Which Game First: A Board Game Podcast

Special Guest panelist Rob Kalajian from A Pawn’s Perspective.

Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age

Designed by: Matt Leacock

Published By: Eagle-Gryphon Games (2008)

Players: 1 – 4

Ages: 8 +

Time: 30 – 45 min

Unearthed by: Joe

Your die rolls get you coins, labor, or food to help you build and prosper. You have multiple viable strategies: building monuments scores you points, while building cities gets you more dice to roll. Focusing on science gets you chances to re-roll, make your die rolls more productive, or maybe avoid disasters.

The game ends when someone has five developments — or when all the wonders get built. Whoever has the most points wins.

 

Beneath Nexus

Designed by: Tom Panico, Chris Visco

Published By: Silverclutch Games (2016)

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 12 +

Time: 60 – 90 min

Unearthed by: Mike

In Beneath Nexus, the players are heroes squaring off against the powerful Blight Lord. . . except for the one player controlling it!  Each hero has a passive ability, a default action, and a unique deck of spells, actions, and reactions. The Blight Lord player chooses from several boss villains, with a unique deck of cards and abilities.

The Heroes must battle their way through two scenarios, randomly chosen. Finally they face the Blight Lord in a final battle! Each scenario starts with the Blight Lord summoning one monster per hero.

Each round, the Blight Lord gets one action per hero to apply the cards or abilities of the monsters. Then, each of the Heroes takes one action each turn, in the order of their turns.

If a hero dies, they return at the beginning of the next scenario with 6 health. The hero players lose if all heroes die in the same scenario. To win, they must destroy the Blight Lord!

 

The Last Spike

Designed by: Tom Dalgliesh

Published By: Columbia Games (2015)

Players: 2 – 6

Ages: 10 +

Time: 45 min

Unearthed by: Ed

Players cooperate to build a continuous railway from St. Louis to Sacramento, while racing to accumulate as much money as they can in the resulting frenzy of land speculation. But when the “last spike” is laid . . . the boom is over!

Each player has a hand of four track tiles, each showing a particular location. Players each place a track tile each turn, paying the cost. After a player places a tile, they may purchase one deed for a city bordering that part of the track. If the player is the first to place adjacent to a city, they gain a deed to that city for free.

Whenever two cities are connected, every deed for those two cities gets paid from the bank.

When a player places a tile that creates a contiguous track from St. Louis to Sacramento, that player receives a $20,000 bonus, and the game ends. Whoever has the most cash wins!

Guest Panelist: Curt Covert from Smirk & Dagger Games

We talk about Tower of Madness, Hex Hex, Nut So Fast, Before There Were Stars, and Koi.

The Mind

Designed by: Wolfgang Warsch

Published By: Pandasaurus Games (2018)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 8 +

Time: 20 min

Unearthed by: Celeste

The Mind is a card game, where in each of the rounds (called levels), all players receive a hand of cards equal to the number of the level (one card at level 1, two cards at level 2, etc.). The players are cooperating, to try to lay the cards down in a single stack in ascending numerical order.  

The players cannot communicate in any way about what cards they have, so there is a lot of focused, quiet concentration with many pregnant pauses. Whenever you feel the time is right, you play your lowest card. If no one holds a lower one, then the game continues, but if another player did have a lower card they must stop the game and discard a life!

The group has a communal amount of lives equal to the number of players. Completing a level may earn you additional lives or power-ups.

If the players lose all their lives, they lose. If the group completes all 12 levels, they win!

The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31

Designed by: Joe Van Wetering

Published By: Project Raygun (2017), an imprint of USAopoly

Players: 4 – 8

Ages: 17 +

Time: 1 – 2 hrs

Unearthed by: Ed

Another bleak, desolate Antarctic winter is dawning when a group of NSF researchers manning the claustrophobic, isolated U.S. Outpost 31 comes into contact with a hostile extraterrestrial lifeform. Bent on assimilating Earth’s native species, this being infiltrates the facility — creating a perfect imitation of one of the Outpost 31 crew. The staff begins a frantic sweep of the base to purge this alien infection before escaping to warn McMurdo Station that somewhere, out there in the frigid darkness, something horrible awaits!

