Elisa Vargas Library: Board Game Collection

Topics: American history; stock market

All aboard! Chicago Express is a game of investment and riches centered around the early days of railroads in the United States. In the game, players can invest in any of the four railroads companies in the game by purchasing stock. Holding stock in a company allows a student to make decisions for that company on their turn as well as receive dividend payments over the course of the game. Players can hold stock in more than one company, diversifying their portfolio and giving them a controlling interest in multiple companies. As the companies grow and expand, their value increases and so do the dividends they pay. This is important as the winner of the game is the player with the most money, cash on hand and stock value.

Topics: resource management; trading

Players are recent immigrants to the unpopulated island of Catan. Players expand colonies through the building of settlements and roads and by harvesting commodities from the land around . Trade earned resources for settlements, roads or development cards. Trade with other players, or at local harbors to get needed resources. The first player to achieve 10 points from a combination of roads, settlements, and special cards wins. 

Topics: role playing; creativity

For something completely different, settle in for a nice game of excuses and blame with Aye, Dark Overlord! In this game, players will have to use their hand of cards and creative storytelling to come up with reasons why they completely failed to accomplish the task set by the Dark Overlord. The player who is the Dark Overlord will consider the excuses being made and pass out punishments and rewards as deserved. Mostly punishments...these are pretty incompetent goblins after all, and really they are all to blame for failing to deliver.

Topics: Strategy, storytelling, dark humor

Gloom: The game of inauspicious incidents and grave consequences is a unique and darkly humorous card game that revolves around telling stories of unfortunate events and misfortunes that befall a quirky family of characters. Players aim to make their characters' lives as miserable as possible while trying to uplift their opponents' characters through a series of whimsical and macabre events. The twist is that the cards are transparent, allowing players to stack tragic events upon their characters and create a narrative of gloom and doom

Topics: storytelling, narration, creativity

Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game is an engaging and imaginative game that invites players to create and tell fairy tales. In this game, players use a deck of beautifully illustrated story cards, each featuring different story elements, characters, and settings. The goal is to collaboratively craft a captivating story while incorporating the elements from your own hand of cards.

Topics: United States geography; trains; networking building

Ticket to Ride: October 2, 1900 - it's 28 years to the day that noted London eccentric, Phileas Fogg accepted and then won a bet that he could travel "Around the World in 80 Days." Now, at the dawn of the century, some old friends have gathered to celebrate Fogg's impetuous and lucrative gamble - and to propose a new wager of their own. The stakes: $1 million in a winner-takes-all competition. The objective: to see the most cities in North America - in just 7 days. Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure game. Players collect train cards that enable them to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.

Topics: Medieval, pre-industrial, monarchial, feudal social structures

In Dominion, you are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner.
But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn’t be proud, but your grandparents, would be delighted.

Topics: strategy, transportation

In Thurn & Taxis, players build post office routes across Bavaria and the regions around, collecting bonus points in various ways. The board shows a map of all the cities, with roads leading from each one to some of its neighbors. There are various colored regions around the board, most with two or three cities, and a large region with all the Bavarian cities in the center.

Topics: logical deductions, intuition, social interaction 

The Resistance is a social deduction game with secret identities. Players are either members of the Resistance attempting to overthrow a malignant government, or Spies trying to thwart the Resistance. A fundamental rule of the game is that players may say anything that they want, at any time during the game. Discussion, deception, intuition, social interaction and logical deductions are all equally important to winning.

Topics: strategy, history, deduction, spies

Stratego America's Civil War is a strategic board game that allows players to recreate key battles from the American Civil War. Each player commands an army of Civil War-era soldiers, including infantry, cavalry, and artillery, with the goal of outmaneuvering and defeating their opponent. The game combines elements of strategy, tactics, and hidden information, as players keep the identities of their pieces hidden from their opponent until they engage in combat.

Topics: biology, test-taking strategies, diagrams 

Barron's AP Biology Flashcards are a set of portable study cards designed to aid students in preparing for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam. These flashcards typically include key terms, concepts, and essential information related to biology topics covered on the AP exam. They are organized for quick and convenient review, allowing students to reinforce their knowledge, test their understanding, and effectively memorize important facts and concepts.

Topics: vocabulary, language skills, test-taking strategies 

The "New GRE: Vocabulary Flashcards" is a set of study cards designed to help individuals prepare for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test. These flashcards typically contain a collection of important vocabulary words commonly tested on the GRE, along with their definitions and example sentences. They serve as a portable and efficient tool for GRE test takers to enhance their vocabulary and improve their performance on the verbal reasoning section of the exam.

