Five Minute Friday (On a Saturday): Delight

It's Saturday, and I missed my taking five minutes Friday to write about The Gypsy Mama's  "Five Minute Friday" topic.  Each Friday, we write for five minutes on a topic without any editing or rewriting allowed.  I put a little spin on it and relate it to board games.  I know it is cheating a bit but I'll take the time today.   The topic is Delight.  So I've got my stopwatch out and I'm ready to on your mark, set, and go!

Anticipation, the brown box arrives and the tape is cut open to reveal the wonders hidden inside.  What new games do we have today?  Oh the delight when you open the boxes, punch out the chits, organize the pieces.  Simple pleasures.

The pieces, the wooden meeples, the acrylic penguins, the plastic figures bring delight as you hold them and move them.  Counting the cards, figuring out the organization in the box and on the shelves.  That self can hold just one more game, right?

Setting up a new game or an old friend on the kitchen table.  Family and friends gather around and the fun begins.  You can feel the delight the game brings to the room.  The smiles prove it.  Roll the dice, flip a tile, lay a card...oh the joy.

Turn off the television, a little music in the background is okay, but focus on the people around you.  Turn off you cellphone, leave the computer alone and enjoy the simple delight brought to you by a board game.

What about board games delight you?

Happy Valentines Day!

Just wanted to wish all of you a very happy Valentines!

Railways of the World

Everyone loves a rags to riches story, right?  The hero or heroine starting out with next to nothing and by the end of the story living the life of luxury through hard work, talent determination, and perhaps a bit of luck.  Railways of the World is a bit like a rags to riches story.  Players build a railroad empire from nothing, hoping to by games end, have been the one who made the best decisions, delivered the most goods, and captured the most of the railroad market.



Components

The components of Railways of the World are amazing!  The base game comes with two maps.  Be warned you will need a large table for these maps.  The smaller map of Mexico is 4.75"x24.5" and the larger map is a 30" x 36" map of Eastern U.S.  It takes up most of our kitchen table.

You also receive 217 doubled- sided hexagonal track tiles.  These are either straight, curves, or crossings.  150 Control locomotives (25 in each player color).  125 goods cubes in five colors, 54 Bond Certificates in 3 denominations, 12 new city tiles (3 x yellow, 3 x black, 3 x blue and 3 x purple), paper money in 3 denominations, 1 score track, 2 Golden Spike tiles, and a drawstring bag.

The cards that come with the game are a Start Player Card, 12 Railroad Baron Cards, and 37 Railroad Operations Cards and Engine Cards levels 1 to 7.

My favorite part are the 24 empty city markers, in four different styles.  There is a water tower, rairoad crossing sign, a roundhouse, and


Object of the Game

The players who is able to score the most victory points by delivering the most goods, receiving points from special cards, and possibly meeting their hidden Baron objective will win the game.

Set-up

I know in other posts I praised games for their quick set-up time.  Railways of the World certainly isn't the longest game to set up but it does take a bit of time.  This does not take away from the enjoyment of the game.  It just usually means, it isn't a game that gets played on a week night.

The first thing I like to do is place the goods cubes on the board.  We store them in the bag so its easy to set up the cubes.  Each city on the board has a number printed on it.  Simply draw the number required and put them on the board.  A special note for two is three player games is that one less goods cube is placed.  Cities marked one still receive one good.

The track tiles should be placed in easy reach of all players.  We like to keep ours in the bag and pass it around.  Place the new city tiles near the board and take out the number of empty city markers needed for the end game.  The number needed varies depending on the map being played and the number of players so consult your rulebook for this information.

Each player then receives the 25 control locomotives in their player color, a Level 1 train card, and a player aide card.  Players may also receive two Railroad Barons cards and choose one.  These cards add a hidden scoring element to the game allowing players to score extra points if they meet their barons objectives by the end of the game.

Place one locomotive of each players color on the score track. and depending on the map being played you may want to use one for the turn order track.  Use an empty city marker (I like to use the roundhouse) for the round order track as well.  You may have noticed that players haven't received any money.  No, this isn't a mistake, you start with no money.

Players then bid to be the first player, starting with the youngest player.  Whomever bids the most takes the first player card.   Since you start with no money players must take bond certificates.  For each bond the player takes he receives $5,000 from the bank.  You can take as many bonds as you want but you can never get rid of bonds.  They also cost the player one victory point per bond at the end of the game.

