Perfect for couples. wine parties and game nights, with high quality components that feel appropriate for the evening.

Since ancient times, the twinkling of the heavens inspired people across the globe to create stories that answered the most important of questions: "Who are we... and how did it all begin?"

Open this box, and join the storytellers of old. Before There Were Stars... is a storytelling game in which each player tells the mythic creation story of "their people". Inspired by constellation cards, players craft tales about the creation of the world, the origins of civilization, the rise of a great hero, and the end of days.

This "feel-good" game lets you appreciate the boundless imagination in all of us and awards points for the best story moments — allowing everyone to shine regardless of their skill as a storyteller. Playing this game is a breath of fresh air that never repeats itself, except in the fun and warmth of emotion it brings to your table.

3–6 Players
45–60 Min
Age: 8+

A deceptively cute, deceivingly challenging abstract strategy game for two players. Every time you place a kitten on the bed, it goes "boop." Which is to say that it pushes every other kitten next to it one space away. Line up 3 kittens in a row to graduate them into cats... and then, get 3 cats in a row to win. But that isn't easy with both you and your opponent constantly "booping" kittens around. It's like... herding cats! And now things just got boopier and spoopier with NEW Ghost Cats that float between spaces. And so scary, cats will leap right over each other to get away

Rules.

The adorably 'thinky' game for 2 clever cats.

Every time you place a kitten on the bed, it goes “boop.” Which is to say that it pushes every other kitten next to it on the board one space away. Line up three kittens in a row to graduate them into cats... and then, get three cats in a row to win.

But that isn’t easy with both you AND your opponent constantly “booping” kittens around. It’s like… herding cats!

Can you “boop” your cats into position to win? Or will you just get “booped” right off the bed?

* Approachable but challenging abstract game and a worthy follow up to SHOBU.
* Plays in 20 to 30 minutes.
* Features a quilted, fabric board that lays over the back of the box, completing the minature bed playing surface. 8 wood kittens and cats per player - 32 adorable cat pieces in all!

It looks adorable, but is a deceptively challenging abstract strategy game.

Contains:
* Quilted fabric game board (which sits on back of box as a bed frame)
* 32 wood cat and kitten pieces Game Design: Scott Brady
Illustrations: Curt Covert

Players: 2
Ages 10 and Up
Time 20 min

Genre-bending. Dice-less. The totally immersive feel of a RPG in a simple, elegant card game. A perfect balance of cooperative gameplay and back-stabbing goodness.

An artifact of untold power lies in your hands. To claim it, you must escape the caverns alive. No less than nine horrific beasts stand in your way – that, and the greed of the other players.

In this game of kill-stealing, you decide whether to swing for a whopping 50 points of damage – or hold back, awaiting a more opportune time to strike. Only the final blow matters if you are to score the kill. Hold back or sabotage other’s plans too much – and the entire party will die, without a winner.

Game Design: Curt Covert, Additional Development: Justin Brunetto & Curt Covert,
Cover Design: Justin Brunetto

Players: 3-6
Ages: 12 and Up
Playing Time: 1 hr. 30 Min.

This Adventure Module for Cutthroat Caverns uses a 'choose-your-own-path' style book to overlay an exciting new dimension to the game. It features a fun narrative in which characters have to make real decisions that will effect the outcome of the story, solve riddles, overcome traps, encounter familiar creatures in a whole new way -- and, importantly, will face new winning and/or losing conditions. The result is a far richer gaming experience.

The book comes with two all new Encounter Cards exclusive to this adventure, but fully usable in the core game as well. The Encounters are new 'Boss' type encounters that become placed at the bottom of the stack to be faced as the final encounter.

The Adventures:
Savage Arena - You and your party of adventurers are chained, neck to neck, as prisoners of Big Boss Gronkk. You must work together to survive a lethal coliseum of traps and monsters before the strongest among you earns the right to win your freedom.

Errand of Evil - Your mysterious employer sends you to the stronghold of his rival to steal everything you can, for among his treasures is the one relic that can restore his misshaped body. The relic can change form, so you need to bring all you find - but will his secret be your undoing? (NOTE: If you can avoid it, don't read the Encounter card before the end of this book - for maximum fun and impact!!)

