by Coltrane

Title:  Ticket to Ride – Europe

Game Type:  Set Collection – Acquire multiple cards of one color to build train routes in Europe.

Number of Players:  2-5

Complexity of Rules:  Low

Time to Play:  About an hour with 3 people, longer with more.

The concept:   The board is a map of Europe.  Each destination is connected to others by train routes of different lengths and colors.  For example, two destinations might have 4 red “tracks” in between them.  To connect them you would need to play 4 red cards from your hand, which would allow you to play your trains to claim that “track”.  The object of the game is to collect the correct cards to complete routes between selected destinations on the map, seen below (the grey routes are “wild”, any color can be played onto those).  The “strategy part” is managing your hand, the board, and the pace of the game.

Why I like it:  Ticket to Ride – Europe is a “gateway game” for non-gamers.  People who have only played old-school games like Monopoly will like it, and it’s a good introduction to the European-style games that don’t feature a “finish line.”  It’s simple enough that anyone can play but good strategy and game management still get rewarded.   Finally, the crowd doesn’t have to be super focused to play, though it does help the game go faster.

Available at Gary’s Games in Seattle and Amazon.com.  Note that there are many flavors in the Ticket to Ride series of games  — you want the just plain “Europe” version.  (Not “Europa”, not “1912”…)

The BoardGameGeek page.   Reviews are about 2/3 of the way down the page.

by Coltrane

Title:  Betrayal at House on the Hill

Game Type:  “Horror” Strategy Game

Number of Players:  3-6

Complexity of Rules:  Low-Medium

Time to Play:  About an hour

The Concept:  Players explore a haunted house.  As the players explore they trigger Events and Omens.  As more and more Omens occur it becomes increasingly likely that the endgame starts, which is called the Haunt.  The player that triggered the Haunt becomes the Traitor.  The Traitor then receives his Win Condition for that game, which is known only to him.  The Heroes are all of the other remaining players.  The Heroes learn (in secret) what they need to do to stop the Traitor.  The Traitor’s Win Condition might be something like killing all of the Heroes.  It could be something stranger like going to the cemetary and digging up an object.  There are fifty possible scenarios in all.

Why I like this game: 

1.  Exploring the haunted house is fun.  The house never has the same layout from game to game, as the players explore they draw tiles to determine what room they just walked into.

2.  Each player is playing as an Explorer.  The Explorers are all well-known horror film cliches, such as Professor Longfellow, Madame Zostra, the athletic (and stupid) Darren “Flash” Williams, and the cheerleader-type Heather Granville.  Each Explorer has his or her own unique attributes —  Speed, Might (strength), Knowledge (smarts), and Sanity.  Many Events and actions require a check (dice roll) against an attribute to determine success or failure (such as avoiding falling down broken stairs).

3.  The Event cards have some well-written “color” text.  They’re best read aloud with the proper “B-movie horror film dramatic voice.”   For example:  “FOOTSTEPS — The floorboards slowly creak.  Dust rises.  Footprints appear on the dirty floor.  And then, as they reach you, they are gone.”

4.  The game doesn’t require too much brainwork.  It’s good for groups where people are relatively more focused on being socal and eating chips.

Here’s the BoardGameGeek page.  There are other reviews accessible about 2/3 of the way down the page.

Available at Gary’s Games or Amazon.com.  (For some reason the Amazon price is $189.95, so I’m not going to link it.  It should be about a $40-45 game.)