Game Play:

Each turn of the game involves three phases:

• Phase One:  Auction to determine first player
• Phase Two:  Player Actions
• Phase Three: Income and Dividends

Phase One: First Player Auction

After each turn players again auction for first player.  After the first turn the player who was first player starts the bidding and it continues clockwise around the table.  The minimum bid is $1,000 and any player who passes can not re-enter the auction.  The winner pays his bid.  If all players pass the first player card goes to the person to the left of the previous first player and they become the first player for the next round. Give the first player card to the winner and start player actions. 

There are some varients in the rule book for the auction.


Phase Two:  Player Actions 


Phase Two is the meat of the game.  There are three rounds in phase two.  Its important to keep track of these rounds, with the round marker.  Players may preform one action each round starting with the first player and going clockwise.  The player may either: build track,urbanize, upgrade their engine, deliver one goods cube or take a Railroad Operations Card.   

Build Track:  You need to connect cities in order to deliver cubes and earn victory points.  A tile or series of tiles that connect one city to another is called a link.  When you build track the ends of the track must line up so that the railroad forms a continuous line.  The first tile laid must connect to a city or the end of an incomplete track.  During the action all the tiles laid must connect to that track.  You may build up to four tracks during each turn.


When you have built four tracks or connected a city to another city stop building.  You can not build more than one link in a single action.  If a player is unable to finish a link after the third round that link is lost and all the tiles are removed.  The players does not get any money back for the lost track.

How much it costs to lay the track depends upon the terrain.  Open terrain "green hexes" cost $2,000.  Any water (ocean or river) in a hex increases the cost to $3,000.  Mountain hexes (with a white dot) cost $4,000.  If a ridge (dark brown line) is crossed then the cost is increased by an additional $4,000. 

When you build a track be sure to place one of your control locomotives.  The train color shows the owner.  Once a link is completed it can not be removed.  Players may build a criss-cross track over other players tracks.  This does not cost any extra.

Urbanize: If a player wishes they may take one available New City Marker and place it on any gray city for $10,000.  They may then drawn two random goods cubes from the bag and add them to the city.  If the city was empty the empty city marker is removed.

Upgrade Engine:  The player may also choose to upgrade their engine.  This cost varies.  The cost to upgrade is shown on the bottom right hand corner of the new Engine Card.  Upgrading an engine allows players to deliver their goods further.  The level represents the maximum number of links a player may deliver his good.  For example a level 4 engine may deliver one goods cube to a city a maximum of 4 links away. 

Deliver Goods Cubes:  Another action that may be chosen is to deliver one goods cube.  The goods cubes must be moved along a complete link to a city that is the same color as the cube being delivered (yellow cube to a yellow city).  The cube may be moved a number of links up to the the level of the players engine.  The cube can not pass through the same city twice.  A cube must also stop moving once it reaches a city of the same color.  When it is delivered remove it from play and place it back into the bag. 

After the goods cube reaches its destination, determine who gains income from the delivery.  A player gains one point on the income track for each complete link he owns ,that the cube travelled along.  This means that goods can travel over links of other players.  If that happens that player will collect the points for their link.  The first link used must be owned by the active player.

The points are recorded on the income track.  When all goods are moved out of a city place an empty city marker in that city.  The type doesn't matter. 


Take a Railroad Operations Card:  Before the start of the game each of the three start cards are placed face-up, next to the game board.  It is easy to find these cards because they are marked with a gold "S" is the bottom left-hand corner.  Then the deck is shuffled and a number of cards equal to two times the number of players is drawn from the deck and placed face up next to the game board.  These cards are the one available for players.  At the end of each turn, and after the Income and Dividends phase, one new cards is placed face-up next to the board.

All the cards have a symbol on the bottom right-hand corner.  Each symbol is associated with a special rule or rules for that card.

Green Circle:  These cards cannot be selected, but give a benefit to the first player to accomplish the goal printed on the card.  Once the goal is accomplished, the card is removed from play.  An example of this type of card would be the "Service Bounty Cards" that give a bonus for the first player to deliver a cube to a certain city.

Purple Diamond:  Once selected, these cards may be used by the owing player once per turn.  This use does not count as an action.  An example would be "Perfect Engineering" that allows players to build up to five track segments to a single link, once per turn.

Red "X":   When selected, these cards must be used immediately and then discarded.  An example would be the "New Industry Card" that allows players to place a new city in a gray city of their choice.

