Skara Brae

About the game

What is Skara Brae?

Around five thousand years ago, a resilient group of farmers and hunters built a thriving community on the Orkney Islands of Northern Scotland. Rather than discarding their empty shells, broken tools, bones, and other waste, they used them to form large mounds of earth over hundreds of years. Later generations dug into these midden piles to create a series of rooms and tunnels to shelter from the harsh winds and cold winter months. The aim of Skara Brae is to gather various resources in order to feed, clothe, and shelter the growing number of settlers. Players take turns drafting cards and using their workers to furnish, cook, craft, clean, and trade. At the end of each round, players need to provide for their settlers and will likely create more midden that needs to be cleaned up. After four rounds, the player with the most points wins. —description from designer

How it plays

Mechanics

On the shelf

Categories

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

• How do setup and the first turn work in Skara Brae?
• When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
• How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?