Skara Brae Game Review

Standard Shem

I’m always amazed at the rate at which Shem Phillips cranks out his games. I also appreciate that those small box, big game experiences expand historical periods not commonly found in gaming, whether it’s the Abbasid Caliphate (Wayfarers/Scholars/Inventors of the South Tigris), ancient Jerusalem (Ezra and Nehemiah), and now ancient Scotland with Skara Brae.

Often with his games, Shem takes a game mechanic we all know and adore and adds additional layers, giving it a fresh spin. Here, the main focus is on resource management. Thematically, players are ancient communities who did not discard their waste (midden), but rather buried it in giant mounds, which future generations dug out to create shelters against the cold.

You could say this is about civilization’s first concept of waste management and landfills. If anything, playing this game gave me some interesting history tidbits that I’ll definitely be using as a future party story.

Side note: This might be a record for games I’ve played, but I kid you not, this game has SIXTEEN different resources. So break out those chit holders.

Waste Management

Skara Brae plays over four rounds where players gather resources to build their settlements, recruit more villagers, and make sure there’s enough food…

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