Hand of Cards:  These cards may be kept by the player until needed.  Once used, the card is discarded.  The use of the card does not count as an action  An example would be "Tunnel Engineer" that allows mountains and ridges to be half price on a future build action.

No Symbol:  This card is kept face-up in front of the player, who gets a benefit of the card for the rest of the game.  An example would be the "Hotel Cards" that give players points on the income track for each good delivered by any player to a certain city.

Phase Three:  Income and Dividends

After the end of the third round player collect the amount of income shown (in dollars) on the space where their locomotive is on the income track.  Once the players have collected their money they must pay "bond dividends."  Which means that they must pay $1,000 dollars for each bond issued to them.  If the players owes more dividends than he has money, more bonds must be issued to the pay off the debt.  Dividends are not paid on these new bonds issued until the next income phase.

At this time any link that was incomplete is removed.  Then, the round marker is returned to the "1" space and a new turn is started. 


Game End

After the predetermined amount of Empty City Makers are placed on the board, the Game ends at the end of this complete turn.  Again, make sure to the check the rule book for the number.

Next, the players check the scoreboard for victory points.  Players lose one victory point for each bond.  If playing with Baron Cards they receive the number of indicated victory points if they were able to reach their goal.  They do not lose points if they did not reach the goal.  The player with the most victory points wins.  If there is a tie the player with the most track links win, and if there is still a tie the player the most money wins. 

My Thoughts


Like Stone Age, Railways of the World is a game that will always have a spot in my collection. It will never be my favorite game, but its definitely in my top 20.  It's a game I'm always willing to play as long as I have the time available. 



What makes Railways of the World so great is the simple rules and great depth of play.  The rules are simple and need little review after a few plays.  Even after not playing for a few months I can pull out the game and have only a few questions that would require the rule book.  Usually its just to check how many empty city markers I need for the map.

Even if it the rules are simple I don't think I would recommend this game to a new player because of the depth.  There is a lot to keep track of during the game.  You always need to be thinking a few turns ahead and be ready with alternatives in case someone gets where you were going, before you. You also have to watch your opponents to make sure they aren't blocking you, getting close to getting a major route, or running away with the game.  I feel new players may possibly be overwhelmed with all the choices and decisions. 

The variable set-up and the randomness of the Railway Operations Cards always make for a unique game each time it hits the table.  Re-playability is another important plus for Railways of the World.  I also like the Railroad Baron cards and the hidden scoring they offer.  If I know I'll be able to meet my objective it gives me hope when I'm behind on the income track.

When I first started playing I thought that I would hate the auction and bonds.  I'm not a big fan of the auction mechanic in games because I usually stick to two player games and they rarely work in this situation.  It's okay during the two player game.  Usually we challenge and bid high the first few rounds but towards the end of the game we usually just pass it back and forth.  Perhaps a variant where you have to pay no matter what would make us more competitive during the two player auction.

Depending on the map being played the bonds are not as bad as I thought.  I try to not take more than two or three but I think the Western U.S. map sometimes causes me to be less cautious in order to get ahead.  I had a friend who once won handedly even with taking about eight bonds, so maybe I don't need to be so cautious. 


I also like that Railways of the World is a game system.   The rules work on multiple maps and each new map offers some new rules and ways to play.  I haven't tried them all but I really like the city spinner that let you deliver two colors of goods cubes to one city.

The last game we played with the Event Deck.  My husband decided to go easy on me and took out most of the bad cards.  I get flustered when bad things start to happen.  I like what this added as well.  It was really easy to add and made each round interesting.  

The last thing I enjoy about the game are of course the components, as I already said.  They are all very high quality and create a really cool picture at the end of the game.  I feel like I actually have built a railroad empire.  I don't like the paper money.  We always use poker chips instead and its now gotten to the point that I think they actually came with the game instead of the paper money. 

There are a lot of different board available.  The best for two players I think are Railways of Europe and Railways of England and Wales.  These two force more competition between two players.  The Eastern U.S. map if almost too big and an entire game may be played without much player interaction.  I look forward to more boards coming out in the future and if anyone is listening a map of the state of Pennsylvania would be really cool, there is so much railroading history here!

