Valley Games 750 Special
John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Valley Games besides being a fan.
Valley Games has quickly made a solid reputation for itself by reprinting out-of-print games that do not deserve to be out-of-print. Honestly, I can't think of a smarter business plan.
The best part about this system (in my estimation) is how much I'm able to impress my wife with my savings.... "Why, wife, if I had bought all of these game off of ebay, we'd be $1,000 in debt by now." "The cheapest I could have found this great game for would have been $200. Valley Games has it for $40!"
The 750 Special is the list of games currently available for pre-order, working in a roughly equivalent fashion to GMT Games P500 and other such systems.
I'll update this list with the exact amount of preorders made if Valley Games ultimately makes that information public knowledge.
Go preorder now.
(EDIT: How could I forget a link to site? Well, here it is.)
http://www.valleygames.ca/
Here's the list of available games with descriptions from the Valley Games website:
UPDATE: With the blessings of Kevin from Valley Games, I've decided to make this a monthly feature, creating a geeklist that updates the progress of Valley Games preorders and maybe even delivers a bit of news and updates as well. Of course, I've been inspired by the diligent work of Brian Morris and Jeff Yeackle, both of whom have geeklists covering the preorder games of GMT and Columbia, respectively. In a couple of weeks, I plan on making a new list with the beginning August preorder totals. I trust that they will be significant.
For the time being, tonight, Tuesday, July 24th, I'm updating each game entry with the current preorder totals, as of 7pm EST, hardly more than 24 hours after the games were available for preorder. If each of the games can keep up this kind of preorder momentum, we'll all see them sooner rather than later.
Finally, for the record, I've preordered Big City, Containers, Liberte, and Titan, as well as purchasing Hannibal and Mordred. All of the games look great, but, alas, a man only has so much disposable income.... *sigh*
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 106
Big City is currently third in overall preorder numbers, but it is at the top of the Euro selection. Given this game's reputation, this will easily be one of the first game to reach 750.
Franz-Benno Delonge brings the Big City back to life along with all new artwork by Mike Doyle!
In Big City, players take the role of a competing city planner and builder, each attempting to build a small town into a booming metropolis. But each player will have a different vision for the city's development, and competition can be fierce!
Big City is played in different neighbourhoods, whose position can change each game. Each player is given control of different building sites throughout the city, onto which they can construct buildings of different sizes and point values. To be truly successful, players must attempt to acquire adjacent plots of land, in order to build larger and more valuable buildings. After all, a player's vision must be more than just a single house on every corner! Build houses, cinemas, postal offices, malls, banks and the newly added highrises and hospitals. Add an LRT line to increase the value of your buildings even more!
Big City is for 2 to 4 players and takes from 45 to 75 minutes to play. The new Valley Games edition features two new buildings (hospital and highrise) to challenge each player to build bigger and better.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 61
61 orders in a day is a pretty respectable number for a game that not much is known about. Personally, I knew it was worth preordering based on the box cover art alone. Awesome. Also, it doesn't hurt that it's a Delonge design and the bits are promised to be great.
The team of Franz-Benno Delonge and Thomas Ewert invite you to play Containers!
Container is a game about big ships and big production. Each player will play both
the producer and shipper of goods. Players will decide which products they want to produce, and which of the OTHER players' goods they want to ship out to a remote island. During these phases, players will be able to set the prices for their goods and try to maximize their cash!
Once the goods have reached the island, players will play the part of the purchaser for their tiny island. Players bid for the goods arriving each day by ship, and the highest bidder collects these goods for conversion into points at the end of the game.
Sounds simple? It is! But the real challenge is turning heavy industry production into goods for your island. Your government is willing to subsidize your purchases, but just how much money do you want to give to your competitors for that lovely crate of goods your island desperately needs?
Complete artwork by Mike Doyle. Container takes approximately 90 minutes to play, and is for 3-5 players.
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3.
Board Game: Liberté
[Average Rating:7.24 Overall Rank:275]
John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 48
48 orders. Martin Wallace can do no wrong. That fact combined with the new artwork is something not many will be able to deny for long.
Step back into history with Martin Wallace's Liberte!
Liberte covers the French Revolution from 1789, including the meeting of the Estates General, to Bonaparte's coup d'etat in 1799. Playerss fortunes rise and fall along with the groups that they choose to support. Clever (or devious) players might even decide to support different sides at the same time to help ensure their victory! In a time of trouble, any tactic may be considered acceptable, including sending rivals to face the guillotine. Just be certain that your characters aren't the next to be eliminated!
Speaking of characters, Liberte features an entire cast! From Marat to Robespierre, from Danton to Desmoulins, Liberte allows each player the chance to determine the fate of every major player in the French Revolution. Some will hold sway over the masses, and others will meet their fate at the hands of the Radicals.
