Cleopatra

Cleopatra is a fun game with lots of pieces. The goal is to become the wealthiest architect. You do this by building pieces of her palace. But watch out, corruption is everywhere. If you are deemed the most corrupt architect you automatically lose the game! It's not just about making the most money.

We have played this game several times now and have always enjoyed it. The suspense builds at the end as it can be very hard to know who has acquired the most corruption amulets. The game plays up to 5 players and takes about 1 hour to play.

Dominion

We sold several of these games before we opened one up to play. What a great game! Dominion feels like a board game but it is all cards. The goal is to try to control as much land as possible. There is a great variety of cards to play with and you only play with a limited amount each time. Therefore the game always changes and presents new oportunities as well as challenges. Fairly easy to learn. Once you get the hang of it you can play a round in about 30 minutes. 2-4 players can play, recommended age 10+.

There are several expansions that go along with this game. Dominion: Intrigue adds rules and cards that allow you to play up to 6 players. Dominion: Prosperity adds several new cards inluding treasure cards with abilities. Dominion: Alchemy and Dominion: Seaside add new Kingdom cards.

Power Grid

We have played Power Grid several times now and it has become one of my favorite games. It is similar to Puerto Rico in that you play in phases but it is simpler. The goal is to supply the most cities with power. You do this through buying (through an auction process) a variety of different types of power plants (coal, oil, etc...). Each type of plant requires resources that you have to buy in order to keep it powered. You make money as you power cities. You travel from city to city supply power to as many as you can. The game has good variety but isn't overly complicated. Once you have played through the phases once it is very easy. With the same board you can play on a map of the United States or Germany.

The game generally takes us between 2 and 2 1/2 hours to play. Up to 6 people can play.