Players: 3

Key ideas:
• Each player controls a cult devoted to a different god in a polytheistic society.
• Players win by ascending in authority to become the Cult of the One True God (reaching a score of 1).
• This society is divided between competing social groups. Cults can respond to social conflicts by either supporting a contending group or preaching peace.
• Cults supporting the winning side of conflicts ascend. Those on the losing side descend.
• To influence social conflicts cults need to match their beliefs with these groups’ beliefs. But adapting beliefs to do so also diminishes cults’ authority.

Components
4 Cult cards (showing god and starting beliefs)
• Lion (Hierarchy, Community, Old)
• Elephant (Equality, Community, Old)
• Eagle (Hierarchy, Individual, Old)
• Serpent (Equality, Individual, Old)

4 Group cards (showing group and beliefs)
• Monarchy (Hierarchy, Community)
• Merchants (Hierarchy, Individual)
• Artisans (Equality, Individual)
• Barbarians (Equality, Community)

3x3 double sided Belief cards
• Old / New
• Hierarchy / Equality
• Community / Individual

11 dice (3 ‘Authority’ die, 8 ‘Conflict’ die)

Setup
Each player selects a Cult and places an Authority die and set of Belief cards in front of her:
• Belief cards with her Cult’s starting beliefs face up.
• Authority die set to ‘4’.

Place the Group whose beliefs best match the leftover Cult face up in the middle of the table – this Group are the Rulers. Place the other Groups in a facedown pile.
Remove the leftover Cult from the game.

Round
Shuffle the Group pile and turn the top card face up – this is the Opposition.
Players simultaneously choose whether to adapt any Beliefs (flipping their Belief cards over). For each Belief adapted (flipped) a player descends by 1 (eg. turn Authority die from 4 to 5).
Players simultaneously declare support for Rulers, Opposition or Peace (place Cult card next to Rulers, Opposition or neither).
Players collect Conflict dice based upon matches between their Cult’s current beliefs and those of the Groups. If supporting:
• Rulers – one die for each match with Rulers’ beliefs and one for matching ‘Old’.
• Opposition – one die for each match with Opposition’s beliefs and one for matching ‘New’.
• Peace – one die for matching a belief shared by both Rulers and Opposition.

Players roll dice and add up the total scores for Rulers, Opposition and Peace.
Outcomes:
a) Peace scores highest:
• Peace supporters Ascend by 2 (eg. turn Authority die from 4 to 2)
• Rulers remain Rulers (return Opposition to pile)
b) Rulers score highest:
• Rulers’ supporters Ascend by 2
• Opposition supporters Descend by 1 (eg. turn Authority die from 4 to 5)
• Rulers remain Rulers (return Opposition to pile)
c) Opposition score highest:
• Opposition supporters Ascend by 1.
• Rulers supporters Descend
• Opposition become Rulers (return old Rulers to pile)

Ending the game
Continue playing rounds until player wins by reaching a score of 1.

Resolving ties:
Player whose current beliefs most closely match her Cult’s starting beliefs wins. If this does not resolve the tie the drawn players turn their Authority dice to ‘2’ and play continues.

2 to 4 players

Background:
As prophets, priests, and proselytes throng to the religious city they must endure disaster, thrive in bounty, navigate unrest, celebrate renaissance, strengthen in peace and show their strength in war. Will your religion weather the changing times, or will others build their glory on the ruins of what should have been your religious city?

Goal:
Cunningly use prophets, priests, and proselytes to build the city’s most powerful religion.

Setup:
Divide cards into Prophet, Priest, and Proselyte decks and shuffle each deck. Deal each player one card from each deck. Remove from play extra Prophet cards. Shuffle remaining cards together forming the Immigrant Deck. Players place their cards face up forming their Religion Hand. Any cards they later receive go to their hidden Populous Hand. The player to the left of the dealer begins.

Play:
Begin by rolling the Changing Times Dice resulting in Peace, Renaissance, Bounty, Disaster, Unrest, or War for your turn. Perform any effects indicated in your Religion Hand. Effects always overrule normal rules.

Perform one of three actions: Evangelize, Excommunicate, or Indoctrinate. If Peace is rolled you may only choose Indoctrinate.

Finally, you may transfer any cards between your Populous and Religion Hands.

