Mana•Vault•Games
(970) 292-8080
•For the Serious Gamer•
Above and Below
2015
A mashup of town-building and storytelling where you and up to three friends compete to build the best village above and below ground. In the game, you send your villagers to perform jobs like exploring the cave, harvesting resources, and constructing houses. Each villager has unique skills and abilities, and you must decide how to best use them. You have your own personal village board, and you slide the villagers on this board to various areas to indicate that they've been given jobs to do. Will you send Hanna along on the expedition to the cave? Or should she instead spend her time teaching important skills to one of the young villagers?
2-4 Players
90 MIN
Arkham Horror
2005
Players choose from 16 Investigators and take to the streets of Arkham. Before the game, one of the eight Ancient Ones is chosen and it's up to the Investigators to prevent it from breaking into our world. During the course of the game, players will upgrade their characters by acquiring skills, allies, items, weapons, and spells.
1-8 Players
120-240 MIN
Betrayal at Baldur's Gate
2017
As you build and explore the iconic city's dark alleys and deadly catacombs, you must work with your fellow adventurers to survive the terrors ahead. That is, until some horrific evil turns one — or possibly more — of you against each other. Was it a mind flayer's psionic blast or the whisperings of a deranged ghost that caused your allies to turn traitor? You have no choice but to keep your enemies close!
3-6 Players
60 MIN
Betrayal at House on the Hill
2004
Betrayal at House on the Hill is a tile game that allows players to build their own haunted house room by room, tile by tile, creating a new thrilling game board every time. The game is designed for three to six people, each of whom plays one of six possible characters.
Secretly, one of the characters betrays the rest of the party, and the innocent members of the party must defeat the traitor in their midst before it’s too late! Betrayal at House on the Hill will appeal to any game player who enjoys a fun, suspenseful, and strategic game.
3-6 Players
60 MIN
Burger Boss
2015
Players take charge of a small burger shack and are responsible for hiring workers, obtaining ingredients, and cooking and finally selling their juicy burgers at the highest price possible. Do you have what it takes to turn your small burger shack to a global empire? Do you have what it takes to become the burger boss?
3-5 Players
45-90 MIN
Carcassonne
Included Expansions:
The River
Traders and Builders
Court, King, and Robber
Abbey and Mayor
2000
A tile-placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of southern French landscape on it. The tile might feature a city, a road, a cloister, grassland or some combination thereof, and it must be placed adjacent to tiles that have already been played, in such a way that cities are connected to cities, roads to roads, etc. Having placed a tile, the player can then decide to place one of their meeples on one of the areas on it: on the city as a knight, on the road as a robber, on a cloister as a monk, or on the grass as a farmer. When that area is complete, that meeple scores points for its owner.
2-5 Players
30-45 MIN
Castles of Burgundy
2011
Each player takes on the role of an aristocrat, originally controlling a small princedom. While playing they aim to build settlements and powerful castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers. The game is about players taking settlement tiles from the game board and placing them into their princedom which is represented by the player board. Every tile has a function that starts when the tile is placed in the princedom. The princedom itself consists of several regions, each of which demands its own type of settlement tile.
2-4 Players
30-90 MIN
Cellar des Triplettes
Die Weinhändler
2004
Players are wine collectors engaged in barter auctions of fine wine, looking to showcase their favored bottles of threes in their stylish, triangular cellars. Who will be the best at rewarding their palate with the shrewdest investment?
3-5 Players
45 MIN
Compounded
2013
Players take on the roles of lab managers, hastily competing to complete the most compounds before they are completed by others – or destroyed in an explosion. Some compounds are flammable and will grow more and more volatile over time; take too long to gather the necessary elements for those compounds and a lot of hard work will soon be scattered across the lab.
2-5 Players
30-90 MIN
Dialect
2018
In this game, you’ll tell the story of the Isolation by building their language. New words will come from the fundamental aspects of the community: who they are, what they believe in, and how they respond to a changing world.
