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[This thread tracks the Accelerated HeroScape Draft Costs.]

This thread tracks the Accelerated HeroScape Draft Costs.


Directory of HeroScape Threads/Resources on SaskGames.
Information about the game of HeroScape and its Expansions
HeroScape Map Thread
HeroScape Scenarios
Roster of HeroScape Army Builds
Accelerated HeroScape Army Draft Costs
Bixby's House Rules for HeroScape

Details: There are so MANY HeroScape units in the roster now, we are introducing this accelerated cost structure to encourage using lesser know / lesser drafted units. Here is how it works:
After each HeroScape session, we look at all of the cards that were selected and each card selected drives the cost of that card up by 5 points. If someone played Mimring on Session 1, then Mimring's cost would go from 150 to 155 for future sessions. The revised costs will be posted here. If two players had drafted Mimring, the costs would have jumped by 10 points to 160. This method will have the most profound effect on Common Squads.

GOOD NEWS!
We now have a drafting spreadsheet that will be updated will new costs after each game. It is in the downloads area of this site.
Click Here for File

[Welcome to the home of League information on SaskGames. We hope that by having a dedicated section, Leagues will be able to gain visibility and growth. Here are some tips to help maximize your league.]

Welcome to the home of League information on SaskGames. We hope that by having a dedicated section, Leagues will be able to gain visibility and growth. Here are some tips to help maximize your league.
(1) Each League should have a League Information Thread. That thread contain all of the information about the structure of the league:
...What game is involved?
...What are the specific league rules?
...What is the points structure for league games?
...What entry fees (if any) are involved?
...What prizes (if any) will be given out?
...Where are league games held?
...When does the league start and finish?
...When are league games played?
...Who is in the league?
...How does somebody get involved in the league?
...League standings and reporting structure.
...Any other pertinent information.

(2) Additionally, each league should have a discussion thread that is separate from the league structure and reporting. That helps contain the discussion in one area and also keeps the league information thread clean and focused.

(3) Once a league has finished the related threads should be moved into the League Archive Area. That way, the main area is focused on current leagues and reporting.

(4) In addition to leagues, this area can be home to challenge ladders for such games as Tichu, Twilight Imperium, Flames of War, etc.

Check out the League Section Here
Any questions? Just ask an admin...

Added link to Board To Death review site. They have over 160 video reviews of boardgames on their site. Check them out.