Once a round has ended each player draws a card from the Immigrant Deck.

Cards:
Prophets are your foundation and cannot be converted; they are the Oracle, Contemplative, Militant, and Doomsayer.

Priests possess passive abilities and increased stats; they are the Noble, Healer, Intercessor, Scholar, Philanthropist, and Missionary.

Proselytes are unique commoners such as the Heretic, Martyr, Zealot, Faithful, Skeptic, Layman, Aristocrat, and Pauper.

Example:
Intercessor
Faith:4, Education:0, Influence:2
Passive: Negate one ill effect in Religion Hand.
Peace:NA
Renaissance:NA
Bounty: Plus two Faith to Heretic and Skeptic.
Disaster: Plus two Faith to Faithful and Zealot.
Unrest: Lose one Influence
War: Roll even number to save martyred cards.

Actions:
Evangelize: Choose one card to be an evangelist accompanied by the number of cards equal to its influence. Accompanying cards may contribute bonuses and become evangelist if the current one is martyred. Choose a card from an opponent's Religion Hand to convert. The active effects from all cards in the defending Religion Hand apply to the defending card. Both players must roll a D6 dice. The evangelist’s and the defender’s Education are added to their respective rolls to determine the winner. A tie goes to the defender. The evangelist may make as many additional attempts to evangelize as they have Faith. A second round of attempts may be made at the risk of the evangelist being martyred (discarded) in which case an accompanying card may continue evangelization at risk of martyrdom. The defending card is converted once it has been defeated as many times as it has Faith.

Excommunicate: Discard two Proselyte cards, or one Priest, for one new card from the Immigrant Deck.

Indoctrinate: Reinforce one stat one point for all cards in your Religion Hand until your next turn.

Winning: The first religion to have twelve cards wins.

WRATH

2-8 players
15 minutes

GAME STRUCTURE:

Players are powerful gods fighting to be the last deity left for mortals to worship.

COMPONENTS:

3x – 6-sided dice per player
18x – God Power cards

    1x – Earth      1x – Water      1x – Wind                 
    1x – Fire       1x – Love       1x – War                 
    1x – Speed      1x – Beasts     1x – Ice                 
    1x – Healing    1x – Lightning  1x – Wine 
    1x – Death      1x – Magic      1x – Night                 
    1x – Vengeance  1x – Beauty     1x – Science  

GAME STRUCTURE:

The game is played in rounds where each player attacks another. The last player with remaining life points becomes the winner and reigning deity.

GAME PLAY:

Each player creates a random god by drawing two God Power cards (i.e. God of War and Beasts). These cards give players ATTACK and DEFENSE boosts. Players hide their God Power cards and set a die to the total life points provided by their God Power cards (maximum of 6).

EXAMPLE OF GOD POWER CARDS BOOSTS:

Ice – 2 Life Points

    ATTACK: Both attacker and defender rolls are halved.
    DEFEND: Attacker only rolls 1 die.

Fire – 3 Life Points

    ATTACK: Add 2 to your total attack.
    DEFEND: Add 2 to your total defense.

ROUNDS:

At the start of each round, players put one God Power card face down in front of them in attack or defense mode by facing the mode to the center of the table. Players only get attack boosts when attacking and defense boosts when defending. After everyone’s cards are placed, players roll 1 die to see who goes first. The player with the highest roll chooses who goes first this round.

After each round, players return their god power cards to their hands. A new round begins.

TURNS:

The player reveals their card (if it’s still hidden) and declares their attack. Target player reveals their card. Resolve the attack.

The player to the left goes next. Continue until every player makes an attack.

ATTACKING AND DEFENDING:

When a player declares an attack, both the attacker and defender roll two dice. Card powers may adjust the value of these rolls.

The god with the higher roll total wins.

If the attacker wins

    Defender loses 1 life point for a tie or loss of 1-5
    Defender loses 2 life points for a loss of 6-10 
    Defender loses 3 life points for a loss of 11+. 

If defender wins

    Attacker loses 1 point for a loss of 7+. 

ADDITIONAL GAME MECHANICS:

You may attack players whose card is already revealed or has no card.

Instead putting a card face down, players can replace their god power card with a random unused card but will get no power boost this round. Shuffle original card into the stack.

