Plateau Chess is a variant of Chess, played on a board shaped like a plateau.

The box has, on its top, a 6x6 chessboard. The four sides of the box each have a 2x6 chessboard that lines up with the one on the top. The sides include a metal liner; and all the pieces have a magnetic base, so they can sit, sideways, on any square on any of the fours sides. (For packaging, it could actually be the bottom rather than the top of the box, so that you could have artwork on the top. If so, you turn the box over in order to play.)

The five sides of the board are referred to as
top: the top.
white side: the side facing the player playing the white pieces.
black side: the side facing the player playing the black pieces.
port side: the side on the white player's left
starboard side: the side on the white player's.right.
The lines where two sides meet is referred to as a "fold."

Pieces: in each color (black and white) there are the following pieces.
King
Queen
2 bishops
2 knights
2 rooks
6 pawns (note, only 6 of each color, not 8)
4 tunnelers (described below)

To start, arrange your 6 pawns on the top row of your side. Below them, place knight, bishop, king and queen, bishop, knight, such that the queen is on your color and the king on the opponent's color. On the closest bottom square of port and starboard side, place a rook. Place a tunneler on each of the two squares immediately adjacent to each of the rooks. (You should have a rook and two tunnelers on each the port and starboard sides, and your other 12 pieces on your own side.)

Variations from normal chess:

Pieces move over any fold in their normal movement, as if the fold were flattened out. However, only ONE fold can be traversed in this way in a single move. A rook on the starboard side, for example, could move a total of 12 squares if nothing were in its way, along the bottom row of the starboard side and the bottom row of the black or white side, but then it would have to use another move to move on to the port side.

Tunnelers can move and take one square in any direction (like a king), including moving over one fold. However, when on any side, they also can tunnel straight through the box to arrive at the square directly opposite the one they are on. They can also take (and put a king in check) in this way. A tunneler on the top of the board cannot tunnel anywhere.

Camera Obscura

The players are Victorian photographers. Points are scored by matching the slides IN the camera to the picture cards in their hand. This involves an element of memory because the “glow in the dark” card graphics are only visible when viewed IN the camera.

Box

The game box is a 75 cm cube split into two equal halves, with graphics representing the front and back segments of an old Victorian camera. One of the halves has a central hole in it. The two halves slide over an inner core that is a square shaped cylinder, with leather concertina artwork and 3 slots to accept the slide cards.

To set up the camera the two halves are slid out to either end of the inner cylinder and magnetically fixed in place.

Cards

54 slides, transparent poker cards printed with glow in the dark ink. This ink is charged by exposure to sunlight and the images are only visible in the dark environment of the camera. The graphics on each card represent one of two location segments, foreground and background. A third variant depicts objects or people of interest.

27 picture cards featuring graphical combinations achievable by the correct placement of three slides. Some slides are easier to incorporate into pictures than others, because they appear more frequently in the deck. The more difficult picture combinations score more points.

Auction Board

A folding board measuring 68x68, with a circuitous route of 6 action icons to mark the player positions in a line auction.

1) Take a card from the camera and replace it with one from your hand
2) Forfeit a hand card and draw a new card from the deck
3) Swap the hand cards of two other players
4) Repeat of action 1
5) Force a player to surrender a hand card and draw a new card
6) Swap a hand card with another players hand card

Gameplay

3 slides are placed in the camera and each player receives 3 slides and 3 picture cards.

In starting turn order the players select an action by placing their colored disc on an action icon. If a player chooses an action holding the disc of another player they stack their disc on top, up to a maximum of 2 discs.

The players can swap one of their three picture cards with a new one from the deck and/or perform their action.

When a player satisfies one of their picture cards they score the points on it.

In the next round the player with their disc on the lowest action number goes first, followed by the other players in action number order.

When the players move their discs their new action must be a higher number than their previous selection. The sixth space wraps around onto the one space. If an action icon holds more than one disc the player with the highest disc in the stack goes first.

The game continues until one player scores enough points to win.

Space Fight

In Space Fight, you control a Starship and its crew in battle with another Starship. Your Starship is also the box, which is shaped like a ship. The inside of your ship has multiple rooms for systems and crew.

