Playable in solo mode or with up to four players, this review delves into every facet of the game, from components to gameplay mechanics, and incorporates insights from multiple playthroughs with different groups to provide a comprehensive evaluation.

Components

Despite its small size, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is packed with high-quality components that significantly enhance the gaming experience. The game consists of cards, meeples, tokens, action mats and dice. Here is a detailed breakdown :

• 30 Research Cards: These cards provide unique abilities and end-game bonuses.
• 28 Public Contract Cards: Contracts that players compete to fulfill for points.
• 8 Private Contract Cards: Secret objectives that add strategic depth.
• Notable Cards: Including EGG Incubator, Resource Converter, Rancher Biometrics, Security Force, Enclosure Upgrades, Laboratory Upgrade, Adreno-Injectors, Breeding Center, University Sponsor, Dino Food Additives, Super Food Research, Carnivore DNA-Log, Herbivore Hemo-Log, Maximum Habitat.
• 16 Ranchers in 4 Player Colors: Each player gets four ranchers (including 1 Lead Rancher).
• 5 Types of Dinosaur Meeples: Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus.
• Barriers and Resource Tokens: For Plants, Meat, and Supplies.
• Player Mats and Action Mats: Double-sided for varied gameplay.
• Wrangler Die: Adds an element of chance when acquiring dinosaurs.

The components are thoughtfully designed to engage players in the theme of dinosaur ranching. The dinosaur meeples are delightful and add a tactile charm to the game. Each component serves a functional purpose while enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal.

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Setup

Setting up Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is straightforward but requires careful attention to detail to ensure a smooth start. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Setting Up the Action Mats

The Action Mats are a crucial part of Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, providing various actions that players can take by placing their Ranchers. Here’s how to set them up and an overview of their layout:

Step 2: Placement of Action Mats

1. Arrange the Action Mats: Place the four Action Mats in a row in the middle of the table in alphabetical order from ‘A’ to ‘D.’ These mats are double-sided, so select the side that corresponds to the number of players (noted at the top left of each mat).
2. Position the Round Mat: Place the Round Mat to the left of the row of Action Mats. Position the Round Marker (a coffee cup) on the “1” space of the round track.
3. Set Up Contract and Research Cards: Place the Contract Mat above Action Mat A and shuffle and place Public and Private Contract cards on their designated spaces. Below Action Mat D, place the Research Mat and shuffle and deal three Research Cards face-up.
4. Phases and Medical Leave: On the left side of Action Mat A, you’ll find a list of phases (Resource Collection, Assign Ranchers, Retrieve Ranchers, Arrange Ranch, Feed Dinosaurs, Breed Dinosaurs). The Medical Leave section is also here for Ranchers sent to Medical Leave.

Step 3: Setting Up Player Components

Each player will receive a set of components to manage their ranch effectively. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what each player gets and how to set up their personal play area:

Ranch Mat and Player Mat

1 Ranch Mat and 1 Player Mat:

• Ranch Mat: Choose which side of the Ranch Mat you want to use (each side may offer different layouts or challenges). Place it in front of you.
• Player Mat: Place the Player Mat next to your Ranch Mat. This mat will help you track resources, Ranchers, and other key elements of the game.

Ranchers

4 Ranchers and 1 Lead Rancher in their chosen color:

• Placement: Place 4 Ranchers onto their designated spots on the Player Mat in the Ranchers area.
• Round Tracker: Place the final Rancher on the “4” space of the Round Mat’s track labeled “Gain a New Rancher….” This indicates that you will gain an additional Rancher in Round 4.

Resource Markers

1 Plant Marker (green leaf), 1 Meat Marker (red meat), and 1 Supply Marker (blue crate):

• Placement: Place these markers to the left of your Player Mat’s resource track. These markers will help you keep track of your available resources.
• Starting Value: When a marker is off the mat, its value is “0.” As you collect resources during gameplay, move these markers up the track accordingly.

Step 4: Set Up Contract Cards

Place the Contract Mat above the Action Mats. Separate Public Contract Cards and Private Contract Cards into their own decks based on their card backs:

• Shuffle and place the Public Contract Deck face-down on the “Public Contracts” space on the Contract Mat—deal cards from this deck into a face-up row equaling the number of players plus one.
• Shuffle and deal 2 Private Contract Cards face-down to each player. Players select one Private Contract to keep and return the other to the deck. Reshuffle this deck and place it face-down in its designated space.

Step 5: Set Up Research Cards

Place the Research Mat below the Action Mats. Shuffle all Research Cards into a face-down deck in its designated space on the Research Mat. Deal three cards face-up into a row next to this deck.

Step 6: Prepare Dinosaur Meeples and Barriers

Sort all Dinosaur meeples by color (Stegosaurus – green, Velociraptor – blue, Brachiosaurus – yellow, Allosaurus – red) and place them within easy reach of all players. Also, place Barriers nearby. Position the Wrangler Die near Action Mat “A.”

Step 7: Determine First Player

Give the First Player Marker to whoever last visited a natural history museum, or determine the first player using another method you prefer. In addition, give starting bonuses to other players clockwise from the first player:

• The second player places their Plant Marker on “1.”
• The third player places their Meat Marker on “1.”
• The fourth player places their Supply Marker on “1.”

With setup complete, you’re ready to play Tiny Epic Dinosaurs.

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Gameplay Overview

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is played over six rounds, each divided into seven phases: Resource Collection, Assign Ranchers, Retrieve Ranchers, Arrange Ranch, Feed Dinosaurs, Breed Dinosaurs, and Refresh for Next Round. The objective is accumulating victory points by efficiently managing resources and strategically placing ranchers.

Phases Breakdown

1. Resource Collection: Players gather resources based on uncovered symbols in their ranches. This phase sets up subsequent actions.
2. Assign Ranchers: In turn, players place their ranchers in action spaces to perform tasks such as acquiring dinosaurs from the wild or market, fulfilling contracts for points, building barriers for enclosures, or conducting research for special abilities.
3. Retrieve Ranchers: All ranchers are retrieved from action spaces and returned to player mats.
4. Arrange Ranch: Players organize their ranches by correctly placing acquired dinosaurs and barriers, ensuring secure enclosures prevent escapes.
5. Feed Dinosaurs: Each dinosaur must be fed according to its dietary needs (herbivores require plants, carnivores require meat). Unfed dinosaurs escape, causing penalties.
6. Breed Dinosaurs: Dinosaurs breed if there are two of the same species in an enclosure; newborns must be placed immediately, or they escape.
7. Refresh for Next Round: A new contract and research cards are drawn, and the round marker advances, ensuring new opportunities/challenges each round.

Detailed Component Breakdown

Let’s take a closer look at some of the game’s key components:

Research Cards

Research cards come in two types: Science and Genetics. Science cards provide ongoing benefits and one-time effects, turning the tide in favor during critical moments. Genetic cards grant unique dinosaurs with special abilities. For example:

• Adreno-Injectors: After placing all your ranchers, you may pay one resource to move one of them to different empty action spaces and take action.
• Breeding Center: If you have only a single regular dinosaur species, you may pay 1 add newborn dinosaur species to your ranch. Newborns cannot breed around when they are born.

These cards introduce a variety of strategies, ensuring all games play precisely the same.

Public & Private Contracts

Contracts form a backbone scoring system. Timing, crucial to fulfilling them efficiently, often determines the winner. Public contracts are made visible to everyone, creating a competitive dynamic, whereas private contracts have hidden objectives, adding a layer of secrecy and intrigue. Examples include:

• Public Contract – Triceratops: At the end game, gain additional points for each dinosaur orthogonally adjacent to Triceratops’ space.
• Private Contract – Maximum Habitat: At the end of the game, gain a point for every two dinosaurs on your ranch.

Balancing public and private contracts is essential to maximizing score.

Dinosaur Meeples & Barriers

Dinosaur meeples highlight the component design. Five types are represented: Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, and Ankylosaurus. Each type is distinct and visually functional, adding tactile enjoyment to handling pieces. Barriers create enclosures critical to preventing escapes and facilitating breeding phases. Properly managing space within constraints is key to successful gameplay.

How Can You Master the Breeding Process in Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

1. Same Species: To breed, you must have two regular dinosaurs of the same species. Different species cannot breed with each other.
2. Enclosures: The breeding dinosaurs must be in the same enclosure. An enclosure is defined as a space surrounded on all sides by barriers, mountains, or water. Each enclosure can hold multiple dinosaurs of a single species, with one dinosaur per space.
3. Fed Dinosaurs: Only fed dinosaurs can breed. If a dinosaur was not fed during the Feed Dinosaurs phase, it cannot participate in breeding.

Breeding Process

1. Check for Pairs: For every two regular dinosaurs of the same species in an enclosure, you gain one newborn dinosaur of that species. For example, if you have three Stegosauruses in an enclosure, only one pair will breed, resulting in one newborn Stegosaurus.
2. Place Newborns: Newborn dinosaurs must be placed immediately into your ranch. They need to be placed in an enclosure but do not have to be with their “parents.” If there is no room in any enclosure for the newborn dinosaur, it escapes immediately.
3. No Breeding for Newborns: Newborn dinosaurs cannot breed in the round they are born.

Special Considerations

• Limited Supply: If there are not enough dinosaur tokens of a particular species available in the supply, you cannot take more of that dinosaur. If multiple players are eligible for new dinosaurs but the supply is limited, each player takes one at a time in turn order starting with the first player until they are gone.
• Unique Dinosaurs: Unique dinosaurs gained through research cards usually cannot breed and do not need to be placed in enclosures.

Playthrough Experience

During our playthroughs with various groups ranging from experienced gamers to newcomers, we found Tiny Epic Dinosaurs engaging and accessible. Here’s a recount of one particularly memorable session:

In one game session, four players—each experienced different genres of board games—began setting up our ranch mix of herbivores and carnivores. The first round saw us scrambling resources trying to secure key action spaces. One player focused heavily on acquiring research cards, providing powerful abilities like preventing escapes and converting resources more efficiently. By mid-game competition, public contracts became fierce, and players tried to fulfill them before others could snatch them away. Tension is palpable with each move, potentially blocking another player’s strategy.

One player managed to secure Tyrannosaurus Rex through a private contract and struggled to keep it fed without sacrificing other valuable dinosaurs. In the final rounds, our ranches were bustling with activity. Strategic placement barriers ensured most dinosaurs were safely enclosed. The breeding phase saw a surge in newborns, which required careful placement to avoid escapes. Final scoring tight points coming fulfilled contracts research cards providing end-game bonuses (like having most carnivores) number dinosaurs successfully kept our ranches.

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Solo Play Mode

For those who enjoy solo gaming experiences, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs includes a well-designed solo mode where players compete against Rival Rancher-controlled deck Rival Rancher Cards. This mode adds unique challenges. Rival performs actions based on card draws rather than strategic decisions made by human opponents. Solo play retains the core mechanics of the multiplayer version, ensuring a consistent experience across different formats.

Strategic Insights

Based on our extensive playtesting, here are some strategic insights tips to improve performance:

• Plan: Anticipate future needs, especially regarding resource management feeding phases. Shortages lead to costly escape penalties disrupting plans.

• Adapt Opponents: Monitor closely and adapt accordingly. Blocking critical actions secures valuable pivotal spots and turns the tides in favor.

