The Grand Archives
Explore our collection of 85 board games
Love Letter
The noble Princess is looking for an ideal partner and confidant to help with her royal duties when she one day assumes the throne. You must prove your worth and gain her trust by enlisting allies, friends, and family of the Princess to carry a letter of intent to her. Can you earn the Princess' trust and become her confidant? Playing cards one at a time, players in Love Letter use the abilities of these key people in the Princess' life to outwit their opponents and successfully deliver their letter and gain her favor. Players must utilize each character's special skill to avoid being caught and successfully deliver their letter to the Princess. Once a set number of favor tokens are acquired, that player wins and becomes the Princess' confidant. This 2019 edition of Love Letter features new artwork by Citadels artist Andrew Bosley, screen-printed tokens, and two new characters (five cards in total) that allow for games with up to six players. When played, the Chancellor (value 6) allows you to draw two new cards, add those to your hand, then place two cards of your choice on the bottom of the deck. The Spy (value 0) wins you a favor token if you were the only player to play or discard a spy during the round.
Machi Koro
Welcome to the city of Machi Koro. You've just been elected Mayor. Congrats! Unfortunately the citizens have some pretty big demands: jobs, a theme park, a couple of cheese factories and maybe even a radio tower. A tough proposition since the city currently consists of a wheat field, a bakery and a single die. Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and steal from your neighbors' coffers. Just make sure they aren't doing the same to you! Machi Koro is a fast-paced game for 2-4 players. 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!
Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City
You've done a great job as Mayor! Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City shows how popular Machi Koro has become! What started as a sleepy town of cheese factories and wheat fields has become a hot tourist destination! Explore the night life of Machi Koro with a new gameplay set-up that makes each game play unique without ever slowing down the high-paced fun or losing any of the original charm. Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City is a standalone, fast-paced game for 2-5 players. 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 die (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 his city on future turns. The first player to construct all of their landmarks wins!
Machi Koro: Deluxe Edition
Machi Koro: Deluxe Edition is a game for 2-5 players in which each player develop the city on their own 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. The first player to construct all of their landmarks wins! Machi Koro: Deluxe Edition features the base game, Harbor expansion, Millionaire's Row expansion, upgraded punchboard coins, two sculpted dice, an exclusive drawstring coin bag, six copies of "Convention Center" card, and six copies of the exclusive "Diamine" card! Only available in this printing, the Diamine features a special appearance by the diamond hungry Diamonsters!
Magic Maze
After being stripped of all their possessions, a mage, a warrior, an elf, and a dwarf are forced to go rob the local Magic Maze shopping mall for all the equipment necessary for their next adventure. They agree to map out the labyrinth in its entirety first, then find each individual’s favorite store, and then locate the exit. In order to evade the surveillance of the guards who eyed their arrival suspiciously, all four will pull off their heists simultaneously, then dash to the exit. That's the plan anyway…but can they pull it off? Magic Maze is a real-time, cooperative game. Each player can control any hero in order to make that hero perform a very specific action, to which the other players do not have access: Move north, explore a new area, ride an escalator… All this requires rigorous cooperation between the players in order to succeed at moving the heroes prudently. However, you are allowed to communicate only for short periods during the game; the rest of the time, you must play without giving any visual or audio cues to each other. If all of the heroes succeed in leaving the shopping mall in the limited time allotted for the game, each having stolen a very specific item, then everyone wins together. At the start of the game, you have only three minutes in which to take actions. Hourglass spaces you encounter along the way give you more time. If the sand timer ever completely runs out, all players lose the game: Your loitering has aroused suspicion, and the mall security guards nab you!
Marrakech
In Marrakech each player takes the role of a rug salesperson who tries to outwit the competition. Each player starts with an equal amount of money and an equal number of carpets. On your turn, you may rotate Assam 90 degrees. Then roll the die and move him forward as many spaces as showing (d6: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4). If Assam reaches the edge of the board, follow the curve and continue moving in the next row. If Assam lands on another player's carpet, you must pay that player 1 coin per square of the contiguous carpet area in that color. Then, you place one of your carpets orthogonally adjacent to Assam (but may not directly overlay another carpet). The game ends when all players have played all carpets. Each gets 1 coin per visible square of carpet. The player with most coins wins! Tie breaker: most carpet area visible.
