Freedom: The Underground Railroad

Last updated

Freedom: The Underground Railroad
Coverimagefreedomundergroundrailroad.jpg
The box cover of Freedom: The Underground Railroad, 1st edition
Designers Brian Mayer
IllustratorsJarek Nocoń (graphics and illustration), Steve Paschal (cover painting)
Publishers Academy Games (U.S.)
Players1-4
Setup time10 min
Playing time90 min
Age range10+
Skills strategy, cooperation, logic, logistics

Freedom: The Underground Railroad is a 2013 co-operative board game designed by Brian Mayer and published by Academy Games, their first game in the Freedom Series. The game has drawn positive attention for its approach and handling of the topic. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

A card-driven, co-operative game set in early American History, Freedom: The Underground Railroad has players working together for the Abolitionist Movement to help bring an end to slavery in the United States. The players use a combination of cards, which feature historical figures and events spanning from early independence until the Civil War and contain action tokens and character benefits which impact the game. The game can be played solo or up to four players, each playing one of six possible archetypes from the abolitionist movement: agent, conductor, preacher, shepherd, station master, or stockholder.

Several small card expansions, also designed by Mayer, were released with the Kickstarter version, each adding several new cards to the Abolitionist Deck.

Gameplay

The first goal that players need to achieve in Freedom: The Underground Railroad are to help a certain number of slaves make their way northward to freedom in Canada. How many varies depends on the number of players and the difficulty level of the game. The second winning condition is that the group needs to collectively raise the strength of the Abolitionist Movement, helping to bring about more permanent changes, by acquiring all of the support tokens in the game.

Freedom: The Underground Railroad components consists of a game board representing connections between cities and spaces on the map of the United States, three decks of cards (Role cards, Abolitionist cards, and Slave Market cards), five slave catcher tokens, 110 wooden cubes representing the men, women and children trapped in slavery, slave catcher movement dice, action tokens (support, fundraising, and conductor), money, and a lead player token. The Abolitionist cards are broken up into three eras (1800-1839, 1840–1859, 1860–1865) and feature historical events and individuals from those eras that impacted the fight for freedom, both positively and negatively. General Abolitionist cards are used when acquired, Reserve Abolitionist cards can be held onto until an opportune time, and Opposition cards work against the players in various ways. At the start of the game, Opposition cards are distributed throughout the three era decks. Players are given a random role at the beginning of the game.

There are 8 rounds in the game, each consisting of five phases:
1. Slave Catcher Phase - the lead player rolls and resolves the Slave Catcher and Movement Dice.
2. Planning Phase - Each player may take up to a total of two action tokens.
3. Action Phase - Starting with the lead player, players may take the following actions in any order:

4. Slave Market Phase - Deliver slaves from the bottom Slave Market card to the plantations.
5. Lantern Phase - Discard any card in the right most space of the Abolitionist Queue (2 spaces for the solo or 2-player game), possibly triggering any Opposition cards in those spaces. Check for victory, if not pass the Lead Player token and continue.

The game is over if any of the following occur:

Expansions

Educational use

Freedom: The Underground Railroad is the topic of a first book in a series of books being published by Rosen Publishing, centered on the use of games as educational resources. [4]

Awards and recognition

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Days of Wonder</span> Board game publisher

Days of Wonder is a board game publisher founded in 2002 and owned by Asmodee Group since 2014. Days of Wonder distributes its games to 25 countries. It specializes in German-style board games and has branched out to include some online games. Days of Wonder has published games in several languages including English, Dutch, French, German, Russian, and Greek. Days of Wonder was co-founded by Eric Hautemont, Mark Kaufmann and Yann Corno.

<i>Zombies!!!</i> Strategy board game

Zombies!!! is a tile-based strategy board game for two to six players. Zombies!!! won the 2001 Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game, and Zombies!!! 3: Mall Walkers won 2003's Origins Award for Best Board Game Expansion.

Diamant is a multiplayer card game designed by Alan R. Moon and Bruno Faidutti, published in 2005 in Germany by Schmidt Spiele, with illustrations provided by Jörg Asselborn, Christof Tisch, and Claus Stephan.

<i>Dominion</i> (card game) Deck-building card game

Dominion is a card game created by Donald X. Vaccarino and published by Rio Grande Games. Originally published in 2008, it was the first deck-building game, and inspired a genre of games building on its central mechanic.

<i>Colosseum</i> (board game) 2007 board game

Colosseum is a board game by Markus Lübke and Wolfgang Kramer, published in 2007 by Days of Wonder and illustrated by Julien Delval and Cyrille Daujean. In the game, players attempt to attract the most spectators to the events in their arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunderstone (card game)</span> Deck-building card game

Thunderstone is a fantasy deck-building card game series designed by Mike Elliott, with artwork by Jason Engle. It was first published by Alderac Entertainment Group in 2009. Each card has dimensions of 6.3 cm x 8.8 cm. It has been translated into several languages.

