With a group of pioneers, you have left civilization behind to settle along the shores of Boonlake, a long-forgotten region inhabited by humans long ago. This unexplored area beckons you! Become part of a new community and commit yourself to the common good. Explore the landscapes, build houses and settlements, raise cattle, produce raw materials, and develop an infrastructure. Do your best to automate these processes. Seize the opportunity to make the best of your new life in Boonlake.
Boonlake is an expert game in which you are finding yourself improving your life — and your group's life — in this new territory...but how you accomplish this is completely up to you! Due to a novel action mechanism, each game progresses differently. Each action needs to be considered carefully since the other players also benefit from the action you choose. Besides this, the action determines how far you may move your ship — the further and faster, the better!
—description from the publisher
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm really excited about because I might have a bird in there
- tapestry digital not board game arena but the actual digital app
References (from this video)
- Engaging engine-building with strong tempo
- Rich player interaction through shared action turns
- Complex for new players
- Can be long for a Pfister title
- engine-building, river trade
- sailing along a lake with checkpoints and floating towns
- evocative, thematic
- Terra Mystica
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action drafting — draft action tiles and execute them to build your engine
- action-tile drafting — draft action tiles and execute them to build your engine
- dynamic tempo / check-point resets — reach checkpoints to refresh cycles and push for more actions
- income and town-building on playboard — upgrades provide income and end-game scoring opportunities
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- these are ten really really good games
- this is one of the coolest games in terms of like turn angst and frustration
- it's timeless and very clean design
- this is a co-design but it's definitely got a lot of the dna in it through that tile placement and other little mechanisms
- an absolute blast to play
- Arc Nova is going to stand the test of time