3-5 Players
3-5 HOURS
Dinosaur Island
2017
Players will have to collect DNA, research the DNA sequences of extinct dinosaur species, and then combine the ancient DNA in the correct sequence to bring these prehistoric creatures back to life. Dino cooking! All players will compete to build the most thrilling park each season, and then work to attract (and keep alive!) the most visitors each season that the park opens.
1-4 Players
90-120 MIN
Eldritch Horror
2013
A co-operative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas.
1-8 Players
120-240 MIN
Fantastic Factories
2019
It's a manufacturing arms race! Compete against other players as you try to build the most efficient set of factories in the shortest time. You must carefully manage your blueprints, train your workers, and manufacture as many goods as possible in order to achieve industrial dominance!
1-5 Players
45-60 MIN
Firefly: The Game
2013
Players begin with a ship, and travel from planet to planet, hiring crew, purchasing ship upgrades, and picking up cargo to deliver (jobs) all in the form of cards. Some crew and cargo are illegal, and can be confiscated if your ship is boarded by an alliance vessel. Travelling from planet to planet requires turning over "full burn" cards, one for each space moved. Most do nothing, but you can also encounter an Alliance ship, have a breakdown, or even run into Reavers. Completing jobs gets you cash. First player to complete the story goals wins.
1-4 Players
120-240 MIN
Forbidden Desert
2013
Players take on the roles of brave adventurers who must throw caution to the wind and survive both blistering heat and blustering sand in order to recover a legendary flying machine buried under an ancient desert city. Featuring cooperative gameplay based around an innovative set of mechanisms such as an ever-shifting board, individual resource management, and a unique method for locating the flying machine parts.
2-5 Players
45 MIN
Forbidden Island
2010
Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking, while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- sacrifices must be made.
2-4 Players
30 MIN
Forbidden Sky
2018
Soar to dizzying heights in the electrifying cooperative adventure. Work as a team to explore a mysterious platform that floats at the center of a savage storm. Connect a circuit of cables to launch a secret rocket — all before you are struck by lightning or blown off to the depths below. It's a high-wire act that will test your team's capacity for courage and cooperation. One false step and you all could be grounded…permanently!
2-5 Players
60 MIN
Galaxy Hunters
2021
Players take on the role of mercenaries hired by the Megacorps to hunt and harvest the rampant mutations. Featuring an inventive pilot and mech combination system, pairing different pilots with different mechs unlocks new powers and special abilities. Using money earned for harvesting DNA from the creatures, players upgrade their mechs with new weapons and items. A seamless blend of the excitement of crafting a unique character with the deep strategy of Eurogame-style worker placement.
2-4 Players
60-90 MIN
Galaxy Trucker
Includes Another Big Expansion
2007
A tile laying game that plays out over two phases: building and flying. The goal is to have the most credits at the end of the game. You can earn credits by delivering goods, defeating pirates, building an efficient ship, and being the furthest along the track at the end of the flying phase.
2-5 Players
60-90 MIN
Gardens of Babylon
2019
A competitive euro-style game in which players strive to earn the most points by planting flower seeds on the most valuable tiles. Taking turns, players place tiles to create a maze-like ziggurat of pathways, strategically move their gardeners to gain positional advantage, and plant seeds to claim tiles, earning victory points and triggering cascades down connected waterways to steal those of their opponents in the process!
1-4 Players
60 MIN
Godspeed
2020
Players play as scientists from one of 5 nations: the USA, Japan, Soviet Union, the European Nations, or India. The game is played in 10 rounds, each with four phases: a negotiation phase where Nations will convene to decide how they will respond to an event occurring back on Earth or on the Exoplanet, an auction phase where Nations bid on Supply Depot cards or the first player marker, a worker placement phase, and a resolution Phase to produce new resources and return their Team Members home.
2-5 Players
45-90 MIN
Hellenica: Story of Greece
2019
A civilization game in which you harness the powers of one of seven beginning city-states to dominate the world around you. Your goal is to become the preeminent symbol of Greece for all posterity by completing a combination of secret and public goals. Will you be remembered as a warmonger or a peaceful philosopher? Great priest or apostate? Will you develop a devotion to the gods or focus on the advancement of your people?
