Two new board games by Winning Moves now enter the German market. Both, Vineta and Cartagena – Die Goldinsel have been first introduced to trade experts at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg and now hit the shelves of specialized toy retailers throughout Germany.

Vineta – Atlantis des Nordens

Vineta, the legendary town at the Baltic Sea is still peaceful and quiet, surrounded by calm water. But their fate has been sealed and the town has been doomed by the Gods!

Vineta is the new strategic and tactical family game in the large square box by Winning Moves. The new game for 2-6 players aged 10+ has been developed by the Brazilian games authors Fabiano Onça, Mauricio Gibrin and Mauricio Miyaji. For app. 45 minutes all players have the opportunity to go to the bottom of the myth around the great town Vineta near the Baltic Sea. Vineta is based upon the “Waka-Waka Island” game that has been awarded at the author’s competition Ludothèque de Boulogne Billancourt in 2004.

Each player is one of the furious Northern Gods that seek to destroy the seaside town. But each god secretly protects one of the local people and a part of the town. It’s vital to be smart and play cards skilfully to keep floods from your own district and the houses of your people. In the end, you have to be the one to safe most houses and your own area from their bitter fate. In each of eight rounds one of the nine districts of Vineta sinks down into the sea, washed away by a storm tide. Players create storm tides by playing rows of cards within one round. Each row is levelled at a certain district. During one round, each player has three turns to play a card. Afterwards, the district with most wave cards against them sinks into the sea and is taken from the board. In the meantime, players try to move houses of their own people to less exposed areas or to position opponent’s houses in doomed districts by playing respective activity cards. Houses in destroyed districts win points and are distributed to those players that created the storm tide. Also houses in the surviving area and the ownership of the last district win points. The player, who is able to secure most points in the end, wins the game.

Skilful use of storm tide and activity cards and changing alliances quickly result into a thrilling competition for the safety of your own people and district. Simple rules and surprisingly new play mechanisms make Vineta an unparalleled gaming fun for the whole family.

Cartagena – Die Goldinsel

Rumour is going around in the dive bars … rumours about Gold Island.

Not a rumour, but plain fact is that Winning Moves continue their successful Cartagena line in 2008. After “Flucht aus der Festung” (Flight from the Fortress) and the return to Tortuga in “Das Piratennest” (The Pirate’s Nest) now pirates set sails again to find the legendary “Gold Island”.

Thanks to games author Rüdiger Dorn 2-4 players aged 10+ take the roles of pirate leaders. In dive bars they hire a crew of pirates, collect island cards and acquire digging rights before they set sails to search for Gold Island. Who will be the first to find it and who will shovel in most of the gold? Only the pirate, who plays their cards most cunningly, who is the quickest to hire a crew and collects sufficient information on Gold Island, will win the race and the game – probably.

Cartagena – Die Goldinsel is an entertaining game with easy-to-understand rules. Tactic skills, close observation of your opponents and cunning use of cards decide on your success. So Cartagena – Die Goldinsel continues the classic tradition of all existing Cartagena games by Leo Colovini – not only in theme, but also in play mechanisms. The game will be available from March 2008.

Cartagena – Die Flucht aus der Festung was one of the most successful board games 2001/2002. Colovini’s game won several awards, including the Niederländischen Spielpreis, the “Spiele Hit für Familien” award, the pirze of the Wiener Spiele Akademie, it ranked sixth on the list of the Deutscher Spiele Preis and was also nominated for the “Game of the Year” award. By now, the game has already been translated into six languages.

“Our Cartagena line consists of several independent games that share their background story and the fate of the pirates that escaped from Cartagena,” said Michel M. Matschoss, Manager, Winning Moves. “Cartagena was the first of our ‘Gaming Fun in Squares’ line and played a significant role in the line’s future success.” .

The Cartagena line is characterized by a coherent story and the concept of the “Gaming Fun in Squares”: simple, easy-to-understand rules, a reasonable game length of less than 45 minutes, high product quality and tactical ingenuity. Another spin-off release is scheduled for autumn 2008: “Die Meuterei” (The Mutiny)

Cartagena – Die Goldinsel is Rüdiger Dorn’s first work for Winning Moves. The author, born in 1969, has already developed several remarkable games within the last few years that have even been nominated as “Game of the Year” and “Children’s Game of the Year”. Rüdiger Dorn is teacher of commercial subjects, married with three children and lives in Middle Franconia, Germany.