<i>Space Alert</i>

Space Alert is a cooperative survival designer board game created by Vlaada Chvátil in 2008. Players assume the roles of space explorers on a mission to survey the galaxy. The crew is evaluated on teamwork and how they deal with problems that arise on their journey. Unlike most board games, in Space Alert, players need to make decisions and play cards in real time. It was given a special prize for "New Game Worlds" in the 2009 Spiel des Jahres awards.

<i>Lords of Waterdeep</i> Board game

Lords of Waterdeep is a German-style board game designed by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson and published by Wizards of the Coast in 2012. The game is set in Waterdeep, a fictional city in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Players take the roles of the masked rulers of Waterdeep, deploying agents and hiring adventurers to complete quests and increase their influence over the city.

<i>Mansions of Madness</i> Flight games

Mansions of Madness is a tabletop strategy game designed by Corey Konieczka and published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2011. Players explore a locale filled with Lovecraftian horrors and solve a mystery.

<i>King of Tokyo</i> Tabletop game

King of Tokyo is a monster movie-themed tabletop game using custom dice, cards, and boards, designed by Richard Garfield and released in 2011. A New York City-based edition, King of New York, was published in 2014. The game was re-released in 2016, with all-new artwork and characters.

<i>Splendor</i> (game) 2014 card-based board game

Splendor is a multiplayer card-based board game, designed by Marc André and illustrated by Pascal Quidault. It was published in 2014 by Space Cowboys (Asmodee). Players are gem merchants of the Renaissance, developing gem mines, transportation, and shops to accumulate prestige points. Splendor received positive reviews and received numerous awards, including winner of Golden Geek Best Family Board Game. It was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year in 2014. The game also received a mobile application and an expansion released in 2017.

Evolution: The Origin of Species is a card game created by Dmitriy Knorre and Sergey Machin in 2010. The game is inspired by evolutionary biology. It was published by SIA Rightgames RBG. English, French and German game editions were published in 2011. Two or more players create their own animals, make them evolve and hunt in order to survive.

Castle Panic is a board game designed by Justin De Witt and published by Fireside Games in 2009 Castle Panic is a tower defense strategy game in which players work cooperatively to protect a castle from monsters. The game was a nominee for the 2010 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game.

Dead of Winter is a semi-cooperative survival strategy board game for two to five players designed by Jonathan Gilmour and Isaac Vega through Plaid Hat Games. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested colony. Players are faction leaders who must work together to ensure the colony's survival through incoming zombies and lack of supplies. In addition, players have individual, secret win conditions that they must meet to be victorious.

<i>Colt Express</i> 2014 board game

Colt Express is a railway-themed family board game designed by Christophe Raimbault, Illustrated by Ian Parovel and Jordi Valbuena, published in 2014 by Ludonaute and distributed by Asmodee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Letter (card game)</span> 2012 card game

Love Letter is a card game introduced in May 2012 and designed by Seiji Kanai. Its first English-language edition was produced in the United States by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) until 2018, when Love Letter was acquired by Z-Man Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hero Realms</span> Card game

Hero Realms is a card-based deck building fantasy tabletop game, designed by Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle and published in 2016 by Wise Wizard Games. The game started out as a Kickstarter campaign in 2016. The goal of Hero Realms is to destroy your opponent or opponents by purchasing cards using "Gold" and using these cards to attack your opponent's "health" and their champions using your "combat" points or other powerful effects.

<i>Star Wars: Rebellion</i> (board game) 2016 strategy board game

Star Wars: Rebellion is an asymmetrical strategy board game designed by Corey Konieczka and published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2016. The game's setting is inspired by the original Star Wars trilogy. Players control either the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance. Each player pursues a different path to victory, with the Galactic Empire playing seeking to find the Rebel Alliance player's base and destroy it, while the Rebel Alliance player attempts to avoid detection by the Galactic Empire and sabotage their efforts. The game received highly positive reviews and won numerous awards.

<i>Mage Knight Board Game</i> 2011 cooperative role-playing board game

Mage Knight Board Game is a cooperative board game for 1 to 4 players designed by Vlaada Chvátil and released in November 2011. It is based on the related collectable miniatures game, Mage Knight. It has been rated as one of the top single player board games.

Decrypto is a 2018 espionage-themed party game designed by Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance and published by Le Scorpion Masque in which two teams of players attempt to decode three-digit codes using clues about secret numbered words and determine the secret words of the opposing team.

References

  1. ↑ Chavez, Jon Chavez (2014-03-10). "Ohio company making a mark with historical strategy games". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  2. ↑ Bryne, Alex Bryne (2014-06-24). "Historians at Play: American History in Modern Board Games". U.S. Studies Online. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  3. ↑ "Opinionated Gamers".
  4. ↑ "Teaching Through Games". Archived from the original on 2014-10-13. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  5. ↑ "2013 Dice Tower Awards". Archived from the original on 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  6. ↑ "Drive Thru Review Best Games of 2013".
  7. ↑ "De Tafel Plakt!".
  8. ↑ "The War Gamer".
  9. ↑ "Club Fantasci".
  10. ↑ "Board Game Quest".
  11. ↑ "International Gamers Awards".
  12. ↑ "Board Game Geek".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.