The book utilizes materials from the base game as well as Tombs and Tomes and Relics and Ruins. All materials are provided in the book if you do not own those expansions. (Copy the cards before playing - especially for Errand of Evil)

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE GAME. YOU WILL NEED A COPY OF THE CORE GAME TO PLAY!

SAVAGE ARENA written by Curt Covert, ERRAND OF EVIL written by Curt Covert and Jonathan Lavallee, Cover Illustrations by Adam Vehige

Includes two side Adventure Module book and two Encounter cards

Säännöt valmistajan sivuilta.

The updated and revised version of our award-winning, infamous game of backstabbing goodness.

Without Teamwork, Youʼll Never Survive.
Without Betrayal, Youʼll Never Win!

Cutthroat Caverns, one of our most critically acclaimed titles, is a devious, semi-cooperative, emotionally-charged game of betrayal and “kill stealing” in a classic fantasy setting, where you decide how hard or light to strike to assure you land the killing blow. But mess with each other too much and the whole party will die, without a winner.

This Anniversary Edition is a beautifully envisioned reboot, upgrading the art, materials and rules set - and is fully compatible with all 5 existing expansion games.

Game Enhancements include: streamlined rules & keywords, a new Epic Finish mechanic, variable game lengths (30, 60 and 90 minutes), enhanced Encounter stats, the addition of all new Relic cards to the base game, 2 new Encounters, and materials improvements including dual layer player boards and upgraded art and graphics.

The real joy of the game is the delicate balance between helping the party (and staying alive) vs working towards your own selfish goals (and risking the welfare of everyone). There are no dice. Each Turn, you will choose how much damage you are willing to do to the monster- or won't do - as you jockey for position to land the killing blow. And when characters can make that kind of decision, things get very funny & very deadly - very quickly.

With 27 encounters, all requiring a different group strategy and separate individual strategy, game play is always challenging. Only 9 random encounters are used in any game, so the experience is always different. With fresh new mechanics built into each expansion and a creature pool now over 100 strong - there is always a new adventure ahead. And they become deadlier as we go.

GAME COMPONENTS:
27 Encounter Cards
6 Initiative Cards
94 Main Deck Cards
8 wood counters
6 Dual Layer Character boards
1 Dual Layer Encounter board
token sheet
rules

Game Design: Curt Covert, Additional Development: Justin Brunetto & Curt Covert, Cover Design: Justin Brunetto

Players: 3-6
Ages: 14 and Up
Playing Time: 30 / 60 / 90 minutes

15 NEW ENCOUNTERS, Plus A Whole New Game Mechanic: UNIQUE CHARACTER ABILITIES

You’d thought you’d seen the worst of it - until the entire party plummeted to the lower lairs; a series of caverns that are deeper, darker and more dangerous than any you’ve yet known. But it’s the danger from within that you must concern yourself with now. To see daylight again, you will need to use every skill and ability at your disposal. Remember...

Without betrayal, you’ll never win.
Welcome Back to Cutthroat Caverns.

Okay, that's what it says on the box... what's it really like?

Deeper & Darker is the first expansion to Cutthroat Caverns and further extends replay value with 15 new Encounters. Like in the core set, these Encounters all have a very different feel and require new strategies to overcome - both as a group and as an individual. As is implied by the title, these new critters are more challenging than ever and will put your party to the test. You may find yourself playing backwards in time against PARADOX, be tempted one too many times by ASHTONGUE THE CRUEL, or find that seven heads are not better than one with the HYDRA.

Plus, we've anticipated the desire to make the characters in the game more dimensional. So we've built a whole new 'character enhancing' game mechanic, one-use special abilities that are unique to each character and suited to their race or class specialties. With special abilities like Blackclaw's Fury, Ranged Salvo and Fleece you may find the tools you need to give you the edge.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE GAME. YOU WILL NEED A COPY OF THE CORE GAME TO PLAY!

Players: 3-6
Ages: 12 and Up
Playing Time: 1 hr. 30 Min.

