Unleashing the Dogs of Rescue at Our January Meetup

Turnout was light at our January meetup, but we had some great games hitting the table. How can you say no to a combination of Cthulhu, pizza, and rescue dogs?

I was very pleased to see a copy of Unspeakable Words, a Lovecraftian word game recently featured in an episode of Tabletop. I thought it was a new game for some reason, but it turns out to date back to 2007, and it’s a bit hard to find as a result.

Unspeakable Words is a typical word game in that you’re building words from a hand of letter cards, but the twist is that after every word you have to roll a 20-sided die to keep your sanity. The more points you get from the word, the harder the roll is. The points assigned to each letter are also a little unusual. Some of the most common letters offer the highest points — and the highest risk! The group hit the game in the right spirit, and many horrible words were gleefully presented. Insanity ensued.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue came out next, and the Rescue Dog got his day in the sun. He turned out to be both fun and helpful, and the team rescued all its victims in near-record time. Best of all, new player Travis had painted the minis in his set, which made the game even more thematic. (I didn’t even think that was possible.)

Last but not least, we pulled out an old favorite: Mamma Mia. This pizza-making game dates back to designer Uwe Rosenberg‘s early days (it’s entry #49 in the Board Game Geek database), but it’s still challenging and fun. It’s also a bit of a brain burner, because you have to remember the ingredients everybody has played to have any hope of making your pizzas!

All in all, it was a great afternoon, and we’re looking forward to next month’s gathering on February 23 at the San Marcos Public Library. (Maybe we’ll keep the food theme going and play Wok Star.) See you there!

Archived from the San Marcos Board Gamers website.