In this hidden identity game, you will relive John Carpenter’s sci-fi cult classic, The Thing, in a race to discover which team member has been infected (and duplicated!) by this heinous lifeform. Play as one of twelve characters, leading a series of investigations through the facility, while using supplies and equipment to clear the building. The tension mounts and paranoia ensues as you question who you can trust in the ultimate race to save humanity!

Sagrada

Designed by: Adrian Adamescu & Daryl Andrews

Published By: Floodgate Games (2017)

Players: 1 to 4

Ages: 13 and up

Time: 30 to 45 min

Unearthed by: Joe

You’re trying to score lotsa points, creating a beautiful stained glass cathedral window. If you’re stuck, the game allows you to go off the beaten track to sweeten your options. You get a template, with a score of very cute, very fun, very efficient little indented boxes to ensconce your dice into specific patterns. You get a little extra fun with hidden personal goals . . . I was surreptitiously scooping up lots of the red dice. Since my template only actually required me to end up with a total of 2 red dice out of the 20, I was gleeful about my prospects. And win or lose, that’s a big part of why I play games.

The Boston Festival of Indie Games was held at the MIT Johnson Athletic Center in Cambridge, MA. The show featured 40 games in the Tabletop Showcase and 48 games in the Digital Showcase, along with many sponsors and exhibitors showing off their products. You can check out their website at: https://www.bostonfig.com

Folks we met at the show:

Cookie Brigade: https://www.cookiebrigade.org/wp/

Dead Man’s Doubloons: https://thundergryph.com/dead-mans-doubloons/

Everdell: https://www.starling.games/everdell/

Penguin Slap: http://lowsodiumgames.com/

The Genius Project: https://www.projectgeniusinc.com/

Deblockle: https://www.deblockle.com/

Cromacube: https://www.chromacubepuzzle.com/

That’s Wizard: https://www.facebook.com/thatswizard

Dragoon: http://www.laywastegames.com/

Beneath Nexus: https://www.silverclutchgames.com/

D.I.Y. Auction House: http://kadunkgames.com/

Gladius: https://www.facebook.com/gladiuscardgame

Renova

Leaf Me Alone: http://pairofjacksgames.com/

Cheer Up: https://cheerupgames.com/

Schism: https://www.facebook.com/schismthegame

Lost & Found: http://lostandfoundthegame.com

Return to the Stars: https://festive.ninja/

Ten Candles: http://cavalrygames.com/ten-candles/

Boardgame Empire: www.playbgempire.com

Ship Naked: https://www.shipnaked.com/

Questime Party Game: http://questime.com/boston/

Tabletop Showcase Winners:

BEST GAME IN PROGRESS

D.N.ABLED

BEST FAMILY GAME

HIBERNATION

https://twitter.com/piedravengames

BEST HOBBY GAME

FAZA

http://www.thefaza.com/

INNOVATIVE

LUKEWARM

AUDIENCE CHOICE AND MOST DYNAMIC

SCHISM

https://www.facebook.com/schismthegame

BEST IN SHOW

CRUMBS

Ivanhoe

Designed by: Reiner Knizia

Published By: GMT Games (2000)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 10+

Time: 20 – 60 min

Unearthed by: Joe

Each player is a knight, taking part in a series of tournaments . . . each one revolves around a specific skill like jousting, axe-fighting, fencing, or fisticuffs. Some cards are good for only one specific kind of tournament, while others are good all the time. Most cards have a color, indicating the kind of tournament (green for example indicates fisticuffs) — and a number, which adds to your total score for the current tournament. If you end any given tournament with the high score, you grab a victory token of the appropriate color to indicate that you’ve won that kind of tournament. The object of the game is to collect the required victory tokens to satisfy the win conditions (which vary depending on how many people are playing). White cards are “Supporters”, who can be used to support you in any sort of tournament. Supporters with a value of 6 are “Maidens” — unfortunately, you can have only one of these in play at a time.