Topics: historical eras, key terms, maps, geography 

Barron's AP World History Flashcards are a set of study cards specifically designed to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement (AP) World History exam. These flashcards typically include key historical events, important figures, essential terms, and significant concepts, all organized to aid in comprehensive review. They offer students a portable and efficient tool for reinforcing their understanding of world history topics, testing their knowledge, and preparing effectively for the AP exam.

Topics: test preparation, key concepts, practice questions 

Kaplan ACT in a Box is the most complete ACT flashcard set on the market with 600 cards that cover all four sections of the exam, including the essay component. This collection has the most cards and is the easiest to use (no tearing required), perfect for studying on the go. A strong ACT score means more financial aid for college and with escalating costs in an unpredictable economy, scoring higher is more important than ever.

Topics: case studies, test-taking strategies, exam preparation 

Barron's AP Human Geography Flashcards are a convenient and effective study tool designed for students preparing for the Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography exam. These flashcards typically contain key terms, concepts, geographic data, and essential information related to human geography topics covered in the course and on the AP exam. They are organized for quick and targeted review, allowing students to reinforce their understanding, test their knowledge, and memorize important facts.

Topics: strategy, combinations of numbers, dice game 

Yahtzee is a classic dice game that combines luck and strategy. Players take turns rolling five dice with the objective of achieving specific combinations and earning points. The goal is to fill in a scorecard with various categories, such as ones, twos, threes, and other combinations like straights and full houses. Players can roll the dice up to three times on their turn, strategically deciding which dice to keep and which to reroll.

Topics: clues, memory, strategy, deduction 

Hanabi is a unique and mentally stimulating game that requires communication, memory, and deduction skills, fostering cooperation and teamwork among players. It challenges players to work together to create a stunning fireworks display. In the game, players have a hand of cards with different colors and numbers, representing the fireworks. However, the catch is that they hold their cards facing away from them, so they can't see their own hand but can see their teammates' cards.

Topics: risk management, hidden information, deduction

Hanabi Deluxe is an enhanced version of the popular cooperative card game Hanabi. In this edition, the game typically includes high-quality components such as premium cards and unique tokens. Players continue to work together to create stunning fireworks displays by giving subtle hints about their hidden hands of cards. The deluxe version often offers a more tactile and visually appealing experience with upgraded components, making it a luxurious and enjoyable way to play this engaging and challenging cooperative game.

Topics: challenge, brain teasers, pattern recognition 

The Puzzle Stix: The Double Sided Wooden Puzzle has 42 custom-cut wooden sticks. Arrange the sticks to create a picture, then take them apart, mix them up and arrange them again to create the picture on the reverse. It comes in a nice wooden frame box that will hold your puzzle together when complete. The wooden frame box is nice enough you can use it to display the completed puzzle in!

Topics: racing theme, strategy, speed, bluffing 

Mille Bornes: In this famous old French card game, players compete to drive 1000 km, dealing with hazards along the way. Draw a card to your hand, play or discard. You must lay a green traffic light to start, play cards showing mileage, dump hazards (flat tire, speed limit) on the other players, remedy hazards (spare tire, end of limit) from yourself, play safety cards (puncture proof), and try to be the first to clock up the distance.

Topics: objective-based, strategy, competitive

Disney Villainous: the worst takes it all is a board game that lets players step into the roles of iconic Disney villains, such as Maleficent, Captain Hook, or Ursula. Each player selects a villain with their own unique objectives and abilities and sets out to achieve their villainous goals, which are different for each character. The game offers strategic decision-making as players work to thwart their opponents while pursuing their own villainous agenda

Topics: spatial awareness, problem-solving skills, detailed image

A 1500-piece puzzle offers a challenging and immersive experience for puzzle enthusiasts. This intricate jigsaw puzzle typically features a detailed and captivating image that becomes clear as you piece it together. With 1500 pieces to connect, it provides hours of entertainment and a rewarding sense of accomplishment when the final image is revealed.

Topics: role playing, tactics, strategy

Eoris Essence: One of the best-looking RPGs out there. Its wondrous world and greatly detailed playing system is brought to life in these 2 full colored high-quality limited-edition books in their slip case. Eoris Essence is a Tabletop Role-playing Game that features a vast universe and a system that provides a wide range of Character diversity with fast paced and dynamic combat mechanics.

Topics: animals; metric measurement; estimation

The animal world is filled with a rich diversity of traits and characteristics that fascinate children and hold concepts that help us understand ourselves and the world in which we live. Fauna is an animal trivia game that is not so black and white as it rewards player answers that are either correct or close to the correct. This approximation mechanism allows for students to practice estimating as they try to work out the size, shape and location of hundreds of animals from around the world.