Quick Stats:

Designer:  Glenn Drover, Martin Wallace
Artists: Paul Niemeyer, David Oram

Publisher: Eagle Games
Number of Players:  2-6
Playing Time: 120 minutes
Expansions: Railways of England and Wales, Railways of Europe, Railways of Mexico, Railways of the Western U.S., Railways Through Time, Railways of the World Even Deck

Game Mechanic: Pick-up and Deliver

What is the allure that trains hold over so many?  The billowing smoke, the chugging engines, the rumbling ground.  Trains have an especially important place in my family.  In fact, without trains I don't think I would exist.  My grandfather meet my grandmother as a young porter on a train.  She was a nursing student travelling to school from her small town.  They fell in love and started a family.  Years later my grandfather moved his family to work as a train dispatcher.  My father was introduced to a pretty young lady whom he also fell in love with, married, and started his own family.  Four children later I was born. 

Pictures, magazines, books, trips on trains and trips to see trains were an ever present part of my life.I know a train, any train, can cause excitement in my father and cause him to rush towards it with his camera.  So the next mechanic, the pick-up and deliver mechanic, found in many train games, bears a special place in my heart.

I know this mechanic is seen in games of many themes.  Some include games about space, shipping games, and even a few pirate games.  I'm most familiar with it in train games.

Hallmarks of Pick-up and Deliver Games 

Goods

The basic idea of pick-up and deliver games is to take a good from one location in bring it to another. The goods can be almost anything.  You may be just transporting wooden cubes or discs, or perhaps cows, cars, and cotton chips.  The possibilities are endless.  The goods can even be cards like in "Merchants and Marauders"

Goods Placement


Depending on the game, were the goods are placed may be random or a specific set-up may be used.  In games like "Railways of the World" and "Valdora" goods are placed at the beginning of the game randomly.  In "Empire Builder" cities produce certain goods.  For example you will find steel in Pittsburgh and cars in Detroit.

Delivery

Now that you have your goods you need to deliver them somewhere. How and where goods are delivered can vary.  Players may build routes to carry goods, follow routes already on the board, or even travel through parts of the sea.  The method of delivery usually corresponds to the games theme and rules. 

Goods are usually being delivered to a specific area.  In "Railways of the World" goods can only be delivered to cities with a matching color.  In "Valdora" you deliver gems to patrons matching the gems color. 


In games like "Merchants and Marauders" there may be a bonus for bringing a specific good to a location but any good may be sold at any location. 

Payment

Goods are usually delivered in order to be paid.  Games may award players with money or victory points.   With each good that is delivered the player moves closer to victory.

Five Minute Friday: Trust

It's Friday and that means time for "Five Minute Friday" where we write for five minutes on a topic from The Gypsy Mama, without any editing or rewriting allowed.  I put a little spin on it and relate it to board games, as well that's what this blog is all about.  Today's topic is trust.  So I've got my stopwatch out and I'm ready to on your mark, set, and go

Trust, it takes a lot of trust to play designer or hobby style board games.  We've all grown up with Monopoly and Life, that can be fun for a bit but seem to drag on without any real decision making.  But trust me, these board games are fun! Rolling, dice, moving colorful pieces, laying tiles, building a ship, or going on pirate attacks!  But trust is a hard thing.

If you don't know the rules in five minutes I'm not playing it.  Yes I can teach you a few games in five minutes and those can be fun games.  But trust yourself, once you start that game isn't that complicated, all you have to do on your turn is lay a tile, pick a card, or roll the dice.  Trust me and trust yourself! 

It's a hard first step for a lot of people.  I've been told to not bring any of those complicated games along,  but really I don't own that may complicated games so I don't understand.  Kids, they seem to trust me. It looks like fun, so sure I'll try it.   I saw some kids just playing a simple game in school this week and, wow were they having fun.  Why?  Was it that great of a game, no not really.  They were having fun because they they trusted themselves to have fun.  It was simple but they loved it.  It made me smile, to watch them enjoy themselves, make the other players play fair, and try to get to the end and win the game. 

Just trust me, you never know what you may discover about yourself. 

Eminent Domain

For centuries we have looked to the heavens seeking answers to questions.  Is there life, resources, habitable planets out there in this vast universe?  We have charted the stars, and peered deep into darkness with our telescopes, yet no man has made it beyond our own moon.

Eminent Domain seeks to capture this curiosity and creates a possible answer to centuries old questions.  Players are trying to expand their galaxy wide empire by colonizing and capturing nearby planets, researching new technologies, and trading resources.



