We already have Christmas-themed variants for Catan and Carcassonne. Now here’s one for a favorite story game of ours, Near and Far!
Last year, some very creative and talented folks made a fan map called Blizzard Alps, complete with a whole set of original quests for the map and even a new animal companion!
This year, I printed the map and played the game at home with Jamie at Christmastime. We played several times actually. It was fantastic. It was difficult. And it was inspiring! We’re longtime fans of Near and Far, and we wanted to try this map for its snowy/winter theme. And after we played, we wanted even more Christmas in it.
Jamie suggested writing up our own stories for the map’s quests. So we went for it. There proceeded two consecutive nine-hour stints making stuff up. Our pens were scribbling, our keyboard keys were clacking, and every so often we burst out laughing at some electric shock of ideas sparking.
We couldn’t wait to see each other’s reactions when we went on these various quests. What a thrill, man. It was incredible getting laughs and anticipating what choices we would each make. We sort of gave a Christmas gift to one another in writing these stories.
And now here they are for you, too! Plus, there’s a new Reindeer animal companion Jamie magicked out of thin air. Notice the Trade Routes on this North Pole version of the map have been wrapped up differently, also.
So Merry Christmas to all! We hope you enjoy our stories. Most of them have a bit more to read than the quests in the original Near and Far storybook. They involve general Christmas themes and several direct references to popular stories set at Christmastime or at the North Pole in general. Plus, you may find other references to popular fiction (maybe a little Star Wars thrown in?) I won’t apologize for any inside jokes we may have left in. If you have questions about anything you encounter, feel free to ask.
Here are the links to the game files:
And here is the link to the original Blizzard Alps.