Game Design: Curt Covert, Additional Development: Justin Brunetto & Curt Covert
Cover Design: Curt Covert, Justin Brunetto

15 NEW ENCOUNTERS, Plus New Game Mechanics: EVENTS and RELICS

Our critically acclaimed game of dungeon delving, kill-stealing and cooperative - backstabbing becomes even more challenging with the inclusion of a NEW game mechanic, an Event Deck that makes even the most familiar Encounters new again. And mixed among the Events are ways to earn powerful new Relics that confer game changing abilities upon their owners.

Plus, this set includes 15 of the deadliest creatures yet. Can you resist the lure of a 14-card hand? Will you succumb to the PVP inducing effects of Voodoo? Or will you become a horrific beast yourself in the final moments and turn on your companions?

Okay, that's what it says on the box... what's it really like?

Relics and Ruin is the second expansion to Cutthroat Caverns and what an expansion it is! First, let me highlight the fact that several of the Encounters and the inspiration for the Event Deck came from you, the fans, in our Create an Encounter Contest. Sure, we beat 'em into shape - but these amazingly compelling encounters get right at the heart of what players wanted - because players created them. And as you will see, they are deadlier than ever - with many new and unique ways to challenge players to work with and against each other.

Plus, the Event Deck is an inspired way to keep the game evergreen. Sure you may have faced the Boogens countless times, but thanks to an Event card, some dark power may have them swinging for double damage or you may find yourself in close quarters with a gimped hand. Or perhaps your next run in with Fear will lead to a friendly side wager about who can swing hardest in a given turn - with added Prestige on the line.

To balance the harsher environment, you will be able to earn powerful Relics. Unlike the Items in the base game, many of these items have game-long abilities to give you an edge over your companions. For example, Vampiric Bracers grants the ability to gain life for powerful attacks, while Talisman of Renown gains an additional Prestige Point every time you gain Prestige. But items of this magnitude aren't just lying around, they must be earned. Perhaps it will require a sacrifice of life to claim one or maybe playing the last action card before the creature dies is the key. It sets up an interesting situation in that you may find yourself deciding between taking action to score a kill - or a Relic.

And speaking of the Relics - many of them are real items created by real artisans. Yep, you can own some of them by contacting the creators in our gallery. And of course, the gallery is full to brimming with more great art from artists around the world and we encourage you to visit their personal galleries to see more of their great works.

All in all, this is an expansion that is not to be missed!

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE GAME. YOU WILL NEED A COPY OF THE CORE GAME TO PLAY!

Contains:
25 EVENT Cards
20 RELIC Cards
5 Wereboar Cards
15 Over-sized Encounter Cards
2 Token Sheets
Rules

Players: 3-6
Ages: 12 and Up
Playing Time: 1 hr. 30 Min.

Game Design: Curt Covert, Additional Development: Justin Brunetto & Curt Covert
Cover Design: Curt Covert, Justin Brunetto

Poker meets Russian Roulette in a most unholy union! This standard 52-card Poker deck hides a maddening twist: an almost imperceptible presence within the card face veneer - the hand of death!

Stay Alive! Gain a Fortune!

A `social collusion` game of shifting alliances, betrayals, and murder for profit, players in Dead Last must conspire and vote upon whom to kill each round. Any means of overt or covert communication is allowed - a glance, a nod, pointing under the table, flashing their card, anything - but, make sure you don`t tip off the target or they could ambush you instead!

GREED, PRIDE, WRATH... just three of the 7 Deadlies you will encounter in this devious little card game, themed on the 7 Deadly Sins. Do your best to rid yourself of them all, as soon as you can - while your opponents do their damnedest to fill your hand with more. Empty your hand three times to WIN - and become the ENVY of all your friends!

Object: Play as many cards as you can each turn, of the same Suit, Number value or a Straight of any length, trying to empty your hand as quickly as possible, while at the same time preventing your opponents from doing the same. The top most card of the set you play activates that suit's ability, either helping you further or sandbagging your opponents.

Each time you successfully empty your hand (and manage to keep it empty until the end of the turn), your new starting hand will be two cards smaller than the previous time, as tracked by your Wickedness token. (6, 4, 2, 0) Empty your hand three times, and you WIN!

A nasty little card game for a hell of a good time.

3-5 Players
30 Min
Age: 10+

Dread Curse is a push-your-luck Pirate game of cunning thievery and ample turns of fortune.

