Seattle Board Games

Let's play Unconscious Mind at Phoenix Comics & Games! BGG complexity is 3.96 out of 5.00 and BGG rating is 8.0. Beginners are welcome! Rank: Overall 485, Strategy 263

Note: If you can't make it to an event, please make sure to update your status as soon as possible. If a person gathers enough no-shows (having status "Going" and not showing for the event) without any explanation, I reserve a right to move them to a "Not Going" status for my future events if they sign up.

Description from publisher:

In the early 1900s, the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud established a revolutionary theory called psychoanalysis, related to the study of the unconscious mind. As his work took hold, supporters met at Freud's apartment every Wednesday to discuss psychology and dream symbolism. This group—the Wednesday Psychological Society—marked the beginning of the worldwide psychoanalytic movement. As a member of this society, you aim to formulate new therapeutic techniques, establish a practice, grow your clientele, and become Freud’s most distinguished contemporary. To best accomplish this, you’ll need to share insights, discuss ideas with peers, and publish theories. And to stay invigorated, you’ll likely need some coffee—lots of coffee.

Unconscious Mind is a euro-style game featuring worker placement, engine building, multiple rondels, and cascading effects. On your turn, you may place one or two Ideas (workers) on a central Meeting Table to access a variety of actions, such as adding tiles to your player board, drafting and playing cards, and moving around the city of Vienna. Where you place your Ideas also determines how far to advance your rondel’s inkpot, activating a row or column of tile effects on your player board.

To treat your clients and interpret their dreams, you must work with a supply of Insight resources, which you’ll manage on a multi-level dial. As you work through surface-level Manifest dreams into deep-seated Latent dreams, these Insights will help your clients reach catharsis. This is represented by lifting transparent layers from the client cards—unlocking their ongoing special abilities and end-game scoring opportunities.

Once the group has solidified its reputation, the end of the game is signaled, and the member with the most points wins.

Come join us for Open Gaming at the Lumberyard in White Center. Born from the South Seattle Bear Social, come join us for some Bloody Marys and lighter card and boardgames.

Let's play Pax Pamir at Phoenix Comics & Games! BGG complexity is 3.85 out of 5.00 and BGG rating is 8.0. Beginners are welcome! Rank: Overall 46, Strategy 38

Link to BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256960/pax-pamir-second-edition

Note: If you can't make it to an event, please make sure to update your status as soon as possible. If a person gathers enough no-shows (having status "Going" and not showing for the event) without any explanation, I reserve a right to move them to a "Not Going" status for my future events if they sign up.

Description from BGG:

In Pax Pamir, players assume the role of nineteenth century Afghan leaders attempting to forge a new state after the collapse of the Durrani Empire. Western histories often call this period "The Great Game" because of the role played by the Europeans who attempted to use central Asia as a theater for their own rivalries. In this game, those empires are viewed strictly from the perspective of the Afghans who sought to manipulate the interloping ferengi (foreigners) for their own purposes.

In terms of game play, Pax Pamir is a pretty straightforward tableau builder. Players spend most of their turns purchasing cards from a central market, then playing those cards in front of them in a single row called a court. Playing cards adds units to the game's map and grants access to additional actions that can be taken to disrupt other players and influence the course of the game. That last point is worth emphasizing. Though everyone is building their own row of cards, the game offers many ways for players to interfere with each other directly and indirectly.

To survive, players will organize into coalitions. Throughout the game, the dominance of the different coalitions will be evaluated by the players when a special card, called a "Dominance Check", is resolved. If a single coalition has a commanding lead during one of these checks, those players loyal to that coalition will receive victory points based on their influence in their coalition. However, if Afghanistan remains fragmented during one of these checks, players instead will receive victory points based on their personal power base.

After each Dominance Check, victory is checked and the game will be partially reset, offering players a fresh attempt to realize their ambitions. The game ends when a single player is able to achieve a lead of four or more victory points or after the fourth and final Dominance Check is resolved.