There are multiple factions, so the game can be expanded with new Starships, each with their own crew and special systems. Component types are:

Starship Box

Crew Figures

System Cards (Mini)

Damage Counters

Setup

If the game has been put away with all crew in the Starship, the only setup is to shuffle your system cards and place them facedown in the rooms of your ship. You can look at your cards after they have been placed.

Players take turns during each phase:

Move Crew

Crew members may move, stopping if they move into a damaged room, or into a room with enemy crew. If enemy crew are in a Starship, the Starship's owner decides which player moves first in their ship, so they can restrict the opponents movement, or respond to it.

Crews Fight

Opposing crew in the same room fight each other. Each Crew member has combat and armor ratings from 1 to 4. Both players add up the total combat rating for their crew in that room and roll a die to be added to the total. The higher total wins, doing damage equal to the difference. The winner applies damage to the room, enemy crew, or face up system cards. Damage equal to a targets armor destroys crew, or adds damage counters to rooms and systems.

If crew are unopposed on an enemy ship, they reveal system cards, and roll for damage against the room, with no defense roll to reduce the damage.

Use Systems

Each crew without enemies in their room can do one of the following actions:

Activate System: There are two copies of each system card on your ship. You can put a card from a room into play if the room is undamaged. The card is placed face up outside of your ship, and can now be used. The duplicate is kept hidden face down in your ship, and can be found and damaged to disable the system. Example systems are Cannons, Shields, Scanners, Reactor to charge shields and weapons, Medical Bay to revive dead crew, Teleporter to invade the opponents ship.

Boost System: Increase the effectiveness of a system.

Repair: Damaged systems are less effective or disabled. Repairing is like combat, adding crew repair ratings and a die roll to remove damage from a room or system.

Starships attack with cannons and other systems, adding dice and attack ratings against enemy shields and armor.

Scanning an opponents ship reveals the system cards in a room, allowing you to damage that system later.

Victory

Starships are destroyed when the total damage in its rooms and systems exceeds their ships Hull rating, or if all their crew have been destroyed. The player with the last Starship standing wins.

To start the game all you have to do is open the box. The bottom of the box is divided into four sections each containing an identical set of components for each player. Throughout the game you will take everything out of the box and ultimately put it all back in, so when you’re done all you have to do is put the lid back on.

The bottom of the box represents a Quadplex; the players are the tenants. The building is being renovated, so everything has to come out and go into storage. Once the renovation is over, it all has to go back in. The top of the box houses the storage units. In order to keep costs down and prevent rent from going up the tenants are overseeing the renovation of their units and doing some of the work themselves.

Each player has a set of little blocks of varying sized squares and rectangles to represent their belongings and a deck of cards (in a tuck box) to represents their wallet and cell phone. The cards are your money, plus friends and contractors you can call for help. On a turn you will either move stuff, or play a card.

Throughout the game you will need help from your friends, but their help comes at a price, pizza. For each phase of the game (taking things out, renovating, and putting things back), you can only get help from at most three friends (that’s all you have room for in your car) and none of your friends are willing to help with more than one phase (some kind of friends they are). Each friend has different values for how much they can carry per turn, what parts of the renovation they can help with, and of course, how much pizza they will eat. After you complete a phase you have to go to the pizzeria to feed your friends.

As you put belongings into storage you have to choose wisely which units to use. The closest units are smaller and more expense, but you can bring lots of items per turn. The farther units are bigger and cheaper, but since you have to lug everything so far, you can’t move much per turn. All the pieces have to be neatly aligned into the storage unit spaces on the box top.

Once everything’s into storage the renovation can begin. Players will have to complete four tasks: demolition, framing, drywall and painting. There isn’t enough money to contract everything out, so players must choose carefully what they hire out and what they do themselves. When the work is done, the race is on to get everything back into the box and finally pay the storage fees.

The landlord promised one month free rent to the tenant who best optimizes finishing quickly with cost. The winner is the tenant who finishes first unless another tenant underspends him by $100 or more (without finishing last).