 

Azul

Designed by: Michael Kiesling

Published By: Next Move & Plan B Games (2017)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 8+

Time: 30 – 45 min

Unearthed by: Ed

In Azul, players take turns drafting colored tiles from suppliers to their player board. At the end of each round, players score points based on how they’ve used their tiles to decorate their palaces. Wasted tiles cost points. At the end of the game, bonuses may be scored for certain patterns and completing sets. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

 

Battle of the Sexes

Designed by: Uncredited

Published By: University Games (1997)

Players: 2 – 8

Ages: Adults

Time: ~ 45 min

Unearthed by: Celeste

This is essentially a simple trivia question game with the large set of question cards you’d expect. The twist on that basic theme is that this game separates the questions by male and female expertise.  Players are asked questions picked from the other gender’s “wheelhouse.” The board is laid out so the players teams start at opposite ends of the board; the first player (or team) to get to the other side and back again wins the game.

Machi Koro

Designed by: Masao Suganuma

Published By: IDW Games & Pandasaurus Games (2012)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 10 +

Time: 30 min

Unearthed by: Joe

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. Collect income through development, public works, and of course, robbing your neighbors! And always remember & never forget: everyone else wants to do this to you.

To win, you must build all the required landmarks faster than your rivals. Each player rolls one or two dice each turn. If the sum of the dice rolled matches the number of a building that a player owns, they get the effect of that building; sometimes you can even benefit from your rival’s rolls. Stay sharp, because the action’s fast on this one!

Ticket To Ride: Europe

Designed by: Alan R. Moon

Published By: Days of Wonder (2005)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 30 – 60 min

Unearthed by: Ed

In Ticket to Ride, players collect cards of various trains used to claim trans-European railway routes! Each turn, you can get: a) more train cards, b) more Destination Tickets, or c) start building a lucrative route! The longer the route you claim, the more points can you earn when you build it.

You also get points from the Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; but be careful, if you fail to finish that route, it will cost you points.

At game’s end, the player with the longest continuous route gets a bonus, possibly winning the game even if they were never in the lead!

“The tension comes from being forced to balance greed – adding more cards to your hand; and fear – losing a critical route to a competitor.”

Just Desserts

Designed by: Andrew Looney

Published By: Looney Labs (2015)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 25 min

Unearthed by: Mike

In Just Desserts, each player starts with a hand of three Dessert cards; three Guest cards are placed in the center of the table. Each Dessert card shows 1-3 tastes that it satisfies, such as “chocolate, fruit, and pastry.” These must be matched with Guest cards, showing which tastes each Guest wants – and which ones they don’t.

On your turn, draw a Dessert card and add a Guest card to the table. Then take one of three actions: 1) draw another Dessert card, 2) serve (and claim) one or two Guest cards on the table, or 3) refresh your deck by exchanging Dessert cards for the same number of new cards from the deck.

If you’ve served three guests of the same type, or five guests of different types, you win!

Mountains of Madness

Designed by: Rob Daviau

Published By: IELLO (2017)

Players: 3 – 5

Ages: 14+

Time: 60 min

Unearthed by: Mike

In Mountains of Madness, you get to play scientists unearthing remnants of an ancient city nestled in a chain of impassable mountains.

You must all work together and communicate well to successfully scale this mountain, recover fascinating relics, and escape this accursed place while trying to maintain your health and sanity!

Each step forward presents the players with a new challenge: to collectively add the numbers on their equipment cards to a total (within a specific range). As you progress, your team members begin to crack under varied types of madness creeping into their minds! Communication between the players becomes more difficult as you edge closer to escape, or death!

Through the Desert

Designed by: Reiner Knizia

Published By: KOSMOS & Fantasy Flight Games (1998)

Edition Played: Z-Man Games (2017)

Players: 2-5

Ages: 10+

Time: 45 min

Unearthed by: Ed

In Through the Desert, you control a tribe of nomads vying for control of the desert. On your turn, you place two camels, expanding the reach of your caravans. By taking control of oases, claiming valuable water holes, and enclosing the most land, your tribe gains points and increases in power.

