Tabletop Season 3 Preview, Part 2

Today we’re continuing our look at the list of games Wil Wheaton and friends will be playing on Tabletop Season 3. Don’t forget to check out part 1 and keep an eye out for part 3 tomorrow.

So without further ado, the list continues:

Everyone remembers the story of the tortoise and the hare, right? Slow and steady wins the race…or does it? Hare & Tortoise is a classic game based on strategy. Players switch between the roles of hare and tortoise as they race, sometimes moving fast and other times slow and cautiously. Players collect and spend carrots as they move through the race.

Council of Verona is Shakespeare with a twist. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, this game puts players in the shoes of various citizens of Verona, who are tired of the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. The goal is to collect victory points by using their influence to add members to the council, or exile them. Every character has a different agenda, however.

Sheriff of Nottingham isn’t actually scheduled to be released until Nov. 14 (that’s just two days away). In this game, inspired by the Robin Hood legends, players take turns as either the Sheriff of Nottingham or as one of the many merchants in town. The Sheriff determines who gets into the city, who gets searched, and whose goods are seized. Players, meanwhile, have the chance to remain honest or attempt to smuggle contraband into the city. The ability to bluff and negotiate deals will come in handy here.

Stone Age might seem familiar to anyone who’s played Settlers of Catan, but it’s got a pre-historic touch to it: Players step back in time to the Stone Age, where they must survive and build civilizations by gathering resources, trading, and building communities. You’ll roll dice and compete to build the strongest village with the most powerful chief.

Geek Out! is essentially Trivial Pursuit meets Name that Tune (an old TV game show) meets nerd culture. Players compete to answer questions in geek-specific categories: games, comics, science fiction, fantasy, and miscellaneous. You’ll answer questions, or bid against other players to see how far above and beyond the question you can go. Winner gets to keep the card, and the first person to a set number of cards wins.

This game is not going to go over well if one or more of your game night attendees has spent most of his/her life living under a rock, so you’ll want to play with friends who are at least somewhat familiar with geek culture. However, since the goal is to collect a set number of cards, not to answer questions from every category, it’s a bit better than your standard trivia game.

Five Tribes is a game of strategy where players enter the Land of 1001 Nights. Players compete to become the new Sultan of Naqala by manipulating the “Five Tribes”: Assassins, Elders, Merchants, Builders, and Viziers. You need to watch out for other players and put them at a disadvantage while furthering your own ends. Players can even summon Djinn to aid them in their quest for the Sultanate — for a price, of course. While the rules are easy to learn, you need to be a calculating strategist to get ahead in the game.

Epic Spell Wars puts a humorous twist on the battle game genre. Players take the role of a battle wizard who must duel other players. You use cards to create three-part spells that can blast other players into the afterlife. However, just because a wizard is dead, doesn’t mean he or she is out of the game. It’s up to players to master the spells they cast, though arcane objects can certainly help put the hurt on other players.

Which of these games have you played? What are you looking forward to seeing?