20 at the UNO Park Community Center in North Adams for an evening of games about WINTER. During our allotted 4 hours for play, 10 games were played with 8 different table leaders teaching.

Welcome to Hope on her first visit.

IN: Steve & Sandy, Ethan & Amy, Tony & Rachel, Norm & Hope, Sean, Tim, Armando, Zach, Nicole, Danny, Sean K,  Chris, Julie, Matt, Reimi, Carol 

Hey, That’s My Fish (led by Sandy) 2003 abstract grid movement game from Lithuania, where players want to catch as many fish as possible with their waddle of penguins. Each turn, a player moves one penguin in a straight line over hex-shaped ice tiles with 1, 2 or 3 fish on them. The player then collects the hex from where the penguin started its movement from the table, thereby creating a gap which penguins can’t cross on future turns. When a penguin can’t move, it’s removed from play with its owner claiming the tile on which it stands. The player who collects the most fish wins. The 2″ high penguins in the deluxe version make for a wonderful table presence.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8203/hey-thats-my-fish

Dead of Winter (led by Tim) 2014 meta-cooperative Zombie-themed psychological survival game. Players are working together toward one common victory condition, but for each individual player to achieve victory, they must also complete their personal secret objective, which could relate to a psychological tick that’s fairly harmless to most others in the colony, a dangerous obsession that could put the main objective at risk, a desire for sabotage of the main mission, or (worst of all) vengeance against the colony! Games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Work toward the group’s goal, but don’t get walked all over by a loudmouth who’s looking out only for their own interests! According to Tim, the team successfully endured the harsh winter, but not without many brave souls making the ultimate sacrifice. Special mention goes to Sparky, the weapons expert dog, who valiantly fought off numerous zombies despite sustaining serious injuries in the process. Ultimately, 17 survivors from the colony managed to persevere and continued fighting another day.  One team member was able to accomplish their secret mission, but only through the courageous support of the entire team. 

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/150376/dead-of-winter-a-crossroads-game

Endless Winter (led by Matt)  2022 euro-style game that combines worker placement and deck building in an innovative way. Each round, players send their tribe members to various action spaces, and pay for the actions by playing cards and spending resources. Tribe cards grant additional labor, while Culture cards provide a variety of unique effects. As an alternative, cards can be saved for an end-of-round Eclipse phase, where they are simultaneously revealed to determine the new player order, and trigger various bonus actions. The game features a novel blend of interwoven systems and mechanisms, such as multi-use cards, area influence, tile placement, and set collection. Plus, there are many viable paths to victory. After four brisk rounds, scores are tallied, and the tribe with the most points wins!

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/305096/endless-winter-paleoamericans

Ghosts of Christmas (led by Zach) 2019 card game where participants play “tricks” to the past, present, and future. As turns progress, one’s foes will play – out of order – to any of these time periods, and players will start to figure out who might “lead” each trick. Even though one can play to the tricks in any order, the tricks will resolve based on who was leading. Victory depends on figuring out who will be leading or to manipulate the leader to set oneself up to win. Points are awarded to whomever has correctly bid on the number of tricks they thought they’d win. After playing as many hands as players, scores are added up to determine the winner.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281619/ghosts-of-christmas

Snow Tails (led by K-ban) 2008 dog-sled racing designed by the  LaMont Brothers from Scotland. Pilot your sled via clever card play (dog 1 + dog 2 less braking…..add drift to the side with the stronger canine) while navigating the snow course with speed limits on the curves….and the very real possibility of dings and dents along the walls.

Snowcrest (led by Sean) 2024 tableau and engine building card game where players lead their village and its monastery towards enlightenment. Control a unique faction of priests, farmers, and laborers. Build structures, tend the barley fields, harvest juniper from the forest, present offerings, become lost in meditation, and uncover the secrets of a bygone age – all by utilizing multi-use cards. Overcome the monstrous guardians of this knowledge and bring peace and prosperity to the snowfields. At the end of the game, players tally up points to determine the winner.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/385437/snowcrest

Jokkmokk: The Winter Market (led by Nicole) 2023 45- minute set collection game set in the 400+ year old Swedish Winter Market, that uses the turnorder mechanic popularized in Tokaido (player trailing the procession is on turn). Collect cards representing treasures in the Winter Market and earn VPs in various ways. Having a different mix of treasures each time played adds to the variability, making each game unique.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/388570/jokkmokk-the-winter-market

Ticket to Ride: Northern Lights (led by Tony) 2022 standalone game in Ticket to Ride series, designed for 2–5 players and introduces various end game bonus cards – 4 of 11 are selected every game, so now there are games where, for example, longest route gives extra points, but in other games you will score some extra, if most unused trains are in your supply. Tony & Rachel picked up this exceedingly rare version in a Scandinavian gift shop on their  cross country skiing trip.

Himalaya (led by K-ban) 2004 SdJ nominated game of set collection, action queue and area majority, where players control caravans trying to increase the religious, political and economic influence of their tribe of nomads. Players collect goods (salt, barley, tea, jade, and gold), can make offers to monasteries & temples, send out delegations to different regions or increase their herd of Yaks  to become the most prosperous caravaneer. Players program their caravans around the paths on the Himalayan plateau to collect various goods, and then deliver them. Each turn players plan in advance six moves for their caravan, trying to second-guess what other players will do to their best advantage. Delivering goods allows the player to increase their influence in two of three separate categories. Religious influence is marked by the number and value of your stupas in buildings on the board, political influence is marked by the number of sherpas you have in the regions between the paths on the board, and economical influence is marked by the total number of yaks you have on your delivery disks and for having the most of a commodity after the 4th, 8th and 12th turns. The scoring is unique to the game, in the 4 player game anyway (the player count the game is primarily designed to be played with). To determine the winner, players first total religious influence, with the player with the least religious influence eliminated and their remaining pieces removed from the board. Next, the player with the least political influence is eliminated. For the two remaining players, whoever has the greatest economic influence, in Yaks, is declared the winner. This unusual scoring is what makes the game different from many other similar games. The game was reimplemented/re-themed as Lords of Xidit in 2014.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3800/himalaya

The Bottle Imp (led by Zach) 2024 reimplementation of 1995’s The Bottle Imp quirky 3-suited trick-taking card game based on a Robert Louis Stevenson novel.  All players want to acquire the cursed bottle that can grant all wishes… However, they need to get rid of it before the end! Score points by trying to take as many tricks as possible, but make sure to not finish the game with the bottle, or the Bottle Imp will take your points!

This new edition features 54 foil effect cards and two bottles which allows the game to be expanded to 5-6 players.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/413364/bottle-imp

Steve