• Maximize Research Benefits: Utilize effectively leveraging abilities provided science genetic cards optimize efficiency throughout rounds.

• Balance Immediate Long-Term Goals: While fulfilling immediate objectives is essential, keep sight of long-term strategies, particularly regarding breeding expanding operations.

Replayability in Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

Replayability is high thanks to a variety of elements, including diverse research cards, different contract combinations, and varying group dynamics. No two sessions feel identical, ensuring continued interest and excitement in multiple plays. Additionally, simple yet profound mechanics make it accessible to newcomers, rewarding experienced gamers alike and contributing to longevity shelf life collection.

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Conclusion

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is a stellar addition to any board game collection, combining strategic depth and thematic richness in a compact package that is easy to learn yet challenging to master. Whether you are a fan of dinosaur-themed games who enjoys worker placement mechanics or resource management twists, this game offers something everyone needs. Our multiple playthroughs consistently delivered engaging experiences filled with tense decision-making, satisfying moments, and clever tactical plays. Tiny Epic Dinosaurs stands out within the Tiny Epic series and among modern board games. The exemplary title brings epic fun to tiny boxes. If you are looking for a game that packs a punch without taking much space on a shelf table, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is an excellent choice that provides countless hours of enjoyment for both casual gamers and strategists alike.

The post Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Review – An Exciting Dino Ranching Adventure appeared first on Board Games Land.

We first saw this gem at Essen Spiel 2024, and it instantly grabbed our attention. The bustling crowd around the Fantasia Games booth was a testament to this release’s excitement. As soon as we saw the intricate components and surreal artwork, we knew we had to get our hands on it.

Developed by Fantasia Games, a publisher renowned for their innovative and visually stunning board games, Unconscious Mind offers players a chance to experience the birth of modern psychology in a setting that is as thought-provoking as it is surreal. With Sigmund Freud and his circle serving as the theme’s backdrop, the game weaves history and fantasy elements into its intricate mechanics.

In this profoundly thematic Euro-style board game, we were balancing the demanding roles of treating patients, publishing treatises, and building reputations as leading psychologists. Its design, helmed by a talented team of developers, is a masterclass blending narrative and strategy. With mechanics like worker placement, engine building, multiple rondels, and cascading effects, the game’s structure mirrors the layered complexity of the human psyche it explores.

The collaboration between its designers and publishers has resulted in a game that challenges your mind and throws you into a fantastical interpretation of a pivotal moment in psychological history. We were hooked from the moment we first saw it at Essen, and our subsequent plays have only deepened our appreciation for this unique gaming experience.

Components

The game’s production quality stood out when we opened the box. The surreal dream cards, the tactile transparent client overlays, and the finely crafted components throw you in the psychoanalytic world. Each piece from the coffee tokens to the inkpot rondels feels deliberate and ties back to the theme. The artwork, evoking Vienna’s psychological and artistic renaissance, draws you deeper into the story of Freud’s Wednesday Psychological Society. Here’s a little peek at what the board game comes with:

Also, something that we can mention is how good the quality of the packaging itself is, we’ve reviewed a lot of board games but very rarely get this premium package, from the sealed plastic bags to the plastic boxes. But there’s one thing that we will tell you before starting to read this section – Buckle up because it is filled with unique and exciting components.

Meeting Table Board

The game’s centerpiece is that this board dictates the flow of player actions. Its structured Idea spaces and action zone grid sets up a balanced tactical challenge. Strategically placing Ideas here feels like solving a complex riddle while actively engaging in therapy sessions. The dual-use action spaces, allowing for repeated effects with careful planning, ensure every decision feels significant. Visually, the pastel tones and clever layout make it a joy to interact with.

City Map Board

The City Map feels alive with its depiction of early 1900s Vienna. Divided into districts, each with unique bonuses, it invites players to send their professors or Freud himself wandering through its iconic locations like the University or the Opera. Mechanically, it rewards long-term planning with its district and location bonuses while pulling you into the cultural heart of psychoanalytic exploration. The miniatures of Freud and the Professors give this map a charming physicality, though the map’s small size relative to its functional depth can feel cramped during busy rounds.

Player Boards

Each player board serves as your personalized psychoanalytic hub, blending function with thematic depth. At its core is the Insight Dial, a tactile mechanism that lets you manage Growth, Freedom, and Passion Insights. Advancing these resources feels intuitive and strategic, as they are essential for interpreting dreams and treating clients.

The board’s recessed edges ensure everything stays securely in place, from your Insight Dial to the Notebook Tiles, which power your engine-building efforts. Completing rows and columns of Notebook Tiles triggers satisfying chain reactions, especially when combined with the Inkpot Rondel, which tracks progress and activates cascading effects across your board. These mechanics reward forward-thinking, making each turn impactful.

From organizing Idea tokens to maximizing Heart-Shaped Boxes and Coffee, the player boards streamline gameplay while reinforcing the theme of crafting your psychoanalytic legacy. Every action feels like a step closer to mastering the unconscious mind.

Insight Dial

The Insight Dial, representing your grasp of psychoanalytic theory, allows for the generation, elevation, suppression, and transfer of Insights. Generating Insights requires resources in the center reserve, and suppressing Insights allows inward movement to trigger cascading effects. Careful planning to match Insights with requirements for treating clients and advancing personal goals is vital. Beginners may find the options overwhelming, but the dial’s tactile nature adds to the game’s strategic depth.

Client Cards and Grief Layers

The heart of the game lies in treating complex, historically inspired clients (Routine & Case-Study). These can range from fictional characters to reimagined versions of real historical figures from Freud’s era. Each client card features unique characteristics, initial therapy points, and potential bonuses. The translucent Grief Layers overlaying the client cards add a visual and mechanical twist as we peel back their trauma to unlock ongoing effects or end-game scoring opportunities. Removing each layer feels like a victory, both narratively and in points. Some clients offer immediate benefits, while others provide long-term strategies or end-game scoring conditions. Balancing the therapeutic process against competing priorities keeps the tension high, making these cards the emotional and strategic crux of gameplay.

Dream Cards (Latent and Manifest)

The dual-layered dreams represent your journey into the unconscious, where the artwork truly shines. The cards are a visual feast, from subdued blues for Latent Dreams to vibrant colors for Manifest Dreams. Mechanically, layering dreams create a multi-step puzzle as you manage the resources (Insights) required to treat clients effectively. Matching dream and grief icons for bonuses adds yet another satisfying wrinkle.

Notebook Tiles

There are 60 Notebook Tiles (24 Level I; 24 Level II; 12 starting). Notebook Tiles are crucial to engine building, unlocking chain reactions when placed strategically. Each tile has dual effects, and filling rows or columns allows you to unlock additional Insights. Specific spaces on the player board require cured clients to be eligible for placement, adding another layer of planning to optimize tile usage. Completing rows and columns provides powerful advantages, making this aspect a gameplay highlight.

Miniatures: Freud and Professors

Freud’s figure serves as a game-end timer and actively participates in the City Map’s strategic dance. Professors are similarly engaging, hopping from location to location. The miniatures are detailed and satisfying to move but sometimes feel slightly disproportionate to the tightly packed board layouts.

Heart-Shaped Box and Coffee Tokens

These tokens, both thematic and mechanical, keep the game grounded in its psychological setting. Heart-shaped boxes represent emotional breakthroughs, converting excess resources into therapy points. Meanwhile, Coffee tokens offer flexibility, acting as an energy boost for critical moments. Their dual-purpose use within actions or for scoring adds delightful decision-making pressure.

Research Cards

Publishing treatises is one of the game’s most rewarding tasks, and at the heart of this process are the Research cards. These multi-functional components are resources for completing treatises and sources of ongoing bonuses. As we played, we constantly strategized how best to utilize these cards. Their dual-purpose nature adds a layer of decision-making that we found particularly engaging. Do you use a card for its immediate benefit or hold onto it for a potentially more lucrative treatise later?

We especially appreciated how the Research cards create a sense of academic progress throughout the game. Collecting and playing these cards felt like building a body of knowledge, mirroring the real-world process of psychological research. The ongoing bonuses provided by some Research cards allowed for interesting engine-building possibilities, as we found ourselves tailoring our strategies around the specific benefits we’d accumulated. The mechanic of citing another player’s published work to complete your own treatise adds a unique interaction element, bringing a welcome touch of player interaction to what could otherwise feel like a solitary optimization puzzle.

Bright Idea Tokens

Bright Ideas are small but impactful tokens that serve as versatile wildcards. They can substitute for Ideas on the Meeting Table, modify Inkpot movement, and boost Location effects on the City Map. Each token adds depth to decision-making, offering additional opportunities to trigger effects during critical turns. They can be spent for maximum utility in tight situations, with each leftover Bright Idea scoring Victory Points during endgame scoring.

Reputation Markers and Scoring Markers

Reputation and Scoring markers provide a clear framework for tracking progress and competition. Reputation markers advancing along the central track pace the game and deliver critical bonuses that can turn the tide of play. Scoring markers and circling the edge of the City Map keep everyone invested in the race for Victory Points. Though simple in design, these components heightened the competitive atmosphere, especially in the final rounds when every point felt earned.

Treatise Tiles and District Tokens

Treatise tiles and District tokens introduce long-term goals and strategic decisions. Publishing Treatises provides substantial points and rewards for specialization, while District tokens create a dynamic struggle for control on the City Map. The combination of these mechanics added layers of interaction as players jockeyed for position to secure bonuses and endgame advantages. Their bold designs made them easy to identify and integrate into our strategies.

Reference Aids

A practical and well-organized tool for quickly recalling rules and iconography, these aids were a godsend, especially in our first few games. They ensured smooth gameplay while diving into the game’s complex systems.

Components in Solo Mode

Special mention goes to the thoughtfully crafted solo mode, which uses the “Id” AI opponent. Its streamlined actions ensure an engaging challenge without bogging down the pace. Using the Journalist and Fireworks standees in this mode adds variety and flavor.

The Setup – A Beautifully Constructed World

Before we say anything, unconscious mind has a very big setup, so before buying the board game consider checking if you have enough space on the table.

Setting up the game was an event in itself, as we arranged the pieces, we couldn’t help but feel like we were recreating one of those famous salon gatherings in a Viennese coffee house, where intellectuals would debate the latest theories over steaming cups of Melange. With multiple layers of components and a sprawling tableau, it’s a table hog that demands ample space and attention. The Meeting Table board, City Map, and personal player boards create a dense but visually appealing layout, blending functionality with thematic flair.

We begin by preparing the City Map Board as the table’s centerpiece. Start by sorting the District tokens by color and placing them on their respective spots across the map. The Reputation Marker is placed on the first space of the Reputation Track, marking the shared progression of Freud’s influence. Next, the Freud figure is randomly assigned to a location using one of the Location Goal Tiles, which adds variability to each game. It’s always fun to see where Freud starts his journey, it almost feels like setting the stage for a psychological drama.

Once the map is ready, we populate the Meeting Table Board. This is where the action happens. You’ll reduce Idea spaces depending on the player count (removing two spaces for two-player games, for instance) and fill the remaining slots with Idea tokens. Shuffle and place the Notebook Tiles along the board’s banner slots, carefully matching their labeled positions. The Notebook Tiles offer a wealth of opportunities, so seeing them laid out is a tantalizing preview of the strategies ahead.

