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Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out!
First: We team up to tame the depths of the earth in The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
Next: We race against one another in a battle to achieve structural supremacy in 7 Wonders: Architects
Lastly: We run for our lives inside a haunted castle in Hugo: Das Schlossgespenst
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
Designed by: Thomas Sing
Published by: KOSMOS (2021)
Players: 2 – 5
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 20 min
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a trick-taking card game, where you and the other players work together to search for the lost continent of Mu.
And yes, this game is a version of The Crew: the original, in which the setting is outer space.
This new adventure takes your crew deep down into the abyss on a search for the fabled sunken land. It is a cooperative game, and there are various missions to undertake, each with their own victory conditions.
Remember: communication between your crew members is limited – in this aquatic environment, table talk is limited!
Also remember: it is not just about winning tricks, but also on carefully negotiating the order in which the tricks are won.
Now lets see to what depths we sunk playing this game.
7 Wonders: Architects
Designed by: Antoine Bauza
Published by: Repos Production (2021)
Players: 2 – 7
Ages: 8 & up
Playing time: 25 minutes
7 Wonders: Architects is a resource collection game, where players, representing different ancient civilizations, race to complete an architectural wonder.
Players receive an unconstructed wonder at the beginning of the game and must collect resources to build their society, develop military might to navigate conflicts, oversee resource management, research science improvements, and collect civil victory points as they race to leave their mark on world history.
Game play is easy. Pick a card and play its effect. Three cards to pick from, two face up, but one face down. One player will have the “cat” pawn, which allows that player to peek at the face down card.
The first player to complete their Wonder marks the end of the game, and then go ahead and add up all the VP’s you’ve collected on the way. I know that when I am thinking about this game, I can only describe it as … Evan Wonders
Hugo: Das Schlossgespenst / Escape from the Hidden Castle
Designed by: Wolfgang Kramer
Published by: AMIGO (1989); reprint in 2018
Players: 2 – 8
Ages: 7 & up
Playing time: 30 minutes
Hugo: Das Schlossgespenst , is what I am going to call a resource management game, your resources being the people you control on the board, and the management is in the way you move the pieces along the circular track.
Each player controls a number of guests at a party. The goal is to keep moving your guests around the game board so that they do not get captured by Hugo the ghost.
Hugo starts in the cellar, then climbs the stairs towards the gallery where the guests are moving clockwise around a circular track. Roll the dice, and if you roll a Hugo, Hugo gets to move. If you see Hugo coming up behind one of your party goers, move that party goer out of the circular hall and into a room for safety. But don’t get too comfortable – other players can kick you out of your hiding space and back into the hall.
If you get caught by Hugo, that character goes to the cellar, earning fright points. Fright points … not good.
Once all the guests have been caught, the fright points are tallied. After playing a predetermined number of rounds, the player with the fewest fright points wins. The player with the worst score must suffer all the … BOOS!