![]() It was just a way to spend all of the money I was collecting to correct any mistakes I made while drafting cards or moving one more VIP to a place that might score end-game points if I didn’t trigger that through a card play. It was always like “ooh, this time paying four sand dollars gets me _” but by the third or fourth play, none of it was crazy unique or awe-inspiring. JB: Santa Monica correctly claims to have some variability in the set-up I just never got into the different sand dollar tiles in terms of their actions being wholly different from game to game. Are you saying there’s not enough game here? All that personal history, and still this one couldn’t hold your heart? I’ve played my way through most of the sand dollar abilities, starting tiles, and I even picked up the Long Weekend expansion to press that variability to its limits and boost the scoring a bit. That’s so cool! I was a volleyball player in college, but I never lived close enough to the beach to dig my heels in the sand. And that wooden food truck piece? Come on, so good! No complaints there Santa Monica has great table presence.īP: I had no idea you lived in California. The artwork just shines for me, especially after living in California for years and spending a decent amount of time visiting friends in the LA area and doing the boardwalk in places like the real Santa Monica or playing (failing at?) beach volleyball with friends in Hermosa. ![]() Maybe I’m missing something under the surface? Second, though, is because I’ve been playing it for about a month now! If I’m going to avoid a bitter breakup, I need to hear more about your struggles. First, because the game is pretty fantastic. Santa Monica and I were a hot item for about a month, then I began to meet other games, and then we…well, let’s just say it didn’t work out.īP: I’m sorry to hear that for two reasons. Justin Bell: Hey there Bob! Excited to talk shop about Santa Monica, especially because I want to know why you liked it so much. I got a feelin’ I’m not the only one?īob Pazehoski, Jr.: Hello Justin! Welcome to the world’s first great conference on West Coast real estate in board games. Objectives are evaluated, beaches are scored, and a victor is declared. Players complete the round before enjoying one final opportunity to move their meeples into their ultimate destinations as if the beach were frantically preparing for a posed drone photo op. When one player reaches a tableau of fourteen cards, the end is triggered. Proper management of the humans is essential to an efficient score. Through the powers of the cards, these tokens appear and are able to walk along the beach attempting to find appropriate hot spots, designated by dashed rings, to score points. Occasionally, the two meet for a double bonus.Īmong the meeples are locals, tourists, and VIPs. And because no food truck is complete without a stalking foodie, such a human also walks the bottom line of the draft pool, conferring the ability to move a host of meeples hanging out on the beach. ![]() Sand dollars are the currency of the beach, and can be acquired either from cards or from the food truck-a clever token which moves along the bottom of the draft pool bestowing sand dollars when a player’s choice matches the truck’s location. Along the way, cards in the tableau link up to create sets, scoring opportunities, and bonuses.īoosting the powers of the game are two sand dollar tiles granting special abilities. Cards either depict the street/boardwalk level or the beach level and must be placed accordingly, branching out from a unique starting tile. Four of the cards are readily available, while the other four serve most often as a vision of the future. In Santa Monica, players are building a panoramic tableau of the famed California boardwalk by drafting cards from a pool of eight cards. So let’s hit the west coast to discuss Santa Monica from designer Josh Wood ( Cat Lady) and the fine folks at AEG ( Whirling Witchcraft, Calico, Point Salad). As it turns out, we’ve fallen on opposite sides of the “keep it/sell it” spectrum, and we thought it might be fun to let both opinions fly. ![]() ![]() Justin Bell mentioned that he might like to put a few thoughts together as well once I was ready to write the review. I had been itching to bring Santa Monica to the table, so I jumped at the chance to write on this title. In reality, there is only so much empty space on the game shelf. It’s not like we throw meeples and dice at each other, though a well-thrown card can cause the slightest of injuries. These differences aren’t arguments per se. We all play the same game, but at the end of the day we reach different conclusions. Nineteenth century Irish novelist Margaret Hungerford is credited with saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In the world of tabletop board games, the sentiment certainly holds true, as opinions often run wild among friends. ![]()
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