[~~~ Spiel des Jahres Winners 2000-2009 ~~~]

~~~ Spiel des Jahres Winners 2000-2009 ~~~

2009 - Dominion 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players (Can be increased to 6 players with addition of expansions)
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Donald X. Vaccarino
DESCRIPTION: In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end. From the back of the box: "You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and fiefdoms. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. "But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents would be delighted." Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play -- leading to immense variety.


2008 - Keltis
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Reiner Knizia
DESCRIPTION: Keltis is a multi-player game that takes its name and mechanics from Knizia's card game Lost Cities. Players play cards to move their playing pieces along stone paths. There are cards with 5 different colors/symbols, each corresponding to one path; in addition, each card shows a number (0-10, twice each). In each color, each player can play his cards either ascending or descending. Like Lost Cities, it's better to concentrate on a few paths, since the last spaces grants high points, but ending early gives negative ones. The player in turn plays one card (out of a hand of 8), or discards one. He moves the corresponding playing piece on the path. Many of the spaces have a token that grants some bonus; either direct points (counted on the scoring track), an extra move on a path, or wish stones that are needed at game end to avoid negative points. The game ends when a total of 5 playing pieces have reached the 7th space (or more) on their paths. Now, scoring happens:
    * Pieces which only moved 1-3 steps give negative points (-4, -3, -2).
    * Pieces with 4+ steps grant points (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10).
    * One piece of each player is higher and scores double.
    * Less than two wish stones grant negative points (-3 / -4)
    * 5+ wish stones yield a bonus of 10 points.
    * All this is added to the points scored during the game


2007 - Zooloretto 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Michael Schadt
DESCRIPTION: Each player uses small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try to attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo. But be careful - the zoo must be carefully planned. Before you know it, you have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand. A zoo of a family game in which less is sometimes more...


2006 - Thurn & Taxis 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 60 Minutes
AGES: 10 & up
DESIGNER: Andreas Seyfarth
DESCRIPTION: In Thurn & Taxis, players build post office routes across Bavaria and the regions around, collecting bonus points in various ways. The board shows a map of all the towns, with roads leading from each one to some of its neighbors. There are various colored regions around the board, most with one or two towns, and a large region with all the Bavarian towns in the center. From a display of six city cards (or the top of the deck), you draw one or two cards each turn, add one or two to your route, and score for it if you're ready to score. The fact that you *must* add at least one city to your route each turn or lose the whole route gives the game an enjoyable planning element.


2005 - Niagra
PLAYERS: 3 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Thomas Liesching
DESCRIPTION:Niagara is set in the not particularly safe world of rushing waterfalls. In the late 18th Century, the Shawnee and Iroquois Indians pointed white Desperadoes, Mercenaries and Adventurers in the direction of hidden caches of valuable jewels, in the hopes of turning them against one another and away from their territorial expansion ambitions. Players play as some of those Adventurers. The first player to be able to claim ownership of five jewels is the winner. But the chase after the riches has some snags. The speed of the river is always changing, since the speed depends on the decisions of the players and the changeable weather. And once a canoe goes over the walls, it's a hefty investment to replace it. And there are also the Desperadoes to contend with, who aren't above trying to plunder the riches from Adventurers returning home. Niagara is distinguished by an innovative movement mechanic as well as a beautiful three-dimensional rendering of the waterfall setting.


2004 - Ticket To Ride 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Alan R Moon
DESCRIPTION:With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in 3 minutes, while providing players with intense strategic and tactical decisions every turn. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route. "The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket – each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get additional Destination Tickets," says Ticket to Ride author, Alan R. Moon. "The tension comes from being forced to balance greed – adding more cards to your hand, and fear – losing a critical route to a competitor." Ticket to Ride continues in the tradition of Days of Wonder's big format board games featuring high-quality illustrations and components including: an oversize board map of North America, 225 custom-molded train cars, 144 illustrated cards, and wooden scoring markers. Since its introduction and numerous subsequent awards, Ticket to Ride has become the BoardGameGeek epitome of a "gateway game" -- simple enough to be taught in a few minutes, and with enough action and tension to keep new players involved and in the game for the duration.


2003 - Alhambra 
PLAYERS: 2 to 6 Players
PLAYING TIME: 60 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Dirk Henn
DESCRIPTION:In Alhambra, players are acquiring buildings to be placed within their Alhambra complex. On a player's turn, a player may take money from the open money market, purchase a building from the building market, or engage in construction and re-construction projects with buildings that have been placed in the player's reserve. The game rewards efficiency, as when a player purchases a building from the market for the exact amount of money, the player may take another turn. Players with the most buildings in each of the seven building types score in each of the scoring phases, and points are awarded for players' longest external "wall" section within their complex. The game ends when the building market can no longer be replenished from the building tile supply, and there is a final scoring, whereupon the player with the highest score wins.


2002 - Villa Paletti 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Bill Payne
DESCRIPTION:An architectural rush to the skies for 2 - 4 budding architects with a good head for heights from 8 years old. In the land where the Lemons bloom, there once lived a wise old sage, whose friends called him "Paletti" He only had one goal in life, to finish the wonderful castle in the sky that his grandfather had begun to build many years before, but which had been left unfinished when the ducats ran out. Paletti too had little money, but instead he had a marvelous plan. Why buy new columns when he could re-use the old ones that his Grandfather had built? All he needed to do was remove some of those holding up the first floor, of which there were far too many in any case, and rebuild them further up, so that they could support new floors, reaching up towards the skies! "Excellent, Paletti" shouted his friends, and they quickly started to work. Soon they had a marvelous building in front of them, the "Villa Paletti". Nowadays, no one knows what it was caused the collapse of the Vila Paletti, perhaps a puff of wind, or a slight earth tremor, but all the experts are united on one point, that Paletti, far ahead of his time, was the first to discover something whose full importance is only now starting to become clear to us, the Euro pallet!


2001 - Carcassonne 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
DESCRIPTION:A clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique Roman and Medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters and in the fields. The skill of the players to best develop the area will determine who is victorious.


2000 - Torres 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 60 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Michael Kiesling & Wolfgang Kramer
DESCRIPTION:Torres is an abstract game of resource management and tactical pawn movement. Players are attempting to build up castles and position their knights to score the most points each turn. Players have a limited supply of knights and action cards that allow special actions to be taken. Efficient use of pieces and cards, along with a thoughtful awareness of future possibilities, is the heart of this game.

[Welcome to the SaskGames Website.]

Welcome to the SaskGames Website.

What is the SaskGames website?
The site is primarily in place to promote board games and help locate others with similar interests in the Province of Saskatchewan. This site has a calendar where events can be posted for Public or Private gaming venues. The public venues can be viewed and accessed by anyone, the private venues are open to only those members as dictated by the owner of the venue. Each member will only see the events and postings for venues they have been given access to. The result is a consolidated calendar which will show a variety of gaming events occurring in the Province. This will serve to make it easier for people to get involved in various board game activities that interest them. This site has a section devoted to various styles of games where players can indicate their interests in particular games or genres for the purpose of connecting with others who share that interest. We hope this helps members get some of their favourite games to the table more often.

MISSION:
(1) Organize board gaming in the province of Saskatchewan by having a consolidated calendar of gaming events.
(2) Assist people to connect with other people with similar game interests.
(3) Make it easier for people who visit Saskatchewan to find game stores and/or board game events.
(4) Continue to grow and promote the hobby with fun, family-friendly events.

VALUES:
    * The philosophy behind this site is simply to help people maximize their enjoyment of games and gaming events.
    * Respect shown to all members, all gaming venues, and game store owners.
    * Games are for fun and gatherings should be enjoyable.
    * Maintaining a community that is welcoming to all.

What benefits do you get by registering an account?
We live in an age of websites. There is no shortage of sites that you can view and many of them ask you to register an account or join. At SaskGames, most of the content is available for the general public and does not require that you have your own ID. There are some distinct advantages when you do have your own account and we will highlight them here.

Access to Private Venues
Guests can view all of the events in the public venues, but will not see any of the events posted at private venues? When you have an account and start becoming involved with the community, members may invite you to their private venue events.

What are venues?
Simply put, venues are physical locations where games are played. There are basically two types of venues: Public and Private.

All game related events on the calendar will be tied to a venue indicating where the event is taking place. All of the public venues are open to all members. In addition to the public venues, there are many private venues which mostly represent private residences for groups of friends. These venues will NOT show up to the membership at large. You will only see these venues if one of the people hosting games at a private venue recognize your user name or somehow know you personally. They will likely then have the administrators give you access to events at their venue. Then, when you look at a calendar, you will see all public events and all private events that you are invited to attend. The Calendar button at the top of the web page will display a standard calendar view and all events you are authorized to view will show up on the calendar. If you click on the event name in the calendar, it will take you directly to the event thread where you can learn more about the event details and register to attend.

