The Game that Fueled my Addiction

Why do I do it to myself? Why is it so satisfying to walk into that little store on the corner? I walk in and my eyes are drawn to the shelves lined with board games like a beautiful feast. And I'm hungry...OH yes, I am very very hungry. But it's a hunger that never seems to stop. My bank account wishes it would, or at least that is what I keep trying to tell myself.

I walked into the local board game store about a month ago, hoping to find a small gift for my boss. I told myself, "You're not buying a game for you. No. No. No. You already bought some just the other day." It was pretty easy to find the perfect game for my boss. Before I went to the register, one of the store associates came up to me and showed me a game I had never heard of. That game was Gravwell, and yes, I did end up walking out with it.

Gravwell is a pretty interesting racing-style space board game. Players use cards to progress along the track. The catch is that this game is all about gravity, and the card that you play is in reference to the nearest object. So let's say you play a card that says to move forward five spaces. Well, if there is a player behind you that is closer than the player in front of you, you would move backwards five spaces.

There are also cards that move you away from the nearest object, so in this case you would move forward because it is in the direction away from the nearest player.

This game is quite fun, 1-4 players, and very easy to learn. Players select from their hand the card they would like to play, and then reveal them simultaneously. The cards show a number with a symbol which identifies the number of spaces and what type of movement (towards, away, and tractor beam), and also a letter which identifies an element. The ships in this game are fueled by the elements that you have mined from nearby astroids. Once the cards are revealed, the player whose card is closest to A resolves their movement first, then the player with the next closest, so on and so forth. Right away plans can be mixed up. Maybe you were planning to move away from the nearest person because they were behind you, but they played a card that goes first and passes you. Now the nearest person is in front of you and because you played a card that moves you away from that person, you are going to move backwards.

I was happy when I walked out of that game store with Gravwell in hand. My wife and I have had a lot of fun with it. No, we don't regret this purchase.

And yes, I have made many more trips to the game store since.