Tune into Game the Game on G&S Live every Friday from 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm where Ivan Van Norman and Becca Scott break out some of the best board games the industry has to offer, with new guests each week!
Sometimes you need a new challenge when you play games. What better way to test yourself than to test yourself against the environment? Whether it is terraforming a new planet or saving this one from the plague, environmental games allow you to do just that without actually going out and pitting yourself against the world (or dealing with allergies).
Terraforming Mars
You play as one of the corporations making Mars inhabitable for humans to live on. Work with other corporations to complete the project, but earn victory points on your own to win the game. Each generation, you are playing project cards out of your hand to raise the ocean coverage, temperature, and oxygen level of the planet. These cards give you bonuses but will require certain conditions to be playable. As your Terraform Rating goes up, so does your income which allows you to do more things each round. Introduce plant and animal life or hurl an asteroid down to wreck it. Do whatever it takes to advance your corporation to the top before terraforming is complete.
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
You have survived the plague that wiped out most of humanity three generations ago. Supplies are running low and cities are falling off the grid. It’s up to you to reestablish the supply lines to continue the fight against the plague. As you play, you’ll venture beyond the known to scout new areas. New threats await you, but so does the knowledge of what happened to the world. Can you save the world or will it finally succumb to the ravages of the plague?
Spirit Island
You are a spirit on an island trying to defend it from colonizing invaders. Some of your magic is quick acting, but some of it you need to plan ahead for the effect. You choose how you grow and adapt. Will you regain your used spells or will you go after new and possibly more potent magic? The invaders are exploring your island, building their cities, and attacking your people. How will you respond? Drive the invaders off the island before they kill you or destroy your island.
Morels Foray
Mushroom hunting is all the rage. Do you have what it takes to collect the valuable fungus? Morels Foray adds up to two additional players to the original game as well as new characters, weather, items, and events which allows a whole new slew of interactions between players. This game feels like a walk in the woods, but is completely a backstabber game (even if it makes you feel like a tree). Every turn brings new challenges and mushrooms, so plan wisely or your mushrooms will be taken out by a sudden rainstorm.
What’s your favorite game when you feel the need to get back to nature without the allergies?
Still haven’t had enough environmental games? Check out Game the Game this week where Becca and Ivan are playing Photosynthesis.
Feature Image: Stronghold Games
Other Image Credit: Z-Man Games, Greater Than Games, Two Lanterns Games