Stronghold Games has announced the new game 504 from award-winning designer Friedemann Friese (Power Grid, Copycat).  The game is the second title in Stronghold’s new "Great Designer Series:"

The name 504 refers to the total number of game mechanic combinations that can be formed using the nine game “modules” included in the box: Pick-up & Deliver, Race, Privileges, Military, Exploring, Roads, Majorities, Production, and Shares.  Essentially, 504 is a "game toolbox" that players use to create a variety of different game experiences, united by common elements.

Various game pieces (not to scale)
As way of explanation, the game setting features a future world in which scientists have created 504 parallel worlds, each operating with its own laws and structures.  The players are then invited to explore as many of these "worlds" as they wish.

 

504 is being co-published with German game publisher 2F-Spiele.  MSRP has not yet been set.  The game is scheduled to debut at the Spiel fair in Essen Germany this October, with general release to follow in November.
 

Stronghold’s first "Great Designer" game was Kramer and Kiesling’s Porta Nigra (see "'Porta Nigra' From Award-Winning Design Team").