Episode 457 - Coronation 2024

Release Date: December 23, 2024

Download:  Enhanced  | MP3

Running Time:   26 min

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In our season finale, two award winning games earn our Meeple Crown for 2024. These games embody the essence of Major Fun and The Spiel of Approval. Congratulations to Life in Reterra and Daybreak!
 

2024 Major Fun Meeple Crown Winner!

Life in Reterra | Reviewed on Episode 455

Designer:  Eric Lang, Ken Gruhl

Art: Hugo Cuellar

Publisher: Hasbro

2-4 players | 30-40 minutes | ages 10+ | MSRP $30 | BGG Listing

Time to teach/learn: 5 minutes

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Judge's Statement on Life in Reterra

In the great game halls of Major Fun – yes they're real – there are banners hanging from the rafters. Chief among them, in bright colors with bold letters, you’ll find these two: be inclusive, be flexible.

I imagine designers Eric Lang and Ken Gruhl wearing these banners like superhero capes as they leap and fly and skip and play through the hall. There are many tables with players from all over the world, young and old and vastly different levels of experience. Each group is playing Life in Reterra. Eric and Ken float from table to table, consulting, observing, laughing and commiserating with all the players. Rarely if ever do they need to stop and teach the game because the rules are so accessible. Instead, we often find them taking notes. The players, you see, are teaching them new angles and approaches - mixing and matching building’s abilities and even creating new ones – ones they couldn’t have dreamt of when they designed the game. I imagine them sitting high in the rafters later on comparing notes, smiling, and high-fiving each other as they see how their game has reached so many and how all those players have helped the game grow.

Life in Reterra is a champion for accessible, inclusive, and flexible major fun. Life in Reterra is a mass market game with modern game sensibilities taught through a set of rules whose message is: this game is for everyone. Its relaxed and conversational tone is free from jargon which might keep new players at arm's length. The game is approachable and encouraging to the widest possible potential audience of players.

No matter what level of complexity strikes a cord with you, the game is genuinely challenging and fun. The RE in Life in Reterra is an invitation to revisit the game with a new set of building rules. It’s not just the world you're rebuilding, the game itself can be refreshed and renewed. And once you’ve explored the designers suggestions, the game gives you the tools you need to re-imagine their world, painting it in colors all your own.

Life in Reterra is a game about resilience – humans building back society, better than before. I love that this lesson of resilience extends beyond the theme and into the hands of every player.

“Don’t be afraid to play,” it says.  “And don’t be afraid to play with the rules! This game is not beyond you. Here are a few recipes for major fun that we found. We hope you like them, but we also hope you’ll dive in and make some of your own.”

Congratulations to Eric and Ken and Hasbro on this crowning achievement.

You are the winners of the 2024 Major Fun Meeple Crown! Long may you reign!

2024 Spiel of Approval Meeple Crown Winner!

Daybreak  | Reviewed on Episode 440

Designer:  Matt Leacock, Matteo Menapace

Art: Mads Berg

Publisher: CMYK

2-4 players | 1-2 hours | ages 12+ | MSRP $60 | BGG Listing

Time to teach/learn:  15-20 minutes

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Judge's Statement on Daybreak

The tension between taking care of yourself and taking care of others is central to the challenge and fun in Daybreak. Making this process an engaging, enjoyable, and enlightening experience makes daybreak worthy of our Meeple Crown.

Every player has problems at home: too much dirty energy, a never-ending need for more power, emissions belching gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere from so many different sources, social unrest brewing, and a glaring need to develop resilience on all fronts.

And yet, the scope of these problems reaches far beyond any one player’s borders. We can’t sweep our troubles out into the street for someone else to deal with. A problem that lands on anyone’s doorstep, lands on everyone’s doorstep. Daybreak won’t let players retreat into parochial thinking. Before we draw any lines on any maps, we have to redefine our sense of home. This cannot be a battle between US and THEM. We dont have the luxury of blaming others. It simply can’t be either YOU or ME.

The source of greatest challenge in Daybreak is balancing the needs and meeting the problems that face ME and US. The game demands that WE act together in order to make measurable progress.

