Tiny Towns

(led by K-ban) 2019 Peter McPherson design (he played with us last autumn) . Players build their own town – which is represented by a 4×4 grid on which are placed resource cubes in specific layouts to construct buildings. Each building scores victory points (VPs) in a unique way. When no player can place any more resources or construct any buildings, the game ends, and any squares without a building are worth -1 VP. The player with the most VP wins!

Bruxelles 1893

(led by Drew) a complex 2013 game featuring worker placement, with elements of bidding and majority control. Each player is an architect of the late 19th century and is trying to achieve, through various actions, an architectural work in the Art Nouveau style. The most successful building yields the most points. Each player can also create works of art to increase his score.

Cryptid

(led by Armando)  a unique 2018 deduction game of honest misdirection in which players must try to uncover information about their opponents’ clues while throwing them off the scent of their own. Each player holds one piece of evidence to help them find the creature, and on their turn they can try to gain more information from their opponents. Be warned; give too much away and your opponents might beat you to the mysterious animal and claim the glory for themselves!

Tranquility

(led by Armando) 2021 quiet peaceful cooperative card game….the good guys WON

Mangrovia

(led by K-ban) 2014 hidden gem featuring area control/role selection/hand management game set in a world of Mangroves.  The clever role selection mechanism allows players to choose two different bonuses/actions as well as the turn order in which they want these actions to be carried out — all by placing just one bowl-shaped wooden marker. Players can place huts onto spaces on the board that require either numbered cards or amulets but must match the terrains favored that turn by the Birds of Paradise. VP awards include pluralities in overlapping rows/columns, and bonuses from two separate areas on the board. This is a very approachable, unique gateway mid-weight game.

Side Effects

(led by Armando) Silly 2017 game of drug use, personal demons, wild episodes, and more. It is a “take that” card game where players race to treat all the diseases in their psyche with medication and therapy.