New Game Round-up: Witches Get Sneaky in Coven, Kansil Puts Dice in Krakatoa & Sparks Games Invites Hypocrisy

Solstice approaches. A swirling darkness coalesces in the night sky over a field as you, one of five Witches, perform incantations to vie for Earthly prominence, calling upon five Goddesses for protection and favor... But which of your fellow Witches serve the light, and which the dark? Gather information and form alliances, cast hexes, and use all your wit and connivance to ensure your dominance. Serve your Goddesses well, and they will reward you above their other followers, as they cast down those who dare to oppose them.

Coven is a game of secret alignments for 3-5 players in which each player represents a Witch serving either the darkness or the light. Not only is your starting alignment a secret, but each of the five non-player Goddesses has an unknown alignment as well. Deducing which Goddess(es) and which other player(s) share your alignment will make your strategy clear and victory easier to achieve, but not guaranteed by any means. Gameplay is deceptively simple, with five possible actions as players traverse a circular board with an inner pentagram rotating widdershins changing tactics with each rotation. Coven presents an interesting strategic challenge: the side (Light or Dark) that scores the most Balance defeats the opposing side — but on the dominating side, only the Witch that scores the most Power can win, so players must be careful not to invest too much in one while neglecting the other.

Coven includes five playable characters (along with their miniatures) – Witches of Earth, Water, Spirit, Air and Fire – each with their own spells. The game also includes a Goddess Power/Balance board, Black and White magic crystals, hidden alignment tokens, "reversal" alignment crosses (for players who dare to change sides), Artifact Cards, and a two piece circular playing board with a rotating pentagram.

Using nine 12-sided dice, Krakatoa is one of the most unusual dice games ever released. The dice are divided into three sets of three, which are colored white, grey, and black to represent steam, ash, and lava. In addition, each die face contains not a number, but a colored dot of yellow, red, or blue.

The game lasts six rounds, with each player taking five successive rolls of the dice and scoring after each roll. After the first roll of each round, the player must pick up a specific set of dice, such as steam, and roll them again, striking at least one of the dice still on the table. Skill in precise dice rolling can result in a high score. Players receive points for different combinations, such as a set showing all yellow sides for ten points. Strategy comes into play as certain target scores and scoring combinations can result in large bonuses.

Hypocrisy is a "Nomic" style game of rules making and enacting in order to fashion a rule-set that allows you to win. However, in this game, certain players will be IMMUNE from certain rules, making hypocrisy the way to win!

One player per round serves as the judge, and the rest of the players submit rules on a topic related to the starting rule-set. A public vote then takes place, with the winning rule being enacted into the rule-set. However, the Judge and the author of the winning rule can CHOOSE to be immune from that rule, making loopholes not only possible, but the most probable way to win!