Unlike some co-operative games where one player can grab the reins and steer the course for everyone at the table, the problem of climate change is too big and has too many angles for any one player to dominate, let alone find a way to win on their own. Winning has to be a collective effort, but it is built upon the back of a million tiny victories won on the local level.

This is a great metaphor for how open ended problem solving can be such an incredibly hard thing to wrestle with. But also an incredibly fun and rewarding experience, when your decisions garner great results.

The pressure to reduce emissions and dirty energy is constant. There is no way to win without investing actions and icons to this task. And some rounds the way to best help the world will be to focus all your actions and cards locally. On other turns, you may need to devote considerable resources to preventing or limiting the effects of a crisis or sending cards to other players whose problems have reached critical mass.

The Local Stage in Daybreak is so aptly named because finding a good solution starts with individual decisions that can be amplified when chained together with the actions of others.

While each player faces their own puzzle, communication is the beating heart of Daybreak. Even if my ability to help with cards or actions may be limited or non-existent, I may be able to communicate and coordinate with others to get someone what they need. I think of it as identifying hotspots on each game round. Where are the places of greatest need and do we have the ability as a group to mitigate those hotspots? You must always be mindful of your own disasters at home but it is equally important that you let others know when you see things are about to boil over anywhere in the world. Contributing in Daybreak is as much about being part of this conversation as it is putting out fires at home.
 
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This year of all years, Daybreak is such a worthy recipient of our meeple crown for the way it pairs complex strategy and communication with a sense of relentless optimism.

Climate change is not science fiction. It is a fact of our lives that we and generations to come have to come to terms with and soon or it will cause massive long term damage to the planet and our civilization.

Doom and gloom is the easy way out, though.

We can cast this crisis in a light that makes catastrophe a foregone conclusion OR we have the choice to see it in a different light.

Daybreak takes a conscious stand to say all is not lost. Yes Climate change is a massively complicated problem we face but the tools are there for us to use and develop. We just have to have the collective will and desire to make changes. The decisions can start small but if they are coordinated their impact and success can spread on a grander scale.

Daybreak describes a path out from disaster rather than revel in it.
And this isnt pollyanna unicorns and rainbows - wishful thinking.
Daybreak’s optimism is based in science, technology and policies being shaped right now by people all over the planet.

This optimism doesnt guarantee success at all. But approaching the issue from a standpoint that teaches players this is a collective problem that we all have a role in solving is essential to reaching Drawdown whether it is in the game or around the globe.

The influence this game wields stretches far on the tabletop, making its players aware of the real world science and potential for change. The link on each card to research or organizations actively involved in providing solutions can be a fun and fascinating rabbit hole to tumble down.

No game needs a lesson to be fun and worthwhile. But when the lessons hidden in the cards are both important and interesting, this definitely adds another layer of enjoyment and respect for the time and care that goes into including them in a way that isnt overtly educational. Daybreak is a triumph in this regard.

The lasting impression Daybreak leaves with me is how much the game celebrates and encourages co-liberation.

Coliberation is a moment of freedom and awareness that can flash into existence any time you make the choice to play together. When we play together, we have the potential to think or feel or do things that would be way beyond our abilities when we’re playing alone.

The seeds of coliberation are sewn into every round of Daybreak. The minute you make the journey from ME to WE when approaching your choices and discussing plans with your team, you’re there.

Daybreak reminds us that open playful minds can create collective success

In the game or when facing the climate crisis, we need to find moments where many of us truly connect and see ourselves as part of a greater whole. In those moments there’s a chance we can rise up and find solutions together - ones we could not have found by playing alone.

Daybreak provides a model for coliberation. It’s a map drawn in broad strokes, but a map that is drawn from a practical and relentless sense of optimism is mighty useful when you’re facing this storm today and in the dawns to come.

Congratulations to Matt and Matteo and everyone at CMYK!

You are the winners of the 2024 Spiel of Approval  Meeple Crown! Long may you reign!

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Interstitial music credits include:

Don't Stop Me Now | The Foxes | the song

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