Board Games Top 10: Featuring Before There Were Stars…
It’s a tale as old as time…. Or even older than time. You’re building a tale older than everything; a myth from before there were stars.
The Weekly Board Games Top 10
“The Hotness” on BoardGameGeek is a list of the currently most popular games, as based on views. This week brings us these winners:
| 1. KeyForge: Call of the Archons |
| 2. Hitler’s Reich |
| 3. Before There Were Stars… |
| 4. Root |
| 5. Return to Dark Tower |
| 6. Gloomhaven |
| 7. Scarabya |
| 8. Everdell |
| 9. Brass: Lancashire |
| 10. Brass: Birmingham |
Could it be? Do my eyes deceive me? Has Gloomhaven really dropped off of the top 3?! Let history know I was there on this remarkable day. I suspect it’ll be back soon. Mainly becuase we have a lot of games coming in from GenCon, unsurprisingly. So when that hype dies down, Gloomhaven will return. Plus, side note: They are doing a fourth printing, so if you don’t have your own copy yet, keep an eye out around the holidays.
And while, I’ll admit a game called Hitler’s Reich is likely to draw some attention, I actually really want to talk about Before There Were Stars… So I’m gonna do that.
Before There Were Stars…
Before There Were Stars… is a story telling game where players are ancient lore masters explaining the creation myths of the world, how civilization begin, the heroic tales of that world and how the end of days will come.
Each player begins by rolling the custom star-pipped dice to form the constellations of their sky. By rolling these dice and matching them to the constellation cards available, players gain those constellations to use as story elements as they tell their myth for that round, starting with “In the Beginning…”
In subsequent rounds, players will roll and gain more constellations in their sky and in the following chapters will call back to those previous story elements, to keep everything tied together. Each chapter focuses on a different part of the whole myth, explaining how the universe came to be, how humanity grew and how to bested its greatest foes before finally falling to begin the cycle anew.
After each round, players will pass around a small colored bag matching the color of their myth card. The other players will drop small star tokens in the bag to to grant that player points. The developer and publisher of Before There Were Stars… want the scoring to be based on less about stealing the spotlight or being a funnier than others. They want everyone to have their own time to weave their own tale and build their own universe. In Before There Were Stars… everyone has their own time to shine.
Before There Were Stars… is really about flexing those creativity muscles and getting those mental juices flowing. It’s perfect for anyone who wants a “feel-good” story-telling game that doesn’t require you to be the most charismatic person in the room.
Personally, as someone who loves making up my own stories, I love this game. I could easily see playing this game with friends and not even keeping score. Just enjoying the stories would be entertainment enough for me. If you’re anything like me and love the idea of weaving your own myths and tall tales, check out Before There Were Stars…
From Smirk & Laughter Games
Before There Were Stars… – $39.95 – Available Now
Open this box, and join the storytellers of old. Before there were Stars is a storytelling game where each player tells the mythic creation story of ‘their people.’ Featuring star-pipped dice that are rolled to form the ‘night sky,’ one scans the stars for constellations to use as keywords for the story. Inspired by Constellation cards, players craft tales about the creation of the world, the origins of civilization, the rise of their great hero, and an end of days.
Contains:
- 24 Star dice
- 80 Constellation cards
- 6 Story mats
- 6 cloth Offering bags
- 120 Star point beads
- 3 – 6 Players
- 10 Minutes Per Player
- Ages 14+
~I’m going to be the guy who shoehorns in the Lightning Owl into every creation myth
