blacknerdboardgames

[blacknerdboardgames]

July 26, 2018

The game: The Quest for El Dorado

Game length: 90 minutes

Board Game Geek rating and description:  7.6  In The Quest for El Dorado, players take the roles of expedition leaders who have embarked on a search for the legendary land of gold in the dense jungles of South America. Each player assembles and equips their own team, hiring various helpers from the scout to the scientist to the aborigine. All of them have one goal in mind: Reaching the golden border first and winning all of the riches for themselves. Whoever chooses the best tactics will be rewarded!

Who won? Levi

Beers we drank: Mango Allure (Pollyanna); Summerly (Pollyanna)

What’d everyone think?

This game was really accessible and had pretty simple mechanics, so it was quick to pick up. It’s fast-paced. It didn’t really require a lot of player interaction, so we informally were playing pretty cooperatively. It was a fun warmup game for the evening.

You’d like this game if you like: Machetes. Legends of the Hidden Temple, but a version that it’s actually possible to win.

Was it racist?

Yep. The only person of color in the game is “the Native.” Also there are indigenous villages that you trade with, represented by little headdresses. There’s also a “Pioneer” character. It was a little suss. This game is about violent colonialism and getting rich masquerading as adventure.

The game: Saboteur

Game length: 50 minutes

Board Game Geek rating and description: 6.6 Players take on the role of dwarves. As miners, they are in a mine, hunting for gold. Suddenly, a pick axe swings down and shatters the mine lamp. The saboteur has struck. But which of the players are saboteurs? Will you find the gold, or will the fiendish actions of the saboteurs lead them to it first? After three rounds, the player with the most gold is the winner.

Who won? Keith

What’d everyone think?

This game is like COINTELPRO but with dwarves. One point of confusion is that some of the dwarves look like sneaky bad dudes but they’re not actually saboteurs, they just look conniving. 

This guy is not actually a sab! Just looks like he’s up to no good!

We said the word “sab” a lot and made up a lot of words like “what a bunch of sabbery” and “Jenae is always sabbing around!” #trustnoone

Eve was out for 1/3 of the second game because everyone broke her tools and accused of her being a the sab because she quote didn’t make eye contact unquote.

You’d like this game if you like: That scene in The Princess Bride where Wesley goes face to face in the psychological poison game with the Sicilian dude. 

Was it racist?

All the dwarves are white. They missed a gimme for diversity. They def could have put in like one or two PoC dwarves and everyone would have been delighted. Also the game forces you to other people! People you know and love! 

This guy looks like he wants to Make Dwarftown Great Again.