Strategy is essential in deciding how — and where — to build your tribe’s caravans. There are multiple ways to gain points, and several ways to win. Should you try to build the longest caravan? Dominate the oases? Whatever your strategy, remember to keep an eye on your opponent’s caravans, or you may find your own tribe cut off — and in trouble.

The game ends when all the camels of one color has been placed. At that point, the tribe with the most points wins.

Nut So Fast

Designed by: Jeff Lai

Published By: Smirk & Laughter Games (2018)

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 8+

Time: 20 min

Unearthed by: Celeste

In the box are pose cards, nut cards, and big wooden pieces shaped like walnuts, cashews, almonds or pistachios. The nuts are all laid out in the center of the table.  Players takes turns flipping cards, most of which are nut cards; everyone looks the cards over as fast as they can, scanning for valid nut matches. If a player finds any good matches, they grab an appropriate nut from the center of the table.

Just in case you think keeping track of the nut cards is too easy, sometimes you’ll draw a pose card instead! Poses, such as rabbit ears behind the head, must be taken immediately. In either case, the slowest players often get penalties! The player with the least penalties at the end of 3 rounds wins.

Five Crowns

Designed by: Marsha J. Falco

Published By: Set Enterprises Inc. (1996)

Players: 1 – 7

Ages: 8+

Time: 30 min

Unearthed by: Joe

Five Crowns is a five-suited rummy-style card game. Five Crowns features a unique double deck that contains 5 suits: spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds, and stars. This special deck makes it easier to arrange your entire hand into books and runs. The rotating wild card keeps players on their toes! The game begins with 3 cards and 3s are wild, the next round has 4 cards and 4s are wild and so on ‘til the Kings go Wild! Make the right combinations, be the first to go out, then watch players scramble as they get one last chance to cut their losses! Five Crowns is loved by everyone, easy to play anywhere and a game that you’ll want to play again and again.

High Society

Designed by: Reiner Knizia

Published By: Ravensburger (1995)

Edition Played: Osprey Games (2018)

Players: 3 – 5

Ages: 10+

Time: 20 min

Unearthed by: Ed

You are the cultural elite, true icons of the age. But competition is fierce amidst highborn and nouveau riche to assert your status and earn prestige in the eyes of your peers.  Show off your exquisite palette and excellent tastes, but don’t be caught penniless or be cast out as an impostor!

Each player starts with 11 money cards worth 105,000 Francs collectively.  Each round, players bid on a Status card drawn from the deck. Players bid by placing money cards face up in front of them. When you pass, return your bid to your hand. The winner buys the Status card, and starts the the next round.

If the auction is for a Disgrace Card, then player bid to AVOID the card, the first player to pass takes the card, and all players discard the amounts bid.

When the 4th dark green ‘Prestige’ card is revealed, the game immediately ends.  The player(s) with the least cash is cast out as a scandalous impostor! The remaining player with the highest Status is the winner.

Anti-Monopoly

Designed by: Ralph Anspach

Published By: University Games (1973)

Players: 2 – 6

Ages: 8+

Time: ~ 2 hrs

Unearthed by: Evan

The basic idea of the game is to end the monopolistic practices of the 3-company-combinations of the game board. The players are Trust-Busting lawyers going about the board slapping actions on the monopolies. The winning trust buster is the one who ends with the largest number of social-credit points when one of the players runs out of money.

Anti-Monopoly was briefly (1976-1982) published as “Anti” and “Anti-Monopoly II” was published as “Choice” whilst the company was forbidden to use the word “Monopoly”. In 1984 after prevailing in court the company used the names “Anti-Monopoly” and “Anti-Monopoly II” for its two games. In 1987, Anti-Monopoly was withdrawn and Anti-Monopoly II was renamed “Anti-Monopoly”.

