Tabletopia News

The word "Ecogon" is made up of two parts: ecology and hexagon. This also sums up the game itself: by playing hexagonal tiles players form ecosystems.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]German-language video

As the designer of the ecosystem in Ecogon, it is your job to create the broadest and most stable network of plants, animals and habitats. The aim of the game is to score points by building ecosystems in which the animals can live. This is done by connecting animal tiles side by side with habitat, plant and other animal tiles which they need for survival.



Throughout the game, your ecosystems face challenges brought about by event cards.

Play together or against each other to let nature take shape in front of you.

Furnace is an engine-building Eurogame in which players take on the roles of 19th-century capitalists building their industrial corporations and aspiring to make as much money as they can by purchasing companies, extracting resources, and processing them in the best combinations possible.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩
1-5 players
15-45 minutes
Auction, card drafting, unbridled capitalism
🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩[/h3]

Each player starts the game with a random start-up card, the resources depicted at the top of that card, and four colored discs valued 1-4.

The game is played over four rounds, and each round consists of two phases: Auction and Production. During the auction, 6-8 company cards are laid out with their basic sides face up. Players take turns placing one of their discs on one of these cards, but you cannot place a disc on a card if a disc of the same value or color is already present. Thus, you'll place discs on four cards.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Once all the discs are placed, the cards are resolved from left to right. Whoever placed the highest-valued disc will claim this card, but first anyone with a lower-valued disc on this card will gain compensation, either the resources depicted multiplied by the value of their disc or a processing ability (exchange X for Y) up to as many times as the value of their disc.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Once all the cards have been claimed or discarded, players enter the production phase, using their cards in the order of their choice. Each company card has one action — either production or processing — on its basic side and two actions on its upgraded side. During the production phase, you can use each of your cards once to gain resources, process those resources into other resources or money, and upgrade your cards.

At the end of four rounds, whoever has the most money wins.



Furnace also includes capitalist cards that contain unique effects, and if you want, you can choose to deal one out to each player at the start of the game. For an additional challenge, you can require players to create a "production chain", with each newly acquired company card being placed somewhere in that chain and locked in position for the remainder of the game.

Iro (色) is an abstract strategy game all about colors!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]🎡🎡🎡🎡🎡
2 players
5-20 minutes
Grid movement, unique piece movement, abstract
🎡🎡🎡🎡🎡[/h3]

Each piece has a unique combination of colors that tell you which of the colored spaces on the board it can move to. Combine that with the simple goal of getting any one of your pieces to the other side of the board, and you will find that Iro can be taught and played within minutes. There are multitudes of ways you can set up the board, select and place initial pieces, which will keep the game feeling fresh and exciting to play every time, and save you from having to memorize opening positions and learn meta-strategies.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Like chess, go, and other abstract games, Iro is free of chance and/or hidden information - every victory and defeat in turn feels earned and fair. The game can be enjoyed by new players and experienced players alike. It can be played casually or competitively with the addition of specific rules for turn-by-turn setup or time limits.

Now that the scientific triumph of Dinosaur cloning is public knowledge, competition is hot and new parks spring up regularly. Though many of these amateurs are opening their gates before everything has been safety-tested, there’s no shortage of patrons eager to be entertained by extinct behemoths!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
As with any form of entertainment, triumph is often accompanied by tragedy - which is why your investors demand that you take every precaution (and ensure every visitor signs the safety waiver) before you show them the wonders of Dinosaur World!

[h3]🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖
2-5 players
60-120 minutes
Worker placement, tile placement, run your own Ju Mesozoic Park!
🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Each round in Dinosaur World, you’ll draft a group of Workers from the Worker Database to run your park for a full season. Then you’ll divide up those Workers to take on the various tasks of building and running your Park - gathering ancient DNA, cloning new Dinos, buying new attractions, and keeping your patrons safe from a toothy demise. The better you run your park, the more Victory Points you’ll score!



You might face some visitor deaths along the way, but don’t worry - as long as your park is “safer” than your competitors’, it won’t hurt your score!

Video chat has left beta and is now ready for all players to optionally subscribe to!

In-game video chat is an optional feature that is now available for all users. You can play a game, see each other, and talk all in the same window. If at least one player in your game has a video chat subscription, they can enable video chat for the whole group.

If your account hasn't claimed a 7-day free trial yet, you can test it out for yourself now (trial only available via browser - unfortunately limitations with Steam prevent our trial system from working properly)!

[h2]Activating the video chat subscription[/h2]

Video chat is available only in the game client via web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Safari) or Tabletopia Steam application (Windows, MacOS). When starting up a game room, you will see the following invitation:



If your account has not yet claimed a 7-day free trial, you will be given the option to claim this. Click Apply to start the 7-day free trial period. The 7-day free trial is only available in web browsers, not through Steam (this is due to limitations with the Steam platform and managing free trials).

Otherwise, when you click Apply, you will be given the following prompt to confirm you would like to begin your recurring subscription for video chat:



Click Choose to confirm adding the Video Chat subscription to your account. Video chat is $4.99USD/month. A Premium subscription is not required for the video chat subscription, however please note that they are separate subscriptions.

You can manage your video chat subscription from your profile.

Click Choose to confirm adding the Video Chat subscription to your account. Video chat is $4.99USD/month. A Premium subscription is not required for the video chat subscription, however please note that they are separate subscriptions.

You can manage your video chat subscription from your profile.

[h2]Using video chat[/h2]

When prompted by your browser, you will need to permit Tabletopia to use your webcam and microphone.



If you do not have a webcam or do not enable it, you will be able to see and hear others, but they will not see and hear you.

After enabling the video chat, it will load and you will start video conferencing with your friends. There are several options available. You can:

• Show or hide video
  
• Mute/unmute voice
  
• Arrange players in the chat window by row and column
  
• Position this window on the screen by dragging
  
• Choose between available cameras via the ‘settings’ button
  
• Minimize the video chat window (you will still be available to talk to your opponents and hear them)
  

You can disconnect from video chat any time by clicking on the red cross. To join it again, click on the video chat icon near the text chat window.

Only a person with a video chat subscription can enable the video chat in a game room. This person doesn’t necessarily need to be the game host; the game can be created by any player. However, if a player with a video chat subscription enables video chat, every other player will get access to the feature for that gaming session.

Two examples of video chat:



[h2]System requirements[/h2]

As video chat demands many resources of your system, we strongly recommend using it in the Steam app rather than in a Web browser. Technical constraints of the browsers may cause significant performance slowdown even with two players. We also recommend playing from desktop computers or powerful gaming laptops. Speed of your Internet connection also plays an important role in the smooth performance of Tabletopia with enabled video chat.

You can review this information at any time from our Knowledge Base article!