21 at the UNO Park Community Center for a request Night. 

IN: Steve, Sean, Tim, Armando, Zach, Chris, Ethan, Tony & Rachel, Reimi, Julie, Sean K, Danny, Rob, Edward, Quinn, Nora, Kaleb, Marisa, Jeremiah, Kelsey

Castle Combo (led by Danny) 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 maximizing 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. This is a very accessible game and was on the 2024 recommended list for SDJ honors (German Game of the Year). 

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

Splendor (led by Armando) 2014 award winning game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If wealthy enough, players might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which will further increase their prestige. On turn, players may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card—in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don’t get it—you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem. All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do. 

Hot Streak (led by Tim) 2025 racing game for hard luck gamblers who love to bet on and scream at the racers, who in this case happen to be mascots who may (or may not) keep running in the right direction. Best with 5-9 players.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/446497/hot-streak

Bridge (led by Chris) 1925 classic partnership predictive bidding trick taking card game. We had 3 eager students and a patient teacher. 

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2181/bridge

Isle of Night (led by Sean) 2024 set collection card game where players explore an island represented by a deck of cards. In turn, players draw cards from the deck and choose one type of card to keep. Any unclaimed cards remain from turn to turn, creating a growing pool of choices and a greater sense of tension. Some cards allow you to manipulate the point value of different types of cards, encouraging strategic shifts in play and exciting, memorable moments.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/412997/isle-of-night0

Positano (led by K-ban) 2025 drafting and building placement game where players are builders in Positano, Italy, a village stacked upon a cliffside overlooking the clear blue sea. Each round players bid on three simultaneous auctions determining the size, quality and location of your new resorts on the three dimensional cliffside board.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/383190/positano

Knarr (led by Tim)  2023 race, set collection and drafting card game.  Players are leaders of a band of Vikings that are sent to new destinations. Manage the recruitment of your crew, and choose the best territories to explore. Depending on the destinations reached (for trading or influence) and the Vikings who accompany you, players can increase their reputation to gain even more wealth. On each turn players either place a new member in their Viking crew, activate the effects of all of them with the same icon, and get another one from those available under the matching color on the central board, or they can explore new destinations, with the opportunity to trade with those places and get more gains or reputation.

Tichu (led by Sean) 1991 addictive partnership climbing card game, as players attempt to rid themself of their hand, preferably while scoring points in the process.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/215/tichu

The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine (led by Ethan) 2019 cooperative trick-taking card game where players attempt to achieve missions together utilizing limited communication. The team successfully completed 4 missions but it took 5 tries to accomplish a 5th one.

Cubitos (led by Tony) 2021 release from John D Clair ( Mystic Vale, Space Base, Ecos). Strange combination of push your luck, special dice with abilities….all in a race. The game starts out slowly but increases tempo much like Dominion but with dice combos rather than cards.

Harmonies 2x (led by Tim/Rachel)  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.

The Gang (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

Skara Brae (led by Sean) 2025 drafting and worker placement game set in northern Scotland where players gather various resources in order to feed, clothe, and shelter the growing number of settlers. Players take turns drafting cards and using their workers to furnish, cook, craft, clean, and trade. At the end of each round, players need to provide for their settlers and will likely create more midden that needs to be cleaned up. After four rounds, the player with the most points wins.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/408636/skara-brae

Steve