1-7 Players
120-180 MIN
Infamy
2013
Players attempt to win the game by being the first to reach 15 Infamy points or by reaching the highest reputation level in any one of three factions: the Harada Cartel, the Trust Megacorp, or the PKD Militia. The core of this auction and influence game is the "Pay to Play" mechanism in which players must sacrifice bidding power in order to place any bids at all. Spend too much time bidding against an opponent, and your currency will dwindle – but if you refuse to bid, you'll be forced to watch your opponent acquire all those things that only the criminal underworld can deliver.
3-4 Players
60 MIN
Islebound
2016
Sail to island towns, collecting resources, hiring crew, and commissioning buildings for your capital city. Each building has a unique ability, and your combination of buildings can greatly enhance your strength as a trader, builder, or invader. You also recruit pirates and sea monsters to conquer towns, which, once conquered, allow you to complete the town action for free, and charge a fee to opponents if they want to use it. Alternatively, you can complete events that give influence, which can be used to befriend towns.
2-4 Players
60-120 MIN
Machi Koro
5th Anniversary Edition
2012
Each player wants to develop the city on their own terms in order to complete all of the landmarks under construction faster than their rivals. On their turn, each player rolls one or two dice. If the sum of the dice rolled matches the number of a building that a player owns, they get the effect of that building; in some cases opponents will also benefit from your dice (just as you can benefit from theirs). Then, with money in hand a player can build a landmark or a new building, ideally adding to the wealth of their city on future turns. The first player to construct all of their landmarks wins!
2-4 Players
30 MIN
Magic: Arena of the Planeswalkers
2015
Players customize the battlefield by designing the map then placing terrain and powerful glyphs. Then players choose one of five different Planeswalkers and move their figure and unique creature squads around the map in a race to out-maneuver opponents and gain tactical advantages! Cast devastating spells, summon powerful squads, and tap into your unique Planeswalker abilities to defeat your opponents. Be the last Planeswalker standing to win!
2-5 Players
60 MIN
Mysterium
2015
Unable to talk, the amnesiac ghost communicates with the mediums through visions, which are represented in the game by illustrated cards. The mediums must decipher the images to help the ghost remember how he was murdered: Who did the crime? Where did it take place? Which weapon caused the death? The more the mediums cooperate and guess well, the easier it is to catch the right culprit.
2-7 Players
42 MIN
Nocturion
2019
Players take the role of noble houses that try to fulfill the quests of Emperor Alexius IV in order to prove their loyalty and stand next to the Emperor. Nocturion is a dice-rolling worker placement and resource management board game. Players try to fulfill quests and find their legendary heirlooms by gathering resources and forging mighty armies of Beasts with variable asymmetric powers.
2-4 Players
40-70 MIN
On the Origin of Species
2019
Assist Charles Darwin during the Beagle journey across the Galapagos Islands, discovering new species and researching them in order to improve your knowledge. The game finishes when the Beagle reaches the last space of its trip, leaving the archipelago through New Zealand. The players score the evolution points according to the final goal card, adding them to the points obtained during the game. The player with more points in the scoring track wins.
2-4 Players
45-80 MIN
Pan Am
2020
Players compete with Pan American Airways and others to build an air-travel empire. Outbid rivals for lucrative landing rights, buy planes with longer range to reach the far corners of the world, and use insider connections to advance your interests. As you bump up against the ever-growing Pan Am, you can sell your routes to the company to earn a tidy profit, with you then using that money to invest in other growth or to purchase Pan Am stock for what's sure to be a big payout down the road.
2-4 Players
60 MIN
Pandemic
2008
Several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand.
2-4 Players
45 MIN
Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game
2015
The Lab is an ever-changing conveyor belt of death and dismemberment. But SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS must be at the forefront of the mind of every good test subject. Players move and Portal their test subjects to various chambers in the lab. At the end of each player's turn, one of the chambers on the end of the lab gives way, plunging all test subjects on it into oblivion. But should your test subjects have numbered greater than all others in the falling chamber, they earn you some wonderful parting gifts, which can include cake.