Every venue has a "PLEASE READ" thread that lists important information about that venue. Please read the information and if you have any questions, direct them to the owner of the venue.

Notifications
When you have an account you can turn on notifications for various sections of the website. This is helpful if you would like to be notified of a new event at a particular venue, or perhaps you would like to be notified if there is new material posted in one of the game categories. Notifications are in the form of an email message to your designated email address with a link to the content for which you wanted the notification. Event notification will instruct the site to email you whenever a new event is added for a venue. It is an easy way to keep informed of upcoming events. All game events will be posted in their respective VENUE section on this site. If you would like to be automatically notified by email when a new event is posted for a particular venue, click the NOTIFY button for that venue. You will then receive email notification every time a new event is posted. Follow the same procedure on every other venue (or board) for which you wish notifications.

Your own venue?
As a member, you can be given your own venue. If you host game events and would like a private venue set up on this site, please send a private message to the administrator. Once your Venue area is setup, you will need to let the administrator know who you would like to have access to your venue. You must be 18 years or older to establish a venue. Also, we ask the venues only be established if you host events on a regular basis. No use in establishing a venue if you only host a game night once or twice a year.

See what is new from your last visit
Another benefit that membership grants, is the ability to see what is new on the site since your last visit. Once you sign in, you can click on the link:
"Show unread posts since last visit." and the site will give you a listing of new content. View what you wish to look at and then click "Mark All Messages Read" and the next time you sign in you will only see new content once again. It is easy to stay on top of new content this way and not miss anything you might be interested in viewing.

Interact with the Site
Once you are a member, you will have the opportunity to post comments about a game you like, send private messages to other members, share information and tips about the hobby, and interact with the site in general. The hobby and community grows and benefits the more people get involved.

There are lots of game entries, posting your ratings in the game entry is a good starting point. May people have contacted other members simply based on the ratings and comments under the various game threads. The site has specific sections for different types of games. There are many types of games that get played in Saskatchewan and we wanted to categorize them to allow for more focused discussions. Each category will have threads about specific games, information about leagues and tournaments, links to special interest pages on the web, and information about clubs devoted to those games. Any time there is a categorization of games, there will undoubtedly be some exceptions. We hope that the categories we have selected make sense for the majority of games. Each section has a PLEASE READ post with details and information that should help you get the most out of the site. Here are the sections:
General Board Games
Collectible Card Games
Miniatures Games
Role Playing Games

Marketplace
A number of members have bought, sold, and traded games locally in the marketplace. You have a focused audience for your market, why not use it.

Final Thoughts
There are many reasons to sign up, but that is for you to decide. This is a volunteer non-profit effort. The site is just in place to help promote and grow the hobby. If you are thinking about registering on this site, we recommend you choose a meaningful User Name. Many members have chosen to register with their full name. It helps keep the site friendly and personal. You are welcome to sign up with a nickname if you prefer. All registrations get reviewed by an administrator. Sorry if there are brief delays, but an unfortunate reality is that many spam agencies register on all kinds of sites like ours. We use a spam checker to verify that User IDs, Email Addresses, and IP Addresses are not from know spammers / spam agencies.

"Life is Short; Play Games!"

[Welcome to the Saskatchewan Gaming Community!]

Welcome to the Saskatchewan Gaming Community!

A Guide for SaskGames Members.

About This Site
Please take a few minutes to read the threads in this board. They will give you some basic information about the site and tips on how to get the most value from the site. Important announcements about this site will always be posted in this board.
The threads are located Here
   
Meet The Members
There is a Member Introduction thread in the "Meet The Members" board where we ask all members to post a brief BIO. Your BIO can be as detailed or brief as you like. Keep in mind that the more detail you provide, the more likely it is that other members will with similar interests will feel more comfortable and contact you. We want to keep these forums friendly and welcoming; member introductions help everyone get to know the community more. This section is only available to members and guest accounts cannot access this information.
The member introduction thread is located Here

If you have created a user ID that will be hard to recognize and would like to change it to your name in order to be more easily recognized in the community, please just send a private message to the administrator. They can change how your user ID appears on the site. PM Admin

Provincial Store Directory
We would like to have all of the gaming stores in Saskatchewan represented in the store directory. We have been in contact with many store owners and they are signing up and adding their store to the directory. Each entry should have vital information about the store hours and location, including a Google Map. If you know of a store that should be represented, please let us know and we will contact them with an invitation. The store directory can be located Here

Connect to SaskGames on FaceBook
SaskGames has a Page set up on FaceBook. If you are on FaceBook it is very easy to connect. Click Here

Calendar
The Calendar link near the top of the screen will show a traditional view of a calendar along with all public venue events and any private venue events you are authorized to see. It is a great "one stop view" of all sorts of gaming events. You can click on any event to be taken directly to a thread that explains all of the details of the event along with details about attending or getting involved. The calendar can be viewed Here

Venues
It has been mentioned before, but one of the main features of this site is the Venue section. All game related events on the calendar will be tied to a venue indicating where the event is taking place. All of the public venues are open to all members. In addition to the public venues, there are many private venues which mostly represent private residences for groups of friends. These venues will NOT show up to the membership at large. You will only see these venues if one of the people hosting games at a private venue recognize your user name or somehow know you personally. They will likely then have the administrators give you access to events at their venue. Then, when you look at a calendar, you will see all public events and all private events that you are invited to attend. You can turn on event notification for any venue. Event notification will instruct the site to email you whenever a new event is added for a venue. It is an easy way to keep informed of upcoming events.

Leagues
Some games are made even more enjoyable with leagues or ladder structures. There are a few of these that have been established on the site. If you are starting a league, let an administrator know and they can work with you to set up a league structure on the site. There is a dedicated section of the website for Leagues.

Marketplace
There is a marketplace section for posting threads for items you wish to sell or even items you are looking to buy. Please keep these for game-related items only and make sure you adhere to the guidelines for posting your items. The marketplace section is located Here

Member Locations
We have added a thread for members to give their locations. We update the directory. Just another way to help people locate other gamers in their area. We encourage you to add your location. Member Locations Here

News & Resources
We really encourage members to read through and check the News & Resources section. There are a number of helpful threads and gaming guides that most members will find informative. The SaskGames team will be adding a significant amount of content to this section in the weeks ahead.
New & Resources Section located Here

Game Design Section
We have a dedicated area for Board Game Design discussions and a monthly meeting which takes place during our Chewsday Challenge event.  More information can be found Here.

Protect Your Email Address
We discourage members from posting their email address in the forums. The site is open to guest viewing and we do not want your email address harvested by a spam agency. A good way to prevent that is to use the private message system that is included on the site. If you want to post your email address, make it so it is not easily readable by a spam harvester but writing your address as JohnDoe at gmail dot com instead of JohnDoe@gmail.com

Site Rules

• You must be 14 years of age or older to have an ID on this site. Younger members are welcome to browse the forums using default guest access.
• First and foremost, this is a family-friendly community. Racism, foul language, and slander in any form will not be tolerated. Sexual content is not to be posted. Keep it respectful, keep it in good taste. If you have a concern with a posting or another member, please bring it to the attention of the administrator by sending a private message: PM Admin
• Browse – Post – Contribute – Enjoy.

Complaints

• In the event a member has a complaint or problem with another member, we urge them to try to work int out privately and not in the forums. If the problem persists and you wish to escalate it to the administration team, please send a private message to the administrator: PM Admin

Registration Agreement
Here is a copy of the Registration Agreement text members acknowledged when registering...

Welcome to SaskGames. All about playing games in Saskatchewan. Please read this agreement...

FIRSTLY: If you have a suspicious user ID or Email Address your account will be rejected and considered to be a spam account. We take a very aggressive stance on keeping the site SPAM free and family friendly. That said...

You must be 14 yrs of age or older to register a user ID for this site.

You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.

You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate and we strongly recommend using your real first name as part of your username. (Helps to keep the site friendly). With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason.  We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.

After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.

Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.

Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.

Enjoy the site... "Life is Short; Play Games."

Final Thoughts
Most of all, get involved and have fun. Games are a very enjoyable hobby; the joy of gathering with friends to play a fun and engaging game is very rewarding. If we can get a few more people to switch off their television and engage in a fun activity around the dining room table then we have truly accomplished something!

Feel free to send a message to the Administrator with any further questions by clicking Here

Life is short; play games.

[~~~ Golden Geek Winners ~~~]