Next up are the various decks of cards. Shuffle the Case Study and Routine Client Cards the place them nearby and reveal two of each, then place the Grief Layer decks next to them and place 1 grief layer on top of every client revealed (4 total). The Dream Decks—Manifest and Latent—are also shuffled and placed next to them, then reveal 4 manifest cards, ready to provide their dreamlike puzzles.

Note: If you question why the routine and case-study clients look weird in this image, it is because they have grief layers over them (part of the game setup).

The Research Cards and Treatise Tiles are set up in their respective slots, ensuring all players have access to critical game objectives and scoring avenues. Finally, distribute the Bright Idea Tokens in a central pile so everyone can grab them when inspiration strikes.

Player Setup

As we mentioned in the beginning of the setup section, keep in mind that the setup is quite big, especially the player board considering that there are almost two boards as you can say.

Each player receives their Player Board and corresponding components: an Insight Dial, starting Idea tokens, Heart-Shaped Boxes, and Coffee Markers. Players also place their scoring marker on the Victory Point Track and their Professor figure on the map. The final step is selecting starting cards from the Latent Dream and Routine Client decks, laying the groundwork for individual strategies.

While the setup may take some time, it’s a rewarding experience as the game’s intricate mechanics come into view. Each element serves a purpose, hinting at the depth of gameplay to come. By the end, the table becomes a masterpiece of strategy and storytelling, ready for players to dive into Freud’s Vienna and unravel the mysteries of the unconscious mind. And yes, while setting it up might take longer than your morning coffee, it’s well worth the effort once the gears start turning. By the end of the setup, your table should look like this:

Well not like this considering that the upper player boards barely have any space, but you get the point.

Gameplay Mechanics: A Symphony of Complexity

As we dove into Unconscious Mind, we quickly realized we were in for a treat. The game offers a deeply intricate gameplay experience, with mechanics that intertwine in fascinating ways to illuminate the theme of early 20th-century psychoanalysis. At first, it felt like we were trying to juggle while riding a unicycle, but the core actions became second nature as we got into the rhythm.

State Ideas: The Art of Mental Chess

This action became our bread and butter, the Meeting Table is a battleground for tactical choices, as placing Ideas unlocks actions. Players can amplify their turn when Ideas are paired with Bright Ideas by triggering action spaces multiple times. However, placement is limited by the availability of spaces, encouraging foresight. The Meeting Table’s structure ensures every turn feels meaningful, with the Inkpot adding another layer of complexity by dictating cascading effects based on its movement. We remember one particularly satisfying turn where one of us aligned our Ideas perfectly, triggering a fall of the impact that had the rest of us groaning in envy.

For example, we carefully aligned our ideas with that space when we wanted to gain a research card. Adding a Bright Idea token allowed us to activate the action twice in one turn. The flexibility allowed for satisfying combos, especially as we manipulated our player boards to unlock stronger effects. Moving the Inkpot along its track added another layer of strategy. It was like creating a little symphony of productivity with every turn!

This action was extremely rewarding, though we’ll admit there were moments when we stared at the board for what felt like ages, trying to optimize our move. The combination of spatial planning, resource generation, and engine-building moments gave us a sense of accomplishment. Even a single turn felt impactful, though it occasionally led to moments of analysis paralysis that had our resident timekeeper tapping his watch.

Recharging Your Cognitive Arsenal – Recall Ideas

Recalling Ideas is more than a reset, it’s a move to gain Coffee and claim bonuses on the City Map. Each Recall action earns Coffee equal to the number of spaces on the Meeting Table. Players can then use Location or District bonuses, which may require player-colored Insights for District actions. These bonuses can unlock powerful effects like Reputation gains, adding dynamic elements to this phase.

After recalling Ideas, we enjoyed the added bonus of claiming Location or District bonuses from the City Map. It often felt like a mini game within the larger framework as we jockeyed for position to claim the best spots. This action gave us a nice breather from heavy planning and let us rethink our priorities.

Recalling Ideas struck an outstanding balance between utility and timing. While less flashy than other actions, it proved crucial to keeping our momentum in check. It became a strategic pivot point, often signaling a shift in our game plans.

Treat Clients: Peeling Back the Layers of the Mind

This game mechanic really showed us what some board games can reach in terms of productivity and theme. The way that you have to heal the clients out of their grief really expressed what the game is on about.

Matching Dream icons with Grief Layers provides extra bonuses, encouraging players to plan their treatments carefully. Therapy markers track progress, and peeling away Grief Layers advances your score and offers ongoing benefits. This aspect perfectly marries gameplay with the psychoanalytic theme, providing both strategic and narrative satisfaction.

We’ll remember the satisfaction of finally unlocking a particularly stubborn client’s Catharsis moment. As we discarded their Grief Layer and activated their ongoing abilities, we all felt a genuine sense of accomplishment, as if we’d actually helped someone overcome their trauma. It was a small but meaningful victory or each time.

This mechanic felt incredibly beautifully awakened the theme of the board game, perfectly balancing strategy and satisfaction. Timing our treatments to maximize their effects while managing limited Insights was both a challenge and a joy. We were genuinely invested in our clients’ progress, often cheering each other on as breakthroughs were made.

Movement on the City Map

Moving Freud and Professors on the City Map offers tactical opportunities to trigger Location effects. These effects can be activated based on the number of figures present or the tags accumulated through gameplay. Bright Ideas can further enhance these effects, adding flexibility. The map is a hive of activity, balancing immediate rewards with long-term strategy.

We particularly enjoyed sending our Professors to the University, generating Insights, and drawing Research cards like true academics. Meanwhile, Freud’s presence added another layer of benefits that had us all vying for his attention. The movement felt strategic, especially when paired with the Bright Ideas mechanic to maximize the number of triggers.

The Race for Psychoanalytic Supremacy – Reputation and Endgame Trigger

The Reputation track serves as both a timer and a key strategic focus. Advancing Freud’s marker triggers the endgame and provides bonuses along the way. Players must carefully balance Reputation actions with other objectives, as they can significantly impact final scoring.

In our games, the race for the highest Reputation became a game within the game, with the endgame bonuses adding another layer of competition. It was not uncommon to hear a triumphant or a disappointed groan as final Reputation totals were tallied.

Overall, the intricacy of Unconscious Mind’s mechanics created a deeply engaging experience that had us eagerly planning our next session even as we packed up the game. While the learning curve was steep, mastering these interconnected systems felt incredibly rewarding.

How Well Does the Game Capture Freud’s Vienna?

The elements of the theme are flawlessly put into the gameplay. Treating clients feels like engaging in real therapeutic processes: gathering resources, interpreting dreams, and unlocking catharsis. The transparent overlays for grief and dream layers are not just a visual novelty but also a mechanical representation of peeling back the layers of the unconscious mind, we found ourselves mimicking Freud’s famous ‘talking cure,’ coaxing out hidden traumas and repressed memories from our cardboard patients with each carefully placed worker.

Publishing treatises, an action tied to the game’s engine-building aspect, adds a competitive edge. It reflects the academic rivalry of Freud’s circle, as players race to publish and cite each other’s work for additional points. This aspect introduced light player interaction, a welcome touch in an otherwise solitary optimization puzzle.

How Does Unconscious Mind Fare with Different Player Counts?

Across multiple playtests Unconscious Mind revealed its versatility with different player counts, but keep in mind that the setup of unconscious mind is very big as we said before, so you do need a larger table, especially when there are four players. The game became a bustling yet contemplative affair with four players as we juggled overlapping objectives on the Meeting Table and City Map. The pacing felt tighter and more strategic at three players, with more explicit opportunities to react to opponents’ moves. The solo mode, using the automated “Id,” provided a surprisingly challenging experience, emulating a competitive second player with its own objectives and actions.

Replayability comes from the vast array of components clients, dream cards, and treatises ensure no two setups are alike. However, the game’s learning curve means new players may need multiple sessions to grasp the strategies available. The dense ruleset, while rewarding, might deter casual players, making it best suited for groups who enjoy heavy euros.

Solo Gameplay: Facing the Id

The solo mode pits you against the Id, an automated opponent that uses a streamlined deck to mimic player actions. The Id automation mirrors player actions through Coffee and Heart-Shaped Boxes, creating a competitive challenge. Its efficient use of resources and streamlined decision-making effectively emulate human opponents. It’s an excellent way to explore strategies or enjoy the game when your group isn’t available.

What We Like and What We Don’t

What we like about Unconscious Mind

• Theme: Unconscious Mind masterfully captures the essence of psychoanalysis through its mechanics and components.
• The strategy behind this game: The interplay of rondels, resource management, and tableau building offers countless avenues for strategic exploration.
• Production Quality: From the surreal artwork to the transparent overlays, every detail enhances the tactile and visual experience.
• Historical Flavor: The game’s setting in early 20th-century Vienna and its nods to actual historical figures add an educational element to the game itself.

What we don’t like about Unconscious Mind

• Overwhelming Complexity: The abundance of interconnected mechanics might feel daunting for first-time players. So, try something lighter before this.
• Solo Nature: Despite some player interaction through treatises and districts, much of the game feels like a solitary optimization puzzle.
• Game Length: With a runtime exceeding two hours, it can feel protracted, especially for groups prone to analysis paralysis.
• The Rulebook Labyrinth: Learning this game felt like navigating Freud’s ego, id, and superego all at once. A more intuitive layout would’ve saved us some headaches.
• The space of the board game: We know that we mentioned it a lot, but we had some difficulties trying to fit the 4-player setup in one table.

Final Thoughts: A Journey Through the Psyche

After several intense sessions with Unconscious Mind, we’re still fascinated by its intricacies. We first encountered this creation by Alexander Pfister and Dennis Rappel at Essen Spiel 2024, and it’s been a cerebral expedition that’s left a lasting impression on our gaming group.

We’ve found that Pfister’s signature multi-use cards and interconnected systems reach new heights here, brilliantly serving the psychoanalytic theme. The game’s ability to be both deeply strategic and thematically immersive is its strongest suit, in our opinion. We’re in awe of the production quality, especially Ian O’Toole’s art direction. Those surrealist dream cards had us debating their meanings long after we’d packed up the game.

However, we must admit the learning curve is steeper than even some of Pfister’s previous works we’ve played. Our first playthrough was a marathon of rulebook consultations. Yet, this complexity fits, given the intricacy of the human mind itself. We’ve been particularly impressed with the solo mode, designed by Dávid Turczi. It offers a challenging experience that captures the multiplayer essence.

If you enjoy games that reward repeated plays and deep strategic thinking, Unconscious Mind will be right up your alley. It reminds us of brain-burners like On Mars or Anachrony but with a distinct Pfister twist.

One small critique we have is that the endgame scoring can feel anticlimactic compared to the rich narrative we built throughout the game.

Despite this, we agree that Unconscious Mind isn’t just a game; it’s an experience. We’ve found it intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant, making us feel like we’re engaging in ludic psychoanalysis.

If you’re willing to invest the time and mental energy, it offers a rich, rewarding experience that few other games can match. Just be prepared that once you start peeling back the layers of Unconscious Mind, you might find it hard to stop. And isn’t that what Freud was all about in the end? Every playthrough feels like an intellectual and artistic journey worth taking.

The post Unconscious Mind Board Game Review – Masters of the Subconscious Realm appeared first on Board Games Land.

