clockwise around the region (outer, middle, or inner) of the board it currently occupies. That player then draws a card or cards to see what he's encountered, pitting his heroic persona against foul enemies, dangerous locations, and fantastic strangers. And all the while, these intrepid heroes rise in power, as they work their way toward the ultimate goal at the center of the board.

With King of Tokyo: Power Up!, after choosing a monster, each player takes the eight Evolution cards associated with that monster, shuffles those cards, and creates a personal deck. At the end of a player's turn, if she has three hearts, she draws one Evolution card and adds it to her hand; this is possible even in Tokyo (when hearts are normally useless) and even if the hearts are used for some other action, such as healing.

A player can reveal and play an Evolution card at any time. Some Evolutions are temporary, allowing a one-time bonus, while others are Permanent, such as Gigazaur's "Tail Sweep", which allows him to change one die to a 1 or 2 each turn. Each Evolution card also identifies whether a monster is a Mutant, Invader or Robot, and while not relevant for Power Up!, this species identification could come into play in future expansions.

The rules contain a few variants: Players start with a random Evolution in play, or draw two cards and choose the one they want, or draft a set of Evolutions prior to the start of play. However you play, the goal of the game remains the same: Score 20 points or be the last monster standing amid the rubble of what was once Tokyo.

Murder of Crows invites you to be the first player to spell "murder" – but thankfully you don't have to use crow carcasses to do it. Instead you're spelling the word with letter cards from your hand. Each player starts with five cards in hand, and on a turn a player either (a) draws two cards or (b) draws one card and plays one card. In addition to the Wild Crow card, which can do just about anything, cards come in five letters, each with a special power that takes place when you play that card:

• M – Misplace: Take one card from a player's murder – that is, his collection of cards on the table – and add it to your hand.
• U – Uncover: All players reveal their hands and you take any one card and add it to your hand.
• R – Reap: Draw one additional card.
• D – Drain: Choose one letter. All players discard one of those letters from play, if possible.
• E – Expel: Everyone discards their hand and draws three new cards.

When an opponent's card would affect you, you can discard a card of matching crow power – as indicated in the top left corner of the card – to be immune from the action.