Every country is a custom, but also every country is different board games. Of course, a large proportion of the titles are translated into many languages and available in other countries. There are also some that are published for the inhabitants of a given country and most often focus on its culture, language or history. It is no different with Poland, which has become the main theme of several games and add-ons.
Timeline: Poland
The Timeline series of games can already boast several positions. The rules are the same in all: place the event in the correct place on the card so as to keep the chronology of events. Knowing the history is useful but not essential. After all, you can always guess. However, with each game we remember more and more facts and dates, which makes us more dangerous opponents. Thanks to their unnoticed history learning process, these simple card games are great teaching aids.
Our country also got its version. Timeline: Poland contains over a hundred cards with important events, including lesser-known ones, such as the extinction of the turn or the invention of the bulletproof vest. So you can not only consolidate the knowledge acquired at school, but also expand it with new information for us. Who would have thought that Poles had achievements in so many fields and that the world owes us a few items, without which it is difficult to imagine life today. – Katarzyna Satława
Take the Train: Poland
The board game is intended for 2-4 players and, although it was historically placed in the 1950s, the board features contemporary Polish borders and city names. In the box we find 34 ticket cards, 20 country cards and an instruction for – not a trifle – one page! Due to the fact that Wsiąść do Train: Polska is an addition, without Wsiąść do Train. USA or Get on the train: Europe we won’t be able to play. From the basic version, we “steal” wagons, scoring markers and wagon cards.
The game is mainly about connecting places with each other, i.e. building international railway connections, which – interestingly – intersect in our country. We know from experience that traveling by train in Poland is sometimes full of adventures, the more it is worth checking whether the journey to the past with the addition of Ticket to Ride: Poland will be special.
Take the train: Poland is great entertainment for everyone. It is also a good start to the world of board games. Uncomplicated rules and high randomness of the game quickly draw you for long hours! – Ewa Reguła
Queue
Kolejka to gra od wydawnictwa Trefl, istniejąca na rynku już od ładnych paru lat. Opowiada o realiach Polski u schyłku komunizmu, dokładnie z lat 80. XX wieku. Dostajesz listę zakupów. Idziesz do sklepu, stajesz w kolejce i zaopatrzasz się, w co trzeba. Brzmi łatwo, prawda? Niestety w rzeczywistości jest to zadanie nieco bardziej skomplikowane. Kolejka opiera się na obraniu dobrej strategii i wyważonych interakcjach negatywnych i pozytywnych między graczami. Sam sklep nie pomaga; musisz być gotów na pomyłki w dostawie, towary spod lady dla osoby stojącej tuż przed tobą i oczywiście puste półki. Dużo się też dzieje w samej kolejce, której ustawienie wciąż się zmienia przez sprytne zagrania tych, którzy w niej stoją. Kolejka to bardzo przyjemna gra rodzinna. Nie jest zbyt prosta, dlatego nie znudzi starszych graczy, ale jej zasady są jasne na tyle, że i najmłodsi będą się dobrze bawić. Rozgrywka może być punktem wyjścia do ciekawej rozmowy albo nawet snucia wspomnień przez rodziców i dziadków. Jej najmocniejsze punkty to ciekawe zbalansowanie strategii i kombinatoryki z fabułą gry oraz dopracowana strona wizualna planszówki. – Julia Rodek
Luck
Fortuna is one of the many versions of the popular Monopoly game . For me, however, it was the first one, so I have a great fondness for it. We have played it since I can remember in my family home. It took a long time to come across the original from Hasbro. Fortuna was issued by the Żoliborz Craft Cooperative in 1984. It presents Warsaw from the first years of the 20th century. Here we can find hotels, restaurants and railway stations known from those times. We can also find the old atmosphere in the cards of opportunities and fortunes. In addition, the manual contains a rich description of the pre-war city, the history of its reconstruction, and the heyday of industry and trade. In the game, we play the role of investors who build houses and hotels in Warsaw’s Śródmieście, and we can really feel the charm of this development era. From other versions of Monopolyit is distinguished by movement tokens, which replace traditional rolls with dice. They reduce randomness, introducing the need for strategic thinking – planning moves for several turns ahead. Each player has numbers from 1 to 12 in front of him and uses them in any order, moving the pawn by the chosen number. After use, he turns them over and he has fewer and fewer options, which gives an additional thrill. At the same time, all other players can see what moves their opponents can make. The game is very long and can last up to several days. To speed it up, you can limit the starting amount of money from the players. However, I never got bored and I can honestly recommend it to Monopoly lovers and people who would like to feel the atmosphere of pre-war Poland and get to know a bit of the history of Warsaw. –Aga Bot
large Sat.
In the game, we move to the times of Casimir the Great, to fight for the title of Żupnik Królewski, i.e. mine manager, as foremen in the salt mine in Wieliczka.
To this end, we will send workers underground to mine as much “white gold” as possible. During the game, we will visit the castle (to fulfill the royal salt orders), trade salt at the market, buy equipment, or hire more workers. Most of the time, however, will be spent in the mine.
Our workers go underground, and the deeper they go, the purer the salt they can extract. However, monetizing the output will not be so easy, because first we have to pump the water out of the chamber, then dig up the salt, and then bring it to the surface, paying for the workers of other players along the way.
After completing the appropriate number of royal orders, we check who mined salt in the most profitable way and this player will receive the title of Żupnik.
Magnum Sal is a family game with simple rules, which in an interesting way introduces the operation of the salt mine in Wieliczka – once a source of profit. – Jarek Wójcicki