Drawing inspiration from historical elements of the ancient city of Resafa, the game masterfully blends mechanics like hand management, network building, and multi-use cards, creating a deeply engaging and strategic experience. Published by Delicious Games, Resafa transports us to a time when this vital stop along the caravan routes served as a crossroads of civilization, its massive cisterns and sophisticated water management systems sustaining life in the harsh Syrian desert. The elegant design work of Vladimír Suchý shines through in how the game mechanisms mirror historical realities – from the careful management of water resources to the strategic positioning of workshops and gardens.

After dozens of plays, we’re still discovering new strategic depths in this fascinating recreation of merchant life in ancient Syria, where every decision feels weighted with historical significance.

First Impressions

The visual design of Resafa captures the desert’s stark beauty and the region’s architectural heritage – from the weathered sandstone archways to the remnants of Roman-era cisterns that once sustained life in this unforgiving landscape. The components: workshop tiles, camel figures, and the central board are detailed and functional, putting players into their roles as merchants who must carefully manage their hand of action cards while navigating the desert economy. Having eagerly followed the game’s development since its first announcement at Essen Spiel, we were excited to get our hands on the finished product finally.

The setup requires attention, as the interplay of workshop and canal placements with trading tiles ensures every decision has weight in this intricate dance of resource management and card play. Our gaming group, usually skeptical of historical themes being pasted onto mechanical frameworks, was pleasantly surprised by how naturally the game’s economic systems and card-driven actions flow from its setting, creating an experience where every coin spent and card played feels thematically appropriate.

Components

The first time we unboxed Resafa, the quality of the components immediately stood out – particularly the wonderfully tactile camel meeples that we couldn’t stop fidgeting with during our initial rules explanation. Here’s a breakdown of the components and how they contribute to the gameplay, sprinkled with our thoughts after hours of trading, building, and scheming in the desert.

The Main Board

The game board serves as your window into ancient Syria, cleverly designed with two faces – one for the intimate dance of 1-2 players, another for the bustling bazaar of 3-4 merchants. It’s where you’ll find everything from the water network grid to the special card tracks, all thoughtfully arranged like a well-planned desert city.

Player Boards

The game contains 4 player boards. Each player commands their own slice of Resafa through their player board, complete with a camel track that measures your trading capacity. Think of it as your personal ledger, where you’ll track your growing influence and manage your resources. It’s your command center, where every decision about warehouse management and canal construction begins.

Action Cards & Bonus Cards

Then comes the heart of the trade. Picture yourself holding six carefully crafted cards, each presenting two possible actions like a merchant weighing different opportunities. These multi-use cards are the beating heart of Resafa, with each set marked by Greek letters (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). What makes these fascinating is how each set combines different colors with different actions, ensuring no two merchant strategies feel quite the same. Like a well-planned caravan route, these cards guide every decision you’ll make.

Bonus cards complement this decision-making process by offering quick boosts or discounts when plans go awry. Drawing a bonus card at the right moment is like finding a crumpled $20 in your pocket. Together, these cards create a dynamic rhythm, where every flip and draw shapes your strategy.

Special Cards

The special cards from the color tracks are your hard-earned rewards for advancing strategically. Each track presents players with decisions at every level – do you take the visible top card for an immediate bonus, or do you shuffle and pick from the face-down cards, risking a less optimal reward? These cards unlock powerful abilities, extra actions, or endgame scoring bonuses, and choosing the right track to prioritize can tip the scales in your favor. The feeling of unlocking these cards, especially when you don’t know all the options available keeps players engaged. In one memorable game, advancing on the yellow track early gave us a flexible card and opened up opportunities to chain actions in later rounds. Pro tip: Yellow cards with flexible colors can change the trajectory of your game entirely, believe us.

Building Blocks: Workshop & Garden Tiles

Workshops and gardens form the backbone of your resource economy. The 34 workshop tiles (from starting tiles to advanced Level II workshops) are mini-puzzles, with their diagonal placement mechanic forcing players to think carefully about spatial planning. Meanwhile, the 39 garden tiles (both small and large) connect workshops and amplify their potential, triggering bonuses and VP opportunities. Completing a garden square is like hitting the jackpot in slow motion, while workshop production ensures a steady flow of essential resources. The synergy between these components is the lifeblood of your merchant empire.

Canal Tiles & Water Cubes

The water management system is brought to life through cleverly designed canal tiles and blue wooden water cubes. The canal tiles come with various pathway configurations and some feature water tanks on their reverse side. Each tile clearly displays its cost in the upper-left corner, combining marble and coin requirements. The paths on the tiles create satisfying networks when connected, though it’s worth noting that only vertical connections are mandatory – horizontal ones can remain unconnected, adding an interesting strategic element.

The bright blue water cubes stand out beautifully against the desert-themed board and serve as clear indicators of water flow from their starting positions around the board’s edges. When a canal tile is placed next to a water cube, the cube moves onto the tile, creating a visual representation of water movement that will matter during Rain scoring phases. The quality of these components is excellent, making the physical act of building your water network both intuitive and enjoyable.

Trading Tiles

These represent the various goods available for trade in different cities. The illustrations clearly distinguish between different merchandise types, making it easy to spot opportunities across the board.

Merchant Tokens

Merchant tokens (41), rare yet powerful, elevate this dynamic by enabling advanced actions like constructing Level II workshops or securing prime canal placements. Their dual-purpose design (20 scarab and 21 square tokens) adds historical flair while providing crucial strategic options.

Wooden Components: Camels, Player Markers & Tracks

Including camels for marking your presence in cities, player markers for various tracks, and scoring discs. The camel pieces are particularly charming and add character to the game. While the markers are placed on the player board and on the color track.
While the tracks are placed at the score board.

Sack Cards

These cards are a gamble in the best way possible, granting randomized resources or converting goods for points. Drawing one feels like unwrapping a mystery gift—sometimes you get gold and socks. While not game-breaking, they provide a fun element of surprise and a way to stay competitive when other options dry up.

Resource Tiles

The resource tokens represent 22 stone, 20 marble and 36 Goods tiles (18 spice, 18 amphora). They’re sturdy and well-designed, making resource management feel tactile and satisfying. There also are 28 triple resource and good tiles (7 of each type). And to mention that there are coins, we mean coins are coins…

Setup: Building Your Desert Oasis

Setting up Resafa feels like laying the foundation for a bustling trade empire—it’s detailed but not overwhelming, and the game rewards you with a satisfying tableau once it’s ready.

Start by placing the main board in the center and flipping it to the side that matches your player count. It’s a functional and attractive board with space for everything you’ll need during the game, from the colorful tracks for special cards to the canal grid that will soon become a hotbed of strategic competition. The Rain track prominently sits on the side, reminding you of the impending rewards (or losses) tied to your water network.

Shuffle and distribute the trading tiles face-down across the cities on the map but leave the bottom one of each color face up. This process creates anticipation as you wonder which lucrative goods will surface. The tiles are easy to manage, though keeping them neat avoids early-game chaos. Near your player board set up the canal tiles and place the 9 water cubes on the water source spaces in the water network area (place 8 if there are less than 3 players).

Also place the canal bonus tiles with picking one of the cards for the layout to spice up the game. Having them within easy reach is key, as they’ll come into play frequently, and seeing those water cubes stacked neatly is oddly satisfying—until they start flowing through the canals you’ve built.

Next, arrange the workshop and garden tiles. Separate workshops into Level I and II stacks, but here’s the thing, you need to lay two workshop tiles face up on the slots and a face up workshop tile on top of the deck. Then you need to organize the garden tiles (large and small) for easy access. This part of the setup might feel like sorting puzzle pieces, but it pays off once the game begins. Seeing your options at a glance makes planning your first moves far easier.

Each player takes two workshop tiles and places them facing any direction, but every player needs to place them corner to corner as said above, so later on in the game you can add garden tiles above and beneath them.

Shuffle the special cards for each color track, revealing one Level 1 card on top and stacking the others face-down. This setup introduces mystery and sparks immediate strategy discussions as players weigh the first visible rewards.

Place the bonus cards next to the main board, sort them out, reveal and lay three cards of each color. And for the sack card decks, place them nearby, ready to be drawn for quick boosts or random surprises—these small decks might seem like an afterthought during setup, but they’ll become crucial lifelines during the game.

Each player receives their player board, a set of action cards, and starting resources: coins, stone, and camels. Laying out the camel tokens is always fun—they’re charming little pieces that feel like mascots for your budding empire. Action cards are shuffled, then each player takes three random action cards from the deck, then place the deck anywhere, this is fully explained in the mechanics section, the workshops and resources are neatly arranged to avoid mid-game clutter.

Finally, set the round marker on the Rain track to indicate the game’s start. Remember that Rain scoring occurs at the end of every even round, adding a rhythm to the game that influences when to focus on building your water network. This small touch of timing adds depth to the setup, ensuring that your strategy begins the moment the game does. You’re now ready to start your journey into the desert, with every decision feeling like a step toward building your empire. The image below shows the full setup of the board game:

Gameplay Mechanics

Gameplay Mechanics At the core of Resafa is the ingenious use of action cards. These cards offer two actions per card—primary and secondary—tied to a color-coded system. The flexibility of these multi-use cards forces players to weigh every move carefully.

The Action Card System

Each player begins with six action cards that form their strategy. We’ve found that mastering the timing of these cards is crucial – for each round, you’ll play one card from your hand of three, choose a main action, and trigger a secondary color action, making each action precious. The dual nature of these cards has led to some delightfully agonizing decisions in our games. Do you play that production card for its primary action, or do you need that blue color bonus to advance on the special card track?

Workshop and garden tiles

Workshop construction forms the foundation of your desert mercantile empire, with each workshop contributing to your resource production and point generation, much like the ancient artisans’s quarters that once lined Resafa’s bustling streets. The diagonal placement rule “corner-to-corner” adds a spatial puzzle to the game, requiring you to think ahead about garden connections and optimal resource generation. In one session, we created a chain of workshops producing resources in perfect harmony (our slice of a 3rd-century bazaar), only to realize we neglected the gardens, which cost us key bonuses.

These gardens, historically vital oases that provided respite from the desert heat, are the heart of your workshop synergy. Placing garden tiles between workshops triggers resource bonuses and eventual victory points when you complete garden squares, mirroring how actual desert settlements relied on careful cultivation to thrive. The decision to build small, cost-effective gardens or invest in larger, high-reward tiles adds another layer of strategy. A perfectly timed garden placement triggered a cascade of bonuses in one memorable game, turning an average round into a significant victory point haul. At this moment, they made us feel like master landscapers of antiquity.

Water Canals and Canal Bonus Tiles

The canal system in Resafa is a standout feature that ties everything together. Building canals secures immediate bonuses and plays into the endgame strategy, where water management can significantly impact scoring. To build a water tank, players must complete two garden squares and have at least one trading base in the connected area, adding a layer of challenge and planning. Players must balance short-term gains, like acquiring canal bonus tiles, against the long-term goal of maintaining water flow across the network—much like the ingenious water management systems that allowed ancient desert cities to flourish despite the harsh climate. But keep in mind that to acquare a canal bonus tie you need to have a canal over it, but you must either choose to take the points of placing the canal or geting the canal bonus tile.

During one session, our group witnessed fierce competition over canal placement near a high-value bonus tile. Anticipating this, we maneuvered our camel tokens to a strategic city, leveraging trading profits to fund consecutive canal constructions. The resulting network boosted our mid-game score and positioned us strongly for the final Rain scoring.