Liberte is played in four turns. In each turn there will be a variable number of rounds in which each player increases influence in one of three factions: the Royalists, the Moderates, and the Radicals. After each turn, an election will be held to determine which of the three groups forms the government. The player that best uses their characters to win election seats will find themselves one step closer to victory.
The Valley Games reprint of Liberte features beautiful new artwork, new player boards, and upgraded rules resulting from thousands of plays from Liberte’s legions of fans. this is a game for people who love history, interaction, or just great games.
Liberte is for 3 to 6 players, and takes 90 to 120 minutes to play.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 45
It's Reiner. There have to be at least 750 hardcore Knizia fans here on the 'Geek. Even though it's new and not much is known about it, I expect this game to rise quickly and steadily.
Reiner Knizia's newest big box game, Municipium. This is classic Knizia at his finest!
A prime mechanism of Roman expansion and control in the provinces (and in Italy during the conquest of the peninsula c. 500 to 265 BC) was the municipium (later the colonia), the premiere Roman provincial town. The game takes place in one of these municipalities.
Players are each in control of a powerful family and try to strategically place their family members in the various institutions throughout the municipium and gain the support of the citizens; Scholars, Merchants, Soldiers, Priests and possibly even the Praefect. At various times in the game, if a player has the most influence in an institution, the player can exert the power of that institution and gain the support of certain citizens. Meanwhile, the preafect moves around the municipium and players strive to have the most influence in the institution that he visits, thereby earning his favour. There are seven institutions; Temple, Baths, Emporium, Praetorium, Tavern, Basilica and Forum, each of which have their unique powers with which players must decide how and when to use in an attempt to become the most influential family in the municipium.
Complete artwork by Mike Doyle. This is a 3 to 5 player game with a playing time of approximately 40 - 70 minutes.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 132
Honestly, I don't know much about this game, but there must be a large fan base. Currently, this is the second most preordered game from Valley Games. I'm sure that most of you are not surprised.
Robert Haines' and Richard Berthold's classic game of political intrigue and diplomacy is back in full form! Republic of Rome is a distillation of 250 years of Roman history, from about 265 B.C., all in one evening!
In Republic of Rome, players are in a constant balancing act between personal advancement and the welfare of the state. Players build the empire from scratch and thus develop and change the political environment in which they are competing.
Players' Senators vie for political power, military commands and economic advantages against the backdrop of a turbulent world. Deals and counter-offers abound. Short the necessary votes for Consul? Trade the Armaments Concession for a faction's support. Spartacus has destroyed your villa? Send Pompey off with ten legions to crush him. But is that too much power to entrust to one man? What if Pompey rebels and marches on Rome?
The game contains three scenarios which divide the color-coded cards into decks simulating the Early, Middle, and Late Republic. Those wishing a larger game can combine them into a Campaign Game of truly epic proportions. A solitaire and two-player version are also included for those unable to muster more players.
This new version contains all new artwork by Mike Doyle and re-written rules meant to address and clarify all previous errata. This is a 1 - 6 player game with a playing time of approximately 3 to 5 hours.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 49
I'm surprised by this number. I don't have much interest in this title, but it's good to see that there are a healthy number of people that are interested. I know people that enjoy this game. Maybe I should give it a chance.
Karl-Heinz Schmiel's fast paced game Extrablatt will now be available in an international version as Special Edition. This edition will have all new hilarious headlines in English, French, German, Dutch, Italian and Spanish and all new artwork by Mike Doyle.
In Special Edition, players take on the role of editors of a major newspaper, choosing stories of various general types (politics, sports, entertainment, etc.) to run in their respective newspapers. Hilarious headlines stream in on the fax machine and it is up to you to decide which ones to run with. How big should the article be? Is it worthy of the front page? Will competing newspapers run the same article? Should you place an advertisement in your competitor's paper to take up valuable space? While making these decisions, the clock is running! The print deadline is drawing near and you have to get your finished paper done in time for printing. Will your newspaper have the largest circulation?
Two factors determine a story's worth: timing and size. The timing is relevant because the later in the game the story is run the more points it's potentially worth. But in this game (as in the real world) size is important, because only the biggest story of any given headline will score.
This is a 3 - 4 player game with a playing time of approximately 90 minutes.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 48
I'm super interested in this title, but I'm not brave enough to preorder it for myself. Kudos to the 48 of you that have done so. I'm relying on you and more like you.
Supernova is a game of space expansion and exploration. 5 civilizations are abandoning their solar system to escape the upcoming supernova of their sun.
Conquer new solar systems by taking over planets, mining moons, and building the most powerful fleet of ships by upgrading your Weapons, Shields, Communications or Engines. Capture the most space by the time the star goes Supernova to be proclaimed the winner!
