New Game Round-up: Trains in Munich, Chieftains on the Isle of Skye & Creeps During the Apocalypse

New Game Round-up: Trains in Munich, Chieftains on the Isle of Skye & Creeps During the Apocalypse
Board Game: Trambahn
Lookout Games initially included Helmet Ohley's Trambahn on its 2014 release schedule, and the game is now coming to market in Germany in mid-May 2015, with Mayfair Games scheduled to release it in Q3 2015 with rules in English, French and Italian. Here's an overview of the game:

Quote:
In Munich at the end of the 19th century, the successful new tramway needs expansion, and the two opposing players in Trambahn are competing for the contract.

To do this, in a grid marked by cards players use their cards in three different ways: as passengers on the trams, as suggested stops on new routes to be built, and as money to pay for these routes. When laying out cards for suggested stops, players need to both match colors and build them in ascending order — but they also need to bring passengers to this tram line in order to score victory points for it.

The cards resemble postcards that feature street cars in Munich and historical parts of the city.
Board Game: Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King
• Another title coming from Lookout (in July 2015) and Mayfair (in Q3 2015) is Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King from the design team of Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister. Here's a rundown of the setting and gameplay:

Quote:
Isle of Skye is one of the most beautiful places in the world, with soft sand beaches, gently sloping hills, and impressive mountains. The landscape of Isle of Skye is breathtaking and fascinates everyone.

In the tile-laying game Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King, 2-5 players are chieftains of famous clans and want to build their little kingdoms to score as many points as possible — but in each game only four of the sixteen scoring cards will be scored.

Thanks to the scoring cards, each game is different and leads to different tactics and strategies, but having enough money is useful no matter what else is going on. Managing that money can be tricky, though. Each turn, each player places two area tiles in front of them and sets the selling price for the tiles. Setting a high price is great, but only so long as someone actually pays the price because if no one opts to buy, then the seller must buy the tiles at the price they previously requested.

In the end, the player with the best kingdom — and not the richest player — becomes the sovereign of the island.
Board Game Publisher: Z-Man Games
Z-Man Games has sort of announced one of its Gen Con 2015 releases, and I say "sort of" because details are scarce at the moment for Florian Fay's cooperative Apocalypse Chaos, which carries a 2-5 player count on the box but is described as being for 1-4 players by the designer. (Update, May 19: 1-4 players is correct.) All we have to go on right now is a thematic setting and a searing cover that bears the archetypal arched-back damsel in distress carrying heavy weaponry:

Quote:
We are in grave danger. Enemies are swarming around the ship, and they will not go down without a fight. We'll have to work together in order to get out of this one alive. We're going to need a plan, and we need it fast. Let's not let these...things...outsmart us, outnumber us, and certainly not outshoot us! I need you all to do what you do best. Got it? Let's do this!
Board Game: Apocalypse Chaos

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