From Food To Flights: Explore The World Through Board Games
Tabletop Talks Week 9
This week, Tabletop Talks is taking on two of our favorite things, travel and food! This is your board game reintroduction to the world of food and travel! As the world begins to return to normal, we are all getting ready for some long overdue trips and delicious bites from our favorite places. I know that we here, at Tabletop Simulator’s blog can’t wait to book our tickets, pack our bags (and forks), and get back out into the world! And we’re sure that you can't either! So while we come out of these final weeks and months of the pandemic, we’re going to bring you two great games about getting to your destinations and two great games about what to eat when you get there! With destination inspiration, logistics puzzles, and plate-loading drafting, these four tabletop games and mods are sure to be your guide to your next culinary quest!
Curbside
A strategic game of ride sharing
Ride-share services have changed the way that all of us travel. So, why not have them change the way we play board games? Curbside from DMR Creative Group, takes our new favorite travel service and puts it on a (often virtual) tabletop. Players take on the role of rideshare drivers and are tasked with one simple goal: be the most successful driver. So, players must compete for passengers and good ratings using a smart blend of pick-up & delivery and resource management mechanics. And with constantly changing actions that depend on driver score, Curbside makes sure to keep its gameplay fresh and exciting throughout its entire playtime. But be careful and think ahead! You’ll have to find the best route through the city to deliver your passengers quickly, avoid hazards and make sure you don’t run out of gas, all while possibly driving a bit recklessly!
Curbside started with an understandable desire to see meeples riding around in cars paired with a love of pick-up & delivery games. These two ideas were combined to create the unique and relevant ride-share theme of Curbside. And, despite Curbside’s strategy focus, it was designed to be an easy-to-learn and easier-to-replay tabletop experience! Between its bright and well-themed artwork, easy-to-learn rules, and light-hearted theme, Curbside will make for both a great entry game into the hobby and the perfect addition to a travel-themed game night!
Curbside has continued development after the pandemic, switching to our virtual world, and is now in the playtesting phase of development. If you are interested in helping this process, be sure to get involved below! You can also take a look at their website for more information!
Official Website: Curbside From DMR Creative
Tabletop Simulator Mod: Sign Up Here To Play Curbside's Private TTS Mod!
Connecting Flights
Buy planes, fly passengers, make money!
They say that life is about the journey, not the destination. So, for us here at the TTS blog you could say that a great travel board game is also about the journey, not the destination. Connecting Flights from Bazzite games takes this literally! In this light-weight, puzzle-strategy game, players take the role of an airline owner as they try to grow their business through purchasing airports and planes to build a worldwide flight network. And, with Connecting Flights’ cooperative and competitive play options, you can work together to build up your travel empire or work against other players to tear their corporations down! Each of these modes uses unique mechanics such as: pick up and delivery, hand management, and engine & network building so that the strategy and gameplay is always deep, changing, and rewarding. We can guarantee that your rise to an airline mogul will be fun, replayable, and the perfect inspiration for your next travel experience!
Connecting Flights was inspired by a love of puzzles, logistics, and travel. These inspirations are combined in a game that has both an elevated and engrossing theme as well as a fresh, puzzle-heavy approach to tabletop gaming. And, in addition to its rewarding card-based puzzles, Connecting Flights has thematic events/sabotages such as Snakes on the Plane, Pandemic, and many more, guaranteeing that each game is exciting, fresh, and addicting in the best way!
Connecting Flights has used Tabletop Simulator for playtesting and feedback to create the ultimate travel-gaming experience. You can try both the competitive & cooperative modes on Tabletop Simulator! For more information on all things Connecting Flights, be sure to check out the Bazzite Games website below!
How To Play: How To Play Connecting Flights
Official Website: Connecting Flights Board Game By Bazzite Games
Kickstarter: Successful April 2021 Campaign
Tabletop Simulator Mod: Play Connecting Flights Competitive Mode & Connecting Flights Cooperative Mode On TTS
Night Market
Bring in customers and creating signature dishes
Looking for a game about food? Looking for a game that could inspire your next international trip? Looking for a thematic exploration of Taiwanese culture? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, we cannot recommend Night Market enough! In this unique worker placement game from Talon Strikes Games, players are the owners of an up-and-coming night market in Taipei, a city known for its world-renowned street food and its lively after-dark markets. You must use Night Markets’ well-designed mechanics to navigate a two-part play cycle and collect the ingredients you need to run the hottest night markets in town. And, with solo, competitive, and cooperative opportunities, Night Market can be enjoyed by anyone!
Night Market was inspired by its concept of a unique day-to-night barter system as well as personal experiences with Taiwan’s magical nocturnal markets. These overarching ideas are paired with standout mechanics such as tic-tac-toe-inspired worker placement and customer pattern recognition to make a game that pushes you as strategically as it does culturally. And, with many released expansions, and more on the way, the strategy will only get deeper! And, thanks to its beautiful (and a little hunger-inducing) art, Night Market might just have you booking a trip to Taipei in no time!
At the dawn of the Pandemic, the team behind Night Market used Tabletop Simulator’s online community to continue playtesting and tweaking their game to perfection! They wrapped up a successful Kickstarter on April 18th and have a fully playable TTS mod!
How To Play: Night Market Tutorial Playthrough
Official Website: Night Market From Talon Strikes Studios
Tabletop Simulator Mod: Sign Up Here To Play Night Market's Private TTS Mod!
Tapas
An abstract dice drafting set collection game of creating and conserving Tapas
Now, if you have gotten a little hungry from operating a rideshare business, catching multiple flights, or strolling around a Taiwanese night market, we have another travel-tinged food experience that is sure to satisfy your board game cravings. Another brilliant game from DMR Creative, Tapas is an abstract dice drafting set collection game based on the classic Mediterranean culinary experience. In this game, players draft different foods to fill orders in front of them while avoiding overordering and throwing food into the garbage. This basic goal is achieved through a well-balanced, dice-based drafting mechanic that allows you to craft the most mouth-watering plates possible while also forcing you to manage space. But be careful! Wasting food creates negative points, meaning your Tapas have to find the perfect balance of delicious and conservative if you want to win!
Tapas is a game that came from a little hunger, a lot of inspiration, and an appreciation for this specific style of dining! These basic inspirations grew into the central drafting and resource management mechanics that make up this game. Then, these mechanics were paired with an amazing table presence that includes mouthwatering food tokens as well as beautifully crafted colored bowls and dice. All of this comes together to make a game that is easy to learn and hard to master. Tapas is a tasty board game experience that can be the perfect entry into the hobby! It may also inspire you to bring some real Tapas to your next game night!
DMR Creative has been using Tabletop Simulator to tweak, playtest, and develop Tapas. Right now, it is a prototype and not available for purchase.
Official Website: Tapas From DMR Creative
Tabletop Simulator Mod: Sign Up Here To Play Tapas's Private TTS Mod!
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