The combat system is a simple card driven system that is quite possibly the simplest yet most elegant space combat system to date.
This game features some set collection, area enclosure and tile placement on a completely modular board. Play a short or a long version of the game without changing the board. Possibly the first space exploration game where 3D space not only matters, but could be the key to your victory!
Complete artwork by Mike Doyle. This is a 3 - 5 player game with a playing time of approximately 90 minutes.
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8.
Board Game: Titan
[Average Rating:7.08 Overall Rank:317]
John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 155
Right now, Titan is acting like a Titan, leading the pack with a healthy majority of preorders. 155 in a little more than a day! For many geeks, this reprint is the stuff that dreams are made of
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!
Titan is played on a main gameboard, where armies are recruited, and positions set. When two armies meet, the action transfers to a battleboard, where the opposing forces battle for position and power. Only the strongest monsters will survive, bringing both points and glory to their Titan.
Kurt Miller and Mike Doyle combine their artistic talents for this reprint. Titan takes from 2 to 4 hours to play, and is for 2 to 6 players.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 16
A party game preorder! I have to give Valley Games props for even trying such a thing. I'm pretty sure that all of these games will have a slow crawl to 750, but I think that they'll make it. Even more so, if they were given shelf space in a major retail outlet, they'd probably fly off the shelves like an Apples to Apples or a Wits and Wagers. Inventions looks to me like the best of all of these party games.
Urs Hostettler's party game of creating an accurate timeline is now being printed in English. Originally released as Anno Domini, this game has been a HUGE success in Germany.
In Anno Domini, players in turn place a card on the table, *trying* to put theirs in chronological order. A player may, instead of adding a card, claim that the order in which the cards were put is incorrect. In this case all cards are turned over and the correct years revealed. If the order was correct then the doubting player receives two cards and skips a turn. If the order was incorrect then the previous player, who thought the order as correct, receives three cards. The first player that gets rid of all their cards wins.
Bluffing is just as important as knowledge in this game. Most events are rather obscure or are hard to date exactly, so this ain’t no game for the nerds/geeks of this world. Anno Domini is an excellent social game and you may even learn something.
First player to empty his hand wins.
This is a 2 - 8 player game with a playing time of approximately 45 minutes.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 10
At 10 preorders a day, this game will be available in 2 and 1/2 months. Keep those preorders coming.
Urs Hostettler's party game of creating some "thing" is now being printed in English. Originally released as Ein Solches Ding, this game has been a HUGE success in Germany.
Such A Thing is a game where players have to think of a thing that fits a number of given characteristics. Players in turn add cards from their hand one by one, until one player doubts there is "such a thing" that matches all the cards currently played. If the previous player can name a REASONABLE thing, the doubting player is penalized with 3 extra cards. If there isn't such a thing, the previous player is penalized 3 cards.
Characteristics such as "heavier than a boot", "is useless once used" and "breaks when left in the freezer" are just some examples of what players have to work with to create "such a thing".
First player to empty his hand wins.
This is a 2 - 7 player game with a playing time of approximately 30 minutes.
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John Owen
United States
Lisle
New York
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Total Orders: 11
11 is a respectable number for a party game. Again, I have to applaud Valley Games for even attempting to bring these games to an American audience.
Urs Hostettler's party game of solving the world's problems is now being printed in English. Originally released as Wie ich die Welt sehe.
In this game, the dealer (idwasi) flips over the top card from the My World Deck deck and confronts the opponents with this problem. Each opponent then plays one card face down from their hands which best illustrates a solution to this problem. The idwasi also adds a random card from the solution deck to the pile of opponents solutions.
The idwasi chooses one of these cards that he feels is the best solution to the problem. If the card choosen is one of the opponents cards, the opponent receives the problem card to show that he solved it and then becomes the idwasi for the next round. However, if the idwasi chooses the random card as the best solution, he loses a point and must be the idwasi for another round. Actually, he is now called "tafkai" (the artist formerly known as idwasi).
An example world problem might be, "Arguing children? That does not have to be! I recommend intervention with..." Possible played cards might be, "witches", "homemade paper", "herd of mountain gorillas", "Mc Donalds". The game is played until one player has solved seven world problems.
This is a 2 - 6 player game with a playing time of approximately 30 minutes.
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United States
Plainwell
Michigan
Holy wah! This is an expensive place to put random crap! And further, please DO NOT FIX GeekQuestions tipping OR thumb counts. Both are a critical part of its charm (such as it is).
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Limited edition Mordred is also available. Profits are going towards a really great cause as well.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/184092
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Posted Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:55 pm
I have never played it or think I will ever get the chance, but it is just the though of actually owning it that has made me do it...lol