~~~ Golden Geek Winners ~~~

The BoardGameGeek Golden Geek (GAME OF THE YEAR) Award is presented every year at the BGG.Con event in Dallas, Texas. The winners of the Golden Geek are selected by the nomination and voting of the user community of BoardGameGeek.com website.

Go here to see the archives of previous winners in all sub-categories.



2017 - Gloomhaven 
PLAYERS:  1 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME:  60-120 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Isaac Childres
DESCRIPTION: "Gloomhaven is a game of Euro-inspired tactical combat in a persistent world of shifting motives. Players will take on the role of a wandering adventurer with their own special set of skills and their own reasons for traveling to this dark corner of the world. Players must work together out of necessity to clear out menacing dungeons and forgotten ruins. In the process, they will enhance their abilities with experience and loot, discover new locations to explore and plunder, and expand an ever-branching story fueled by the decisions they make.

This is a game with a persistent and changing world that is ideally played over many game sessions. After a scenario, players will make decisions on what to do, which will determine how the story continues, kind of like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. Playing through a scenario is a cooperative affair where players will fight against automated monsters using an innovative card system to determine the order of play and what a player does on their turn.

Each turn, a player chooses two cards to play out of their hand. The number on the top card determines their initiative for the round. Each card also has a top and bottom power, and when it is a player's turn in the initiative order, they determine whether to use the top power of one card and the bottom power of the other, or vice-versa. Players must be careful, though, because over time they will permanently lose cards from their hands. If they take too long to clear a dungeon, they may end up exhausted and be forced to retreat."


2016 - Scythe 
PLAYERS:  1 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME:  90-115 Minutes
AGES: 14 & up
DESIGNER: Jamey Stegmaier
DESCRIPTION: Scythe is a Worker Placement/Economic Engine board game set in an alternate-history 1920s period. It is a time of farming and war, broken hearts and rusted gears, innovation and valor. In Scythe, each player represents a character from one of five factions of Eastern Europa who are attempting to earn their fortune and claim their faction's stake in the land around the mysterious Factory. Players conquer territory, enlist new recruits, reap resources, gain villagers, build structures, and activate monstrous mechs.

Scythe gives players almost complete control over their fate. Other than each player's individual hidden objective card, the only elements of luck or variability are "encounter" cards that players will draw as they interact with the citizens of newly explored lands. Each encounter card provides the player with several options, allowing them to mitigate the luck of the draw through their selection. Combat is also driven by choices, not luck or randomness.


2015 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 
PLAYERS:  2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME:  60 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Rob Daviau and Matt Leacock
DESCRIPTION: Pandemic Legacy is by design a non-replayable co-operative campaign game, with an overarching story-arc played through in 12-24 sessions, depending on how well your group does at the game. At the beginning, the game starts very similar to basic Pandemic, in which your team of disease-fighting specialists races against the clock to travel around the world, treating disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand. 

During the campaign, new rules and components will be introduced. These will sometimes require you to permanently alter the components of the game; this includes writing on cards, ripping up cards, and placing permanent stickers on components. Your characters can gain new skills, or detrimental effects. A character can even be lost entirely, at which point it's no longer available for play.


2014 - Splendor 
PLAYERS:  2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME:  30 Minutes
AGES: 10 & up
DESIGNER: Marc André
DESCRIPTION: Splendor is a game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.  On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card—in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don't get it—you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.  All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.


2013 - Terra Mystica 
PLAYERS:  2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME:  150 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Jens Drögemüller and Helge Ostertag
DESCRIPTION: In the land of Terra Mystica dwell 14 different peoples in seven landscapes, and each group is bound to its own home environment, so to develop and grow, they must terraform neighboring landscapes into their home environments in competition with the other groups.  Terra Mystica is a game with very little luck that rewards strategic planning. Each player governs one of the 14 groups. With subtlety and craft, the player must attempt to rule as great an area as possible and to develop that group's skills.


2012 - Eclipse 
PLAYERS:  2 to 6 Players
PLAYING TIME:  180 Minutes
AGES: 14 & up
DESIGNER: Touko Tahkokallio
DESCRIPTION: The galaxy has been a peaceful place for many years. After the ruthless Terran–Hegemony War (30.027–33.364), much effort has been employed by all major spacefaring species to prevent the terrifying events from repeating themselves. The Galactic Council was formed to enforce precious peace, and it has taken many courageous efforts to prevent the escalation of malicious acts. Nevertheless, tension and discord are growing among the seven major species and in the Council itself. Old alliances are shattering, and hasty diplomatic treaties are made in secrecy. A confrontation of the superpowers seems inevitable – only the outcome of the galactic conflict remains to be seen. Which faction will emerge victorious and lead the galaxy under its rule?


2011 - Dominant Species 
PLAYERS:  2 to 6 Players
PLAYING TIME:  180 Minutes
AGES: 13 & up
DESIGNER: Chad Jensen
DESCRIPTION: 90,000 B.C. -- A great ice age is fast approaching. Another titanic struggle for global supremacy has unwittingly commenced between the varying animal species.
Dominant Species is a game that abstractly recreates a tiny portion of ancient history: the ponderous encroachment of an ice age and what that entails for the living creatures trying to adapt to the slowly-changing earth.
Each player will assume the role of one of six major animal classes -- mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian, arachnid or insect. Each begins the game more or less in a state of natural balance in relation to one another. But that won't last: It is indeed "survival of the fittest."
Through wily action pawn placement, players will strive to become dominant on as many different terrain tiles as possible in order to claim powerful card effects. Players will also want to propagate their individual species in order to earn victory points for their particular animal. Players will be aided in these endeavors via speciation, migration and adaptation actions, among others.
All of this eventually leads to the end game -- the final ascent of the ice age -- where the player having accumulated the most victory points will have his animal crowned the Dominant Species.
But somebody better become dominant quickly, because it's getting mighty cold....