Topics: evolution; genetic ecosystems; food web; natural selection

Evolution is the first strategy game offering from North Star Games, a publisher well known for party games Wits & Wagers and Say Anything. This game is a re-release of a Russian game originally designed by a professor of biology from Moscow University. North Star Games has added beautiful new artwork and tweaked some aspects of play to tighten up the flow of the game. The result is an incredibly effective game that is engaging enough to be successful in the hobby market, but scientifically accurate enough to be a best bet for classroom use.

Topics: role playing, infectious diseases, strategy 

Pandemic is a cooperative board game that places players in the roles of specialists trying to save the world from deadly diseases. In the game, players must work together to contain and treat infections, research cures, and ultimately prevent global outbreaks of four different diseases. Each player has a unique role with special abilities, and teamwork and strategic planning are essential to succeed. Pandemic offers a thrilling and collaborative gaming experience as players race against the clock to save humanity from worldwide pandemics.

Topics: risk assessment; probability; storytelling; investment

Incan gold: Deep in the ruins of ancient Inca temples lies untold fortune and dangers. Each student is a treasure hunter, exploring these lost areas hoping in the end to emerge alive and laden with treasure. The game consists of a deck of cards with 15 treasure cards, 15 danger cards and 5 valuable artifact cards that, all combined, serve as the temple rooms. The treasure rooms are filled with various amounts of spoils that must be split equitably amongst all the players who enter. Any treasure that can not be split is left behind to possibly be picked up later. So if 4 players enter a room of 15 treasures they each get three treasures and leave the remaining three behind in the room. The artifacts count as five or ten treasures that can not be split, so it may only be picked up by a single player. As for dangers, there are five different types with three copies of each. The first time a specific danger appears it is only a warning. But when two of the same type of danger appear, the round is over for anyone still inside the temple.

Topics: puzzles, logic, math

Sudoku is a popular number puzzle game that involves filling a 9x9 grid with digits from 1 to 9. The puzzle starts with some of the grid cells already filled with numbers, and the objective is to complete the grid so that each row, each column, and each of the nine 3x3 sub grids, known as "regions" or "boxes," contains all the digits from 1 to 9 without any repetition. Sudoku is a challenging and logic-based game that requires deductive reasoning and problem-solving skills, making it a beloved pastime for puzzle enthusiasts of all ages.

Topics: creativity, vocabulary, trivia, definitions 

Balderdash is a humorous and creative board game that challenges players to bluff their way to victory. Players take turns choosing a word or phrase from a card, and then they must make up a convincing definition or explanation for it, even if they have no idea what it means. The goal is to trick other players into thinking your definition is the correct one. Players earn points for guessing the correct definition and for fooling others with their own inventive explanations.

Topics: Word game, scrambled letters, word puzzle, mental agility 

Boggle is a fast-paced word game that challenges players to find as many words as possible within a grid of randomly arranged letters. The catch is that these words must be formed by connecting adjacent letters, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, and they must be at least three letters long. Players race against a timer to spot words within the grid and write them down before time runs out. The player who finds the most words wins the round.

Topics: strategy, tactics, foresight

Chess is a timeless strategy board game played on an 8x8 grid. It features two opposing armies with different types of pieces, including kings, queens, knights, bishops, rooks, and pawns. The objective of chess is to checkmate your opponent's king, which means putting their king in a position where it is under attack and cannot escape capture. Chess is known for its deep complexity, requiring tactics, strategy, and foresight.

Topics: strategy, luck, bluffing, card interactions

Frog Juice is an engaging card game designed for children. In this game, players collect and trade various ingredients to brew magical potions, including frogs, newts, and mushrooms. The goal is to create the most potent concoctions and earn points by combining the right ingredients. It's a fun and whimsical game that combines elements of strategy and luck, making it a delightful choice for players of all ages.

Topics: creativity, quick thinking, challenge

The game of Scattergories: Fill out a category list with answers that begin with the same letter from an endless combination of over 190 categories and 20 letters. Score points if no other player matches the answers. To win the game, score the most points.

Topics: strategy, tactics, capture, ancient tradition

Go "Deluxe": A Game of Oriental Strategy, also known simply as "Go," it's a two-player game where players take turns placing black and white stones on a gridded board with the goal of capturing territory and surrounding the opponent's pieces. The game requires deep strategic thinking, as players aim to create complex patterns, establish dominance on the board, and outmaneuver their opponent.

