I play games with 4 different groups in the greater Chicago area. Three of these groups prefer midweight-to-heavy strategy games, often dense, rules-heavy experiences.

Filling parks with attractions is perhaps the heartiest puzzle in Tenpenny Parks, but takes only one or two tries to solve. Players, myself included, usually fall for the trap of using concessions to grab early placement bonuses, before realizing there’s no longer any room for attractions. Once you’ve learned from that mistake and familiarize yourself with the placement rules, you’ve mastered Tenpenny Parks. Her Comments: Three workers a turn and five rounds feels right. The length of this game seems to strike a good balance.There is a slight question mark over the replayabilty of Tenpenny Parks, I could see it becoming a bit repetitive if it wasn’t mixed in with plays of other games, but as it doesn’t take too long, it will always be welcome at my table.

Each player gets a Campfire and two Hiker meeples of their colour. Their Hikers start on the Trailhead tile. Assign a starting player and give them the triangular First Hiker Marker. The player to the right of the First Hiker starts with the Camera. That’s set-up complete: now it’s time to start trekking! Let’s learn how to play Parks. And Now For Something Completely British: What’s The Weather Like?At the time of writing, we’re still in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Trips away and idyllic plans got put on pause. We’ve had to cancel holidays, and travelling to far-flung places is a case of fuhgeddaboudit. It’s fortunate then that Parks allows you to visit national parks around the US, from the comfort of your own home. If you’re not familiar with this game already, fear not. I’ll be explaining how to play Parks from set-up to conclusion.

It would be a leap to say that if you love A Feast for Odin, you’ll love Tenpenny Parks. The complexity is dialed WAY down in Tenpenny Parks. As a result, Tenpenny Parks is also a much, much shorter game. My first two games of Tenpenny Parks were played in about 90 minutes total at three players. I’ve never played a three-player game of A Feast for Odin in less than two hours. But I lean light. I definitely lean lighter than A Feast for Odin (a BGG complexity of 3.85), and I struggle to get games like it to the table when I’m not playing with my heavy strategy gaming friends.Advertising: Each of your rides will let you spend money to gain VPs. The ratio will depend on the ride built. Give up any regular token in exchange for a Wildlife token. (The hint is in the name; they’re wild! As in, they can stand for any token type.) All of this creates a thoroughly enjoyable quandary. What to focus on, what to spend and when. It all really makes the cogs whir. I don’t know another game where four moves with limited choice can burn the brain so much!