Limes

Two thousand years ago on the borders of the Roman Empire, life goes on as might be expected – but barbarians lurk across the border, so not only must the players grow grain in the fields, catch fish, and chop wood, but they must also maintain watchmen in a clever network of watchtowers to keep a lookout for fires and barbarian attacks.

Limes is based on the designer’s board game Cities, and while the game system is roughly the same, the scoring is completely different. In addition, the tiles in Limes have a different layout from those in Cities. Together, these changes ensure that Limes has become an entirely new game. (Limes includes two sets of cards, one for each player, but if you combine copies of the game, any number of people can play at the same time.)