September 11th Session Preview

Greetings!!

This upcoming Friday will be our regularly scheduled gaming session at 6:30 PM at The Church at Severn Run.  We are very excited to kick off September and the fall season with some games.  We've been very happy about the attendance over the summer months as people travel and hope to see everyone mor
e regularly now that summer is coming to a close and fall is upon us.

To correspond with the turning seasons, we will be featuring games that involve seasons in some capacity!  As had been done in the past, below are my person top five favorite games that involve seasons:

5.  Kingsburg

Kingsburg is actually a game I'm getting just a touch burnt out on because we've played it so much.  This is my go-to 'next level' game.  In other words, if I'm gaming with people who have become comfortable with games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and the like, then this is the game I'll teach them as it's just one step above those games in complexity.  Honestly, it's easy enough that I could probably use it as a gateway game, but there's just a little bit more planning involved in those other games.  The game itself is very fun, particularly with the expansion - players roll dice and then use those dice to influence various advisers in a fantasy ruler's court.  The goal is to collect resources and use them to build structures, both for the purpose of gaining points but also to gain special powers.  The game is played over five years split into seasons and in the winter of each year a monster attacks the town - hopefully you've built the necessary defenses!


4.  Agricola

This is an extremely beloved game in the gaming community and still rests in the top ten of BGG's rankings.  I believe it spent some time as #1 several years ago but could be mistaken.  In this game, players take control of farms in the 14th century, which doesn't sound particularly exciting, but it really is.  The game is somewhat puzzly and is certainly a challenge, particularly as every harvest season you have to feed your family or you take 'begging cards,' which are essentially negative points.  Resources are tight and so is are points in this game!


3.  Viticulture (Collector's Edition)

I was fortunate enough to back the Viticulture Collector's Edition on Kickstarter and have been thus blessed with a beautiful edition of this game and its expansion, Tuscany.  This game is fantastic - players take control of Vineyards and tussle to be the most influential.  They grow grapes, make wines, upgrade their tools and buildings, and sell their goods.  It's a really tight game with an exciting point-based conclusion.  The expansion really increases the quality of the game as well, including the awesome metal coins.  The game is worker-placement based and the placement options change with each season.



2.  Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

This is my favorite pure cooperative game.  It is based on the book Robinson Crusoe, though it also ties into other similar novels, including the Swiss Family Robinson.  In fact, some of the scenarios also are based off of films like King Kong and Indiana Jones.  Player team up to survive on a remote, tropical island, trying to survive and complete the mission prescribed on the scenario card.  Some of the scenarios are quite challenging and the game's mechanics tie in incredibly well with the theme.  One of them is that each round, depending on the season, weather dice are rolled to simulate monsoons and snow storms.   This is a really fun game.

1.  Caverna

Finally, we have my favorite season-based game:  Caverna.  Caverna is Agricola's sequel and, in my opinion, is its superior.  I really enjoy the sandbox nature of Caverna, where there are a plethora of options and each game beckons to try something new.  In this game the players are
Dwarven cave farmers trying to make their way in the world.  Not only do they develop farms as in Agricola, but they also build mines and rooms inside of their cave dwellings.  There are endless combinations of rooms and strategies to try out and try build the best Dwarf farm.

In addition to these games we'll have the full table available as well with games to borrow.  And of course, don't feel limited to these - bring whatever you want to play and have fun!!!

See you all on Friday,

Lee