July 4 game

As we drove home from the metroplex one day, I had a great idea for a board game. I eagerly and gleefully spent the next few days expanding on it, gathering pictures, and working with Chat to brainstorm and organize it.

Think of Forbidden Island or Pandemic, but from the perspective of the Founding Fathers. The players take on the role of one early Patriot, each of whom has a helpful ability. 

In order to guarantee Independence, they must

• Vote for Independence as a Continental Congress
• Write the Declaration of Independence
• Gather supplies for the Continental Army
• Secure support from other countries

before the British army is able to overrun the country. Each turn players perform three actions, which may include moving, rallying support for independency, giving cards to another player, and so on. They draw two cards each turn, which will either be one of the victory cards they need, a helpful support, or an announcement that the British are advancing. Then the British army draws 2-5 cards, taking over key cities or valleys in the colonies.

There are two ways you can set up the board. Either randomize the 26 cities in a diamond or set them out in this stylized colonial pattern. I think the historical map is a bit harder because most cities have fewer connections.

I am most pleased with the five cards for the Declaration of Independence. Each one has a key quote from the Declaration: 

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." 
• "All men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ... Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 
• "Governments ... derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." 
• "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." 
• "With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Each of the victory conditions has 5 cards you can collect. One of the patriots needs to assemble any 4 of them and bring them to one of two locations. Foreign support can be gathered to Yorktown or Charleston; the Declaration can be issued from Philadelphia or Boston; etc. There are several Midnight Ride cards honoring Paul Revere, Sybil Ludington, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott, who each rode off to warn the people in Boston. There are also some expansion cards for if you have 5 players (once Hyrum gets home in two years).

When a city is drawn the first time, we put a King checker on them (red for the Redcoats). Players can rally support for independence to remove a checker. If that city is drawn a second time, though, the card falls completely to the British and the card is flipped over. Patriots can no longer cross that area safely (except Lydia Darragh, a spy).

I learned some interesting things about locations of key battles. I was pretty good about battles in New England, but hadn't known about Guilford Courthouse or Cowpens, which were key victories for the rebels in the South.

We tried the game on July 4 and really enjoyed it. We won!