2-4 Players
30-45 MIN
Raccoon Tycoon
2018
Players try to produce the most valuable commodities in an ever-changing marketplace. They then use those commodities to build towns, or sell them at the best price to secure great profits that can be used to win auctions for the all-important railroads. The profits may also be used to buy powerful buildings that give the players power-ups or bonuses in production. Owning the best towns and railroads determines victory. There can be only one "top dog" in Astoria. Is it you?
2-5 Players
60-90 MIN
Rival Restaurants
2019
2-6 Players
45-60 MIN
Root
2018
A game of adventure and war in which players battle for control of a vast wilderness. Each player has unique capabilities and a different victory condition: The Cats play a game of engine building and logistics while attempting to police the vast wilderness. They win by building new buildings and crafts. The Eyrie musters their hawks to take back the Woods. They must capture as much territory as possible and build roosts before they collapse back into squabbling. The Alliance hides in the shadows, recruiting forces and hatching conspiracies. They begin slowly and build towards a dramatic late-game presence--but only if they can manage to keep the other players in check. Meanwhile, the Vagabond plays all sides of the conflict for their own gain, while hiding a mysterious quest. Explore the board, fight other factions, and work towards achieving your hidden goal.
2-4 Players
60-90 MIN
The Settlers of Catan: Star Trek Edition
2012
Players start the game with two small Outposts at the intersection of three planets, with each planet supplying resources based on the result of a dice roll. Players collect and trade these resources – dilithium, tritanium, food, oxygen and water – in order to build Starships that connect regions in the galaxy, establish more Outposts and Starbases (upgraded Outposts) at new intersection points in order to increase resource acquisition, and acquire Development Cards that provide Victory Points (VPs) or special abilities.
3-4 Players
75 MIN
SHASN
2021
A multiplayer strategy board game where every player takes on the role of a politician in the midst of a political campaign. With each turn, players must draw a card and take stands on divisive and urgent political issues. These choices will help them gather resources to influence voters or purchase strategic powers. Players can build diverse Ideologies with every policy decision, to best reflect their beliefs and play style. Building a single political ideology will allow them to unlock powers that can help cement their own positions or destabilize opponents. As they progress in the game, players must choose between sticking to their ideals or molding them as per their needs. In a game of trading, coercion, and strategy, players must do whatever it takes to survive and dominate.
3-5 Players
90-120 MIN
Star Wars: Rebellion
Included Expansion:
Rise of the Empire
2016
Experience the Galactic Civil War like never before. You control either the entire Galactic Empire or the fledgling Rebel Alliance. You must command starships, account for troop movements, and rally systems to your cause. Given the differences between the Empire and Rebel Alliance, each side has different win conditions, and you'll need to adjust your play style depending on who you represent
2-4 Players
180-240 MIN
Takenoko
2011
Players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of bamboo (Green, Yellow, and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo garden. They will have to bear with the immoderate hunger of this sacred animal for the juicy and tender bamboo. The player who manages his land plots best, growing the most bamboo while feeding the delicate appetite of the panda, will win the game.
2-4 Players
45 MIN
Terra Mystica
2012
A full information game without any luck that rewards strategic planning. Each player governs one of the 14 groups. With subtlety and craft, the player must attempt to rule as great an area as possible and to develop that group's skills. There are also four religious cults in which you can progress. To do all that, each group has special skills and abilities.
2-5 Players
60-150 MIN
Tiny Epic Dinosaurs
2020
Breakthroughs in modern science have dinosaurs and humans existing side by side. This has allowed for a lucrative industry. Dino Ranching! Independent ranchers have begun farming dinosaurs to sell to the highest bidders for use in their high thrill theme parks. You are one of those ranchers. Do you have what it takes to out ranch your opponents and operate the most successful dinosaur farm!?
