A Few Acres of Snow

A Few Acres of Snow is a historical boardgame from Treefrog Games.It is based on the French and Indian war of 1754-1763. It has a mechanic similar to the game Dominion where cards are selected/purchased and placed in the discard pile to be later shuffled to form the draw pile when it is exhausted.

Above is the game board set up. There are two ways of winning: collecting enough villages cubes and/or town disks through successful sieges and raids, or the British laying successful siege on Quebec or France laying a successful siege on Boston or New York.

The gameplay goes slow, with up to two actions per turn plus a free action, but each activity matters in the overall game. It lends itself to the feeling that large events are transpiring, planned from far away.

The cards themselves have a lot going on but are simple once you know what to look for. At the top you have the location. You get new location cards when you colonize to them or take them over. They are also important for setting up fortresses and expanding from a village to a town.

The next area has a list of places the colony is connected to and how to get there. At the bottom is a list of what else the card can be used for: ship, military, settlers or money. For instance, to settle Halifax, you could play this card (because it is connected to that place) and would then have to play a card with a ship (to get the colonists there). If the place to colonize has a settler icon then another card with a settler must be played.

During a siege, this card can be played for another point in the favour of the British.

For funds, this card can be played for three coins.

I have played this game a few times and it is enjoyable and exciting.