The annual Mensa Mind Games took place this weekend in San Diego. There, 325 judges played through 60 different games to choose the following Mensa Select Winners:
Dragonwood—A push-your-luck game of rolling dice and capturing fantastic creatures. Players may also along the way attempt to grab enhancements but when the two dragons are gone the game is over. [Published by Gamewright.]
Lanterns: The Harvest Festival—Which pairs set-collecting and tile-laying as players build floating displays of paper lanterns for the emperor of China. [Designed by Christopher Chung. Published by Renegade Game Studios and Foxtrot Games.]
Castles of Mad King Ludwig—Another tile-laying game, in which players attempt to build the most extravagant castle for the king. [Designed by Ted Alspach. Published by Bezier Games.]
Letter Tycoon—A word game in which players can also purchase letters and then charge other players to use them. [Designed by Brad Brooks. Published by Breaking Games.]
Trekking the National Parks—Which combines card play, a national map to track movement, and details specific to each of the 59 U.S. national parks. [Designed by Charlie Bink.]