The game we played was produced as “Anti-Monopoly” before 1976 and from 1984 to 1987. The game produced as Anti-Monopoly after 1987 is a different game, with the same name.

The Game

Designed by: Steffen Benndorf

Published By: IDW Games and Pandasaurus Games (2015)

Players: 1 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 20 min

Unearthed by:  Celeste

Players start with a hand of cards from a deck with cards numbered from 1 to 100.  There are four discard piles in the center of the table: two for counting up to 100 and two for counting down to 1. On their turn, each player must discard at least two cards from their hand onto one or more discard piles.  The rule for placing a card is simple: If you are placing it on a “decreasing” pile it must be lower than the number currently there; if you place it on an “increasing” pile it must be higher than the card already there. Then players draw new cards into their hands.  

The game ends when all players run out of cards (and everybody wins!) . . . or it doesn’t, and everyone fails.

The twist: you can’t reveal — or even communicate — the exact numbers on your cards. So to get all the cards played, everyone must communicate very creatively.

 

Nevermore

Designed by: Curt Covert

Published By: Smirk & Dagger Games (2015)

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 14 +

Time: 45 – 60 min

Unearthed by: Ed

In the drafting phase, players are dealt a hand of 5 cards, from which they first pass three cards, then pass two cards; and finally one card to the next player.

In the resolution phase, the results of five different suit effects are resolved:

A “conspiracy” of 5 Ravens ends the round, giving that player a VP and dealing all other players 1 damage. Otherwise, in order, the suits are resolved, with the player(s) playing most cards of that suit gets the benefit of that suit’s ability;

Attack allows you to deal damage.

Healing allows you to heal damage.

Radiance gains you Light Magick cards.

Victory gains you Victory Points.

Ravens are generally undesired, as they will force to you discard cards from the other suits, but having the most leftover ravens gains you Shadow Magick cards.

If your health drops to 0, you become a Raven. Ravens are unable to win, but are able to peck other players for damage, and may try to transform back into a human.

The last Human standing, or the first to score 6 VP, wins the game.

 

Round About Ludo

Designed by: uncredited

Published By: BRIO (1975)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 5 +

Unearthed by: Evan

Each player begins the game with 4 pieces in their starting position. To get on to the board, roll a 1 or a 6, and you’re in. Work your pieces around the rings (starting with the outermost). The rings are interconnected at strategic points, so aiming for those spots can help you move to the inner rings. Get to the last ring in the board’s center, land on one of the magic ending spaces, and you win!

Qwixx

A fast family dice game

Designed by: Steffen Benndorf

Published By: Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag (2012)

Edition Played: Gamewright (2017)

Players: 2 – 5

Ages: 8 +

Time: 15 min

Unearthed by: Celeste

Each player gets a score sheet with 4 colored rows of numbers; the red and yellow rows go up from 2 to 12 left to right, while the green and blue one go in reverse order. All four rows also have a lock icon.

The active player rolls six dice (2 white and 1 each of the four colors) — and announce the sum of the two white dice. All players MAY cross that number off from any ONE of the rows on their sheet. Then, the active player MAY add any one white die to any one colored die, and cross off the sum from the row of the matching color. Simple, right?

The catch is, once you cross off a number you can no longer mark off any of the numbers on that row to the left of that number. . . and the more numbers you mark off in a row, the more points you’ll score at the end. If the active player doesn’t mark any numbers on their turn (whether they chose not to or get locked out), they take a -5 penalty.

Once any player marks off 5 numbers off any row they can lock it, preventing all players from crossing out any more numbers on that color’s row. The game ends when two rows are locked; high score wins.

 

Tigris & Euphrates

A game of culture, conflict, and civilization!

Designed by: Reiner Knizia

Published By: Hans im Glück (1997)

Edition Played: Mayfair Games (2008)

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 12 +

Time: ~ 90 min

Unearthed by:  Ed

You control a Dynasty striving to develop all 4 key spheres of your civilization: Settlements (black), Temples (red), Farms (blue), and Markets (green) as kingdoms grow in a 11×16 square grid representing a slice of the Fertile Crescent.