Mass Effect: Board Game (Priority: Hagalaz)
The crew of the Normandy has one more mission. It is the year 2186, and the Reapers have invaded the galaxy. Because the Council ignored Commander Shepard's warnings, the Citadel Races are overwhelmed and on the verge of losing the war. Aboard the Normandy, Shepard carries out missions to prepare the Crucible, an ancient alien superweapon, for a last-chance attempt to defeat the Reapers. It's a race against time, and Shepard must seize every possible advantage. On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organization Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead a squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them... Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz is a co-operative, story-driven game set during the events of the video game Mass Effect 3. A branching, narrative campaign allows for multiple playthroughs with a different experience every time. Card-driven AI and evolving stories respond to your actions, with your early choices influencing later missions. Gather Shepard's squad from a selection of teammates from the Mass Effect trilogy: Liara, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus. Customize and upgrade your squad's abilities, equipment, and powers as they gain experience. Enhance them further by unlocking unique powers with optional loyalty missions.
Museum Suspects
DRRRiiiiiiiiinnnnng! Hurry, close the doors, a museum piece has been stolen! The director calls in a number of highly skilled investigators to find the thief or thieves amongst the 16 suspects held inside the building. Some clues are more valuable than others. Find the best ones to solve the case while obstructing your competitors' investigations! The culprit and his possible accomplices may still be around! Look for a clue in one of the museum's rooms. Cover your tracks to deceive your opponents. Accuse a suspect by deduction. What will be the outcome of this case? Will you find the culprit(s), unless they have escaped before the closing of the doors?
Mythicals
Mythicals is a tactical, risk-taking card-collecting game for two players. In this universe, each celestial creature holds the mastery of an element: water, air, earth, or fire. Study these creatures before the sun rises and learn all their secrets because the player with the greatest mastery of the elements at the end of the game wins! On your turn, collect cards representing the same elements by drawing three cards from the pile (and placing the reminding ones into the market) or by picking them from the market. If you can, discard a collection corresponding to a favor token (same elements + flush, different elements, same value...) and take the token.
Pandemic
In Pandemic, 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. The game board depicts several major population centers on Earth. On each turn, a player can use up to four actions to travel between cities, treat infected populaces, discover a cure, or build a research station. A deck of cards provides the players with these abilities, but sprinkled throughout this deck are Epidemic! cards that accelerate and intensify the diseases' activity. A second, separate deck of cards controls the "normal" spread of the infections. Taking a unique role within the team, players must plan their strategy to mesh with their specialists' strengths in order to conquer the diseases. For example, the Operations Expert can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases and which allow for greater mobility between cities; the Scientist needs only four cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal five—but the diseases are spreading quickly and time is running out. If one or more diseases spreads beyond recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win! The 2013 edition of Pandemic includes two new characters—the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist—not available in earlier editions of the game.
Path of Civilization
Take the reins of your Civilization and make the choices that will make it the most prosperous. It doesn't matter which path you take, as long as it leads your people to glory. Research new technologies to improve your nation's Science, Military strength, Spirituality, Culture and Industrialization. Grow the greatest Philosophical current of humanity. Use your Philosophers to become one of its forerunners and thus decide its evolution. Send your Builders to create wonders from your territory that will outlive everything, even men. Grow your Population so that the most illustrious Leaders are born from it and change the world forever, even after their death. Develop your Military Legacy so that the name of your civilization is enough to make your opponents tremble. And if that is not enough, send your army to defeat even the most distant External Threat. Use your Sages and the knowledge of your civilization to solve the great Challenges of humanity that will mark its history. In Path of Civilization, from the very first second of the game you must make choices that will have repercussions until the end of the game. The game is played simultaneously and works with a simple card and resource management system. The diversity of its cards guarantees enormous variability.
Pathfinder Arena
Pathfinder Arena is a competitive board game set in the Pathfinder RPG's "Age of Lost Omens" setting. Monsters and heroes clash in four stages of challenges in a labyrinth. In each stage, the number and power of the monsters increase, while heroes level up and gather resources to gain new skills, magic spells, equipment, and the deities' favor. Pathfinder Arena will feature high-detail miniatures of the most iconic monsters of Pathfinder, along with its greatest heroes. The monsters summoned in the labyrinth never leave their spot, but the labyrinth shape is dynamic, and players can change it by moving the board's tiles. Monsters can then be used to attack other players, in the end leaving only one winner.