Topics: geometric puzzles, logical thinking, 3D design 

Lonpos CC: Lompos crazy cone is a 3D puzzle game that challenges players to solve increasingly complex spatial puzzles. The game typically includes a series of colorful cone-shaped pieces and a game board with slots to fit these cones. Players are presented with a puzzle card or a set of instructions, and their objective is to arrange the cone pieces on the board in such a way that they match the specified pattern or configuration.

Topics: Strategy, decision-making, card management 

Phase 10: A rummy-type card game with a challenging and exciting twist! The Challenge: Be the first player to complete 10 phases. The Twist: The phase to be completed is specific for each hand. Those that complete the phase advance to the next, but those that have not must try again.

Topics: puzzle solving, memory, observation, speed 

Three different types of visual challenges make Q-bitz the perfect game for multiple playing styles. Round One is all about speed as players race to manipulate their cubes to copy the pattern on the Q-bitz card. The first player to complete the pattern keeps the card. Round Two adds luck to the equation, as players roll their cubes to match the pattern. Round Three really tests brain power, as players must re-create the pattern from memory. Collect the most cards and win! After three sets of three rounds, the player who claimed the most cards wins the game.

Topics: strategy, pattern recognition, number combinations. 

Rummikub: Players use the tiles on their racks and the tiles already in play to form runs of the same color and sets of different color but same number. The Jokers can be any number and color. Players can also pull apart runs and sets and add onto them, so the game can change instantly on every turn. The first player to empty a rack wins the game.

Topics: problem solving, geometry, designs 

ShapeMaker is a creative and educational game designed to inspire imaginative play and spatial reasoning in children. It typically includes colorful wooden pieces in various shapes that players can arrange to create a wide range of patterns and designs. The game encourages young minds to explore geometry and problem-solving as they use the pieces to replicate suggested designs or come up with their own.

Topics: strategy, luck, surprise

Sorry! Revenge: In this version of the game, players work to get their pawns from start to home while sending their opponents' pawns back to the start. The game includes special power-up cards that add an element of strategy and surprise, making it a lively and competitive race to victory. Sorry! Revenge combines elements of luck and strategy. 

Topics: Speed, pattern recognition, spatial skills 

Square up: A fast and furious two-player tile-sliding game. Players shake their individual cube sorter and then slide the tiles on their board to make the same pattern as on their cube sorter. Sound easy? It is, but the race is on! The first player to solve the pattern and slap down the frame around the solution wins.

Topics: spatial awareness, geometric patterns, critical thinking 

Swish is an engaging and mentally stimulating game that sharpens spatial awareness and pattern recognition skills, making it enjoyable for players of all ages. Swish is a visual and spatial perception card game that challenges players to mentally rotate and arrange transparent cards to create specific geometric patterns. Each card has colorful shapes, and the goal is to layer them in such a way that the shapes on one card perfectly match those on another card, creating a "swish."

Topics: Challenging, complexity, patience 

This elephant puzzle consisting of 1500 pieces offers an engaging and intricate challenge for puzzle enthusiasts. When completed, this puzzle forms a stunning image of some elephants, showcasing their majestic presence and intricate details. With 1500 pieces to assemble, it provides hours of entertainment and a satisfying sense of accomplishment when the final picture of the magnificent elephants emerges.

Topics: strategy, quick rounds, all ages 

Sushi Go! is a delightful and fast-paced card game where players aim to create the most delicious sushi dishes. In the game, players draft sushi cards from their hand and pass the remaining cards to the next player. The goal is to strategically choose sushi combinations to earn points, with different sushi types offering various scoring opportunities. Sushi Go! is easy to learn and quick to play, making it a fun and accessible choice for all ages.

Topics: Turn-based, strategy, vintage game

Racko is a classic card game that combines strategy and luck. In Racko, players aim to arrange their cards in ascending order from lowest to highest by taking turns drawing and discarding cards. The catch is that they can only place drawn cards into specific slots in their rack. The objective is to be the first to complete your rack in ascending order, from 1 to 60. Racko is a fun and engaging game that requires both skillful planning and adaptability as players work to organize their cards while disrupting their opponents' progress.

Topics: challenges, exploration, adventure 

Ripley's Believe It Or Not: In this game, players embark on a quest to explore the strange and astonishing world of Ripley's, completing challenges, answering trivia questions, and encountering oddities from around the globe. The game combines elements of trivia, exploration, and adventure, offering players a captivating and entertaining experience as they delve into the extraordinary and mind-boggling world of Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Topics: creativity, matchmaking, humor 

Picwits! is a lively and imaginative game that encourages creativity, humor, and quick thinking, making it a great choice for social gatherings and laughter-filled entertainment. Picwits! is a creative and fun party game that challenges players to come up with clever and humorous captions for various whimsical and surreal images.