GiftTRAP is party game focused on selecting the best gift for your other players. (16:06)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m taking a look at GiftTRAP. This is a new party game by a new publisher. It’s lavishly produced, as you will see, and is focused on the acts of getting and giving gifts. The winner of the game is the person whom is the best getter and the best giver.
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f you decide to get a copy of GiftTRAP after this episode of BGWS, please let about the impact BGWS had. This does make a difference! Disclaimer: I did get a review copy of this game from the publisher.
Aqua Romana is a light strategy tile-laying game about digging aquaducts, cutting off your opponents and avoiding being cut off yourself. (11:01)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m taking a look at Aqua Romana. This game is in the tile-laying family, so has a similar feel to Caracassonne, Tsuro, or Streetcar/Linie 1. The big difference is that the type of tile you can play is dictated by large pawns that move around the outside of the field, so there’s a combination of strategy and luck in determining what you get next. It was nominated (but did not win) for the Spiel des Jahres award in Germany for 2006.
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
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You can purchase Aqua Romana (and help support BGWS) through . You can also talk about the game at .
If you decide to buy Aqua Romana, please let (in the US/Canada) or (Europe) know about the impact BGWS had. This does make a difference!
Die Macher is a 5 hour heavy strategy game about German Politics. It is, however, one of the classic euro-style games. (56:35)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m looking at the granddaddy eurogame, Die Macher. Die Macher is a heavy procedural strategy game that takes about 5 hours to play. It is complex with several interlocking systems, and becuase of the complexity, has been the most-requested game so far here at BGWS.
That said, this is also a long video – it’s almost an hour. (Yes, I realize the files are large, but it’s an hour of video!) I’ve tried to the essentials and have a sample turn in there at the end to help you put everything together.
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
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Right-click and Save one of the these files (Internet Archive):
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Valley Games is republishing the game, and you can order it from . (If you do so because of Board Games with Scott, let them know! It makes a difference.)
You can download many fine player aids over at . Some of my favorites are and the .
Masons is a strategy game about building walls, creating cities, and developing high-scoring patterns on the board that match scoring cards. (14:44)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m looking at the strategy game, Masons (a.k.a. Mauer Bauer). Masons is a fairly abstract strategy game with a good balance of luck and skill.
In Masons, you have a hand full of scoring opportunity cards. The board is changing each turn with new walls, cities, houses, palaces, and towers, and you have to decide when to play your scoring card to maximize your points. Each turn doesn’t take long, so the game moves along quite nicely.
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
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Right-click and Save one of the these files (Internet Archive):
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(and support BGWS) through Funagain Games.
If you decide to purchase Masons, please write the publisher,
and let them know you made your decision based on the show! (this really does make a difference). Disclaimer: I did get a review copy of this game from the publisher.
Apples to Apples and Attribute are both party games based on the mechanic of matching a descriptive word from your hand of word cards to a main concept. (12:45)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m looking at two lighter party games – Apples to Apples and Attribute.
Apples to Apples is a very popular game in the U.S. and has spawned many addons and variants. Attribute came out of Germany and, while being less well-known here, is a slightly more in-depth game. Both involve playing descriptive word cards from your hand that match (or do not match) the topic of the round.
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
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Right-click and Save one of the these files (Internet Archive):
or through Funagain Games.
If you decide to purchase
- Apples to Apples, please write Out of the Box games at matt@otb-games.com
- Attribute, please write Lookout Games at vertrieb@lookout-games.de
and let them know you made your decision based on the show!
Cleoptra and the Society of Architects is a light strategy game about collecting sets of cards and placing buildings strategically for the most points. (24:14)
On this week’s episode, Scott Nicholson talks about the Days of Wonder game, Cleopatra and the Society of Architects. This game has some of the best components in a board game and is about building structures to please Cleopatra. Players visit the market to collect resources, and then visit the quarry to build the plastic buildings. Corruption lurks around every corner to lure players to play more powerful cards, but the player with the most corruption is tossed to Cleopatra’s crocidiles!
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
Or
Right-click and Save one of the these files (Internet Archive):
(and support BGWS) through Funagain Games.
Talk about the game over at .
If you decide to purchase this game after watching BGWS, please write and let them know you made your decision based on the show! Disclaimer: I did get a review copy of this game from the publisher.
