Our May meeting was a great turnout, with tables wasting no time getting stuck into some meaty games.
The day opened with three tables diving straight into some chunky games. One group settled in for Salton Sea, David Bernal's economic strategy game in which players run competing geothermal companies, drilling for brine and processing lithium whilst juggling a clever dual-use card system where every card serves as both currency and action. Meanwhile, another table got stuck into Cuba Libre, the second volume in GMT Games' acclaimed COIN series, dropping up to four players into the Cuban Revolution with each faction — Castro's 26 July Movement, anti-Batista student groups, the Batista government, and Meyer Lansky's Syndicate — pursuing its own asymmetric objectives. A third table had set up Castles of Burgundy, Stefan Feld's beloved dice-placement game of building your ideal Burgundian estate.
Elsewhere, lighter games were the order of the morning. One table kicked off with Doughnut Drive-Thru, Grail Games' cheerful worker-placement card game of baking and selling doughnuts for tips, before moving on to Tacta, the abstract card game where players flip and twist cards to cover opponents' shapes on an ever-growing tableau. That led into Dungeon Drop, in which the dungeon is created by literally dropping a fistful of coloured cubes onto the table — players then form rooms using grey pillar cubes and loot whatever falls within. The table rounded things off with a game of 6 Nimmt!, the classic card game of trying desperately not to pick up rows of cattle.
As the afternoon arrived, the Salton Sea table wrapped up and moved on to what I think might become a new favourite: Deep Regrets, Tettix Games' Lovecraftian push-your-luck fishing game, played with the Even Deeper Regrets expansion. Players set sail to fish up increasingly horrifying things from the ocean depths, managing their mounting madness as they decide what to eat, sell, or mount for points — all whilst teetering on the edge of oblivion. Thoroughly recommended.
As Deep Regrets wound down, a few brave souls gathered for Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, the cooperative game in which players must guide the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring before Sauron prevails. Unfortunately, the fellowship was overcome by the forces of darkness before they could complete their quest. The Deep Regrets table, meanwhile, closed out the day with Mint Works, the pocket-sized worker placement game — fitting entirely in a mint tin — in which players race to build the finest neighbourhood in Mintopia.
A wonderful day all round — see you at the next one!
Our next meet-up is on 6th June; feel free to connect with members or arrange a game in advance on our Aftergame page, or see upcoming events on our calendar.
