Workshop Wednesday: The Spill, Caverna & Rococo

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

This Wednesday we will be playing The Spill, Caverna & Rococo. 

The Spill: 7.0

The offshore rig, DeepWell•4, has blown out and the rupture is spilling crude oil into the ocean at an alarming rate! Your response team must work together, using your individual talents to avert an ecological disaster, one which threatens to contaminate marine life and devastate the ecosystem. The situation is dire and escalating by the minute, so there is no time to waste.

Contain the oil flowing from the rig

Remove what oil you can from the waters

Rescue the marine animals

The world is watching. The fate of the coast is in your hands!

This fully cooperative game, for 1-4 players, features a 4-way dice tower as the oil rig, which randomly drops oil dice onto the four quadrants of the game board. In this respect, the game is a reverse tower defense game, as players sail the perimeter trying to push back and contain the oil, remove dice from the water, and save sea life.

Communal resource cards are chosen by the team before the game begins and are then powered for use by either removing 3 oil dice from the game or saving a full set of 6 marine creatures.

Weather dice complicate matters adding new challenges for the round that restrict movement, drop more dice, or increase the cost of operations.

It takes coordination and teamwork to win, as new oil dice are dropped at the beginning of every turn and the number of oil dice dropped increases over the course of the game.

If the team can accomplish all three objectives on their WIN Condition card and remedy any potential losing conditions on the board by the end of a given turn - they win. Otherwise, the game will end when the 60 dice from the bag are exhausted or they are unable to correct one of the three losing conditions.

Contain the Oil. Save the Sea Life.

Caverna: 8.0

Following along the same lines as its predecessor (Agricola), Caverna: The Cave Farmers is a worker-placement game at heart, with a focus on farming. In the game, you are the bearded leader of a small dwarf family that lives in a little cave in the mountains. You begin the game with a farmer and his spouse, and each member of the farming family represents an action that the player can take each turn. Together, you cultivate the forest in front of your cave and dig deeper into the mountain. You furnish the caves as dwellings for your offspring as well as working spaces for small enterprises.

It's up to you how much ore you want to mine. You will need it to forge weapons that allow you to go on expeditions to gain bonus items and actions. While digging through the mountain, you may come across water sources and find ore and ruby mines that help you increase your wealth. Right in front of your cave, you can increase your wealth even further with agriculture: You can cut down the forest to sow fields and fence in pastures to hold your animals. You can also expand your family while running your ever-growing farm. In the end, the player with the most efficiently developed home board wins.

You can also play the solo variant of this game to familiarize yourself with the 48 different furnishing tiles for your cave.

Caverna: The Cave Farmers, which has a playing time of roughly 30 minutes per player, is a complete redesign of Agricola that substitutes the card decks from the former game with a set of buildings while adding the ability to purchase weapons and send your farmers on quests to gain further resources. Designer Uwe Rosenberg says that the game includes parts of Agricola, but also has new ideas, especially the cave part of your game board, where you can build mines and search for rubies. The game also includes two new animals: dogs and donkeys.

Rococo: 8.2

Welcome to the Rococo era. Louis XV reigns in France, and it was the height of fashion to attend his lavish balls where important luminaries dressed up in extravagant gowns and fancy frock coats, all eager to surpass one another in elegance and grace. In just a few weeks, Louis XV is hosting the final Grand Ball of the season, and everyone is clamoring for you to provide them with an elegant frock coat here, a sumptuous gown there, or even a small sum to fund the great fireworks display. You quickly realize that it's not just about your tailoring business anymore; it's about creating a presence at the most prestigious ball of the era and the chance to gain everlasting fame and prestige.

In Rococo: Deluxe Edition, you are the owner of a distinguished tailoring business endeavoring to increase your prestige. Each turn, you play an employee card that allows you to perform a task, such as hiring a new employee for your staff, tailoring exquisite gowns and frock coats to rent or sell, or funding some of the many decorations. However, employees are not always able to perform all tasks, so you must plan carefully how you direct them, especially as each employee grants a unique bonus — including some that generate prestige.

The Grand Ball ends after seven rounds with a huge fireworks display and final scoring. You will gain prestige points for the sumptuous gowns and frock coats you have rented out to guests at the ball, certain employee bonuses, and the festive decorations you have funded. Whoever has collected the most prestige at the end of the game wins.

Rococo: Deluxe Edition contains the previously released Jewelry Box expansion, the Festivity Dresses expansion, and the Fancy Dresses promo, as well as a new "Madame du Barry" solo mode expansion. This version of Rococo features changes from the previous edition of the base game, along with premium components including custom poly-resin lace and thread tokens; gold foil heat-stamped, wooden player markers; velveteen cloth bags for garments, silk, and jewelry tokens; and upgraded punch boards for the garments, silk, and coins.

Come join us on Wednesday, November 15th @ 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.*