2010 - Hansa Teutonica 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 60 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Andreas Steding
DESCRIPTION: The players act as traders trying to get victory points for building a network of offices, controlling cities, collecting bonus markers or for other traders using the cities they control. After controlling a line between two cities with your pawns you can decide to build an office (and maybe also establish control and/or get a bonus marker) or to get a skill improvement from some of the cities. Players have to improve their traders' "skills" for the following effects: getting more VP from offices in their network, getting more available action points, increasing the number of available pawns, and getting the right to place pawns and get more special pawns. This game appeared originally as Wettstreit der Händler at the Hippodice competition.


2009 - Dominion 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players (Can be increased to 6 players with addition of expansions)
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Donald X. Vaccarino
DESCRIPTION: In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end. From the back of the box: "You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and fiefdoms. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. "But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents would be delighted." Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play -- leading to immense variety.


2008 - Agricola 
PLAYERS: 1 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 120 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: Uwe Rosenberg
DESCRIPTION: In Agricola, you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood, or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats? The game supports many levels of complexity, mainly through the use (or non-use) of two of its main types of cards, Minor Improvements and Occupations. In the beginner's version (called the Family Variant in the U.S. release), these cards are not used at all. For advanced play, the U.S. release includes three levels of both types of cards; Basic (E-deck), Interactive (I-deck), and Complex (K-deck), and the rulebook encourages players to experiment with the various decks and mixtures thereof. Aftermarket decks such as the Z-Deck and the L-Deck also exist. Agricola is a turn-based game. There are 14 game turns plus 6 harvest phases (after turn 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14). Each player starts with two playing tokens (farmer and wife) and thus can take two actions per turn. There are multiple options, and while the game progresses, you'll have more and more: first thing in a turn, a new action card is flipped over.
Problem: Each action can be taken just once per turn, so it's important to do some things with high preference.
Each player also starts with a hand of 7 job cards (of more than 160 total) and 7 item cards (of more than 140 total) that he/she may use during the game if they fit in his/her strategy. Speaking of which, there are countless strategies, some depending on your card hand. Sometimes it's a good choice to stay on course, and sometimes it is better to react to your opponents' actions.


2007 - Shogun 
PLAYERS: 3 to 5 Players (Can be increased to 6 players with addition of expansions)
PLAYING TIME: 150 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Dirk Henn
DESCRIPTION: Shogun is based on the Wallenstein game system. The game is set in the Sengoku period (approx 1467-1573) which ends with the inception of the well-known Tokugawa Shogunate. The game is an international edition with language-independent components and five language-dependent rule booklets. Japan during the Sengoku or "Warring States" Period: each player assumes the role of a great Daimyo with all his troops. Each Daimyo has the same 10 possible actions to develop his kingdom and secure points. To do so he must deploy his armies with great skill. Each round, the players decide which of the actions are to be played out and in which of their provinces. If battle ensues between opposing armies, the unique Cubetower plays the leading role. The troops from both sides are thrown in together and the cubes that fall out at the bottom show who has won immediately. Owning provinces, temples, theaters, and castles means points when scores are tallied. Whichever Daimyo has the highest number of points after the second tally becomes – SHOGUN!


2006 - Caylus 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players (Can be increased to 6 players with addition of expansions)
PLAYING TIME: 120 Minutes
AGES: 12 & up
DESIGNER: William Attia
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time ...
1289. To strengthen the borders of the Kingdom of France, King Philip the Fair decided to have a new castle built. For the time being, Caylus is but a humble village, but soon, workers and craftsmen will be flocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up. The players embody master builders. By building the King's castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King's favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins the game.

[SaskGames Presents the Gaming Guide Series]