Trading and Economic Strategy

Like the merchants of old who traversed the sun-scorched trading routes of Syria, Resafa’s trading system elegantly captures the essence of ancient commerce through a clever mix of resource management and tactical timing.

Your trading operations revolve around a camel caravan that can carry three goods (upgradeable to four) of the same type. Moving between cities costs one coin per road segment, making efficient route planning essential. Each city displays trading tiles with two rates – blue and red – that determine buying and selling prices. These tiles flip after use, changing market conditions and creating a dynamic economy that keeps players on their toes. In one memorable game, we executed what we dubbed the “Spice Road Special” – buying spices cheaply in Resafa and selling them in Gerasa for 5 victory points each plus bonus coins, perfectly capturing the thrill of successful desert trading.

A key strategic element is establishing trading bases in cities where you conduct business. For one stone and one coin, you can place a marker to gain either a square or scarab merchant token – crucial components for unlocking higher-level workshops and determining end-game scoring multipliers. The system also includes bonus rewards for certain trades, offering extra victory points, coins, or special cards that can significantly impact your strategy.

Your player board includes warehouse space for storing goods until market conditions are favorable, but timing these sales requires careful consideration. We have constantly weighed immediate smaller profits against potentially larger future payoffs. The interaction between trading, warehouse management, and base establishment creates a satisfying economic puzzle that rewards both tactical opportunism and long-term planning.

The color actions

Just as ancient merchants had to master multiple trading routes, Resafa’s color action system offers three distinct paths to success through an elegant dual-action card mechanism. Each action card features a blue, yellow, or red stripe, and how you orient your card determines which color action you’ll get alongside your main action. When taking a color action, you face three compelling choices: claim a face-up bonus card of the matching color, advance your marker on that color’s special card track, or draw a sack card for immediate resources. The special card tracks are particularly intriguing – as you advance, you’ll encounter symbols that let you either take the visible top card (gaining 1 VP and 1 coin as a bonus) or search through the stack for any card you want (without the bonus).

Hand management adds another strategic layer, as you’re limited to five cards at turn’s end (excluding special cards), creating tough decisions about when to use bonus and sack cards. What makes this system truly shine is how it integrates with other game mechanics – blue track cards often enhance trading, yellow boosts workshop production, and red improves water management. After numerous plays, we’ve found that mastering these color actions is crucial for victory, whether you’re specializing in one track or diversifying across all three. The system creates a perfect balance of tactical flexibility and strategic depth that keeps drawing us back to explore new combinations, much like the ancient merchants who had to adapt their strategies to changing market conditions.

The Strategy Behind Resafa

What sets Resafa apart is its tight action economy – as unforgiving as the desert itself. With only 18 actions across six rounds, every move matters like water in a drought. This scarcity compels players to pivot strategies dynamically, especially as the availability of workshops, bonus cards, and trading tiles shifts beneath the scorching sun of competition. The color-coded action tracks further enrich this puzzle, offering powerful rewards for players who invest wisely, much like the ancient merchants who knew exactly when to deploy their resources for maximum gain.

For instance, advancing on the yellow track early in one game allowed us to upgrade a starting action card – a moment that felt like discovering a hidden oasis in our strategic wasteland. This flexibility proved invaluable, enabling us to adapt our approach when a competitor monopolized canal tiles, forcing us to carve out a different path to prosperity, just as real desert traders would redirect their caravans when traditional routes became untenable.

The variability in setup and the depth of mechanics make Resafa highly Amusing. Every game feels distinct, with new challenges emerging from the interaction of players’ strategies and the dynamic board state. Each session writes its own tale of commerce and survival, echoing the stories of countless merchants who once sought fortunes in this ancient crossroads of civilization, where the whispers of long-forgotten trade deals still seem to dance on the desert wind. Like those historical traders, we’ve learned that success in Resafa isn’t just about having the best strategy but knowing when to adapt it.

Solo Mode Insights – A Fair play?

Playing against the Resafabot introduces its own challenges. The bot mimics player competition by blocking tiles, stealing bonus cards, and progressing on tracks. Its unpredictability adds a layer of tactical thinking, making solo games as engaging as multiplayer sessions. Though we suspect ancient merchants would find it quite amusing that we’re simulating their life’s work while sitting in our comfortable chairs with air conditioning. One solo playthrough saw the Resafabot dominate the canal network early, forcing us to pivot to a garden-heavy strategy. Despite the setback, the game felt balanced and rewarding, even in defeat.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Interwoven Mechanics: The seamless integration of hand management, resource production, and network building keeps every aspect of gameplay interconnected.
• Special card progression: It forces meaningful choices – you can’t max out everything, and it hurts in the best way
• The strategy: Limited actions and dynamic board elements challenge players to optimize their turns.
• Replayability: Variability in setup and evolving strategies ensures each game feels fresh.
• The Theme: Historical elements enhance the game’s atmosphere without overcomplicating mechanics.

Weaknesses

• Complexity for New Players: While the game is rewarding, its layers of strategy can be overwhelming for first timers. So, we recommend you read our Board game Lexicon or try a less complex board game.
• Tight Action Economy: Some may find the limited actions per game too restrictive, particularly in larger groups.
• Trading base locations: Could use the better visual distinction between 3-4 player spots

None of these cons significantly impact the game’s excellence, but they’re the kind of small details you notice after multiple plays. They’re more quirks than flaws—like that one friend who’s great company despite their occasional odd habits.

Final Thoughts On Resafa

A Desert Masterpiece After dozens of plays across various player counts and experience levels, Resafa has firmly established itself as one of our gaming group’s favorite medium-heavy Eurogames of 2024. Vladimír Suchý, known for his intricate designs like Underwater Cities and Praga Caput Regni, brings his signature style of interconnected mechanisms to this desert trading simulation, but with a refinement that makes it his most accessible complex game to date. What sets Resafa apart is how naturally its mechanisms flow from its historical theme. Unlike some of Suchý’s previous designs, which could sometimes feel like mechanical puzzles with a theme layered on top, every action makes intuitive sense here. Of course, you’d need water to sustain your workshops; naturally, gardens would make your production more efficient. 

The game shines at 3-4 players, where competition for prime canal positions and trading opportunities creates delicious tension. Our most memorable session involved Sarah’s masterful manipulation of the water network, creating what we now jokingly call the “Great Aqueduct of Resafa,” which scored her an impressive 45 points during the final rain phase.

The solo mode deserves special mention. It offers a surprisingly engaging experience that maintains the tension of the multiplayer game. The “Resafabot” AI provides genuine competition without feeling artificial, though it does require careful attention to upkeep.

In conclusion, Resafa represents Vladimír Suchý at his best – complex but not convoluted, strategic but not stifling. It’s earned its permanent place in our collection, and we suspect it will be hitting our table regularly for years to come. For anyone who enjoys thoughtful, historically themed Eurogames with meaningful decisions and multiple paths to victory, Resafa is an essential addition to their collection. Just be prepared to spend your first few games learning from your mistakes – those ancient merchants didn’t build their trading empires in a day, and neither will you!

The post Resafa Board Game Review: Trade Masters Of The Ancient Realm appeared first on Board Games Land.

The journey is filled with the excitement of gathering resources, forging contracts, and strategically placing dice in a game that starts simple but quickly scales in complexity. Developed by David Stockton, with logistics handled by Ed Stockton, and designed by Sam Stockton, this family-crafted game brings to life the bustling world of fantasy blacksmithing.

Components and Setup: A Forge Master’s First Steps

Opening the box of Forges of Ravenshire feels like stepping into a well-organized blacksmith’s workshop. The game greets you with an impressive array of components, each crafted with attention to detail that would make any master smith proud. If you are a fan of ours, you will know what we want to see when opening a board game box, and Forges of Ravenshire makes it just perfect; if you need help understanding, we are talking about the organization of the components in the box.

The Components

The Main Board

A beautifully illustrated centerpiece representing the bustling town of Ravenshire. Like a master’s anvil, it is the foundation for all your forging endeavors. The board features six distinct districts, each with its own resource-gathering opportunities.

Player Boards

Four double-layered boards that feel as solid as a blacksmith’s workbench. Each board is divided into two sections: the Guild Workshop (where you’ll manage your guild members) and the Production Side (where the actual “forging” takes place). The recessed areas keep your resource cubes securely in place, just like tools in a well-organized forge. Each player board represents the player’s character, making it unique and adding a bit of character.

Dice (18 total)

These come in three distinct colors representing the different guilds:

• Green Harvester Guild dice
• Yellow Alchemist Guild dice
• Purple Merchant Guild dice

The dice feel weighty in your hand, like small ingots ready to be shaped to your will.

Resource Components

• 40 Gold Coins, 25 Bronze Coins and 25 Silver coins
• Cubes for tracking resources (13 per player)
• Various mystic tokens (Talisman, Dragon Scales, Mithril, and Embergem) that gleam like precious metals
• Guild member tokens that represent your growing network of artisans

Cards

• Contract cards in three tiers (Common, Exceptional, and Legendary)
• Assistant cards that add unique abilities
• Reference cards to help guide your forging journey
• Title cards

The Setup

When we first saw the box of the Forges of Ravenshire, we thought it would take ages to set up the board game, but surprisingly, the setup part was very simple and fast, and that’s what got us a point.

The setup process is as straightforward as heating up the forge

First, place the main board centrally, like positioning your anvil in a workshop, and start to fill the board with the needed components. Six districts come to life as you roll the vibrant guild dice—each die carrying the hopes of an Alchemist, Harvester, or Merchant—and place them on their respective district spaces.

The shimmering coins, mystical tokens like Embergems and Mithril, and stacks of contracts are placed around the board, waiting to be claimed, but we just placed the board games component boxes instead of spilling the components near the board game, and thats why component boxes are such an advantage. Finally, the Title Cards are revealed, offering players a glimpse of the glory they could achieve by mastering the forge.

Then give each player their personal forge (player board) along with:

• 5 starting resources (1 each of Wood, Ore, Charcoal, Steel, and Leather)
• 3 dice (one of each color)
• 4 Gold pieces
• 1 Action token
• 1 Common card
• Upgrade Tokens
• Assistant card (optional)

The tools of your trade come next – three dice representing your connections to the local guilds. These will be your means of gathering resources and forging alliances throughout the game. The Harvester’s green, the Alchemist’s yellow, and the Merchant’s purple dice feel like they hold the weight of possibility in your hands.

As any smith knows, you need contracts to make a living. Each player draws three Common Contract cards, studying them carefully before selecting one that will be their first commission. The remaining contracts are returned to the bottom of the deck, like opportunities waiting for another day.

By the end of it, your game board should look like the image shown below, ready to hammer out your strategy like a true Forgemaster preparing for the heat of the forge.

Gameplay Overview – Seasoned with Strategy

Forges of Ravenshire is divided into four rounds, each representing a season. Every season has three phases: Gathering, Production, and End-of-Season, which structure the game’s strategic flow.

In the Gathering Phase, players roll their three dice and place them in one of the six districts on the Main Board to collect resources or recruit guild members. Then, they retrieve another die from the board, activating its corresponding guild on their player board. This “place one, take one” mechanic adds layers to decision-making as players weigh the benefits of different dice values and colors based on their immediate needs and long-term strategies. It’s worth noting that the dice’s color matters only when running guilds; during placement or retrieval, any die can be used, allowing greater flexibility in resource gathering and strategy.

