20 at the UNO Park Community Center for an evening honoring the 30 games (so far) inducted into the Board Game Geek Hall of Fame.

IN: Steve & Sandy, Lauren & Elliot, Norm & Hope, Sean, Armando, Zach, Chris, Amy, Nicole, Julie, Reimi, Sean K, Maggie, Cady, Rob, Danny, Carol

For Sale 2X (led by K-ban) Stefan Dorra’s 1997 classic auction card game of Real Estate and Checks that resolves in 20-30 minutes. During the game’s two distinct phases, players first bid for several buildings then, after all buildings have been bought, sell the buildings for the greatest profit possible. The original Ravensburger/FX Schmid 5-player edition (1997/98 – which we played) has slightly different rules than later English editions (6-players) as the number of buildings expanded from the original 20 to 30. Rounding rules have changed with each edition but the author prefers rounding down (by agreement, we played rounding up). The game got a makeover in 2021 with an automobile theme and an optional extra round that introduces advisors to the mix. Most seem to conclude that the advisors add an unnecessary complication to an already classic, elegant opener or closer.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172/for-sale

Love Letter (led by Armando) 2019 deduction card game where players must prove their worth and gain the Princess’ trust by enlisting allies, friends, and her family to carry a letter of intent to her.  Playing cards one at a time, players use the abilities of these key people in the Princess’ life to outwit their opponents and successfully deliver their letter and gain her favor. Players must utilize each character’s special skill to avoid being caught and successfully deliver their letter to the Princess. Once a set number of favor tokens are acquired, that player wins and becomes the Princess’ confidant.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/277085/love-letter

Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition (led by Sean) (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.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/363622/castles-burgundy-special-edition

Puerto Rico (led by Chris) 2011 game where players are plantation owners in the days when ships had sails. By growing up to five different kind of crops – corn, indigo, sugar, tobacco, and coffee – they try to run their business more efficiently than their close competitors: growing crops and storing them efficiently, developing San Juan with useful buildings, deploying their colonists to best effect, selling crops at the right time, and, most importantly, shipping their goods back to Europe for maximum benefit. The game system lets players choose the order of the phases in each turn by allowing each player to choose a role from those remaining when it is their turn. No role can be selected twice in the same round. The player who ends up with the most victory points – achieved by shipping goods and building – wins the game. We played on the original version, but the game has been reprinted with expansions several times. There is also a card game version, San Juan.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/108687/puerto-rico

Cosmic Encounter (led by K-ban) my all-time favorite game dating back to 1977 when taught to me at the first session I ever played with Herb & Lynn Levy. Players represent alien races that are seeking to colonize onto five foreign worlds. To accomplish this, they make challenges against other players and enlist the aid of interested parties. But alien powers, which are unique to each race, give players ways to bend or outright break some rule in the game.

Power Grid (led by Zach)  2004 Friedemann Friede (he of the green hair) classic network building and auction game that has spawned several editions and many expansions. The objective is to supply the most cities with power when someone’s network gains a predetermined size. Players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities. However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you’re potentially allowing others access to superior equipment. Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the ‘renewable’ wind farm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes.

Point City (led by Chris) 2023 card-drafting, engine-building game with more than 150 unique building cards, giving players the opportunity to create a completely different city each time it is played. This game is from the same team that designed Point Salad, but is a much deeper strategic and tactical game that packs a wallop with only a large deck of cards. The rules are simple: Take two adjacent cards from the dynamic city grid and add them to your expanding city. Use your resource cards and bonuses to construct building cards that require specific combinations. Build special civic structures to multiply your city’s points and be the top urban planner! The game takes the same simple concept of drafting cards and building the best combinations, then adds new layers of resource management and engine building to the mix — making the game easy to learn, but challenging for everyone! Think of Point City as a cross between Point Salad and Splendor – with elements of both.

Steve