You may play the same god card two rounds in a row, but not in the same mode.

Use a single die to measure your life points with a max of 6. Run out of life points and you are out of the game.

The last surviving “god” wins the game.

Dare to Defy

*You are a disciple of Jesus, walking with him as he travels. Along the way you are participating in miracles, healings and teachings. But the Temple and Roman authorities do not appreciate your activities and will attempt to capture and jail you.

Dare to Defy is a press your luck card game for 2-4 players.*

Components

18 Cards

• 5 red Miracles cards
• 5 gold Healings cards
• 5 purple Teachings cards
• 3 Authority cards
• 1 Chief Priest card
• 1 Pharisees card
• 1 Roman Soldiers card

12 Dice

• 4 red Miracles dice
• 4 gold Healings dice
• 4 purple Teachings dice

Cards have a unique border color that matches the color of the dice.

Cards have an icon in the upper right, a bible verse at the bottom and a picture in the center that represents the Bible verse.

Dice are numbered 0-4, with a custom icon as the last side, which matches the icon on the cards.

Setup

Choose first player.

Give players 1 of each type of dice. All dice start on 0.

Give the cards to first player who shuffles and sets them in a face down deck.

Game Play

Active player's turn consists of a series of up to five card draws from face down deck.

The first card draw will flip over the top card. The second card draw will flip over the next two cards. The third card draw will flip over the next three cards. The fourth card draw will flip over the next four cards. The fifth card draw will flip over the next five cards.

If player starts card draw it must be completed.

At any point between card draws player may decide to stop and score turn.

Player who successfully completes all five card draws must also stop and score turn.

If at any point in a player's turn all 3 Authority cards have been flipped over, turn automatically ends and there is no score.

When player ends turn before all 3 Authority cards have been flipped, player chooses 1 type of card (Miracles, Healings or Teachings) and increases number on that player's matching die by number of those cards flipped over.

Players are attempting to be first to have all 3 dice show custom icon.

Players' dice start at 0 and proceed to 4, then the custom icon is next which shows that player has collected required number of that type of card.

When player's turn is over pass the cards to next player on left who shuffles them and starts next turn.

Once a player gets all 3 dice to custom icon side complete round so all players take an equal number of turns, then game ends.

If more than one player completes all 3 dice by end of game those players roll all 3 dice and add total, the custom icon side counting as 5. High roll is winner. Repeat as necessary.

SETUP

Sort the six good soul cards and six evil soul cards into sets. Give each player one evil soul card, one good soul card, and 1D6 to record their score.

The six gate cards (2 x Heaven, 2 x Hell, 2 x Limbo) are shuffled and one card is removed for each player. The removed cards are shown to all the players. These cards are shuffled again and each player receives one card, which they look at and keep secret.

HEAVEN AND HELL GATE SCORING

Face Down, 1 gate match = 2 points, 1 non match = -2 points

Face Up, 1 gate match = 1 point, 1 non match = -1 points

LIMBO GATE SCORING

Face Down, 2 different soul cards = 4 points, 2 identical soul cards = -4 points

Face Up, 2 different soul cards = 2 points, 2 identical soul cards = -2 points

STAGE 1

Each player can ask one of the other players any one of the following questions,

1) Does your gate lead to Heaven
2) Does your gate lead to Hell
3) Does your gate lead to Limbo

4) Does the gate of player X lead to Heaven
5) Does the gate of player X lead to Hell
6) Does the gate of player X lead to Limbo

After answering a question about their own gate a player can’t be asked another question about their own gate by any other player, but they can be asked questions about what gates they think the other players have.

When answering a question a player with a gate to hell card must answer with a lie. In contrast a person in possession of a gate to heaven must answer with the truth. A person with a gate to limbo card can choose to answer with a lie or a truth.

STAGE 2

Each player puts a soul into the centre of the table, face up. The cards are shuffled and each player receives a card, face down.

If they choose to keep their card they place it face down in front of them. If they pass their card to another player they turn it face up.

STAGE 3

The players are free to speculate what gates they think the other players have. During this open discussion the players are still bound by their gates and their assertions must be in accordance with them.

STAGE 4

Stage 2 is repeated and the players send their second souls. This sending must end with each player having 2 souls.

