2/15/2023 – Berkshire Gamers Session Report #22-07
- by BerkshireGamers
- 143
9 at Purple Dragon Games on February 15
(led by K-ban) 2020 French single deck climbing/shedding game from Bruno Cathala, consisting of 5 mountain races.
(led by Sandy) 2018 co-op – we won with plenty of cards to spare
(led by Sean) 2023 open drafting and set collection game. Players draft cards like bowls, cups, and tea jars to create high-scoring sets. As some pieces inevitably break, players must judiciously repair what has been shattered.
Whole pottery is valuable. Broken dishes are worthless. That which has broken and been repaired is uniquely precious.
(led by K-ban) 2019 single deck card game from Taiwan. A simple 6-round drafting stock market game, where the undrafted last card in each round sets the prices for the 5 Veggie commodities….but when they exceed a value of ‘5’ they crash to zero – ouch!
(led by Tim) 2022 tile-colliding, volcano erupting, mountain-making, wisdom-gathering, action-economy strategy game. On individual player mats, players move their Followers between action spaces, allowing them to manipulate a shared environment like a giant puzzle of plate tectonics. Action spaces allow players to shift rows of land, move and collide land tiles, form and erupt volcanoes, worship to gain wisdom, journey their Followers around the ever-shifting landscape, and build sacred places of study and worship on mountains. Building sacred places and worshipping in sacred places brings wisdom which is used to improve the abilities available for each action space. Wisdom is also used to improve the end game value of each sacred place built as well as reach other goals worth end game points.
When building sacred places, the Demigods of the Wise One ascend a ziggurat which acts as a timer toward the end of the game. When one reaches the top, players finish the round and then tally a final score.
At the core of Oros is the unique ability to shift, move, build up, erupt, and reposition the land within an infinitely connected play environment. This mechanic turns every action into a puzzle of creative problem solving, abstract thinking, and a constantly evolving strategy. Another chief aspect of the game is the player mat which uses a minimal worker placement mechanic to govern action opportunity.
(led by Armando) We finally completed our Birds & the Bees plans. This 2020 worker bee placement game has players expanding their personal beehive by drafting various honeycomb tiles granting actions that are triggered throughout the game. Each tile represents a different action. Whenever a tile is laid so that it completes a certain pattern, a ring of actions is triggered in whatever order the player chooses. A tile drafted on turn one could be triggered up to three times at any point during the game. It all depends on how the player places their beeples (bee+meeple) and builds their hive. After all, in the honey business, efficiency is queen.
As you continually expand your hive, you’ll forage for nectar and pollen, make honey, sell different varieties at the bear market, host honey tastings, and attend to the queen and her court. There’s only so much nectar to go around, and finding it won’t be easy. Players will have to scout out the nectar field and pay attention to other players’ searches to try to deduce the location of the nectar they need for themselves.
Decks are small, and randomness in the game is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the set-up for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge.
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9 at Purple Dragon Games on February 15 Welcome to Dan on his first visit and welcome back Patty IN: Steve & Sandy, Sean, Tim, Amy & Ethan, Armando, Patty & Dan Upcoming theme nights will likely include stock manipulation financial games and a night to honor prolific young Australian game author Phil Walker-Harding…
9 at Purple Dragon Games on February 15 Welcome to Dan on his first visit and welcome back Patty IN: Steve & Sandy, Sean, Tim, Amy & Ethan, Armando, Patty & Dan Upcoming theme nights will likely include stock manipulation financial games and a night to honor prolific young Australian game author Phil Walker-Harding…