SaskGames Presents the Gaming Guide Series

This thread is part of the SaskGames "Gaming Guide" series, designed to help people decide which games they may be interested in trying or buying.  Happy Gaming!!!
~~~ Spiel des Jahres Winners 2010-2019~~~

The Spiel des Jahres (German for Game of the Year) is a prestigious award for board and card games. The award is given by a jury of German-speaking boardgame critics (from Germany, Austria, Switzerland), who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months. The games considered for the award are family-style games; wargames, role-playing games, collectible card games, and other complicated, highly-competitive, or hobbyist games are outside the scope of the award. Since 1989, there has been a separate award for children's games. The criteria on which a game will be evaluated are:
   1. game concept (originality, playability, game value)
   2. rule structure (composition, clearness, comprehensibility)
   3. layout (box, board, rules),
   4. design (functionality, workmanship)



2018 - Azul 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 30-45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Michael Kiesling
DESCRIPTION: "Introduced by the Moors, azulejos (originally white and blue ceramic tiles) were fully embraced by the Portuguese when their king Manuel I, on a visit to the Alhambra palace in Southern Spain, was mesmerized by the stunning beauty of the Moorish decorative tiles. The king, awestruck by the interior beauty of the Alhambra, immediately ordered that his own palace in Portugal be decorated with similar wall tiles. As a tile-laying artist, you have been challenged to embellish the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora.

In the game Azul, players take turns drafting colored tiles from suppliers to their player board. Later in the round, players score points based on how they've placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; wasted supplies harm the player's score. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins."


2017 - Kingdomino 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 15-20 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Bruno Cathala
DESCRIPTION: In Kingdomino, you are a Lord seeking new lands in which to expand your kingdom. You must explore all the lands, wheat fields, lakes, and mountains in order to spot the best plots. But be careful as some other Lords also covet these lands...

Dominoes with a kingdom building twist. Each turn, connect a new domino to your existing kingdom, making sure at least one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play. The game mechanics for obtaining the tiles is clever: the order of who picks first depends on which tile was previously chosen. Make sure to secure tiles with crowns- these royal treasures help to multiply the worth of your kingdom at the end of the game! The game ends when each player has completed a 5x5 grid, and then points are counted based on number of connecting tiles and crowns.


2016 - Codenames 
PLAYERS: 2 to 8 Players
PLAYING TIME: 15 Minutes
AGES: 14 & up
DESIGNER: Vlaada Chvátil
DESCRIPTION: Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their CODENAMES.

In Codenames, two teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first. Spymasters give one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates try to guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. And everyone wants to avoid the assassin.


2015 - Colt Express 
PLAYERS: 2 to 6 Players
PLAYING TIME: 40 Minutes
AGES: 10 & up
DESIGNER: Christophe Raimbault
DESCRIPTION: In Colt Express, you play a bandit robbing a train at the same time as other bandits, and your goal is to become the richest outlaw of the Old West. The game consists of five rounds, and each round has two phases: Phase 1: Schemin' - Each player plays 2-5 action cards on a common pile, with the cards being face up or face down depending on the type of the round. Instead of playing a card, a player can draw three cards from her deck.  Phase 2: Stealin' - The action cards are carried out in the order they were played, with a player's best laid plans possibly not panning out due to mistakes and oversights!  The game takes place in a 3D train in which the bandits can move from one car to another, run on the roof, punch the other bandits, shoot them, rob the passengers, or draw the Marshal out of position. The train has as many cars as the number of players, and each car is seeded with gems, bags of loot or suitcases at the start of play.


2014 - Camel Up 
PLAYERS: 2 to 8 Players
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Steffen Bogen
DESCRIPTION:


2013 - Hanabi 
PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
PLAYING TIME: 25 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Antoine Bauza
DESCRIPTION: Hanabi—named for the Japanese word for "fireworks"—is a cooperative game in which players try to create the perfect fireworks show by placing the cards on the table in the right order. (In Japanese, hanabi is written as 花火; these are the ideograms flower and fire, respectively.)  The card deck consists of five different colors of cards, numbered 1–5 in each color. For each color, the players try to place a row in the correct order from 1–5. Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite, as in this game you hold your cards so that they're visible only to other players. To assist other players in playing a card, you must give them hints regarding the numbers or the colors of their cards. Players must act as a team to avoid errors and to finish the fireworks display before they run out of cards.


2012 - Kingdom Builder 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Donald X. Vaccarino
DESCRIPTION: In Kingdom Builder, the players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming to earn the most gold at the end of the game.  Nine different kinds of terrain are on the variable game board, including locations and castles. During his turn, a player plays his terrain card and builds three settlements on three hexes of this kind. If possible, a new settlement must be built next to one of that player's existing settlements. When building next to a location, the player may seize an extra action tile that he may use from his next turn on. These extra actions allow extraordinary actions such as moving your settlements.  By building next to a castle, the player will earn gold at the end of the game, but the most gold will be earned by meeting the conditions of the three Kingdom Builder cards; these three cards (from a total of ten in the game) specify the conditions that must be met in order to earn the much-desired gold, such as earning gold for your settlements built next to water hexes or having the majority of settlements in a sector of the board.


2011 - Qwirkle 
PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players
PLAYING TIME: 45 Minutes
AGES: 6 & up
DESIGNER: Susan McKinley Ross
DESCRIPTION: While Qwirkle is as simple as matching colors and shapes, it is a game that also requires tactical maneuvers and well-planned strategy. The game consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six colors. Using the blocks, players attempt to score the most points by building lines that share a common attribute - either color or shape. Qwirkle is a quick game to learn, but you'll soon discover that you'll need to think strategically in order to score the most points.


2010 - Dixit 
PLAYERS: 3 to 6 Players
PLAYING TIME: 30 Minutes
AGES: 8 & up
DESIGNER: Jean-Louis Roubira
DESCRIPTION: One player is the storyteller for the turn. He looks at the 6 images in his hand. From one of these, he makes up a sentence and says it out loud (without showing the card to the other players). The other players select amongst their 6 images the one that best matches the sentence made up by the storyteller. Then, each of them gives their selected card to the storyteller, without showing it to the others. The storyteller shuffles his card with all the received cards. All pictures are shown face up, randomly, and every player has to bet upon what picture was the storyteller's. If nobody or everybody finds the correct picture, the storyteller scores 0, and each of the other players scores 2. Otherwise the storyteller and whoever found the correct answer scores 3. Players score 1 point for every vote gotten by their own picture. The game ends when the deck is empty. The greatest total wins the game.

[Board Game Designer's Forum]

The purpose of this section is to collect resources that would be helpful for Game Design and Prototyping. Please feel free to add your own...

Board Game Designer's Forum

A Decent Card Generator (Use for Prototyping)

Board Game Design Forums on BGG

1000 Year Game Design Challenge

Anydice - Dice Probability Calculator

Places to buy Game Bits:
Meeple Source

Great Hall Games

