“Your last village was ransacked by barbarians. You barely had time to pick up the baby and your favorite fishing pole before they started the burning and pillaging. You wandered over a cruel desert, braved frozen peaks, and even paddled a log across a rough sea, kicking at the sharks whenever they got too close.

Then you found it! The perfect place to make your new home. But as soon as you had the first hut built, you discovered a vast network of caverns underground, brimming with shiny treasures, rare resources, and untold adventure. How could you limit your new village to the surface? You immediately start organizing expeditions and building houses above as well as below……”

Thus begins one of the cornerstones of modern story telling board games.  Above and Below, by Ryan Laukat and published by Red Raven Games, is the first in a trilogy of big box games set in the world of Azrium, which tell the story of the people and creatures who live there. In Above and Below, you are tasked with building up your village, both Above, in the fertile grasslands, and Below, in the mineral-rich caverns.  You do this via a take on classic worker placement, using the various villagers you start with and recruit to gather resources, gain income, make cider, and build a variety of buildings for victory points.  

The real heart of this game comes in the Encounter book though.  Through it’s one hundred and fifty plus stories, you will discover amazing creatures, rare materials, treacherous paths, and other brave adventurers. It’s this Encounter book that allows you to expand your new village to the world of Below, and lets you build different and (in some cases) more powerful buildings.  And unlike some other story-telling games, these stories are some of the best written in board gaming.

Complementing the Encounter book is Ryan Laukat’s amazingly realized artwork.  Along with designing and publishing his own games, he also does the artwork for all of Red Raven releases.  His flowing lines and color palates allow you to escape into the world that he has so richly woven not only on the page but on the cards, player bords, and box art.  In addition, Above and Below is a part of a larger world that includes the small-box Roam, and the big boxes of Islebound and Near and Far. All of these games have some pieces that can be used interchangeably between them, making for a richer and more realized world-building experience.  

If you have never tried a Red raven game before, you owe it to yourself to try Above and Below first.  It is the most easily accessible to gamers and non-gamers alike. Its stories can bring adventure and fun, and if you’re lucky, a little bit of excitement to your next game night.