20 at the UNO Park Community Center for a request night. 

Welcome to Stuart (Rachel’s Dad) on his first visit.

IN: Steve & Sandy, Tim & Khalid, Armando, Zach, Chris, Ethan & Amy, Tony & Rachel, Stuart, Nicole & Gus, Rob, Julie, Danny, Lauren & Elliot, Sean K.

Fishing (led by Tim) 2024 Friedemann Friese (Power Grid, Fool – and many others all beginning with an ‘F’) trick taking card game where players try to catch as many tricks as possible over eight rounds, with each card caught being worth 1 point. You then use your caught cards for the next round — and if you didn’t catch enough tricks to fill your hand, you’ll draw fresh cards from the ocean stack, which will introduce new cards for the fishers to fight over. At the start of each round, players have 8-13 cards in hand, depending on the player count and the round. In the first round, the cards go from 1-10 in four colors. Standard trick-taking rules apply, with players needing to follow the color led and the highest card of the led suit winning the trick. New cards come into play from the ocean stack in waves, with higher-value cards in the four colors, a green trump suit from 1-16, 0 cards that let you snag a card from the trick, and special-powered buoy cards that can always be played into a trick regardless of what you have in hand. With buoys, you can steal the lead or determine which color must lead the next trick, force players to pass cards or lose points; you can even steal all other cards in a trick, ideally netting yourself huge fish for use next round. At the end of each round, score 1 point for each card caught and whoever lands the most points after eight rounds wins. As usual this game designer, with his green hair, is quite innovative.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419195/fishing

TransAmerica (led by K-ban) 2001 game of route building that comfortably handles up to 6, due to lightning quick turns where players attempt to connect their 5 cities before the other players. Next we add the ‘Vexation’ expansion that adds 3 player colored tracks to add to the tension. The sequel was the 2005 Trans Europa edition.

Masques (led by Armando) 2010 influence card game, with open drafting and role selection. Players have sent their most influential representatives to mingle at the Doge’s masquerade ball. By cleverly positioning these guests (and by manipulating the guests of one’s opponents), players will vie for the attention of Venice’s elite guild masters, ensuring the most political power for their family. Gameplay revolves chiefly around the clever use of guest cards with varying levels of influence. Each player receives a hand of guest cards, and each guest card has an influence value and its own power, e.g., the peddler, the assassin and the gondolier. The higher the influence, the greater that guest’s clout at court. Each player’s hand consists of a mix of cards representing members of any of the families currently in play. Use a rival family’s guest cards against them, and watch for chances to set up one’s own house for success. Each of the rooms of the Doge’s palace offer tokens representing a guild’s favor or valuable ducats to be won by ambitious nobles. The spaces between each card that represents a room in the palace are the hallways of the Doge’s estate – the areas in which guest cards are placed to compete for adjacent resources.

Project L (led by Ethan) 2020 charming combination of puzzle solving with engine building. Players start with 2 acrylic puzzle pieces and earn additional shapes by completing puzzles. Players select from among several actions – drafting puzzles, upgrading pieces, placing pieces and the important master building action. The game rewards efficiency in the drafting and in use of their 3 actions per turn. There are two recently released expansions to try, as well as a spin-off similar game recently released called Square One.

Square One (led by Ethan) 2025 engine-building strategy game, similar to its predecessor Project L. It utilizes most of the turn options from Project L, but now players match tiles with patterns to pattern cards on the board. Build more patterns and make more combos to earn points. One row of patterns yields additional pieces, the other row earns VPs. Additional VPs are earned by completing multiple patterns (2, 3 or 4) on the same turn…making the master action extremely important in one’s planning.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/416232/square-one

3 Ring Circus (led by Tim) 2023 area majority game where players take on the role of a circus director who tours the United States at the end of the 19th century. Your objective is to hire artists and offer performances in various towns and cities with the intention of gaining fame. In towns, features are easy to set up and give players starting resources to upgrade their cast; small cities are somewhat more demanding, but they allow players to come into contact with better artists; audiences in big cities are even more demanding and want to see very specific numbers, but performing there brings players much more fame! On their turn, players can hire an artist or host a performance. At the beginning of the game, each player’s circuses are empty, so it will be necessary to contract to form the company. The artist cards grant more or fewer benefits depending on the order in which they act, so one of the keys to the game is planning the shows that will be offered. If they decide to act, the players must move to a free space on the map. If it is a town, they receive the most basic currency cards as a prize. If a player performs in a small city, depending on the number of pedestals in their company, they can claim more or fewer entry cards (the second most valuable) or fame points. In the big cities, players get a lot of fame points, but the public always demands a specific type of artist. While a player’s little circus tries to survive, the great and splendid Barnum Circus travels across the country, and when it arrives in a big city, a scoring is held in that region, and the circuses that have given the most performances there will gain even more fame.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/371947/3-ring-circus

Dominion (led by Armando) 2009 Donald S Vaccarino designed deck-building game, where each player starts with an identical, small deck of cards and attempts to build an efficient engine. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can “buy” as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to victory points by game end. Dominion won the SdJ game of the year award in 2009.

