Seattle Board Games

Florence during the 15th century. The wealthy, yet unimportant Medici family rises to one of the most powerful dynasties of her day. Cosimo de’ Medici, also known as “Il Vecchio” (“the Elder”), not only dominates politics and the economy, but he also influences the city with regard to culture and arts. By distinguishing himself as a commissioner and patron, e.g. by initiating the construction of the Cathedral’s dome, he improved the city’s and, of course, his own family’s reputation. The other great Florentine families can no longer tolerate this and are joining the fight for dominance over Florence...

Il Vecchio uses Action Retrieval, Area Majority, Dice Rolling, Open Drafting, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, and End Game Bonuses. The players represent the heads of Florentine families trying to rise their families to power. To achieve this, they send out their family members to locations in Tuscany to perform various tasks, specifically to recruit followers and collect money as both are needed to take control of provinces in neighboring regions which will provide power and more opportunities to act. They also curry favor of the squirearchy as these favors are indispensable when it comes to getting an official position in Florence, such as a seat on the Tuscany town council, or a noble rank from which to wield power. To accomplish these tasks, a middleman must be engaged however they are illusive due to their frequent travel and so timing is key.
At the beginning of the game, each player has four family members in Tuscany. Players take turns performing exactly one action. Before his action, a player may pay money to move one of his own family members to another location. The available actions are to:

• Take a location-specific action in Tuscany. This requires both a middleman and one of your own standing (active) family members at that location. After the action, this family member is laid down (inactive).
• Travel to another region and take over a province, which costs both followers and money.
• Travel to Florence where you'll spend scrolls (and possibly money) to claim a city council or nobility tile.
• Introduce a new family member to the board.
• Raise all lying family members on the board.

The game ends when the "Power of the Medici" has faded, as indicated by a diminishing pile of crest tiles. Certain actions require you to remove such a tile, and the game ends when they're all gone. Players then sum their power points – earned for gained tiles and majorities in the regions and Florence – for a final scoring, and the player with the most power wins.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.

In the 14th century, the Atlantic was an ocean without end and America was yet to be discovered. The Mediterranean was a sea of great prosperity - the only route between East and West. The greatest fleets of the age battled for the most lucrative trade routes.
Trade cities like Venice, Genoa, Barcelona or Istanbul grew as powerful as whole nations, establishing trade routes as far as North Africa or Middle East, bringing back Spice, Gems or Gold to the western Mediterranean, the centre of world trade.

Serenissima uses Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Pick-up & Deliver, Trading, & Turn Order: Auction. You are a City-State establishing your sphere of influence in the Mediterranean, and share all sorts of commodities to make your trading empire the most prosperous. You must build galleys, hire crew and buy/sell commodities. The value of goods can be influenced by other city-states having monopolies in certain commodities or controlling ports. However, you can create your own monopolies and ports thereby earning extra income from players using the port and buying commodities.
Victory is based on the number & size of ports you control, but also on the fact that those ports have commodities of different kind available. Whereas small ports are quite easy to satisfy (they only hold two commodities), the established city-states are far more difficult to please, as they will need all kinds of commodities available.
The number and type of commodities available in ports also controls the number of crew members you can hire, if you can build galleys or forts, and the price of commodities when you sell them. You won't be able to build new galleys until you have wood and iron available in one of the ports you control. Once a galley has been built, it can be filled by the crew & goods. Crew helps the speed & power of your galley but those space is also needed to carry the goods that are worth money. Which in turn allows you to hire new crews, build new galleys, and acquire commodities. So, a balance thus needs to be struck between trading commodities and taking control of ports - between a fleet of merchant galleys and a fleet of warships. Turn order is defined by bidding. Depending on the situation and what the player wants to do, playing first or last might be equally interesting. For example, by playing first, a player would be unable to react to other players move, but he could avoid having his galleys blockaded.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.