New Board Games from Essen Spiele 2008

There are loads of new releases this week following the recent exhibition at Essen.

Lost Cities: The Board Game (RRP £29.99)

Each player leads a five-member group of four adventurers and a researcher on the search for lost cities. To reach each city, the players must travel a separate path nine steps long. The goal is to get one’s adventurers as far as possible along the paths they travel since the first steps of a path score minus points. Only the later steps on a path score positive points. At the end of the game, the winner is the player who earned the most points. The German language edition of this game, titled “Keltos”, won the Spiel des Jahres this year.

Players 2-4, Ages 10+


Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas (RRP £29.99)

Hidden inside the sinners’ pit of the antique library are cursed tomes and heretical books. The Keeper is entrusted with preventing the souls of the damned from escaping by touring the
labyrinth and keeping the power contained in the books strong enough to seal the abyss. But the power of the old Keeper is waning, and the sinners’ pit has felt this, using the breath of the
damned to slowly shift the volumes which compose the “Sator” across the labyrinth to open a passage for their souls into our world. Thus, the four Acolytes of the Keeper have been entrusted to recover the holy books that have been moved across the labyrinth.

Players 2-4,
Ages 8+

Comuni (RRP £29.99)

In the 12th Century, in the north of Italy, there were strong cities, ruled by themselves each with its own territories, army, and characteristics. They were called Comuni. The relationship among them was a more or less a peaceful coexistence but the cultural, military and economic
competition was always very high. In this game each player rules a particular Comune and has to increase the wealth of the city.

Players 2-5, Ages 12+

Titan (RRP £56.99)

Titan is back! And it has brought along a few hundred of its friends! Titan is a full-out monster slug-a-thon, in which players must be prepared to sacrifice their creatures to cause maximum
damage to their opponents. Players take the role of the Titan, and roam the board attempting to recruit bigger and badder monsters to fight for their legions. But just as your own army grows,
your opponents themselves will be seeking the clash of battle, and there can be only one true Titan! This is the long awaited return of a gamers classic!

Players 2-6, Ages 12+