In your cozy four-room apartment, gather and sort your books, read them, rest and admire them, and when you have enough energy, head to town to visit the library, village shops, and bookstore. A Place for All My Books by Smirk & Dagger Games presents 1-4 players with numerous goals and challenges that create opportunities to earn points for collected books, project cards, and other accomplishments that are scored at the end of the game.
The primary source of points in this game comes from Little Project Cards, which are puzzles to be solved by arranging books in your apartment in specified ways that reward you with end-game points and “social battery,” which is energy you track with a player token. You start the game in your apartment (aka “player board”) with components that match your player color and twelve books placed on the board as specified in setup. While at home, your player-meeple can visit 5 different locations that help you build energy to go to town, arrange books to meet project goals for points and energy, rest to gain social battery, and draw new project cards. When your projects are completed, admire them and gain their rewards.
When you have enough energy, it is time to go to town—which is located on a shared village board where you will use energy to accomplish tasks. On this board there is a sun token, which moves to the right when a player visits the board and is also a round tracker for the game. While in the village, you can go to the bookstore to gain more books and project cards. A visit to the library lets you draw 4 books, keep one you choose, and donate the rest to the bookstore. You can also exchange books you left on your nightstand at home for others. Finally, there are village shoppes, which allow you to gain cards called “Other Neat Stuff.” These are all worth victory points at game end but also provide different one-time, ongoing, or additional end-game scoring opportunities. As your energy runs down, it is time to head home to put away the books you gathered in town and work on more scoring goals until you have energy to return to the village again.
When the time comes that a player goes to town and the sun token sets on its last space, the round is complete and everyone gets one more turn. Final scores are added across 5 different criteria and the person with the most points wins.
This game is very thematic and captures an environment with moods and actions that match a book-lover’s experiences. There is a nice balance of puzzles, goals, and rewards that balance well without too many heavy rules. The manual is well illustrated and easy to follow with a solo mode included and plays in about an hour. ~ Marsha