March 2015 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.


Space Alert, Rio Grande Games
Space Alert is a team survival game. Players take on the role of a crew of space explorers sent out through hyperspace to survey a dangerous sector of the Galaxy.  The spaceship automatically maps the sector in 10 minutes. The crew's task is to defend the ship until the mission is complete. If they succeed, the ship brings back valuable data. If they fail, it is time to train a new crew.  Completing the most difficult missions requires close teamwork.

Carcassonne Gold Rush Board Game, Z-Man Games
The Far West: It starts with railroads and brings you to small camps that will quickly become cities. Trading with the Native Americans is greatly prosperous, and that's nothing compared to the lodes that keep being discovered sporadically in the mountains. The only risk is the other prospectors, who are also searching to find the same riches as you are.








Machi Koro, IDW Games
You've just been elected Mayor.  Congrats! Unfortunately the citizens have some pretty big demands: jobs, a theme park, a couple of cheese factories and maybe even a radio tower.  A tough proposition since the city currently consists of a wheat field, a bakery and a single die. Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. 









Article 27: The United Nations Security Council Game, Stronghold Games
Article 27 takes place in the not-too-distant future. You assume the role of one of the permanent members of the Security Council, which means you wield the power of the veto.  No proposal can pass when a member uses their veto, so there had better be something in the deal for you. Each player will take a turn as the leader of the Security Council and try to get a proposal passed.  Negotiations can include side-deals, threats, or out-right influence-peddling.  But once the gavel comes down it's time to vote, and the other players might not live up to their end of the deal.  In the end, the player who has earned the most influence points is the winner and it's rarely the most honorable.

Niya, Blue Orange
In Japan's Imperial Garden, courtly manners and nature's beauty veil a dark political conspiracy among two influential clans. On each turn, players replace a garden tile with one of their clan tokens. The next player can only exchange a token for a garden tile that has an element in common with the previously chosen tile. The first to position their clan in a row, square, or blockade will win control of the garden. And power at court!

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer