Welcome to Chris & Quinn on their first visit and welcome back Rob (who may drop by with his Pathfinder group some Wednesdays to join us after their library session)

This evening became Space Games 1.5, as we got through some of the games we didn’t get to play the previous week….we will have a Terraforming Mars play at a future request session – sometimes numbers and time conspire.

Our September 20 Session is a special one, as game author Peter McPherson will join us for the second year in a row (from the Saratoga area) to play his 3 published games (Tiny Towns, Wormholes & Fit to Print) as well as introducing two new designs that are almost ready for publication. Last October our group got to play the prototype of Fit to Print as a team/partnership game just as its crowdfunding campaign was dropping on KickStarter – it raised $225,000 ! Playing Wormholes with Peter last year was a joy….but we never played Tiny Towns with him (though it did hit our tables months later). Armando led us through Wormholes for our Space Games session.

Peter has teamed up with the Flatout Games Colab – a group of authors, designers, artists and marketers from the Seattle area, who have teamed up on games like Calico, Cascadia, Point Salad, Verdant, Truffle Shuffle, Point City, Dollars to Donuts and Deep Dive

The two new Peter McPherson designs: 

Cozy Cafes – A similar spatial puzzle to Tiny Towns paired with a mid-weight engine-building system. Score points by serving regulars at your cafe, all while learning new recipes, hiring staff, and buying appliances. 2–5 players, 45-75 minutes.

Lost Cities

2x (led by Danny & Tim) 1999 classic Knizia card game that should be in everyone’s collection. The object of the game is to gain points by mounting profitable archaeological expeditions to the different sites represented by the colored suits of cards. On a player’s turn, they must first play one card, either to an expedition or by discarding it to the color-appropriate discard pile, then draw one card, either from the deck or from the top of a discard pile. Cards played to expeditions must be in ascending order, but they need not be. consecutive. Investment/handshake cards serve as multipliers before an expedition commences.

Jaipur

(led by K-ban)  2009 classic card game of trading, drafting and buying goods at the market. The camel mechanic makes the game go. Win 2 of 3 rounds to triumph over your opponent. Should be in everyone’s 2-player game collection.

Patchwork

 (led by Sean) 2014 Uwe Rosenberg pentomino tetris-like game with interesting twists. This game led to a trilogy of similar games by the author that were multiplayer (Indian Summer, Cottage Garden and Spring Meadow) . The Halloween themed version was played.

Glasgow

 (led by Ethan) 2020 city building game that uses a rondel mechanic along with tile drafting. Players travel the city to collect resources, take special actions, and most importantly construct buildings

Blokus Duo

 ( led by K-ban) 2005 2-player version of Blokus with a smaller board where players start near the center rather than in the corners of the board. Very tense and retains the flavor of the parent game.

Boop

(led by Chris) 2022 deceptively cute, deceivingly challenging abstract strategy game for two players. Every time players place a kitten on the bed, it goes “boop.” – which is to say that it pushes every other kitten on the board one space away. Line up three kittens in a row to graduate them into cats… and then, get three cats in a row to win. A new candidate for our next cat-themed session. A 2023 Mensa Select winner.

Race for the Galaxy

(led by Drew) 2007 card game where players build galactic civilizations by playing game cards in front of them that represent worlds or technical and social developments. Some worlds allow players to produce goods, which can be consumed later to gain either card draws or victory points when the appropriate technologies are available to them. Although a multiplayer game, it shines with 2 players especially once the iconography is learned.

Rajas of the Ganges

(led by Armando) 2017 worker placement game with a unique victory condition. Players are placing meeples on spaces for markets, boat movement, landscape tiles and additional dice – all to earn both fame points and money. Fame tracks clockwise on the board’s perimeter while money does likewise but counter-clockwise. First to have their two markers meet wins.

Moon

(led by Tim) 2023 new release from the author of Villagers and Streets. It depicts a rush to construct lunar bases that are attractive places to live and work for the people of Earth. The most prestigious base will become the new lunar capital! The game employs the familiar “pick & pass” or “hand drafting” mechanism for players to select new structure cards to add to their base. Each hand of cards represents a convoy of experts and equipment travelling between the players’ outposts, giving the player the choice of one new construction each turn. In a new twist on the genre, each hand always contains one of a number of “Expedition” cards that grant a special free action every turn before passing on to the next player.

Cosmic Factory

(led by K-ban) 2018 game of drafting, pattern building and tile placement in a 3×3 tile grid. Through five game rounds, each player tries to build and optimize their personal nine-tile galaxy before the 1 minute timer runs out. Players must rearrange their planets into different zones while trying to keep their asteroid path as long as possible. Kaos cards challenge each player to adapt to a new rule each round. At the end of the game, your weakest zone score is added to your asteroid path score to determine the winner.

Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition

(led by Sean) 2023 deluxe edition of Stefan Feld’s classic 2011 design. Each player takes on the role of an aristocrat, originally controlling a small princedom. While playing, players aim to build settlements and powerful castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers.

Point City

(led by K-ban) 2023 sequel to Point Salad from the same team of designers. Mix a dash of Splendor with a healthy dose of Point Salad for a very accessible city engine builder. The mechanic of drafting adjacent 2-sided cards (resource on one side/ building on the other) and their replacements being flipped to their opposite side is a new twist. It’s hard to go back to Point Salad once Point City has been played.

Tiny Epic Galaxies

(led by Armando) 2015 Scott Almes design where each player controls a galactic empire, aiming to expand their influence by acquiring highly contested planets and increasing their cosmic armada. The game revolves around an innovative dice-rolling combo mechanic. The number of dice you roll is determined by the strength of your galaxy. Each die is engraved with symbols representing the various actions you can take, such as moving a spaceship, increasing your culture or energy resources, or advancing your political or economic influence over newly discovered planets. Through careful planning, players must make the most out of their turn, taking the available actions in whichever order they consider most beneficial. But be careful, as each of your opponents can choose to follow each action you take by expending valuable resources. Players will colonize new planets throughout the game, thereby earning victory points and accumulating special abilities which they can activate for their galactic empire. Careful spending of resources will ensure the fastest growth of one’s empire, while allowing players to receive the largest possible pay‐off from the actions taken.

Century: Golem Edition

(led by K-ban) 2017 re-themed version of Century: Spice Road set in the world of Caravania. Each turn, players perform one of four actions:

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