The Production Phase is where the magic of the forge comes alive. The dice collected are placed in various sections of the player board to run the forge, producing goods and completing contracts. As the game progresses, players unlock upgrades to enhance their production efficiency and increase their output.

Finally, in the End-of-Season Phase, titles are awarded for completing certain achievements, and players reset for the next season. The system flows seamlessly, yet each phase has its own strategic depth that keeps players engaged.

The Guild Mechanic – A Unique Twist

One of the standout mechanics in Forges of Ravenshire is the guild system, which enhances the worker-placement genre with a fresh interaction layer. Every time you retrieve a die, you run the guild associated with that die’s color, activating a sequence of abilities on your player board.

This starts simply with each guild providing one basic action, but as players recruit guild members and expand their guild workshop, these actions can compound into powerful combos. For instance, we placed a high-value green die in the Harvester Guild and, thanks to a well-timed upgrade, gained a windfall of resources that allowed us to complete a Legendary contract in the next production phase. The progression from a single action to a cascading series of guild effects is immensely satisfying, and it’s one of the game’s greatest strengths.

Production Phase – Forging for Glory

In the Production Phase, players take the dice they’ve gathered and place them on the production side of their player board. Here, dice values dictate production efficiency, from generating Charcoal in the Kiln to forging steel in the Foundry. Each die placement feels impactful, and choices made in earlier phases directly influence production outcomes.

We loved how each action became a mini puzzle, requiring careful planning to balance resource requirements with production limits. Like master smiths tempering their finest blades, completing contracts is the heart of this phase, with three tiers of contracts—Common, Exceptional, and Legendary—each offering escalating rewards. Adding a Finish to a contract, either a Mithril or Embergem finish, introduces additional strategic choices. For example, completing a Legendary contract with a Mithril finish grants an extra boost in Reputation, which is crucial for accessing higher-tier contracts. It’s a satisfying cycle of work and reward that truly captures the spirit of the blacksmithing theme.

This phase of the game reminded us much of Minecraft, to be specific, the Minecraft furnace, the way you melt things and exchange them is very similar to it, but the board game version is better.

Title Cards – A Competitive Edge

Another layer of competition comes from the Title Cards, which provide end-of-season bonuses for players who achieve specific goals, such as completing a set number of contracts or gathering a large amount of a particular resource. In one game, we raced against another player to earn the Embersmith title by adding Embergem finishes to as many contracts as possible. The secondary bonuses for subsequent seasons ensure that players remain competitive, even if they fall behind on an early title.

The title mechanic adds another layer of rivalry and urgency, as every player is eyeing the same prizes, pushing them to adapt their strategies in response to the competition.

Assistant Cards – Boosts and Variability

While not essential, the optional Assistant Cards are an excellent addition. They add asymmetrical abilities that give each player a slight edge in a particular area. For example, the Raven Broker Assistant allowed one player to manipulate dice with Talismans, flipping them to favorable values. This added a level of personalization and replayability, as each Assistant card offers a unique ability that can change the game’s flow. We found that Assistants introduced just the right amount of variability to keep each playthrough fresh.

Playthrough Experiences – A Day in the Forge

We had the pleasure of playing Forges of Ravenshire with several different groups, each bringing a unique approach to the game. In one playthrough, we aimed for a high-reputation strategy, focusing on securing contracts that would boost our status on the Reputation Track. Early on, we placed dice on the Smoky Valley to gather Charcoal. The rhythmic clang of hammer on anvil echoed through our minds as we worked to keep the Kiln running and produce high-quality goods.

By mid-game, our upgraded Kiln was churning out Charcoal and Embergems, allowing us to fulfill contracts with valuable finishes that boosted our income significantly. We took a different approach during a more competitive session, focusing on recruiting guild members to maximize the production phase. We strategically selected guild members who granted bonuses to resource generation and contract completion. In the Gathering Phase, each choice felt critical—should we pick up a die from the Sharprock Mountains to gain additional Ore and Mithril, or retrieve a Merchant Guild die to gain extra gold through our guild members? This playthrough highlighted the importance of adaptability and tactical flexibility as we adjusted our strategy based on the dice available on the board.

Final Thoughts – Is Forges of Ravenshire for You

After several playthroughs, Forges of Ravenshire has firmly established itself as a standout title in the medium-weight euro board game genre. The combination of dice manipulation, resource management, and contract fulfillment is executed precisely, offering enough complexity for experienced gamers while remaining accessible to newcomers. It’s a game that rewards careful planning but allows for tactical flexibility, as players can pivot strategies based on the dice and resources at hand.

Much like a master blacksmith’s well-worn tools, the guild mechanic is a breath of fresh air. It offers unique strategic layers without overburdening players with too many choices. Each turn, players are presented with meaningful decisions, from gathering resources to managing guild upgrades. The title cards, assistant cards, and dice-based actions are harmoniously balanced, creating a satisfying experience that keeps us coming back.

If you’re in the market for a Euro-style game with a compelling theme and rewarding mechanics, Forges of Ravenshire is well worth your attention. The gameplay loop is highly satisfying, with a rewarding blend of strategy and resource management. Whether you’re an experienced gamer or a newcomer, there’s plenty

The post Forges Of Ravenshire Board Game Review: Are You The Ultimate Forgemaster? appeared first on Board Games Land.

Note: Our review is based on a prototype graciously provided by Wallace Designs and Amanda Milne. They assured us that while much of the art is already close to its final version, additional enhancements will further elevate the game’s presentation when released.

Another Note: We will upload the prototype images soon! Stay tuned!

Gameplay Overview

In Monster Rock, players are rock band leaders traveling across Paradise City, gathering fans from various fantasy races who share distinct musical tastes, from the simple, sing-along-loving Halflings to the raucous, amp-craving Undead—[these headbangers would make even Metallica turn it down a notch!]. Our ultimate goal was to rally enough followers to fuel a revolution and topple King Richard’s robotic police state, represented by various Revolution and Robot Fuzz cards.

disclaimer: the bands shown on the image aren’t the only ones, the board game contains 7 bands

Each player’s turn provides a range of actions, including playing gigs, writing songs, or bolstering the band’s skill set. The band’s skills, represented by attribute tiles (such as Vocals, Guitar, Drums, and Charisma), help players acquire different gig and song cards, depending on the audience’s preferences. One of our favorite dynamics was activating these skills with Stamina cubes, which brought a strategic resource-management element that required careful planning.

How to Rock the City

To start your rock-fueled journey, players take turns performing actions that build their band’s reputation and skills. These actions range from claiming cards at gigs to busking for additional stamina. Each player can choose one action per turn, carefully deciding based on the available stamina and resources. You’ll find yourself strategizing about when to boost your attributes, when to lie low to reduce your risk with the King’s forces, or when to busk to recharge.

The city is divided into different levels that increase in difficulty and reward, with each city zone offering various cards to claim—these include Songs, Gigs, Robot Fuzz cards, and even Revolution cards if you’re in the Level II zone. Moving across the city board requires careful planning, as zones with high-value cards may expose you to events or risk factors like the robot police, challenging players to weigh risk versus reward each time.

Setting the Stage

While some prioritized Vocals or Writing, others built powerhouse bands with high Combat and Stage Show attributes for performances in the city’s grittiest areas. Adding to the thematic immersion, each band member brings five Stamina cubes, ten Gold, and a starting band mat that evolves as the game progresses.

Attributes and Skill Tiles – Building Your Rock Legacy

Each band’s skills are represented through attribute tiles, which come in categories like Vocals, Guitar, Drumming, and Charisma. These attributes play a vital role when targeting specific cards, as each card requires certain attribute points to claim. The skill tiles also add customization, allowing bands to emphasize specific playstyles. For instance, one of our bands excelled in Combat and Stage Shows, giving them a rugged, performance-driven edge that was ideal for claiming Gigs among tougher city crowds.

You’re also incentivized to upgrade tiles by flipping them to a higher level, which enhances the skill’s effectiveness. We found this element particularly satisfying, as it allows for growth while giving each band a unique path to stardom. Upgrading comes with its own set of challenges, as managing your stamina efficiently while focusing on high-value upgrades can turn the game in your favor.

Our Playthrough Experience

In our second session with a mixed group of playtesters, our band met Paradise City’s elite in the grand Festival. Located in the city’s heart, the festival attracted high-profile gigs that required amplified Vocals and Charisma. We secured our first gig at the festival as we built up our Vocals skills. This boosted our Record Sales and brought in two crucial Revolution flags, helping us inch closer to sparking a full-scale uprising.

Midway through the game, we had a high-tension moment when one of our members triggered an event that sent our band to a Robot Fuzz area. The Robot Police had been patrolling, which meant we needed to spend Combat and Drumming points to avoid being thrown out of the city. Thankfully, our band was well-prepared with enough skill tiles to withstand the police encounter, but we lost precious stamina cubes in the process, adding a nail-biting element of risk.

Also, something that we have to mention in this section is that our first experience with Monster Rock was at Essen Spiel 2024 where we got our first glance at the board game. The energy around the game drew us in, and seeing the gameplay up close gave us a taste of the rock-and-roll adventure that awaited us.

The Festival was a crucial aspect of the game, as it allowed bands to play up to three gigs, offering multiple Victory Points (VP) and Record Sales. Each performance brought an intense bidding war for the most coveted gig spots, adding a layer of competitive tension among players. By the night’s end, our band had secured enough Record Sales to trigger the endgame phase, where final scoring and awards brought a dramatic finish.

Strategic Depth and Replayability

Monster Rock rewards strategic planning and adaptability. Each card claimed serves a distinct purpose, from song points that let us compose more songs to attribute-boosting gear like guitars or charisma enhancements. We quickly learned the importance of managing the Secret File Track, which determines the severity of event cards drawn, mainly as bands draw attention from the King’s forces. Balancing Stamina cubes and resources is critical, as replenishing these through actions like Busking can hinder momentum, especially when high-stakes gigs are at risk—[because, as AC/DC taught us, it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll].

In another playthrough with a more experienced group, we focused on maximizing VP by collecting Revolution cards, which allowed us to gather significant VP for overthrowing the King. To our surprise, having too many Secret Files triggered advanced events, causing a sudden clash with a Robot Army. This unpredictability, combined with player-driven competition for endgame awards, made each playthrough unique, encouraging new strategies in each game.

The Gigs and Songs – Core Actions Explained

Claiming Gig and Song cards is the core way to gain fans, skills, and ultimately Victory Points (VP) in Monster Rock. Gigs provide Revolution flags and endgame scoring opportunities, while songs serve as resources to gain skills and boost band versatility. Song cards offer Song points, which act as currency to secure additional gigs or to boost band attributes, making them invaluable for long-term planning. Our playgroup loved the variety in these cards, as each one demanded a distinct skill set, rewarding bands who balanced their strengths across multiple attributes.

One challenge that frequently arose was deciding which gigs to go after, especially when opponents were eyeing the same cards. In competitive settings, high-value gigs became scarce quickly, forcing us to consider alternate paths. This tension added a memorable edge to the game, encouraging strategic plays, and at times, carefully timed “steals” of key cards from our opponents.