Play revolves around drawing loot from a cloth bag and stealing from the other pirates in order to gain the most valuable stash of treasure. Each turn, players reveal coins from their hidden cache to win the captaincy or one of the other seven crew assignments, each of whom are able to draw coins from the bag in a unique way or use a special "cheat" ability available only to that pirate. Stay in as long as you dare to grab more gold, but beware the Black Spot - for if you end the game with it in your stash, you automatically lose.

Dread Curse is a light, casual, beer & pretzels style game that plays quickly, even with a crowd of eight players. It is easy to explain, demos extremely well and is very approachable for all ages and skill levels. It scales beautifully from 3 to 8 players and being able to accommodate 8 players is a key selling point as few games can seat so many.

And, being a Smirk and Dagger game about a bunch of thievin' pirates, there is plenty of opportunity to gleefully stab your friends in the back.

Deviously Simple. Delightfully Mean-Spirited. Wickedly Fast-Paced. And Bigger and Better than Ever!

HEX•HEX is a fast-playing, stand-alone card game for 3-6 people. Players hurl Hex after Hex around the table, constantly redirecting, deflecting and altering the Hex’s power until finally someone runs out of options and becomes HEXED.

In the end, the winner alone will command enough Voice to control the group and lay down the law... creating a new rule for the next game.

Hex Hex XL is the new, larger core edition of our popular Hex Hex game and will replace both the 1.5 base game and Hex Hex Next. As you might surmise from the title, the new, larger game will include a larger, but streamlined deck of 150 cards taking the 'best of' cards from both sets. In addition, the game will have 2 NEW variants with new cards, tokens and even 5 wooden obelisks to support them. The variant Hex Hex Vexed includes 25 new 'law' cards and 12 new tokens, and is perfect for a one-game sitting, where you want to see a few classic HEX·HEX 'Laws' come into play DURING play. Each Hex cast becomes a specific type of Hex - that delivers a curse upon all the players who become Hexed that hand. The other variant, Hexen Stix, adds a lightning-fast reflex element to game play - a ring of hexagonal shaped obelisks that mete out penalties for those who do not rise to the challenge quickly enough in grabbing them and can reward those who do.

Okay, that's what it says on the box... what's it really like?
Fast and fun. This game is all about non-stop player interaction. Every card you play is an attack or a back-stabbing tactic. A good amount of the rules are right on the cards so there's a small learning curve (one game ought to do it). After that, it is pretty simple to play. Heck, even your non-gamer friends will enjoy it. A single hand lasts from 3-5 minutes. A game from 20-30 minutes. But more often than not, groups play sessions running 3-5 games long as players create new and different ways to be ‘mean’ to each other. It's no strategy game. But if you're looking for a great 'beer & pretzels' style game with a fun mean-streak. This is it.

Players: 3-6
Ages: 12 and Up
Playing Time: 20-30 Min.
Game and Graphic Design: Curt Covert

The Butler did it... and so did everyone else!

In J’ACCUSE!, everyone at the table is guilty of murder, but only one of you need pay the price. For this is a game of implicating others, passing around incriminating evidence and accusing one another of doing the old man in. In the end, enough evidence will be forced upon a single player to make a solid case against them… one loser and a table full of winners who got away with MURDER!

This is a light, approachable card game for 3-6 players that requires players to vote, in the blind, on where evidenced will be passed each turn or try to catch others with a well timed, “J’ACCUSE!” This defining moment is often a shouted out accusation, drawing laughter, roleplay-esque denials from the players as well as a crowd of onlookers.

3–6 Players
30–60 Min Playing Time
Age: 14+

A Dragon is born of Determination and Persistence.

As a Koi fish, you spend your days (turns) swimming to and fro by playing a number of movement cards, with the goal of gobbling up as many dragonflies and frogs as you can every day. Each movement card has from two to four programmed moves, straight, turn, rotate any direction and leap over a space, with some moves being mandatory when played, and others being optional.