1-4 Players
30-60 MIN
Tiny Epic Pirates
Included Expansion:
Curse of Amdiak
2021
1-4 Players
30-60 MIN
Tiny Epic Quest
2017
A world of peace has been torn asunder by the opening of a vile portal from the goblin kingdom. Nasty goblins pour into the peaceful groves and villages of the elf world, setting the realm ablaze. Now you, the heroes, must quest in order to right this wrong. There are two paths to victory: closing the portal or slaying all the goblins. Which one will you choose? Either way, your quests will be aided by the help of the surviving mushroom folk — and by the epic items that have been lost in the realm's deep dungeons. The world is ending quickly, so you must act fast to save it, but you also need to know when your luck will run out...
1-4 Players
30-60 MIN
Tokaido
2012
Each player is a traveler crossing the "East sea road", one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. While traveling, you will meet people, taste fine meals, collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, and visit temples and wild places but at the end of the day, when everyone has arrived at the end of the road you'll have to be the most initiated traveler – which means that you'll have to be the one who discovered the most interesting and varied things.
2-5 Players
45 MIN
Tsuro
2004
A beautiful and beautifully simple game of laying a tile before your own token to continue its path on each turn. The goal is to keep your token on the board longer than anyone else's, but as the board fills up this becomes harder because there are fewer empty spaces left... and another player's tile may also extend your own path in a direction you'd rather not go.
2-8 Players
15-20 MIN
Tsuro of the Seas
2012
What's new in Tsuro of the Seas are daikaiju tiles, representing sea monsters and other creatures of the deep. Notably, daikaiju can move: each tile has five arrows, four for moving in each of the cardinal directions and another one for rotation. On the active player's turn, he rolls two six-sided dice; on a sum of 6, 7, or 8, the daikaiju will move, while on any other sum they'll stay in place. To determine which direction the daikaiju tiles move, the player then makes a second roll, this time with a single die. On 1-5 in the second roll, each daikaiju moves according to its matching arrow. On a 6 in the second roll, a new daikaiju tile is added to the board.
2-8 Players
20-40 MIN
Tsuro: Phoenix Rising
2019
Tsuro: Phoenix Rising is a new entry in the classic Tsuro series. The game shares a bond with the foundations of the venerable original: play tiles, move pawns, and stay in play, but it introduces a revolutionary board that allows for the double-sided tiles to flip and rotate throughout the game, creating diverging paths and opening up new strategies.
2-8 Players
20-50 MIN
Twilight Imperium
Third Edition
2005
An epic empire-building game of interstellar conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Players take the roles of ancient galactic civilizations, each seeking to seize the imperial throne via warfare, diplomacy, and technological progression. With geomorphic board tiles, exquisite plastic miniatures, hundreds of cards, and introducing a rich set of strategic dimensions that allows each player to refocus their game-plan, the original designer (Christian T. Petersen) has seamlessly incorporated the better qualities of other recently popular games to improve on the game-play of the original TI, making it at once perfectly well-rounded and pleasantly familiar to experienced gamers.
3-6 Players
180-240 MIN
Urban Insanity
Included Expansion:
Cities and Suburbs
2018
The game where the board changes every time you play. 128 game-play variations are available, from endless destruction to mind-bending strategy... and all with the same basic rules! Work together to complete a city map... until it's time to score points! Compete to complete city blocks, streets, suburbs, and stadiums. Dial up the madness with one or more of the 6 expansion packs. Create a mobster turf war, an alien invasion, light your city on fire, and much more. Each turn consists of drawing an action card and playing a tile. In a single round everything can change! This fast-paced game combines strategy, luck, and something something something.
2-8 Players
60-180 MIN
Whistle Stop
2017
This design is a new twist on pick-up-and-deliver games. As players move their trains west and pick up goods, they can deliver those goods to small towns to gain shares in railroads, or hold on to them for a bigger payout when they reach the west coast. At the same time, they try to optimize their actions (and gain extra ones), lay down new track tiles, block the other players, gather and use valuable whistles for special moves and abilities, and carefully manage their coal resources.
2-5 Players
75 MIN