20 Strong is a new deck-based game system from Chip Theory Games, capable of being played in about 30 minutes or less. We say “game system” because the idea behind 20 Strong is a small nucleus of simple, adaptable rules that can then be applied to a variety of unique decks, each with their own set of mechanics. We are launching 20 Strong with three such decks – one set in the world of Too Many Bones, one set in Hoplomachus: Victorum, and one in the new universe of the space-faring Solar Sentinels. We have more decks in development and plan to release them regularly if our customers are excited by them. For now, 20 Strong is a solo-only game, but even that could differ in future decks using the ruleset.

The object of a game of 20 Strong is to progress through a shuffled deck of cards, each card bearing a unique challenge. This challenge could be in the form of an enemy, a unique scenario, or some other requirement (for example, players of the Too Many Bones deck might expect to see a Lockpicking challenge or two). Challenges usually require a certain number of successes to complete, which you earn by rolling a set of 17 dice with different odds for a hit (these dice, along with three adjustable stat dice, make up the “20” in 20 Strong).

If you roll enough successes, you complete a card’s challenge and gain its rewards. If you don’t, you take damage and move on to the next card – unless, of course, your HP stat is reduced to 0, costing you the game. If you manage to make it through an entire deck, you take on one of the deck’s final bosses, attempting to score enough hits against this powerful enemy to claim ultimate victory.

Of course, it’s never so easy that you’d want to spend all of your dice on a single card. In addition to your HP Stat, you’re also keeping track of your Strategy (which controls how many rerolls and items you have) and your Recovery, which controls how many dice return to your pool after taking on a challenge. If you roll more dice than your Recovery, those dice are exhausted, lowering your pool for your subsequent challenges. It’s a game of pressing your luck, strategic decision-making, and resource management. We think you’re going to love it!

3-2-1 Countdown is a retro space travel-themed game in which players race to blast off by earning points with the lowest total hand value. Shed your cards onto one of the two discard piles by playing singles or sets, ending your turn by drawing a single card.

The goal is to declare "countdown" and end the round with the lowest total value in your hand.

• If the player who declares "countdown" has the lowest hand, they earn points and bonuses.

• If another player has a lower hand, the declarer earns no points, and other players score instead.

Deciding whether to keep shedding cards on your turn or risk declaring "countdown" is a strategic gamble!

Off the east coast of Australia is an underwater superhighway, a warm stretch of ocean called the East Australian Current. Here, your sea turtles swim amidst beautiful flora and fauna.

Each round you choose dice which offer various advantages in this diverse ecosystem: select food cubes to feed ever-growing schools of fish, settle corals onto reefs, swim further down the current with your sea turtles or choose to be the first player to pick dice in the next round. Your various actions earn you points and whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.

In Cabanga!, players try to get rid of their hand of cards as quickly as possible — but ideally without picking up penalties along the way.

After the row cards and starting cards in all four colors have been placed in the middle of the table and players each have a hand of eight cards, the round begins. Players then take turns placing one card next to the matching row card in the middle, ideally with as small a difference as possible because the larger the number gap, the greater the chance that the other players will call out "Cabanga!" and throw cards with the values between the two number cards to the active player. These thrown-in cards are placed on the discard pile, then the active player must draw the same number of cards from the penalty pile.

When a player has no more cards in hand, the round ends and all players count the points on their cards. As soon as a player has collected 18 points, the game ends and the player with the fewest points wins!

You are head of a family in an Italian city-state, a city run by a weak and corrupt court. You need to manipulate, bluff and bribe your way to power. Your object is to destroy the influence of all the other families, forcing them into exile. Only one family will survive...

In Coup, you want to be the last player with influence in the game, with influence being represented by face-down character cards in your playing area.

Each player starts the game with two coins and two influence – i.e., two face-down character cards; the fifteen card deck consists of three copies of five different characters, each with a unique set of powers:

• Duke: Take three coins from the treasury. Block someone from taking foreign aid.

• Assassin: Pay three coins and try to assassinate another player's character.

• Contessa: Block an assassination attempt against yourself.

• Captain: Take two coins from another player, or block someone from stealing coins from you.

• Ambassador: Draw two character cards from the Court (the deck), choose which (if any) to exchange with your face-down characters, then return two. Block someone from stealing coins from you.

On your turn, you can take any of the actions listed above, regardless of which characters you actually have in front of you, or you can take one of three other actions:

• Income: Take one coin from the treasury.

• Foreign aid: Take two coins from the treasury.

• Coup: Pay seven coins and launch a coup against an opponent, forcing that player to lose an influence. (If you have ten coins or more, you must take this action.)