Power Grid is a medium-weight strategy game with auctions, markets, and connetions of cities. (26:41)
Itunes user? If you just got audio, delete the file and then get it again, and it should be video.
On this week’s episode, Scott Nicholson is joined by designer Friedemann Friese to talk about Power Grid. Power Grid is a top-rated medium-weight strategy game where players purchase power plants at an auction, buy raw materials from a market, connect new cities into their power grid, and then fire off their power plants to supply power and make money.
(note – I’m currently updating the files due to a minor rules mistake. If your download doesn’t complete, try again later.)
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
New! Below the typical Internet Archive files, I’ve posted some links to a “Faster Server” for the larger video files. These links will only be up until the next episode of BGWS, then the Internet Archive links will continue as the permanent home.
Right-click and Save one of the these files (Internet Archive):
Right-Click and Save from the Alternate Faster Server (temporary; do not bookmark):
or (and support BGWS) through Funagain Games.
Talk about the game over at .
If you decide to purchase this game after watching BGWS, please write or and let them know you made your decision based on the show!
In two weeks, I’ll be taking a look at Cleopatra and the Society of Architects!
Thurn and Taxis is a light strategy game about delivering mail to cities in Germany (17:01)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m taking a look at Thurn and Taxis, which is the newest game by Andreas and Karen Seyfarth. This is a light strategy game that is about delivering the mail! It’s a game about collecting cards that represent cities in Germany to make mail routes. Throughout the game, if you are one of the first players to visit specified sets of cities, you’ll get bonus points.
To enjoy this video, you can click on the picture below:
Or Right-click and Save one of the these files:
(and support BGWS) through Funagain Games.
Talk about the game over at .
If you decide to purchase this game after watching BGWS, please write or (U.S) or (Germany) and let them know you made your decision based on the show! Disclaimer: I did get a review copy of this game from the publisher.
I’ve explored Poker Chips as a replacement for money in games, and this week’s episode explores the cheap to the expensive of poker chips. (26:41)
Announcement: Board Games with Scott is going Biweekly. When I started it, I had hopes that I would be able to significantly reduce the time to edit an episode. While I’ve gotten better, I’ve chosen to make a higher-quality production rather than cut corners, so I’m producing a better show in the same time. Rather than burn out and stop completely or make lower-quality shows, I’m going to produce one every other week. As time and content allows, I’ll create appropriate special episodes in selected off-weeks, but my regular game explorations will now be every other week.
This week I’m talking about poker chips. Earlier this year, I went on a quest where I started with my cheap chips that I’ve had for a while and started looking for some nicer replacements. I’ve been getting into the 18xx games where it’s really handy to have chips and thus my exploration began.
A note about poker chip breakdowns – I don’t talk about what amounts of what denominations to get. That depends upon what you plan to do with the chips. Look at the games you are replacing and consider those ratios in your chips. This site –
- tells you what to use for a home poker tourney, but the needs for a poker game are very different than the needs for boardgames For my nice set, I got 100 each of the lower denominations and 50 each of the higher denominations, for a 650-piece set; I figured that was generic enough to handle most games.
You can watch the episode here:
Or Right-click and Save one of the these files:
Here are some links to buy chips:
(I’ve personally used both of these companies in the past. If you use the links above to make a purchase, you’ll be supporting BGWS.)
is a good side for poker chip reviews and discussion.
In 2 weeks, I’ll be covering one of the big hits from the Gathering of Friends – Thurn und Taxis.
This is a dice game that is similar to Yahtzee with more strategy and special abilities. (20:07)
This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m going to talk about Um Krone und Kragen, which is a 2006 dice game where your goal is to impress royalty by rolling dice well. In the game, you roll and attempt to make good combinations of dice. Many different combinations will bring royalty cards to your side, which you can then use to become more powerful for your next attempt.
While the game is for 2-5 players, I suggest you play it with no more than 4. In fact, at a recent event, I pulled out two copies in order to have 2 3-player games rather than one large game. The game doesn’t change much with more players and only gets longer.
You can watch it right here:
Or right-click and save one of the following:
().
You can also watch it with Spanish subtitles at
or talk about this game at
If you plan to buy this game becuase of this show, !