Your tranquil Koi Pond begins with some decorative stone and a few lily pads, but you will also receive Natural Beauty cards in your hand that allow a player to add more lily pads, cherry blossoms, ornamental stone and frogs – which both enhances the beauty of the pond, while at the same time, causes turmoil beneath the still waters for the other Koi. Lily pads are great, as they spawn dragonflies every turn, each of which is worth 3 Victory Points when eaten. Cherry Blossoms ripple the surface of the water as they land, causing all living things to scatter in the opposite direction – and if you play them wisely, right into your mouth! Stones prevent fish from entering a space and are best placed to block an opponent’s path to a meal. Frogs are delicious 1 VP meals all their own, but… they also eat dragonflies in adjacent spaces, so often they are placed to deprive opponents of their dinner.

As the weather changes, and a new event card is revealed for the day, so must your strategy. At the end of seven days, the game comes to an end, with the best-fed fish being declared the winner.

Be wise, be quick, or go hungry. Persevere and you shall succeed.

* A beautifully themed, light strategy game for 2-4 players.
* Tactical movement, a touch of 'take that' as you outmaneuver opponents, yet a remarkably 'zen' experience.

2-4 players
40-60 minutes
Ages 14+

Nevermore is a casual-style, card-drafting game, where you quickly build your hand each round, collecting cards you want and poisoning your opponent's hand by passing along cards you think they can't use.

Whoever holds the most of a given suit, gains the power of that suit - to Attack, Heal, Acquire White or Shadow Magicks and Score Victory points. Will you transform all your rivals into ravens - or can they regain their human form in time to score enough Victory to win?

Nevermore can be taught in less than five minutes, making for easy in-store demos, yet hides a surprising amount of depth in strategy, as players try to outwit and outmaneuver their opponents. Player "transformation" replaces player elimination, keeping everyone in the game until the last moment, yet still rewards players who have performed better during the game. Short game length encourages multiple plays per session and appeals to players of all skill levels – with plenty of underhanded plotting and backstabby goodness.

The Night Cage is a cooperative, horror-themed tile placement game that traps 1-5 lost souls within another wordly labyrinth of eternal darkness.

Equipped with nothing but dim candles, you must work together to explore the maze and escape. To win, players must each collect a Key, find a Gate, and escape as a group.

But escape wont be easy.The weak glow of your candle sheds light on only a small area of the maze at a time. As players move, new pathways are revealed while old ones disappear forever into the darkness, creating an ever-changing play space that requires teamwork and collective strategy to navigate.

1–5 Players
40–60 Min
Age: 14+

Get to your rig - this is gonna be one helluva shift. Be quick to sustain and stabilize patients and rush them to the hospital. Manage your resources and upgrade your ambulance to save as many lives as possible. You only have seconds to act and the clock is against you. Try not to lose anyone today, rookie. “Rescue squad - confirm and depart.”

This is a pulse-pounding, high-tension, timed game of saving lives – and you probably won’t be able to save them all. The FREE companion app timer limits player turns to 60 seconds and later dwindles to just 45 or 30 seconds as players race to triage new patients, purchase medical supplies, treat their medical needs and transport them to the hospital for victory points. Critical patients add to the drama, as they must be treated and sent to the hospital immediately or they head to the morgue instead… counting against your score.

Paramedics: CLEAR! is an intense, competitive game for 1-4 players and will appeal to gamers who enjoy fast-paced, timed games. While not strictly the backstabby game Smirk & Dagger is known for, experienced players will find opportunities to turn up the heat on their opponents as they manage the clock more expertly.

1–4 Players
30–40 Min
Age: 14+ Get to your rig - this is gonna be one helluva shift. Be quick to sustain and stabilize patients and rush them to the hospital. Manage your resources and upgrade your ambulance to save as many lives as possible. You only have seconds to act and the clock is against you. Try not to lose anyone today, rookie. “Rescue squad - confirm and depart.” This is a pulse-pounding, high-tension, timed game of saving lives – and you probably won’t be able to save them all. The FREE companion app timer limits player turns to 60 seconds and later dwindles to just 45 or 30 seconds as players race to triage new patients, purchase medical supplies, treat their medical needs and transport them to the hospital for victory points. Critical patients add to the drama, as they must be treated and sent to the hospital immediately or they head to the morgue instead… counting against your score. Paramedics: CLEAR! is an intense, competitive game for 1-4 players and will appeal to gamers who enjoy fast-paced, timed games. While not strictly the backstabby game Smirk & Dagger is known for, experienced players will find opportunities to turn up the heat on their opponents as they manage the clock more expertly.