[(1) I will always finish the games I start and assist with the clean up when the game is done. This includes bottles, cups, cans, and other things around the game table. (2) I will not consistently take longer to decide my move than everyone else at the table. It is better to make a suboptimal move and consider it a lesson learned than to hold everyone up. It is okay if occasionally I say, "oh man, I'm going to need a minute to think about this one" when I hit a really interesting puzzle. But that's the exception, happening maybe a couple times per game, not the norm. (3) I will not eat foods that make my fingers messy while playing. I recognize that games are a dear possession and that my pop stains and "cheesy" prints may not qualify as adding value to a prized possession. (4) If you are teaching a game I already know, I will not interrupt you. It is your show. If you've overlooked something, and it becomes clear that you've moved on and are not just going to come back to it, I will politely remind YOU, "remember the rule about ...." and you can explain it. I won't just jump in and add my own commentary whenever I want. (5) If you are teaching a game I don't already know, I will be quiet and listen. If I have questions that seem like the kind of questions you'll get to in due course, I'll try to hold them. (6) If I decide that I no longer have any chance of winning, I'll play for style points. I mean, for place, or for score. If you decide that you no longer have any chance of winning, you can do whatever you want (just please don't leave). If you decide to knock me out and crown player X the winner just for the fun of it... I will be disappointed, but that is your choice. As Reiner Knizia allegedly said, "the goal is to win, but it's the goal that is important, not the winning." Whether I actually won or not is irrelevant except that it provides feedback about whether my choices were good ones or not. The feedback helps me improve my game, which is one of the finest pleasures of gaming. And here's the thing: the feedback I'd get is the same either way whether I won a game or I lost it only because of douchebaggery. In either case it is evidence that I probably played well, and should probably keep doing more of that. (7) I will try to contain my compulsive habit of straightening the pieces on the board until everything is so nice and perfectly straight. I'll try, really I will. (8 ) When you make a play that hurts me, I won't take it personally, and I will never try to make you feel bad for it. Sure, I may moan and groan a little, but it is all in good fun. Conversely, I pledge to always make the best moves I can think of; whether it hurts you specifically or not. That's my job as a player. I hope you deal with this well, almost all real gamers do. (9) If I realize I made a blunder, and the next player hasn't gone yet, and I know exactly what move I want to do instead, then I'll ask you if I can change my move. I won't try to change the past if the next player's already gone. And I won't ask to take it back and then make you wait while I decide all over again what to do. Better to just accept it as a lesson learned and move on. It's good to make sure that when I lose I'll have something to blame it on. (10) If I realize you've made a blunder, I'll ask you: "Are you sure?" I don't like game outcomes to be determined by who blunders the least. The exception is if fixing your blunder is injurious to a particular other player (not me). I think that would be very irritating to said player. If others at the table express that they prefer we not help each other in this way, I'm fine with keeping my mouth shut. I'll probably move tables after this game, though; it's just not the kind of vibe I like. (11) If you are new to a game and you ask for advice about what to do, I'll offer you my best advice, and make sure to point out the fact that, actually, I almost always lose, so you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt. (12) If I realize I'd forgotten about my staffed quarry when I built two turns ago, I might ask, "Hey. Is it okay if I take the extra doubloon that I should have saved?" I won't assume that you'll say yes. And I will NOT say, "If I'd known that, I would have bought this building instead, so when we crafted I should have an extra indigo meaning that the boat should have been full when...." (13) I will perform my actions in the open. I won't just drop my hand into my discard pile and announce "and I buy a Province!" Or, when paying five blue cards to build to Miami, I'll fan the cards, not stack them. I assume that you'd like to be able to see for yourself that my actions are legit. I think it's totally reasonable for you to want to see this -- we all make mistakes. I know I have accidentally "cheated" many times and I definitely want to get caught if I do! (14) If we realize a rules error was made, that benefited player X or hurt me, I will vote that we just let it stand. It can be very difficult, and often impossible, to reconstruct what the game state "should have been". Better to just move on, even if "it's not fair." If we realize a rules error that helped me, I will apologize and volunteer some penalty that seems appropriate. We can agree on a penalty, be it money, points, or whatever, and move on. Finally, if a rules error hurt a particular player, we can volunteer some simple compensation to that player and move on. (15) Sometimes if we realize a rules error, it may make sense to just decide as a group that we're playing a variant, and stick to that change. But this is for the table to decide! I won't whine, "That's not fair, you let HER add a guy there even though it was full!" (16) I will not complain that "You never told us that rule!"; even if you really didn't, (but you probably did). (17) I won't get mad at you if you don't adhere to the same code of conduct I do. If your behavior is *really* far from it, though, I might just quietly decide to try not to game with you again. Fair enough? (18) I will shut my cell phone off as to prevent interruption unless I have a VERY important call I am expecting and that is quite rare. I also realize that constant texting and cell phone use at the game table is bad form and will refrain from my cell phone addiction for the scant time we are gathered to play a game. (19) I will not cry "I never get good dice" just because my first die roll in a game was not what I wanted it to be. To elaborate, I will not be a whiner. Whiners are annoying and I do not wish to be annoying. This includes complaining about any "luck" based event or circumstance in the game that I perceive to be deterimental to me. Games are for fun and "whine" should only be spelled "wine". (20) I will try not to pass judgment on a game until it's completed. I will also try to comment on the good parts of the game, or the parts that I liked about it. I will not use this as an opportunity to expound on all the reasons the game sucks. I have an opportunity to express my tastes in game ratings. (21) I will show up at the designated and agreed time frame so the game can start on time. I recognize that by being late I am inconveniencing all of the other players that have given up their time to play this game. If I am going to be late, I will call the game organizer and let them know. I will not be offended if they decide to start without me. Their time is obviously as valuable and important as mine. (22) I will be open to trying new games and playing what the organizers and other players are proposing. I understand some people may not be as enthusiastic about my favorite game in the whole world. If the game being proposed is not one I enjoy, I will resolve to try it and be positive, or excuse myself from playing the game. I recognize that my attitude can have an effect on the other players and their enjoyment of the game. (23) I will be very respectful of game components. Most board gamers are very protective of their games, especially collectors. Not only do they want to keep their games in good condition, a lot of them are hard to come by and can be very expensive. Some games, for example, have many cards. I will not bend, tap, rub or do anything that will mark or damage the cards. (24) To be a gracious player, as a winner, I have the right to:- Comment on where I lucked out- Accept praise with a thanks and without adding to it- Point out good moves made by other playersI do not have the right to:- Point out others mistakes without being asked- Mock the other players- Cheer for myself- Talk about my own skill and how luck played no factor- Moon the other players (25) I recognize when playing games certain situations will arise that are not explicitly covered in the rules. After a brief discussion at the table exploring how to make a ruling, I will support whatever rules decision the game owner / explainer comes up with. It is important to get on with the game play and further discussion and debate can take place after the game has been completed. (26) Most importantly, I commit to having fun. Games are a leisure activity and should be engaged in with a sense of fun and adventure. I hope that my commitment to the fun and social nature of gaming is contagious enough that I encourage this behavior in others. I want to be an ambassador to this rewarding and entertaining hobby.]

This is copied from Board Game Geek. I thought it was well written so I decided to post it here.
(1)   I will always finish the games I start and assist with the clean up when the game is done. This includes bottles, cups, cans, and other things around the game table.

