812 – The Invasion of Canada
What it is: This game is about the oft glazed over War of 1812 (if you can tell me why this war started without Googling it, I’ll give you a virtual cookie).
Two factions, one British and one American, vie for control over territory in North America.
Whichever side ends with the most zones under their control wins.
How it makes you smarter/ more cr.
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A Game of Thrones
What it is: This game has a simple premise, even if you aren’t familiar with the titular book series/television show.
Whoever conquers the most land gains the Iron Throne.
How it makes you smarter/ more creative: This one, while improving your strategic abilities, will also improve your knowledge of the Seven Kingdoms.
Perfect in today’s world, whe.
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Amerigo
What it is: A game about exploration, with a twist.
Your actions are determined randomly, at least in part.
A tower located in the middle of the game board contains colored cubes that, when jostled free at the bottom (whenever a player adds more cubes to the tower), determine what you’ll do.
The cubes will direct you in your mission of exploring a .
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Euphoria
What it is: The goal of this game alone makes it worth playing: you need to take control of a dystopian city.
To get there, you’ll need to step on opposing players (figuratively), keep your workers uneducated, and find other morally questionable ways to rise to the top of the dictatorial food chain.
If you are an aspiring autocrat (any Mr.
House fa.
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KEMET
What it is: Relive your sixth grade fantasies and create the Egyptian Empire you always wanted! This is a game mainly centered on war, with other things going on simultaneously that you’ll have to manage.
How it makes you smarter/ more creative: As with many war games, you’ll need to make sure you balance your resources.
You may do a lot of damage .
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Settlers of Catan
What it is: If you’ve played the Civilization games, you’ll have a decent idea about what this game is like.
Settlers is all about building up territory and resources until you have enough points to win the game.
Much like Civilization V, you play on a hexagonal game board with randomized resources.
Apparently, it’s popular among college aged kids .
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Stratego
What it is: Ah, a classic.
Basically, two players are given an army, whose ranks/power are hidden from their opponent.
Among these soldiers, you hide a flag.
Whoever captures this flag first, or takes out enough of the enemy’s troops, wins.
How it makes you smarter/ more creative: The name says it all.
This game is all about strategy.
In one sense .
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Takenoko
What it is: This one reminds me a bit of World of Warcraft’s farming minigame, except, they’re really not that similar besides the fact that both deal with pandas.
In Takenoko, you grow bamboo to appease the tastes of the resident sacred black and white bear.
Whoever grows and maintains the best bamboo farm and satisfies the panda best, wins the ga.
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Ticket to Ride
What it is: This is a game where you try and connect cities on the game board by building railways.
Whoever builds the longest railway, or finishes with the highest score, wins the game.
How it makes you smarter/ more creative: Ticket to Ride, while simplistic at a glance, is a strategy game at its heart.
There are several ways in which you can inh.