Take It Easy (led by Sandy) 1983 puzzle game that is a true multi-player solitaire, in which each player individually completes a hexagon-shaped board with spots for 19 hexagon tiles. There’s no limit to the number of players provided you have enough copies on hand. One person (the caller) draws a tile randomly and tells the others which of the 27 tiles featuring colored/numbered lines crossing in three directions, with numbers from 1 to 9, it is. “The 9-8-7,” for example. Each player then chooses which empty spot on his own board he’ll play the 9-8-7. This is repeated until the boards are filled. The idea is to complete same-numbered lines across your board. Scoring is calculated by multiplying the number on the tile with the number of tiles in the completed line. A complete column of three 9s is worth 27, for example…but a lot of players will hope for five 9s to fill the big column down the middle. It is often compared to Bingo because of the familiar pattern of a number being called and then everybody looking at their cards to play it, and then scoring if a line is completed. But that’s as far as the comparison goes. Bingo is sheer luck; Take It Easy is a game of skill.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/128/take-it-easy

Castle Combo 2x (led by K-ban) 2024 tableau building card game. Each player will spend coins to draft 9 cards from 2 open markets on the table, with the messenger pawn, determining which market is open this turn – creating a 3×3 square of people interacting with each other to trigger instant effects and end-of-game bonuses. Each turn, players add a character to their tableau—a seemingly straightforward action that packs a punch regarding strategic decisions. Carefully managing one’s keys will be needed to carefully manage one’s Keys to influence the Messenger pawn at critical moments, as it controls which characters are available for recruitment from two different areas – peasants and nobles. Balancing one’s Gold reserves is equally important, ensuring a player can afford the characters that best suit their strategy throughout the game. Selecting the right characters is crucial to maximising their immediate effects and the points they will contribute at the game’s end. Finally, carefully arranging these characters on one’s 3×3 board is key to unlocking their full potential.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/416851/castle-combo

The Gang 2x (led by Ethan) 2024 co-operative version of Texas Hold’em where players bet on how good they think their hand of cards will be relative to the other players, then try to make their predictions a reality. Early in a round, without talking to each other, each player chooses a chip indicating how good they think their hand is. Then they begin dealing cards into the middle of the table and have a chance to reassess their hands as more cards are revealed. At the end of the round, players see whether they correctly evaluated their hand. If all players did, you get to open one of the bank vaults! If not, you trip the alarm! If you manage to open three vaults before you trip the alarm three times, your gang wins! The Gang has become our group’s closer game of choice.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/411567/the-gang

Faraway (led by Armando) 2023 runner up Light Game of the Year as voted by BGG users and a finalist for 2025 Kennerspiel award by German Jury – go figure! The ‘People from Below’ expansion was used which added more People cards, more Sanctuaries, the ability to play one additional player, and more variety with no new rules. Players will play square cards as a row of 8 in front of them, from left to right. These cards represent the regions they will come across while exploring the lands. Characters on these cards will grant players victory points, but only score VPs if later cards fulfil the conditions they demand. At the end of the game, players walk back the same way, scoring cards in the opposite order they were played. There lies the heart of the gameplay. Throughout the game, the cards played will serve both to set new objectives, and to meet the ones previously played. On each turn, players select one region card from a hand of 3 and a clever priority system governs replenishment drafting. The first play in this 30-minute gem of a filler will likely make one’s head implode, as players wrap their brain around simultaneously thinking both forward and backwards on their journey to score VPs. The second play is generally one of those ‘aha’ moments when things click.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/385761/faraway

Harmonies (led by Tim) 2024 abstract pattern game, with simple rules, and a beautifully implemented nature theme. Players optimize by synchronizing, but at the same time try to outbalance luck by diversifying their scoring options, while growing a beautiful 3D habitat in front of them. Landscapes are built by placing colored tokens and creating habitats for their animals. To earn the most points and win the game, players must incorporate the habitats in their landscapes wisely and have as many animals as they can settle there.

Steve