Art and Theme

The art, designed by Franz Vohwinkel, evokes a whimsical rock scene set in a vibrant fantasy world. Even though we were playing with a prototype, Monster Rock already had fantastic visuals that immersed us in the rock ‘n’ roll fantasy theme. Wallace Design and Amanda Milne confirmed that while the core artwork is mostly final, further visual enhancements are planned for the official release, promising an even more polished experience. The board and components, such as the band header and stage setup, complement the theme well, drawing us deeper into the story. The gig cards show different audiences, from goblins to elves, each illustrated with flair and humor that lends a playful tone to the gameplay. It’s a game that looks and feels like a rock adventure, from the graphics to the thematic references in event text and iconography.

The Revolution theme blends seamlessly with the mechanics, making each action feel purposefully aligned with leading a rock band uprising. The narrative builds as bands gain more fame, navigating various areas in the city with their hazards, like fiery zones or police encounters. This story-driven gameplay design made our playgroup feel like we were staging a revolution, albeit in an eccentric, magical world where rock truly rules.

Battling the Robot Police – The Risks and Rewards

Throughout the city, the King’s Robot Police roam, making your journey as much about survival as it is about performance. These Robot Fuzz cards can be claimed for bonuses, but they pose the risk of escalating your presence on the Secret File Track, increasing the chance of being thrown in jail. Balancing when to face off against the Robot Police became a tactical choice, as claiming Robot Fuzz cards can yield valuable VP, but each encounter inches you closer to being sidelined.

The Secret File Track adds an push-your-luck element; in one session, our band took a chance to claim a Robot Army card for a hefty reward but ended up advancing so far that we landed in jail. This twist adds stakes to high-reward plays and forces players to consider the best times to stay under the radar.

Event Cards and Unpredictability

The Event Cards are one of the highlights of Monster Rock, infusing the game with unexpected twists and adding layers of risk. Some events grant benefits if players meet certain conditions, such as Combat skill or extra Gold, while others penalize players who cannot fulfill these demands. In one instance, a player in our group drew a “Bad Kebab” event that drained their stamina, placing them in a tight spot right before a major gig. These events include special conditions such as Fire or Robot Army, which can unexpectedly alter board locations and introduce fresh challenges mid-game.

One memorable event involved a “Festival Shutdown” after a fire broke out in the city center, closing off multiple gig spots. This dynamic element requires players to adapt, ensuring no two games are constantly alike. These moments added a cinematic quality, making each session feel more like a storytelling experience than a traditional board game.

Revolution Cards – Fanning the Flames of Rebellion

Revolution cards are pivotal in transforming your musical influence into revolutionary fervor. Claimed in the city’s tougher Level II zones, these cards often require a collection of Gig flags, making them hard to acquire but offering high endgame Victory Points. When we targeted Revolution cards, we found that building a strategic base of Gigs first allowed us to accumulate the flags needed.

There’s a strategic layer in determining when to focus on Revolution cards, as claiming them too early can lead to a lack of stamina and Song points for other actions. However, saving them for the late game can be a game-changer if executed well. In our plays, we often raced to collect enough flags, sometimes sacrificing other scoring options to stay competitive in the revolution track.

Awards and Endgame Scoring

At the game’s conclusion, players tally VP from Record Sales, Revolution cards, and other awards such as “Best Songwriter” or “Most Notorious Band.” Endgame awards incentivize diverse playstyles; for instance, focusing on Songwriting icons could net a player the “Best Songwriter” award, while collecting Combat points may earn “Toughest Band.” These scoring options allow players to choose different paths to victory, whether through record sales, revolutionary influence, or prowess in specific band skills.

We prioritized Charisma and Combat for the “Most Charismatic Band” and “Toughest Band” awards during one game. This decision led us into a thrilling race with another band, who were just as determined to claim the Record Sales track, culminating in an incredibly tight final tally. The awards brought satisfying tension, adding depth to the scoring phase, especially for players who chose to take the riskier, more confrontational path.

Rocking to the Endgame – Scoring Strategies

The endgame phase of Monster Rock is where strategic choices bear fruit. Players tally Record Sales VP, claim any endgame awards, and score Revolution cards for additional VP. Our group found that spreading focus between awards and Record Sales brought the best returns, as aiming for a single track could be limiting without backup points from other areas.

For instance, one band focused entirely on claiming Award Cards for Most Charismatic Band and Toughest Band, while another chose to prioritize Record Sales. By the final tally, we discovered that a balanced approach to multiple scoring paths often proved most rewarding, allowing for flexible strategies. Additionally, as each band’s score nears the endgame target, players can make last-ditch efforts to claim a Revolution card, leading to dramatic finishes.

Accessibility and Learning Curve

The rulebook is detailed yet intuitive, making the game accessible to grasp after a round or two. New players can quickly understand the basic actions, though managing resources and navigating events add layers of complexity that appeal to seasoned gamers. Tips in the rulebook encourage newcomers to focus on foundational skills like Writing and Vocals, while the awards system keeps everyone invested. While the game’s length (60-100 minutes) might feel daunting initially, the action-packed nature and fast turns make the playtime fly by.

Final Thoughts

[Like a perfect power chord progression,] Monster Rock is a delightful blend of strategy, theme, and rock n’ roll rebellion that resonates with players across skill levels. With its engaging mix of card drafting, resource management, and unpredictable events, the game is dynamic and offers high replayability. It’s a must-try for anyone looking to mix a bit of fantasy adventure with their board gaming experience, combining rock culture with revolutionary fervor.

The only drawback we encountered was occasional downtime in larger games, mitigated by the gameplay’s social, immersive nature. As fans of games that combine strong thematic elements with strategic choices, Monster Rock stood out as both a gateway board game for newcomers and a nuanced experience for veteran players seeking something fresh.

With cooperative and solo modes promising even more variety, Monster Rock is bound to be a hit for any game night.

The post Monster Rock Review – Where Fantasy Meets Rock ‘n’ Roll Revolution appeared first on Board Games Land.

Imagine standing in the bustling heart of medieval Moscow, surrounded by the clamor of builders, the scent of fresh-cut timber, and the gleam of precious gems. As architects under the watchful eye of Ivan the Terrible, each player must navigate the intricate web of guilds, resources, and influence to construct their sections of the cathedral. The goal? To earn more favor from the Tsar than your rivals and secure your place in history.

The game unfolds over approximately 80 minutes, suitable for 1-4 players aged 10 and up. It’s a race against time and your fellow builders to see who can contribute most to this architectural marvel. With each turn, you’ll claim sections of the cathedral, gather vital resources from a dynamic market board, and strategically build or decorate your claimed sections to earn recognition and prestige points. Whether you’re a experienced gamer looking for a new challenge or a novice to explore eurogames, The Red Cathedral offers a rich tapestry of decisions and interactions that will keep you coming back for more.

Components and Setup

The Red Cathedral impresses right out of the box. Its high-quality components and thoughtful design contribute significantly to the game experience. We were impressed by the number of components they fit in the box because it is a little small. Each element is crafted to enhance the game’s thematic and strategic aspects.

Components

Market Board: The central market board is beautifully illustrated and divided into four quadrants representing the seasons—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. This board is not just a backdrop; it’s integral to gameplay as it houses resource tiles and influences actions based on dice movements.

Cathedral Cards: These cards are divided into three types—bases, middle sections, and domes—each depicting a part of St. Basil’s Cathedral. The artwork on these cards is detailed, capturing the architectural beauty of the cathedral while clearly displaying the resources required for construction.

Resource Tiles: These tiles represent various building materials like stone, gold, bricks, wood, and precious gems (purple and green). They are placed on the market board and are essential for constructing cathedral sections. The tiles are sturdy and feature vibrant illustrations that make identifying resources easy.

Dice: The game includes five colorful dice (one each in red, blue, yellow, green, and white). These dice drive the resource acquisition mechanic and add a layer of unpredictability to the game. Each die’s movement around the market board determines which resources players can collect.

Player Components: Each player receives a personal workshop board where they manage their resources and workshop tiles. The boards are double-sided, offering a basic side for beginners and an advanced side for more experienced players. Players also get wooden banners in their chosen color to claim cathedral sections and mark their progress on the score track.

Workshop Tiles: These tiles are acquired when players claim cathedral sections. They can be placed on the player’s workshop board to provide ongoing benefits whenever specific dice are moved on the market board. The tiles add strategic depth by allowing players to tailor their resource acquisition strategies.

Ornamentations: Representing doors, arches, and crosses, these pieces can be added to completed cathedral sections for additional prestige points. They are intricately designed to fit seamlessly with the aesthetic of the cathedral cards.

Score Markers: Shaped like double-headed eagles, these markers track players’ recognition and prestige points around the edge of the market board. They add a thematic touch that ties back to the historical setting of Russia.

Rubles: Represented by cardboard tokens, rubles are used as currency within the game for various actions such as moving dice additional spaces or paying for workshop tile placement.

Influence Cards: There are four sets of influence cards corresponding to different guilds—the Craftsmen’s Guild, Teamsters’ Guild, Merchants’ Guild, and Clergy. These cards offer special actions that players can perform when they move dice into specific quadrants of the market board.

Building Plan Cards: These cards dictate how many base, middle section, and dome cards will be used in each game setup, ensuring variability in each playthrough.

Setup

Setting up The Red Cathedral involves several steps that ensure each game begins with a unique configuration:

• First, place the market board in the center of your playing area with enough space around it for players’ personal workshop boards and other components. Shuffle and place one resource tile face-up in each of the eight spaces on the market board.

• Next, shuffle the cathedral cards into three separate decks based on their type—bases, middle sections, and domes. Draw a building plan card that matches your player count (1-4) to determine how many bases, middle section, and dome cards will be used in this game. Arrange these cards in columns according to the building plan card on one side of the market board to form your cathedral construction site.

• Each player then chooses a color and takes their corresponding components: a personal workshop board (basic or advanced side up), four banners (with two more kept aside for later use), four ornamentations (one door, two arches, one cross), a score marker placed on ‘2’ on the scoring track around the market board with its ‘+40’ side facing down, and starting rubles (3 for first player; 4 for second and third players; 5 for fourth player).

• Shuffle all workshop tiles face-down and place one randomly on each cathedral card at the construction site; any leftover tiles go back into the box if playing with fewer than three players (remove those marked with ‘+’).

• Finally, shuffle each set of influence cards separately (Craftsmen’s Guild, Teamsters’ Guild, Merchants’ Guild, Clergy) and place one card from each set face-up in their designated spaces on the market board quadrants.

With all components in place—market tiles ready for resource gathering; cathedral sections awaiting construction; influence cards offering strategic opportunities—the stage is set for an exciting session of The Red Cathedral. Players can now dive into their roles as architects vying for Tsar Ivan’s favor through meticulous planning, resource management prowess, and timely execution!

The full board game setup should look something like the image below.

Gameplay Mechanics of The Red Cathedral

The Red Cathedral is a masterclass in strategic depth and resource management, wrapped in a thematic experience that transports players to the heart of medieval Moscow. The game revolves around three core actions—claiming sections of the cathedral, building these sections using resources, and acquiring resources from the market. However, it’s the nuanced interplay between these actions and the strategic decisions they entail that make The Red Cathedral a standout in the eurogame genre.

Claiming Sections – Laying Your Foundations

Claiming sections of the cathedral is your first step toward earning Tsar Ivan’s favor. Each player has a set of banners that they use to stake their claim on various parts of the cathedral. This action is more than just a land grab; it’s a strategic decision that impacts your resource management and future building plans.