Components

Eminent Domain is a deck-building game, and as with Ascension, the most important part is the cards.  There are 96 role cards (Produce / Trade, Research, Colonize, Warfare, Survey, and Politics), 39 technology cards, and 27 planet cards.  The game also contains 6 start planet tiles, 35 fighter tokens, 32 influence tokens, 24 resource tokens, 4 player aid tiles, and one central card display.

Object of the Game

Players are trying to gain the most influence by expanding their empire, researching, and trading.  At the end of the game the player who has accumulated the most influence will win the game.

Set-Up

Each player starts with the same deck of cards: 1 politics card, 1 warfare card, 2 colonize cards, 2 research cards, 2 survey cards, and 2 produce / trade cards.  The rest of the role cards are separated by type and put face up  on the central card display.  Each player also gets a start planet.  This is placed face down in their empire area.  The Planet cards are placed face down in a draw deck on the side of the central card display.  The technology cards are separated by type and placed to the side of the central card display.

The eight influence tokens that have a blue boarder are set aside.  The 24 remaining tokens are left in the supply.
 
Each player is dealt 1 player aide.  The first player will be the person who receives the player aide marked "first player."  Each player then draws five cards  from their deck to form their first hand.  The game is ready to begin.

Game Play

Players take turn playing clockwise and complete 3 phases during their turn (in order.)

1. Action Phase (optional)
2. Role Phase (mandatory)
3. Clean-up Phase (mandatory)

1.  Action Phase: Players can choose to perform or not perform the action phase.  If they choose to take an action they choose one card from their hand and resolve its Action affect.  They cannot boost the action and the other players can't follow the action.  After performing the action, that card is placed in the discard pile.

2. Role phase: Players must perform the role phase.  The player leads (starts) one of the six roles and resolves its affects.  The player chooses a role from the central display and takes one card of that type from the stack (if it is still available) into their hand.  Players can boost the chosen role if they have cards in their hand with the same symbol.  Face-up planets, in their empire, that have the same symbol may also be used to boost.  

Next, in clockwise order each other player has the option to follow or dissent.  If they follow they play cards in their hand bearing the symbols matching the chosen role and perform the same role.  Symbols and face up planets in the empire may also be used.  In fact, a player can follow a role without playing cards from their hand and using only the symbols in their empire. If a player chooses to dissent, they draw one card from their deck into their hand.

 3.  Clean-up Phase:  The player now discards any used cards.  Cards tucked under planets stay.  They may choose to discard any other cards from their hand.  They then draw cards until the hand limit is met.  If the deck is empty, they reshuffle the discard pile.

Possible Roles:

Politics: Politics is played only as an action.  When you play your politics card you choose one role from the stacks and add it to your hand.  The politics card is then removed from the game.  Politics cannot be used to boost or follow a role.

Survey: If you play survey as an action draw to cards from your deck.  If you play it as a role, look at one fewer planet cards then the number of survey cards played.  Choose one and place it face down in your empire.  If you are the leader you may look at one additional card.

Warfare:  If played as an action you may do one of the following:  collect one fighter (size doesn't matter) or attack one planet.  You attack by returning the amount of fighters listed as the warfare cost of the planet.  For example, for the planet below you would need six fighters.  The planet is then flipped over.

If played as a role, you collects one fighter token for each warfare symbol played.  If you are the leader you may attack one planet instead of taking fighters.  As before to attack discard the number of required fighters and flip the planet over.  Someone following the leader role may not attack.  You can also only attack planets in your empire.  If you had colonies on the planet they are placed in the discard pile.

Colonize:  If played as an action you may choose to tuck the colony card under a planet showing a colony symbol or they may settle one planet.  To settle a planet you need the number of colonies listed on the card, tucked under it.  For example the planet above requires 3 colonies.  All the colonies are placed in the discard pile, and the planet is flipped over.

If Colonize is played as a role you get plus one colony for each symbol played.  Tuck all cards played under any number of planets in your empire.  The leader may settle one planet instead; if the planet has a sufficient amount of colonies.  Each colony symbol in your empire reduces the number of colonies needed to settle a planet by one.

Produce:  If played as an action you add one resource token to an empty resource slot in your empire. The type is determined by the recourse slot.  The type of resource does matter for some research cards.  If played as a role, add one resource token per production symbol played.  These go to an empty resource slot, in your empire.  The leader does not receive a bonus until the stack of Produce / Trade cards is empty.  When it is empty the leader receives a plus one produce symbol. 

