Salt, Silver, and Coal: Three games set in mines I have been in
Details
This special event celebrates completion of my long-awaited mines-I-have-been-in board game trilogy with a theme games day to play them all. We will play:
- Magnum Sal, set in a salt mine in Wieliczka, Poland,
- Kutná Hora: The City of Silver, set in a silver mine and its city of Kutná Hora, Czechia, and
- Coal Baron, set in a coal mine in Essen, Germany.
About the games:
- Magnum Sal is set in the Wieliczka Salt Mine (Wikipedia). Fitting its theme, mining salt is hard; players take multiple worker-placement turns to get small amounts of salt out of the communal mine to the surface to fill royal orders. Most money wins. Although the rules are not too complicated, the effort required to extract salt pushes the weight of this game up a bit.
- In Kutná Hora is a silver mine that once produced about a third of Europe’s silver. Kutná Hora: The City of Silver is a city-building game with changing supply and demand. Actions are selected from cards. Players develop the mine, purchase plots of land (tile placement), raise buildings, and balance advancement of their semi-shared guilds with development of the city and Saint Barbara’s Cathedral. This game has a lot going on, making it the heaviest of the three games.
- Coal Baron is set in the Zollverein Coal Mine (Wikipedia) in Essen, Germany (which is also home to the annual game fair, Spiel Essen). It is a steady-paced worker-placement game where you develop your mine, lift coal out of the mine with your elevator, load it onto vehicles, and deliver it to customers. Points are awarded for diverse tasks. This is a pleasant medium-weight game (perhaps lighter than my current average game).
I am configuring this Meetup event for four players but will grow it to eight if we get waitlisted RSVPs for that. With eight players, we will start with the longer games, one table on Magnum Sal and the other on Kutná Hora. The first table to finish will move on to Coal Baron. The second table will switch to the other game, and then we will wrap up. (If there is a further waitlist, I will make other opportunities to play these games in the future, although likely not all in one day.)
Some event details:
- Expect a long day in the mines.
- I will order from Pizzaroma later in the day.
- Bring your own beverage if desired.
With two tables people, I will need a second person to teach the games, so that may be a factor in admission.
All of these are UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
Bonus URL: Museum of Silver and Medieval Mine.
Salt, Silver, and Coal: Three games set in mines I have been in