The players secretly adjust their hidden D6, reflecting any changes to their score, and announce a gain, loss or no change without being number specific.

CONTINUED PLAY

The players take back their soul cards and a new round begins. After a set number of rounds the highest score wins. A player can win earlier if they accumulate 6 points.

"Sancti et Malum" is Latin for "Holy and Evil" - humanity's eternal moral dichotomy. According to the people of the book, a great cosmic struggle has persisted since the dawn of existence. The Creator's universe includes beings which are generally called "angels" possessing a component of free will and emotion. In an ancient age, some of these beings rebelled against the Great Maker, appointed themselves as Satan, and commenced influencing God's other created beings to deny His authority and supremacy.

This is a cooperative card game for one to four players taking on the role of the Archai - the Ruler class of the Angelic Host, overseeing the Archangels in their eternal battle with the Fallen. The components include five standard six-sided dice and a deck of 18 specially designed cards.

The faces of these cards is split on the diagonal, one half representing the Holy Choir of Angels and the other representing the Evil Host of the Fallen. The cards contain the following information:

Card #         Holy Side      /  Evil Side

    1.         Michael        /   Belphegor
    2.         Gabriel        /   Amon
    3.         Raphael        /   Asmodeus
    4.         Uriel          /   Mammon
    5.         Jegudiel       /   Beelzebub
    6.         Raguel         /   Leviathan        
    7.         Selaphiel      /   Lucifer
8 thru 14.     Malakhim       /   Daemons
15 thru 18.    Holy Choir     /   Evil Host

The players are attempting to defeat the Fallen in a series of "confrontations." Any player can roll for the Fallen during a confrontation (trying for a lower total so they can be more readily defeated).

Each card indicates a number of dice to be rolled (two to six) and sometimes a number of re-rolls. Like in push-your-luck games, players may re-roll any number of dice, up to that stated maximum.

Notice that "modifiers" for the Fallen has an "n" after the number. This represents the number of players, and should be multiplied. Example: Beelzebub's card says "2 re-rolls +4n." If there are three players, that means "2 re-rolls +12" (4 times the number of players).

Players begin each turn with a hand of three cards, kept private. A card is turned up from the draw deck and the red half is the common enemy. Some player rolls dice for the Fallen as indicated on the card and add the modifier. The Evil Host calls for a second enemy to be drawn, its die roll added to the first.

Each player choose a Holy card from their hand. These cards are revealed and dice rolled as indicated, adding all players' die rolls and modifiers together. The Holy Choir, calls for a second Holy card to be drawn, its die roll added to the first.

The higher total (Holy or Evil) wins this confrontation. In a tie, the confrontation does not score for either side. Place all used cards into the discard pile. If the draw pile is depleted, shuffle the discards and set up a new draw deck.

Which ever side wins four confrontations first is the winner.

3-6 players

COMPONENTS:
18 cards
- 15 cards with "Guardian angel" with values 1-15
- 3 cards with "Fallen angel" with values 15
regular die

THE GAME:
Shuffle the cards and deal 3 cards for each player in hand.
The oldest player is the first starting player. He takes the die in front of him. The die must show "1" as a first round.

In clockwise order each player may either:
a) play one of his card face-down on the table or
b) pass.

If all players has chosen their actions all played cards are revealed:
- If there are only "Fallen angles" on the table - they all score 15 points.
- If there are both sides on the table - the strongest "Guardian angel" scores as many points as the value of its card and all "Fallen angels" score 15 negative points.
- If there are only "Guardian angels" on the table - the weakest "Guardian angel" scores as many points as the value of its card and all other "Guardian angels" scores as many negative points as the values of their cards (They wasted their ability to guard in right time!).

Scoring cards stays in front of the players until the end of the round.
Nb! The card has positive score above and negative score bottom on the card and while scoring the card may be turn accordingly.

If all cards are played the first round is over and the points may be write up on the paper.
It is possible than some of the players are out of the round earlier than others.

The die moves to the next player and must be show the "2" as the second round. Start the next round.
...
Game ends after sixth round. The player with the most points is the winner.

To Heaven or Hell (mouth feel)

Components:

1 die for each player + 1 master die (D6 with 1-3 in black and 1-3 in white)

Cards are double-sided, triangular and split into three sections.