Trade: If taken as an action, return one resource token from your empire to the supply and take one influence token.  If chosen as a role the return one resource token per trade symbol played.  Take one influence for each token returned.  The leader does not get a bonus until the stack is depleted.  They then receive a plus one trade. 

Research:  A note on research for new players, you may wish to play your first few games without the research role.  Then you may slowly want to add technologies to the game.  For simplicity sake we did start with just the level one technologies but it is up to the players comfort level.  I think that the cards add a lot to the game.

Chosen as an action you may remove up to two cards from your hand, from the game.  This may include the research card you are playing.  Removed cards are put back into the box not the discard pile.  They are not used for the rest of the game.  Chosen as a role, you may take one technology card.  There are three types of research cards that correspond to the three planet types:  fertile, advanced, and metallic.  The player takes one of the technology cards from the pile and adds it to their hand.  Each technology card has a research cost and a prerequisite number of face-up planets of that type.  For example a level one technology requires one planet of that type and three research symbols, a level two, two planets, and five research cards, and a level three, three planets, and seven research cards.  The leader receives no bonus until the stack is depleted.  They then get plus one research.

You may choose research as a role and not take a technology card in order to get another research card into your deck.  Some technology cards are not added to your hand.  They are put into the play area.  These are double-sided.  You must choose which side to use.  Level two and three technologies have influence points on them; this is used for game end scoring only.

Game End

There are multiple ways to trigger the end of Eminent Domain.  If the influence supply is empty the game ends.  Or, if a specified number or role stacks are empty, the game ends.  In a two or three player game if one stack is depleted, and in the extended three player game and the four player game when two stacks are depleted, the game ends.

At game end, add up all your influence.  Count your influence tokens, technology cards, and face up Planets to determine your influence.  The winner is whoever has the most influence. 

If players are tied the player with the most resource and fighter tokens in their empire wins. 



My Thoughts

I have a feeling that as I play Eminent Domain more, my feelings will change.  Right now I am lukewarm on the game.  I enjoy it, but it isn't as fun as some other games.  I know I am still figuring out the strategy and when I do, I'll enjoy it a lot more. I also find it hard to know just how well I am doing.  Yes, I can count my points, but it's more than that.  I'm not always sure I'm making the right decisions.  Truthfully, this can be seen as a strength for the game.  It means it's deeper than it looks on the surface.

The game is very well designed and game play feels very sleek.  I like being able to follow the other player's role.  Sometimes I find myself in trouble because I followed when I should have dissented.  Just, one example of the strategy I'm still trying to learn and understand.  I also like the technology cards.  I ignored them the first few times I played.  Now that I have seen some in action I really like them.  I especially like "Fertile Ground" that gives you three symbols (colonize, produce, and research. I think I will start trying to get technologies sooner in future games.  They are so much more powerful than the regular role cards.

I also really like the artwork in this game.  The planet cards are just beautiful.  It may be silly but I downloaded a galaxy live wallpaper for my phone after playing Eminent Domain because it reminded me of the planet cards and the box.

I also like the well written rule book.  After reading through many a rule book I appreciate one that is easy to read and leaves you with few questions when you are finished.  My husband usually asks if I understand or have any questions when we are reading rules together.  With Eminent Domain the answer was usually yes I understand, and there are no questions.

Five Minute Friday: Real

On a friends blog I saw that every Friday is "Five Minute Friday," where you write five minutes on a topic from The Gypsy Mama, without any editing or rewriting allowed.  I think that I am going to give it a try but relate the topic to board games for an extra challenge.  This weeks topic is "Real."  I've got my stopwatch (track season starts in one month!) so writers on your mark, set, go!

Real, board games are an escape from reality and worries and stress of real life.  When lesson plans are due, and reports need to be read, I can take that escape for a few hours and travel to another world.  It is time to laugh with my  husband and my friends.  To challenge my mind, without really having to worry about the outcome.

Real, I sit here waiting to go home at the end of the day when I heard the words of a women from Syria and very real reality, of children dying and tortured, fighting for the freedom I sometimes do not appreciate.  My students sat wordless as she described her experience and held back tears as she shared about her cousin killed just days ago, and she did more to teach them in those few minutes than I have all year.  We all left school today with a deeper understanding and a greater empathy than anything they had felt before.  That's real.  We all have worries, we all have stress, but she made us think realize things are never ever as bad as we think. 

So I am thankful for my board games that offer me an escape but I also need to face reality and think about the reality beyond my own.  Appreciate what we have and pray for those who so desperately wish for it.