Workshop Wednesday: Rampage, Power Grid & Ark Nova

Due to popular demand, we will now be teaching three games on Wednesdays.

This Wednesday we will be playing Rampage, Power Grid & Ark Nova.

Rampage:

In Terror in Meeple City (formerly known as Rampage), you arrive in Meeple City as a gigantic, famished, scaly-skinned monster! Your goal: Dig your claws and dirty paws into the asphalt, destroy buildings, and devour innocent people – in short: sow terror while having fun. The monster who has caused the most damage after the carnage finally ends wins the game.

The buildings in Meeple City are comprised of floor tiles and meeples, with the meeples serving as pillars that support the floors. Four wooden vehicles are on the ground in the eight neighborhoods in the city. Each monster, which consists of a wooden paws disc and a wooden body, starts in one corner of the game board. On a turn you take two actions from four possibilities, repeating an action if desired:

Move: Pick up your monster body, flick the paws disc, then place the body back on the disc.

Demolish: If your paws are on the sidewalk surrounding a building, you can pick up your monster body, drop it onto a building, and then collect any floors that have no meeples on them.

Toss a vehicle: If you're in a neighborhood with a vehicle, you can pick up the vehicle, place it on your body, and then flick the vehicle at a building or another monster.

Breathe: Even while away from sidewalks with no vehicles, you can cause destruction by placing your chin on your monster's body and blowing across the board.

Monsters tend to be messy when obtaining meals, but if you knock meeples off the city board, you might be punished for letting food go to waste, costing you a tooth, or letting other players take additional action. After your two actions, you can eat unprotected meeples on the ground in your neighborhood, but you can eat only as many as the number of teeth you have. If you knock another monster to the ground, you break off one of its teeth, thereby keeping it from stealing your food! Meeples come in six colors, with the colors representing different types of inhabitants: blue (journalists), green (military), yellow (blondes), grey (old people), red (heroes), and black (businessmen). For each set of six, you collect in your stomach, you score 10 points at the game's end. You score points for collecting floors and teeth, too, and you can also score for achieving the goal on your character card.

In addition to the character card, each player has a power card and a superpower card unique to his monster, with the former lasting the entire game and the latter being a one-shot effect that's revealed only upon use.

Terror in Meeple City includes rules for monsters that evolve over the course of the game, that lose points for meeples not in sets, and that want to combine two game boards to allow for play with up to eight players.

Power Grid: 7.8

Power Grid is the updated release of the Friedemann Friese crayon game Funkenschlag. It removes the crayon aspect from network building in the original edition while retaining the fluctuating commodities market like Crude: The Oil Game and an auction round intensity reminiscent of The Princes of Florence.

The objective of a Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power when someone's network gains a predetermined size. In this new edition, players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities.

However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you're potentially allowing others access to superior equipment.

Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the 'renewable' windfarm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes.

Ark Nova: 8.5

In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal.

Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards in question are:

CARDS: Allows you to gain new zoo cards (animals, sponsors, and conservation project cards). BUILD: Allows you to build standard or special enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions. ANIMALS: Allows you to accommodate animals in your zoo. ASSOCIATION: Allows your association workers to carry out different tasks. SPONSORS: Allows you to play a sponsor card in your zoo or to raise money.

255 cards featuring animals, specialists, special enclosures, and conservation projects, each with a special ability, are at the heart of Ark Nova. Use them to increase the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo and collect conservation points.

Come join us on Wednesday, December 20th @ 6:00 p.m. to learn any of these games for Workshop Wednesday. See you soon!

*This event requires a 1-Day Membership, credit will be applied back for qualifying purchases. Current Members are always free for this event.*