To do this, players will position their leaders, create and extend kingdoms, build monuments, and resolve conflicts. They will thus gain victory points in each of the four spheres.

Each time a tile is added to a kingdom (a group of adjacent tiles with a leader), the leader that matches the tile’s color, or the King, will earn that leader’s owner a victory point of the tile’s color.

There can only be one leader of each color in a kingdom. If the placement of a tile or leader results in more that one leader of the same type, then resolve conflicts until there is only one leader of each type.

At the end of the game, players compare their lowest spheres; the winner is the player with the most well-balanced civilization (which has the most victory points in their lowest sphere).

 

Dungeon Roll

A Dicey Dungeon Delve Dripping with Danger

Designed by: Chris Darden

Published By: Tasty Minstrel Games (2013)

Players: 1 – 4

Ages: 8 +

Time: 15 – 30 min

Unearthed by:  Mike

In Dungeon Roll, you collect experience points by defeating monsters and scooping up treasure. Players each select a Hero avatar with unique powers, such as a Mercenary, Half-Goblin, or Enchantress.

On your turn, delve into the dicey depths seeking fortune and glory! One of the other players takes on the role of the Dungeon Lord for that turn, and rolls increasing number of Dungeon Dice based on how deep into the dungeon you go. Success means you can press your luck and continue; but if you go too far, you may have to fight the dreaded dragon!

After 3 delves each, the player with the most experience points wins.

Scotland Yard

The hunt is on for Mister X!

Designed by: Manfred Burggraf, Dorothy Garrels, Wolf Hoermann, Fritz Ifland, Werner Scheerer and Werner Schlegel

Published By: Ravensburger (1983)

Edition Played: Ravensburger (2004)  

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 10 +  

Time: ~ 45 min

Unearthed by: Joe

The players are all working together as Scotland Yard Detectives. Well, all of them EXCEPT that shady, nondescript evil mastermind who’s incredibly dangerous. . . the notorious Mr. X, who must be hunted down and brought to justice! The detectives must hunt this nefarious character down, and the chase is on immediately!

The detectives know what mode of transport Mr. X takes each turn — train, subway, or taxi. Mr. X records his locations each turn so he can’t cheat; he must also periodically reveal his current location. Detectives try to deduce where he currently is, based on his last known location (and his recent modes of travel).

 

Lanterns: The Harvest Festival

Create the grandest decorations for the Emperor’s festival!

Designed by: Christopher Chung

Published By: Foxtrot Games, Renegade Game Studios (2015)

Players: 2 – 4   

Ages: 8 +

Time: 30 min

Unearthed by: Ed

Players take the role of artisans, decorating the lake around the Imperial Palace. Everyone starts with a hand of 3 Lake Tiles, each with its own colorful arrangement of floating lanterns. On their turn, each player adds a new Lake Tile of lanterns to the festival, and then draws a new one add to their inventory, replacing the one just put on display.

Players earn Lantern Cards according to the orientation Lake Tile, and earn extra cards for matching colors to adjacent Tiles. Platforms on the matching colors get you Favor Tokens, which allow you exchange one card for another. Returning sets of Lantern Cards (four of a kind, three pair, or seven different colors) will gain Dedication tokens to earn Honor!

The player who ends this visually exquisite game with the most Honor is declared the winner.

 

Squint

The game where pictures take shape!

Designed by: Deborah Boss

Published By: Out of the Box Publishing (2002)

Players: 3 – 8

Ages: 12 +

Time: 20 – 30 min

Unearthed by: Celeste

72 cards with various shapes on them (such as a cross, various sized circles, wavy lines, etc…) get tossed up in the center of the table. Players take turns drawing from a set of cards with words on them, trying to convey one of the written words by using any number of the shape cards.  

Other players try to guess what the word is. If a player guesses the word before the timer is up, the player who guessed right — and the cluegiver — rack up  points!