It’s board games! Okay, so technically not a book, but it has rules and I have to read those, right? Also, we have board games that you can check out, and we’re really excited about it. There are a couple of tabletop enthusiasts here amongst the staff, and we’re always thrilled to see other tabletop gamers utilizing space in the library.
What I’ve been playing a lot of is Pandemic. The publisher, Z-Man games, is coming out with another expansion this fall. It’s just one of those games that I keep going back to and am always ready to play. I honestly think I’ve had more fun losing this game than I’ve had winning a lot of others.
The game is a cooperative board game, which is one of my favorite game types. This type of play-style has players work together to defeat the board game. It’s challenging, but if you and your team coordinate well enough, you just might save the world from deadly diseases that are threatening to wipe out humanity.
Everyone playing is given a role – your team is made up of a medic, a researcher, a scientist, a dispatcher, and an operations expert. Each role has its own unique abilities and skill that’ll help the team work together to eradicate disease from around the game map. You have to rely on your teammates to make choices that are good for the team as whole, not just short term solutions.
There are so many ways to lose, which makes the game challenging and fun. The game designer did a fantastic job with Pandemic, and continued that in his other games. Forbidden Island is another by the same designer that we have here at the library. It’s also cooperative. The goal for this game is to work together and collect treasures from an island that is quickly sinking into the ocean. Forbidden Island has some great game artwork, and the play is worth that alone. If you are looking for a tabletop game that’s similar to Pandemic, but a little less hard on the players, then this would be a perfect one to check out.
As far as our other games at the library, Ticket to Ride is one of those games that is really easy to pick up and learn, and can be played with a group of people. It’s particularly great for a family game night. The goal is to have the most victory points by the end of the game, which are earned by completing train routes across America. This is one of those really popular games that has expansions for maps across the globe.
We have other tabletop games for checkout at the library: Sushi Go, Chess, Qwirkle, and Rise of Augustus, to name a few. Why not check out a couple and make a weekend of it?
Also, later in October, we are having another board game night, and it’s Halloween themed! So bring the family, dress up if you like, and enjoy some games that feature monsters, mayhem, and magic. Hope to see you there!
