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Polynesia

Polynesia 2-6 players, 15 minutes/player
Polynesia is an economy-driven strategy game set in the islands of the Pacific. Through careful selection of what gods their people worship, what leaders they follow, and how they spend their time, players determine how their culture grows and who becomes the dominant culture of Polynesia.
Selecting gods and leaders is done at the beginning of every turn and provides players with abilities that will help them that turn. Only one culture can worship a given god on any turn, but multiple players can follow the same leader. Each game provides a random assortment of leaders for players to choose from, while each turn changes which god cards are available for draft, ensuring that every game has plenty of variation.
Players determine how their culture grows by selecting which of the multiple decks of cards they will draw from on any given turn. The Economy deck provides cards that improve the player’s economy, while the Trade deck provides cards that are worth victory points. The Culture deck provides cards that give players permanent abilities. While the simplest strategy focuses on gaining enough economy-boosting cards to afford point cards, playing wisely based on god and leader abilities, and effectively utilizing Culture cards, provides a much more complex and lucrative game strategy.
As their starting island fills up, players will explore and expand to other islands. Players with many islands have room to grow, while players with fewer islands have to carefully
determine which cards they need to play the most. In each draw, players look at twice as many cards as they are allowed to keep, so it is up to each player how many islands to colonize.
As players gain points, they attract the wrath of other cultures. There is no direct conflict between players in this game, and there is no player elimination; however, there is a mechanic that forces players to build up their culture in a balanced manner or potentially lose points to ‘attacks’. Attacks can only target certain card positions, forcing players to think carefully about how they place down their cards.
Polynesia allows simultaneous play in each stage, creating high player involvement and keeping the game moving quickly. With so many choices in each turn, players will craft a unique culture every time they play. New strategies will emerge in every game, as the combination of gods and leaders changes. These features make Polynesia an exciting game for players who want the freedom to design their own strategies for victory.