17 at the UNO Park Community Center for a night honoring prolific game author Reiner Knizia. We managed to get 9 of his games to our tables….with many more to explore.

Welcome to Carrie on her first visit

IN: Steve & Sandy, Tony & Rachel, Armando, Tim, Zach, Chris, Danny, Nicole, Julie, Reimi, Rob, Sean K.,  Rachel P, Carol, Carrie

High Society (led by Zach) 1995 auction/set collection game where players bid against each other to acquire the various trappings of wealth (positive-number and multiplier cards) while avoiding its pitfalls (negative number and divisor cards). While bidding, though, keep an eye on your remaining cash – at the end of the game, even though all those positive-number cards might add up to a win, the player with the least money isn’t even considered for victory.

Quandary/Loco/ Botswana/Flinke Pinke (led by K-ban) We played on the 1994 Milton Bradley 4-player version of this Knizia classic, described as a game of placement, shares and nerves. This edition has chunky heavy tiles. Players in turn lay numbered/colored tiles on tracks curling to the center, and then take a Quandary tile share in any color. The round ends when a single track is filled. Scoring is based on a player’s total shares multiplied by the value of the final tile played on each track. Perceived value with brinkmanship blended in….a very subtle game that keeps getting reprinted/rethemed because it simply works!

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/398/wildlife-safari

Rheinlander (led by Tim) 1999 area majority/influence game where players are in the role of dukes who are trying to establish duchies along the banks of the Rhine River. Players hold a hand of cards that correspond to numbered plots on each bank, and they place knights in open plots for which they hold the corresponding cards. After establishing duchies, players attempt to expand them to include more plots of land, as well as buildings – such as castles, cathedrals, and cities. These buildings both add to the value of a duchy and provide their owners with advantages during game play. Combined with a uniquely Knizia-style scoring system, this game has some very interesting dynamics.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/111/rheinlander

Through the Desert (led by Tony) 1998 network and route building games with pastel camels. Each player attempts to score the most points by snaking caravan routes through the desert, trying to reach oases and blocking off sections of the desert. All-Play will be crowdfunding a new version with expansions at the end of October.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/503/through-the-desert

Modern Art (led by Zach) Reiner Knizia’s 1992 auction game masterpiece. Five different artists have produced paintings and it’s the player’s task to be both the buyer and the auctioneer/seller, hopefully making a profit in both roles. This is accomplished by offering a painting from one’s hand up for auction each turn. The auctioneer keeps the coins bid if another player buys it, but must pay the bank if bought by the auctioneer. After each round, paintings are valued by the number of paintings of that type that were sold. The broker with the most cash after four rounds is the winner. The Knizia twist here is that there are several different types of auctions involved as dictated by the cards played. 

Ra (led by K-ban) 1999 Knizia auction and set-collection game with an ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn players are able to purchase lots of tiles with their bidding tiles (suns). Once a player has used up their suns, the other players continue until they do likewise, which may set up a situation with a single uncontested player bidding on tiles before the end of the round occurs. Tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round (epoch), or give points after the final round. The game lasts for three “epochs” (rounds). Easy to learn but a challenge to play well.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12/ra

Rebirth (led by Tim) 2024 Reiner Knizia tile laying game with a double-sided mapboard (for both Scotland and Ireland). Each turn, players draw a tile from their supply and place it strategically on the board. These tiles represent your clan’s contribution to rebuilding the land. The game rewards strategic foresight and clever tactical play, with tougher decisions emerging over the course of a relatively short game that tends to elicit repeat plays. Points are scored for chains of food farms & energy farms, residences, castles controlled, as well as private goals achieved through cathedrals. We played the Scotland side of the mapboard.

Medici (led by Zach) 1995 Reiner Knizia classic perceived value auction game. Bid to your opponent’s ‘point of pain’ in a series of once around auctions…where players are securing cargo both for the products and for bulk weight. You are bidding with your VPs so some self-control is imperative.

Keltis Card Game 2x (led by K-ban) 2009 card game that has Knizia revisiting Lost Cities and making some interesting changes to play. Players have a hand of cards, playing or discarding one card each turn on piles of the same color then drawing one card. Each of the five colors includes two ‘finishing cards’, and these cards can be played on a stack of the matching color at any time, after which no further number cards can be added to that stack; once five finishing cards have been played, or the deck has been exhausted, the game ends. The important changes from Lost Cities are that one’s cards can either be in ascending or descending order and that playing two same numbered cards earn a player wishing stones. Add your points for groups of cards played and for wishing stones for your final total. I personally like this better than Lost Cities and it can expand to 3 or 4 players.

Castle Combo (led by Tony) 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 (led by Zach)  2024 cooperative 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!

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

Steve