When you take one of the character actions – whether actively on your turn, or defensively in response to someone else's action – that character's action automatically succeeds unless an opponent challenges you. In this case, if you can't (or don't) reveal the appropriate character, you lose an influence, turning one of your characters face-up. Face-up characters cannot be used, and if both of your characters are face-up, you're out of the game.

If you do have the character in question and choose to reveal it, the opponent loses an influence, then you shuffle that character into the deck and draw a new one, perhaps getting the same character again and perhaps not.

The last player to still have influence – that is, a face-down character – wins the game!

A new & optional character called the Inquisitor has been added (currently, the only English edition with the Inquisitor included is the Kickstarter Version from Indie Boards & Cards. Copies in stores may not be the Kickstarter versions and may only be the base game). The Inquisitor character cards may be used to replace the Ambassador cards.

• Inquisitor: Draw one character card from the Court deck and choose whether or not to exchange it with one of your face-down characters. OR Force an opponent to show you one of their character cards (their choice which). If you wish it, you may then force them to draw a new card from the Court deck. They then shuffle the old card into the Court deck. Block someone from stealing coins from you.

Digsaw is a roll-and-cut game in which anyone can become an archaeologist!

Each turn, players roll dice and use scissors to physically cut apart their dig site to recover priceless artifacts buried in the earth. Make careful cuts in an attempt to excavate artifacts one at a time until you have cut your dig site into little pieces. A skilled archaeologist needs both precision and patience because at the end of the game, only isolated artifacts will score!

Are you a "cut" above the rest? Only the best student can be raised to the coveted position of senior archaeologist!

Somewhere on a doomed and distant planet, life has emerged, competing for supremacy until the world’s inevitable destruction. The object of the game is to score the most points by the time the world ends. Score points by playing Traits for your Doomlings’ species, making them more adaptable, resilient, and mischievous. As your Doomlings assert their dominance, Catastrophes will befall the planet, causing setbacks for each competing species. When the third Catastrophe inevitably strikes, the world ends, and the Doomlings with the strongest set of traits gets to look the Apocalypse in the eye and declare…“I scored the most points!”

Throughout the game, players draw Trait cards from a community pile, and then play them for points. Traits can also have special abilities and bonuses, allowing players to build a wide range of winning combinations. The game is played in rounds, using Age cards, which have different rules that players must follow. But be warned, hidden in the Ages are Catastrophes: special rounds with adverse effects that force players to adapt their strategy.

Doomlings adds a fun twist to hand management, by introducing the “Gene Pool” mechanic. Your Gene Pool is your hand size: it is unique to you, and it can increase or decrease through special Traits, or even Catastrophes. Doomlings includes 6 colorful Gene Pool counter cards, elegantly tracking how many cards you should hold at the end of your turn. There are opportunities to increase your Gene Pool (hand size), which can give your species a leg up by providing a larger pool of Traits to select from each turn.

A lightweight card game for 2-6 players, Doomlings can be played casually amongst friends, or competitively by the gaming enthusiast family. Because there are no duplicate cards, and Age cards are chosen randomly, no two games are ever the same. While the game itself can be learned in 5 minutes or less, don’t be fooled: with 100+ unique Traits—in Red, Blue, Green, Purple and Colorless—and rare, powerful Dominant Traits, there are countless combinations of play to be discovered.

A typical game takes between 20-45 minutes, depending on the number of players and sequence of events. Advanced-play expansion packs are also available, including a Hidden Objective expansion for a fun twist to the game. Doomlings requires no dice or additional pieces, just a jolly embrace of the inevitable end of the world!

You've prepared your whole life for this. Every movie you've seen, every show you've watched, every song you've listened to, every place you've visited, every book you've read, every kind of food you've eaten, and every person you've ever heard of makes you better at this game. It's finally time to get credit for everything you already know!

In Everything Ever, you and your friends take turns listing things from categories like "Every Dinosaur Movie" or "Every Brand of Soap". Two category cards are in play, and on your turn, you must say something that fits in one category and something that fits in the other, with both of those somethings not having been said previously. If you can't think of something, you can play a category card from the three in your hand to cover the one you're blanking on, then name something from that new category. If you can't think of something for a category, you must take that pile as a penalty, then flip a new category from the deck.

If you say something that fits both categories at the same time, you can either discard one of your penalty cards or draw a new category card from the deck, then play a third category card to the table. (Once someone is penalized, drop back to two categories.)

Keep your friends' iffy answers in check with judge cards, and win by collecting the fewest cards once the deck runs out.