The sections are color coded – white represents something virtuous and black represents something sinful.

Side 1 = two white, one black section, Side 2 = two black, one white section

These cards are quite interactive. They include sins such as stealing money, removing clothing, punching, eating, etc. And virtues like donating money, giving hugs, praying for someone, etc.

Examples of white sections – “Pray aloud for one other player”, “Give another player all of the change in your wallet” The white section adds a point to all involved players (ie. The player praying and being prayed for, the donating player and player receiving donation)

Examples of black sections – “Another player will choose any item from the fridge, and you must eat it”, “punch another player” The black sections subtract a point from all involved players (ie. Player who chooses and who eats the food, the players who punches and gets punched)

Some sections may also gain a point for one player and subtract a point from another player. Examples may include: “Berate a player for a minute (-1) – if the player doesn’t ask to stop (+1)”, “Allow another player to flick your forehead (+1 for flicked, -1 for flicker)

It would be impossible (and boring) to list all of the possible sections in under 500 words. However, this is a party game which relies heavily on what each section says and the outcomes of each (+/- points). I hope these examples are good enough to give you a mouth feel for this game.

How to play:

1. The player dice is used to track progress as well as indicate their vote. Players start at 3 or 4 depending on a master dice roll (black = 3, white = 4).
   A player wins by reaching 0 (hell) or 7 (heaven). Are you evil or good?

2. A card is chosen at random. Roll the master die to see which side you will play on.

3. Each player places their die at one of the corners of the card (section).

4. The master die is rolled again (the number indicates the section to be used)

5. Follow the instructions on the chosen section. Players will add / subtract points from their player dice accordingly.

6. Choose a new card and repeat steps 2 – 5.
   Game ends when a player reaches hell (0) or heaven (7 points)

If this is not religious enough, I also considered doing a religion vs religion, Moses vs Pharaoh, or the Divine Comedy as themes. However, I think this game is just more fun as currently written)

Performing a miracle will always draw a crowd, whether you want them or not. Compete against other players to perform the miracles of Jesus and gather 12 disciples, but beware, Judas is lurking about!

2-4 players

COMPONENTS

16 Miracle Cards
Power Summary Card
Judas Card
6 Miracle Dice
Power Die
Judas Die
Pencil and Paper for tallying

SETUP

Shuffle the Miracle Cards and place them face down together in a deck. Reveal the top 3 cards and place them face up on the table. Place the Judas card off to the side. The player with the closest birthday to Jesus’ birthday (December 25th) goes first.

GAMEPLAY

Performing a Miracle: Use the Miracle Dice to try and perform one of the face-up Miracles. Each Miracle Card displays a dice combination that must be rolled in order to perform the miracle (i.e. 1-2-3-4-5-6, three pairs, sum >25). A player has up to 6 rolls to perform a miracle and may lock any number of dice after each roll. Once a die is locked, it cannot be rerolled later that turn. After the first roll, the player must declare which miracle they are trying to perform. If the Miracle combination is achieved, disciples are awarded based on which roll the miracle was completed on (1st roll = 6 disciples, 2nd roll = 5 disciples, etc.). When a Miracle is completed, the player claims it and replaces it with a new card from the deck. If a Miracle attempt fails, place that card at the bottom of the deck and replace it.

Power Die: Each player starts the game with one power per turn than can be invoked. Additional Power Rolls can be earned with each completed Miracle but only one Power Roll can be performed per Miracle Roll. A player may roll the Power Die after one of their Miracle rolls to invoke one of the following powers:

1: Judas becomes your disciple
2: Nothing
3: Reroll an unlocked die
4: Adjust an unlocked die up or down one
5: Reroll or adjust any die
6: Reroll or adjust any die and you may move Judas

Judas Die: When a player gains the Judas Card, they also gain control of the Judas Die. The Judas Die can be rolled once on another player’s turn to try and sabotage their roll. The Judas Die cannot be rolled again until Judas is moved or it becomes the Judas-possessing player’s turn again. This die produces the following results:

1: Lose one disciple
2: Nothing
3-5: Force current player to reroll any die
6: Gain one disciple

WINNING

The first player to collect at least 12 disciples and not have Judas in front of them is declared Jesus Christ and wins the game! Each player must have taken an equal amount of turns for the game to end this way. In the case that all miracles have been performed and no player has 12 disciples, the player with most disciples and does not have Judas wins.