(2)   I will not consistently take longer to decide my move than everyone else at the table. It is better to make a suboptimal move and consider it a lesson learned than to hold everyone up. It is okay if occasionally I say, "oh man, I'm going to need a minute to think about this one" when I hit a really interesting puzzle. But that's the exception, happening maybe a couple times per game, not the norm.

(3)   I will not eat foods that make my fingers messy while playing. I recognize that games are a dear possession and that my pop stains and "cheesy" prints may not qualify as adding value to a prized possession.

(4)   If you are teaching a game I already know, I will not interrupt you. It is your show. If you've overlooked something, and it becomes clear that you've moved on and are not just going to come back to it, I will politely remind YOU, "remember the rule about ...." and you can explain it. I won't just jump in and add my own commentary whenever I want.

(5)   If you are teaching a game I don't already know, I will be quiet and listen. If I have questions that seem like the kind of questions you'll get to in due course, I'll try to hold them.

(6)   If I decide that I no longer have any chance of winning, I'll play for style points. I mean, for place, or for score. If you decide that you no longer have any chance of winning, you can do whatever you want (just please don't leave). If you decide to knock me out and crown player X the winner just for the fun of it... I will be disappointed, but that is your choice. As Reiner Knizia allegedly said, "the goal is to win, but it's the goal that is important, not the winning." Whether I actually won or not is irrelevant except that it provides feedback about whether my choices were good ones or not. The feedback helps me improve my game, which is one of the finest pleasures of gaming. And here's the thing: the feedback I'd get is the same either way whether I won a game or I lost it only because of douchebaggery. In either case it is evidence that I probably played well, and should probably keep doing more of that.

(7)   I will try to contain my compulsive habit of straightening the pieces on the board until everything is so nice and perfectly straight. I'll try, really I will.

(8 )   When you make a play that hurts me, I won't take it personally, and I will never try to make you feel bad for it. Sure, I may moan and groan a little, but it is all in good fun. Conversely, I pledge to always make the best moves I can think of; whether it hurts you specifically or not. That's my job as a player. I hope you deal with this well, almost all real gamers do.

(9)   If I realize I made a blunder, and the next player hasn't gone yet, and I know exactly what move I want to do instead, then I'll ask you if I can change my move. I won't try to change the past if the next player's already gone. And I won't ask to take it back and then make you wait while I decide all over again what to do. Better to just accept it as a lesson learned and move on. It's good to make sure that when I lose I'll have something to blame it on.

(10)   If I realize you've made a blunder, I'll ask you: "Are you sure?" I don't like game outcomes to be determined by who blunders the least. The exception is if fixing your blunder is injurious to a particular other player (not me). I think that would be very irritating to said player. If others at the table express that they prefer we not help each other in this way, I'm fine with keeping my mouth shut. I'll probably move tables after this game, though; it's just not the kind of vibe I like.

(11)   If you are new to a game and you ask for advice about what to do, I'll offer you my best advice, and make sure to point out the fact that, actually, I almost always lose, so you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt.

(12)   If I realize I'd forgotten about my staffed quarry when I built two turns ago, I might ask, "Hey. Is it okay if I take the extra doubloon that I should have saved?" I won't assume that you'll say yes. And I will NOT say, "If I'd known that, I would have bought this building instead, so when we crafted I should have an extra indigo meaning that the boat should have been full when...."

(13)   I will perform my actions in the open. I won't just drop my hand into my discard pile and announce "and I buy a Province!" Or, when paying five blue cards to build to Miami, I'll fan the cards, not stack them. I assume that you'd like to be able to see for yourself that my actions are legit. I think it's totally reasonable for you to want to see this -- we all make mistakes. I know I have accidentally "cheated" many times and I definitely want to get caught if I do!

(14)   If we realize a rules error was made, that benefited player X or hurt me, I will vote that we just let it stand. It can be very difficult, and often impossible, to reconstruct what the game state "should have been". Better to just move on, even if "it's not fair." If we realize a rules error that helped me, I will apologize and volunteer some penalty that seems appropriate. We can agree on a penalty, be it money, points, or whatever, and move on. Finally, if a rules error hurt a particular player, we can volunteer some simple compensation to that player and move on.

(15)   Sometimes if we realize a rules error, it may make sense to just decide as a group that we're playing a variant, and stick to that change. But this is for the table to decide! I won't whine, "That's not fair, you let HER add a guy there even though it was full!"

(16)   I will not complain that "You never told us that rule!"; even if you really didn't, (but you probably did).

(17)   I won't get mad at you if you don't adhere to the same code of conduct I do. If your behavior is *really* far from it, though, I might just quietly decide to try not to game with you again. Fair enough?

(18)   I will shut my cell phone off as to prevent interruption unless I have a VERY important call I am expecting and that is quite rare. I also realize that constant texting and cell phone use at the game table is bad form and will refrain from my cell phone addiction for the scant time we are gathered to play a game.

(19)   I will not cry "I never get good dice" just because my first die roll in a game was not what I wanted it to be. To elaborate, I will not be a whiner. Whiners are annoying and I do not wish to be annoying. This includes complaining about any "luck" based event or circumstance in the game that I perceive to be deterimental to me. Games are for fun and "whine" should only be spelled "wine".

(20)   I will try not to pass judgment on a game until it's completed. I will also try to comment on the good parts of the game, or the parts that I liked about it. I will not use this as an opportunity to expound on all the reasons the game sucks. I have an opportunity to express my tastes in game ratings.

(21)   I will show up at the designated and agreed time frame so the game can start on time. I recognize that by being late I am inconveniencing all of the other players that have given up their time to play this game. If I am going to be late, I will call the game organizer and let them know. I will not be offended if they decide to start without me. Their time is obviously as valuable and important as mine.

(22)   I will be open to trying new games and playing what the organizers and other players are proposing. I understand some people may not be as enthusiastic about my favorite game in the whole world. If the game being proposed is not one I enjoy, I will resolve to try it and be positive, or excuse myself from playing the game. I recognize that my attitude can have an effect on the other players and their enjoyment of the game.

(23) I will be very respectful of game components. Most board gamers are very protective of their games, especially collectors. Not only do they want to keep their games in good condition, a lot of them are hard to come by and can be very expensive. Some games, for example, have many cards. I will not bend, tap, rub or do anything that will mark or damage the cards.

(24) To be a gracious player, as a winner, I have the right to:
- Comment on where I lucked out
- Accept praise with a thanks and without adding to it
- Point out good moves made by other players

I do not have the right to:
- Point out others mistakes without being asked
- Mock the other players
- Cheer for myself
- Talk about my own skill and how luck played no factor
- Moon the other players

(25) I recognize when playing games certain situations will arise that are not explicitly covered in the rules. After a brief discussion at the table exploring how to make a ruling, I will support whatever rules decision the game owner / explainer comes up with. It is important to get on with the game play and further discussion and debate can take place after the game has been completed.

(26)   Most importantly, I commit to having fun. Games are a leisure activity and should be engaged in with a sense of fun and adventure. I hope that my commitment to the fun and social nature of gaming is contagious enough that I encourage this behavior in others. I want to be an ambassador to this rewarding and entertaining hobby.