Fun Facts

(led by Sean) 2022 light party game from the publishers of Just One and Codenames. We started as 6 and added a 7th in the 2nd or 3rd round (of 8). Write your name on an arrow, listen to a question and write your answer on the other side. Then you put them in order from lowest to highest with only the name side showing. It’s easy, it’s fun and it encourages you to get to know people you thought you knew better! Our collective score of 35 was very good. 

Next Stop: London

(led by Tim) 2022 flip & write puzzle game with a twist – colored underground train lines are drawn with different colored pencils that rotate among players each turn. Players score a line’s number of districts, a line’s number of stations in the most filled district, twice for each time a line crosses the river and for each tourist site station your lines reach.

Dorf Romantik

2x (led by K-ban and Tony/Danny) 2022 co-op board game version of a very successful chill/relaxing PC game of the same title. Players work together to lay hexagonal tiles, creating a beautiful landscape and fulfilling the orders of the population, while at the same time laying as long a track and as long a river as possible, but also taking into account the flags that provide points in enclosed areas. The better the players manage to do this, the more points they can score at the end. In the course of the replayable campaign, the points earned can be used to unlock new tiles that are hidden in initially locked boxes. These pose new, additional tasks for the players and make it possible to raise the high score higher and higher. The bar has been raised after 6 plays – 157 for Amy, Tony, Danny and Tim. Now that almost all have had the opportunity to play, we will start a campaign. A round only takes 20-30 minutes so it’s a good opener/closer.

Cat in the Box

(led by Sean) A very unique 2022 trick taking game, where your card’s color isn’t defined until you play it! Hypothesize how many tricks you will win, and record your bid. Place tokens on the community research board as you play your hand, and connect large groups of tokens to score even more points. Plan your tricks carefully as you cannot claim the color of a card with the same number that has already been declared.

Akropolis

(led by Tim) 2022 tile laying game. Players are drafting a tile to add to their own city. Overlaying tiles can get you more stones which gives you more drafting options. Stacking tiles gives base points according to the height of the tile. Different neighborhoods score in different ways and separate multiplier spaces are not actually part of the neighborhoods they multiply. Tiles all have a mix of neighborhoods, multipliers and “quarries” and you are simply trying to draft and assemble tiles in a way that honors the neighborhood requirements while maximizing the points.

Long Shot: the Dice Game

(led by Sean) 2022 horse racing dice game. Players will both strategize and push their luck as the action unfolds in a tense race of eight horses. During the game you buy horses, place bets, influence race movement, and utilize special abilities. The roll of the dice determines which horses move and the options available each turn. Once three horses cross the finish line, earnings are totaled. Player with the most money is the winner. 

Rolling Heights

(led by K-ban) 2023 city building game from John D Clair ( Mystic Vale, Space Base, Ecos, Cubitos). Players roll workers in the form of different colored meeples. Standing meeples work hard that day and provide special actions and building materials, while face-down meeples provide nothing. You can always push your luck for better rolls, but you might lose valuable materials you need to construct new buildings. Completing buildings gains you prestige, as well as new workers to help you construct even larger buildings. We were feeling our way, cold, on our first play and had to stop at store closing. The next time will go much quicker….this is an interesting unique game that needs to be explored further.

Big Top

(led by Sean) 2023 Japanese fast-paced auction game where players bid on show-stopping acts to draw crowds to their circus. Beware, as each winning bid will make your competition that much richer. Even the attractions you’ve already won will affect bids in future auctions. Each attraction card lists a number – bid that amount in any auction to place a coin on that card and gain the points! That means you don’t need to win an auction – or even WANT to win it – to benefit from bidding!