Who is your God now?

3-4 Players

Through the ages humanity has believed in many Gods, but which ones are real? All of them, it’s just that they take turns reigning. If you don’t want eternal damnation you have to believe in the God in turn. The ruling God doesn’t manifest itself in the world, why would they made it easy to believe in them?, so you have to look for random acts from other Gods so you can know which one to put your faith in, or be totally devoted to a complete pantheon.

Components

- 16 God cards, 4 different Gods from each of the 4 pantheons (Aztec, Norse, Greek, Hindu)
- 1 Priest card.

Setup

*Shuffle the God cards and put one aside face down randomly, that would be the ruling God.
*Add the priest card to the deck of God cards if the game is being played with 4 players.
*Deal 5 (or 4 if there are 4 players) cards to each player.

Playing the Game

At the beginning of each turn, each player choose one card from their hand and pass it face down to the player to their left.

Then the player whose turn it is can:
- Reveal one card from their hand and do as it says.
- Declare their faith: Put one card from their hand face down in front of them, that card’s pantheon is the one they believe to be the one the ruling God belongs. The player can’t change that card, but they still can have faith in a pantheon.When 3 players had declared their faith, the round ends.
- Faith in a pantheon: Reveal from their hand a complete pantheon, that is, 4 cards belonging to the same pantheon. That ends the round.

When the round ends each player who declared their faith reveals their card in the order in which they put the card face down, they are awarded points in the next way:

Points for the round
Faith in a pantheon - 2
The first one to declare their faith in the pantheon of the ruling God - 3
Second- 2
Third - 1

Winning
Rounds are played until someone has 10 or more points. After each round do as the setup says.
The player with more points win.

Cards

Each God card has a different effect, some help you to know more cards and others to get the ones you want. For example, Loki makes each player choose 2 cards from their hand, shuffle all of them, and deal them randomly to all players. Tlaloc forces all players to reveal a card from their hand randomly to all players. Kronos let you look at the cards passed the next turn and draft them (you pick one, then the player to your left, etc.). Vishnu makes 2 players show only you 2 cards of their choice from their hand.

Avignon: A Tug-of-War Card Game for 2 Players

From 1378-1417, the Catholic Church was divided by rival popes, both claiming legitimacy to the Throne of Saint Peter. In Avignon, two players take the part of the rival popes, trying to influence the congregation to support their claim.

Components: 13 Congregation Cards, 2 Reference Cards

Setup

Give each player one Reference Card.

Shuffle the Congregation Cards together, then place the top seven cards face-up in a row between the players.

Place the remaining cards face-down in a Draw Pile at one end of the row of face-up cards.

Each player draws one card, which is kept hidden from the other players.

The player who has most recently visited church or other place of worship goes first. The first player takes only one action on his or her first turn.

Turn Sequence:

On your turn, take two of the following actions. You must take two different actions each turn.

• PUSH a card one card length toward your rival.
• PULL a card one card length toward you.
• PLAY a card from your hand. This card is played in the exact position of any one of the seven face-up cards. Place the card that previously occupied that position in the Discard Pile.
• DISCARD all cards in your hand to the Discard Pile.
• PETITION a member of the congregation by following the PETITION instructions listed on any one of the cards in play. You can only use the PETITION instructions on the side of the card facing you. Other actions taken as part of a PETITION action do not count against either action limit (number of actions per turn or number of times taking a given action per turn).

After completing your turn, if you have no cards in your hand, draw one card. If the Draw Pile is empty, shuffle the Discard Pile to create a new Draw Pile before drawing.

After you take your actions and draw, it is the other player’s turn.

Scoring (Claiming a Card)

If an action a player takes causes a card to move three card lengths away from the cards’ position at the start of the game, that card is claimed by the player it is closest to. The player claiming the card takes it off the board and sets it aside on their side of the play area. That card is now out of play and cannot be affected by actions.

Claiming a card doesn’t cost an action.

Claimed cards are not replaced in play; when a card is claimed, there is one fewer card in play for the rest of the game.

Ending the Game

The game ends when one player claims three cards. That player wins. If two players would win at the same time, the player who took the last action wins.