First up, it’s just us and our spouses stockading our way to victory in Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small.

Next, we put our tailor-made homebrew dice to the tests of Tartarus in Dice Forge!

And lastly, we wander through the chaos of 1930s Europe to jockey for position in Origins of World War II.

Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small

Designed by: Uwe RosenbergPublished by: Z-Man Games (2012)Players: 2Ages: 13 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes

In Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, you become a breeder of livestock. Players start with a 3×2 game board that can be expanded during play to give more room for your cows, horses, sheep and/or pigs to roam and breed. Sixteen possible actions are available, allowing players to gather materials, build fences and structures, or shepherd animals to their pastures. Players get three actions in each of the eight rounds.

There are also four standard buildings (and four special buildings) available in the game. These buildings each provide unique abilities during play (and sometimes provide VP at game’s end).

The player who amasses the most victory points will be the winner. VP are amassed by enclosing pasture with fences, erecting certain buildings, and breeding many, many animals.

Dice Forge

Designed by: Régis BonnesséePublished by: Libellud (2017)Players: 2 – 4 Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 45 min

In Dice Forge, you are heroes invited by the gods to compete in a grand tournament for your own seat in the celestial realm.

Each hero receives two divine dice — with removable faces! On your turn, you may customize your dice by offering gold at the temple. Or, visit the islands to complete quests and gain glory by using the shards you’ve collected.

Heroes! Stand ready to influence the luck of the dice — to earn your place among the heroes, and take your seat among the gods of Olympus!

Origins of World War II

Designed by: Jim Dunnigan, Thomas N. ShawPublished by: Avalon Hill (1971) Players: 2 to 5Ages: 12 & UpPlaying time: 1 hour

It is pre-war late 1930’s, and Europe is on the brink. . . we know this from the benefit of hindsight.

But what if you were there, knowing what you know today, of the coming calamity — and had a chance to stop the conflict?

How would you manage one of the most delicate situations the world has ever known?

Origins of WWII puts you into that role of leadership and responsibility. You are the head of diplomacy for one of 5 nations: France, Great Britain, Soviet Russia, Germany or the United States . . . and it is your task to achieve your country’s diplomatic goals. Each nation has a different set of achievements necessary to score victory points. Some achievements involve diplomacy, and others involve engineering strategic confrontations. The game has only 6 rounds, so that is all the time you have to (perhaps?) change the historical course of . . . the Origins of WWII.