Hands in the Sea is a two-player deck building wargame on the First Punic War, between Rome and Carthage, 264-241 BC.
Each player has a starting deck of cards they use to perform various actions, up to two per round. Actions range from colonization, to naval movement, to battle, with most activity centered in and around Sicily and Sardinia/Corsica. Players may also purchase additional cards from their own custom decks, or from a set of neutral cards that either player may purchase. There are also Strategy cards that each player can purchase (one, max) that give the owning player some special advantage.
The game is played over the course of several turns, up to a maximum of twelve. At the end of each turn, players resolve random events, collect income and score victory points. There are several paths to victory, ranging from simply having the highest score at the end of the game, to capturing the opposing player's capital.
Inspired by A Few Acres of Snow, this game features several new elements, including navies, naval battles, cavalry superiority, mercenaries, field battles, sieges, manpower, strategy cards, random events, turn based scoring, bribery and tactical bonuses.
The name of the game is based on a quote from a Carthaginian commander, who claimed at the outbreak of hostilities that the Carthaginian control of the seas was such that the Romans would not even dare wash their hands in the sea.
In the tile-laying game Castles of Mad King Ludwig, players are tasked with building an amazing, extravagant castle for King Ludwig II of Bavaria...one room at a time. You see, the King loves castles, having built Neuschwanstein (the castle that inspired the Disney theme park castles) and others, but now he's commissioned you to build the biggest, best castle ever — subject, of course, to his ever-changing whims. Each player acts as a building contractor who is adding rooms to the castle he's building while also selling his services to other players.
In the game, each player starts with a simple foyer. One player takes on the role of the Master Builder, and that player sets prices for a set of rooms that can be purchased by the other players, with him getting to pick from the leftovers after the other players have paid him for their rooms. When a room is added to a castle, the player who built it gains castle points based on the size and type of room constructed, as well as bonus points based on the location of the room. When a room is completed, with all entranceways leading to other rooms in the castle, the player receives one of seven special rewards.
After each purchasing round, a new player becomes the Master Builder who sets prices for a new set of rooms. After several rounds, the game ends, then additional points are awarded for achieving bonus goals, having the most popular rooms, and being the most responsive to the King's demands, which change each game. Whoever ends up with the most castle points wins.
Just last week, the offspring of the authors of Chainmail (1971) got together at Lake Geneva Games to play the classic Battle for the Brow...
