Short Games (forty-five minutes or less)

Funfair
aka Rummelplatz
Birgit Stolte, Friedemann Friese, Inka Brand, Markus Brand, Martin Schlegel, Michael Rieneck, Peter Eggert, Philipp El Alaoui, Stefan Stadler, Tobias Stapelfeldt; eggertspiele; 3-6; 30
"Funfair" features 8 attractions/rides which are short games such as ring-the-bell, bumper cars, etc. Points are collected at these games to increase your chances of winning the top prize. [more]

Mille Grazie
Dirk Hillebrecht; Zoch Verlag; 2-4; 30
In "A Thousand Thanks" players alternate between being rich nobles and lurking highwaymen. As a noble, task cards indicate the travel destination, moving the pawn 4-5 roads. The other players are robbers secretly decides on which road to wait. Should the noble use a chosen road, he is robbed, yielding points to the robber while the noble loses cards. Otherwise, the noble reaching the destination gets the points printed on the card. Before leaving a noble can hire a guard for exactly one road where he will be safe, but then can only move a distance of 4 roads. [more]

S. Jorge Trophy
Gil d’Orey; MESAboardgames; 2-6; 30
About the history of the Castle of St. Jorge in Lisbon. Twelve historical characters (depicted both on cards and stand up picture pawns) including an Iron Age Chief, a Roman governor, an Arabic Sultan, Henry the Navigator, the last King of Portugal, etc. contest to see who deserves to be the real master of the castle, which depends on walking around the castle and collecting three trophies (none of them false ones). There is a possibility of stealing trophies or giving away the false ones (which weigh one down). Each character has a special ability. The board shows a very detailed map of the castle with 26 sites of historical importance connected by pathways and secret passages. Each player has a public and a secret base. Pawns have directional indicators that determine which way they may move and have 5 moves per turn (if not carrying anything). Before each move they may turn by 90 degrees. Special abilities for the characters are marked by language-neutral icons. [more]

7 Wonders
Antoine Bauza; Asmodée/Repos Production; 3-7; 30
In an ancient world setting in which each each player has a placard showing a different wonder of the world, players receive seven cards, choose and pass the rest down the line. Then the chosen cards are all played and it repeats. Cards include military buildup (compared to left and right hand opponents at round's end to gain or lose points), science (technology tree and set collection for points at the end), materials (wood, stone, etc.) trade (bonuses for purchase of materials based on others' cards) and pure points cards. Placards have more advanced versions on the back side. Also available is the ability to in effect bury a card if it's important to keep the downstream player from having it. Deals of 7 cards happen three times, from three different ages, and then play is over. [more]

Summy
Corné van Moorsel; Cwali; 2-10; 30
Reminiscent of Scrabble, but with math. Tiles are played to create a valid sum and points scored for based on the value of each digit in the sum. It may also be important to know the tile composition, which tiles are already out and which must be left in the opponents' hands. [more]

Totemo
Tony Boydell; Surprised Stare Games Ltd; 2-4; 30
Placing blocks to construct totem poles. These blocks are somewhat elongated cubes having pegs sticking out of the base and holes in the top. Each also shows a face for that color and a points value. A wooden base board with holes means that all constructions are placed together. Each colored block may only touch its own color or two other particular colors, but the more blocks touched, the higher the score. Additional turns are awarded for landing on particular spaces on the scoring track printed on the cloth board. [more]

Travel Blog
Vlaada Chvátil; Czech Games Edition/IELLO/Z-Man Games; 2-6; 30
Includes maps of Europe and the USA and decks of cards corresponding to all of the states shown. Seven cards are dealt around the map, the map is hidden and then an 8th revealed, the starting state. Then as fast as they can, players put their token on the card that they think can be reached from the starting state with the fewest border crossings, but avoiding states that share a border with it. When multiple tokens are placed the choice becomes more costly the more tokens that are on it. Then trips are resolved, the players hoping to minimize the amount they have to pay to make the trip. In later rounds players choose two destinations and then even later the final two cards determine the start and the end of the trip with two destinations in between. In the final round all is turned on its head as players try for the most expensive trip. Knowing geography would appear to help, but is probably not the only factor.

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