When you claim a section, you place one of your banners on an available cathedral card. Availability determines whether the card is a base or directly above another claimed card. This vertical construction mechanic adds layers of strategy as players must think ahead about which sections will be accessible later.

Each claimed section has a workshop tile that can be placed on your personal workshop board. These tiles offer ongoing benefits whenever specific dice are moved on the market board, making them crucial for optimizing your resource acquisition strategy. Deciding where to place these tiles—whether to pay rubles to activate their benefits or leave them inactive—adds another layer of tactical planning.

Building Sections – Constructing Your Masterpiece

Building sections of the cathedral is where your resource management skills come into play. Each section requires specific materials like stone, gold, bricks, precious gems, and wood, which you must deliver from your inventory. You can deliver up to three materials per turn, allowing for incremental progress or rapid completion if you’ve stockpiled enough resources.

Completing a section rewards you with recognition points and rubles. Recognition points move you along the scoring track, while rubles are essential for various in-game actions like moving dice additional spaces or paying for workshop tile placement.

One of the unique aspects of building in The Red Cathedral is the penalty system for unfinished sections. If another player completes a section above the one you’ve claimed but hasn’t finished yet, you lose recognition points equal to the number of completed sections above yours. This mechanic is very similar to the board game Imhotep where players are tasked of delivering stones, and this mechanism adds a competitive edge as players race to complete their sections and potentially penalize others.

Acquiring Resources – Market Navigation Key

The heart of The Red Cathedral lies in its innovative market mechanic driven by dice movement. At the start of each turn, players choose one die from those available on the market board and move it a number of spaces equal to its current value. The space where the die lands determines which resources you can collect, multiplied by the number of dice present in that space.

This rondel mechanic introduces an element of unpredictability and strategic planning. Players must decide which die to move and how to position themselves for future turns. Additionally, if you move the white die or your own color’s die, you can spend rubles to move it to extra spaces, adding flexibility and tactical depth.

Influence Actions – Harnessing Guild Power

Influence actions are critical for gaining an edge over your rivals. Each guild card offers two actions—one with an immediate benefit (marked with a lightning icon) and another that can be used multiple times (marked with an infinity icon). For example:

• Craftsmen’s Guild might allow you to exchange common materials for more expensive ones.
• Teamsters’ Guild could provide rubles or enable material deliveries.
• Merchants’ Guild often involves trading resources for rubles or other materials.
• Clergy typically offers ways to gain recognition points or buy prestige.

Strategically leveraging these influence actions can significantly boost your efficiency and resource management capabilities.

Workshop Tiles – Enhancing Your Strategy

Workshop tiles acquired when claiming cathedral sections are pivotal in your overall strategy. These tiles are placed on your personal workshop board and activated whenever corresponding dice are moved on the market board. Benefits vary from gaining extra resources to performing additional influence actions.

Choosing where to place these tiles can significantly impact your gameplay. Usually players tend to go for their colored die since they can move that die extra steps by paying rubles thus having more flexibility on where it lands. The white die is also favored since everyone can move the white die by the same effect.

Ornamentations – Adding Finishing Touches

Once a section of the cathedral is completed, players can add ornamentations like doors, arches, and crosses. These additions enhance the visual appeal of your construction and grant prestige points immediately upon placement and during final scoring. The timing on when to build them is very crucial because donating green or purple gem or both gives you one or three prestige.

Endgame and Scoring – The Final Tally

The game ends when any player completes their sixth cathedral section, triggering final scoring after each player has one last turn. In addition to points earned during gameplay, players score additional prestige points based on their contributions to each tower (completed sections plus ornamentations) and remaining materials/rubles.

Final scoring involves calculating contributions across all towers:

• Players with the most banners/ornamentations in each tower receive full points for that tower.
• Second-place contributors receive half points.
• Third-place contributors receive half of what second place earned (rounded down).

This tiered scoring system ensures that every contribution counts while rewarding those who strategically invested in key areas.

A Unique Twist in Resource Management

One of the most interesting aspects of The Red Cathedral is its innovative dice movement mechanic, adding a refreshing twist to resource management. Unlike traditional games where you simply collect resources, here you engage in a strategic dance with dice.

Imagine a blend of Finca and Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar,” but with a dash of unpredictability. Each turn, you choose one die from the market board and move it a number of spaces equal to its value. Where it lands determines your resources, multiplied by the number of dice in that space.

This isn’t just about collecting resources; it’s about planning ahead and outmaneuvering opponents. Do you move the white die and spend rubles to land on a lucrative tile? Or play it safe for guaranteed gains? The influence actions tied to each quadrant add another layer of strategy, making every turn a tactical decision.

This dynamic dice dance ensures no two turns are the same, keeping players engaged and invested. It’s this interplay of strategy and chance that makes The Red Cathedral not just a game, but an experience, a beautifully orchestrated ballet of dice and decisions!

Our Final Thoughts: A Masterpiece Worth Building

After countless hours spent constructing, strategizing, and competing within the world of The Red Cathedral, we can confidently say this game is an absolute gem. The intricate blend of resource management, strategic planning, and competitive play creates an experience that is both deeply satisfying and highly engaging.

One particularly thrilling session saw Alice racing to complete base sections while Bob methodically built his way up the cathedral, penalizing Alice at every turn for her unfinished work. This dynamic created palpable tension, with each player constantly adapting their strategy.

What sets The Red Cathedral apart is its balance between accessibility and strategic depth. The straightforward rules make it easy for newcomers, yet the layers of strategy ensure gamers will find plenty to enjoy. The unique dice movement mechanic keeps each turn fresh and unpredictable.

We wholeheartedly recommend The Red Cathedral for anyone looking for a rich, strategic gaming experience. It’s perfect for game nights with friends or families seeking a game that combines historical themes with engaging mechanics. The robust solo mode also offers a challenging AI opponent.

Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero have crafted a masterpiece that blends thematic elements with solid mechanics. Their attention to detail is evident in every aspect of the game.

What We Like

• Strategic Depth: The game offers a rich blend of resource management, strategic planning, and competitive play.
• Innovative Mechanics: The dice movement mechanic adds a unique twist, keeping each turn fresh and engaging.
• Accessibility: Straightforward rules make it easy for newcomers to learn, while the depth ensures experienced gamers remain challenged.
• High-Quality Components: Beautifully illustrated cards and sturdy components enhance the thematic experience.

What We Don’t Like

• Setup Time: The initial setup can be a bit lengthy, especially for new players.
• Potential for Analysis Paralysis: The depth of strategy and many options may lead to longer decision times, which could slow down gameplay.
• Penalties for Unfinished Sections: While it adds tension, the penalty system might feel harsh to some players who fall behind. It is the only take that mechanic in the game.

In conclusion, The Red Cathedral is more than just a board game. It’s an experience that brings people together through shared challenges and triumphs. Its blend of strategic depth and interactive mechanics make it a must-have for any board game enthusiast’s collection. It is a small box game with a strong theme flavor and strategy.

The post Building Glory: In-Depth Review of The Red Cathedral Board Game appeared first on Board Games Land.

Released in late 2024, this head-to-head tactical combat game has quickly gained attention in the strategy board-gaming community for its zero-luck approach and innovative mechanics. Think Chess meets heroic fantasy but with reality-bending ninjas and dragon-hunting knights! The game masterfully combines area control and hero elimination into tight 15-30-minute battles that will have you plotting your next match before the current one ends. If you’re into board games with a Hexlike design like this one, give Witchstone a try.

Whether commanding the heavily armored Dragon Hunters or orchestrating precise strikes with the Hidden Temple’s agile warriors, every decision can distinguish between victory and suffering Börd’s harsh punishments.

Speaking of those heroes and their epic battles, let’s take a closer look at what you’ll find when you crack open that gorgeous purple and gold box.

Components of Heroes of Timeline

Opening the striking purple and gold box of Heroes of Timeline reveals a treasure trove of 12 meticulously designed components, each serving both functional and aesthetic purposes. First, let’s see what is waiting for us in the box of the board game:

The board game comes with little plastic bags to put the cardboard components into them. You can see them in the image below:

Fans of Castles of Burgundy will find familiar comfort in the hex-based design, though Heroes of Timeline takes this foundation in a boldly different direction. Let’s see what makes this game’s physical elements special.

Game Board

The centerpiece is a cleverly designed hex-based board featuring six distinct sectors from a central “Key Tile.” The board’s surface has a subtle metallic sheen that catches the light beautifully, while the hex grid is precisely etched to ensure perfect hero base alignment. The folding mechanism is robust, using a reinforced center fold that prevents warping – a thoughtful touch for a game that demands precise positioning. The sector boundaries are clearly marked with elegant golden lines, making territory control assessment quick and intuitive.

Hero Bases

There are 10 Hero bases, which are the most innovative component of the two-piece hero base system. These clever stands consist of interlocking top and bottom pieces with slots for armor tokens around the circumference. While the design is brilliant for displaying armor status at a glance, it can be slightly finicky when fully loaded with armor tokens. A dab of glue between the pieces (as suggested in the rulebook) definitely helps with stability. The arrow indicator on each base clearly shows the facing direction – crucial for combat resolution.

Hero Portraits

There are 16 Hero portraits, and the artwork is exceptional. It captures each character’s personality and timeline origin. The portraits are printed on sturdy card stock with a subtle metallic finish that adds to the premium feel. After numerous plays, we’ve noticed they hold up well to repeated insertion and removal from the bases.

Wall Tokens

The 18 wall tokens are substantial plastic pieces that fit securely between hex spaces. Their height is perfectly calculated to block the line of sight while remaining easy to grab and reposition. The translucent purple material adds to the game’s aesthetic while making it easy to see the state of the board behind them. They’ve proven incredibly durable through multiple games.

Armor Tokens

The game includes 48 Tokens: 32 Regular Armors, bronze-colored tokens with distinct shield designs, and 16 Superior Armors, gold-colored tokens with a premium metallic finish. Both types feature precise molding for secure base attachment and clear visual distinction. The different shield designs help quickly identify armor types during play.

Team Cards

Each team has two identical reference cards (one for each player) displaying hero stats and abilities. There are 8 of them. The double-sided printing ensures all information is always visible.

The unique thing about Heroes of Timeline is that these two components have a shiny symbol on their back, which isn’t seen much in board games. This makes the design unbeatable.

Hero Cards

16 Individual hero cards (two per team = 8) serve as both reference and activation trackers. The graphic design effectively communicates each hero’s capabilities while incorporating the theme from their Timeline.

Turn Counter

A simple but effective two-piece counter tracks the current turn and corresponding Börd’s Punishment. The mechanism is basic but functional, though some players prefer to use the turn tracker on the website for easier reference.

Punishment Tokens

These two distinctive tokens mark which player is suffering Börd’s Punishment. The design incorporates both color and symbol coding for easy recognition.

Skill/Ability Tokens

These tokens, used to track active abilities and skills, feature clear iconography visible across the table. The designs correspond to specific team and hero abilities.

Of course, there is also a rulebook that explains everything you need to know, well-formed and illustrated. We also like the rulebook size because it isn’t like a normal sheet; it is short and simple, containing 42 small sheets.

How to Setup Heroes of Timeline

What we love about this board game is that the setup is fast and simple—so simple that, surprisingly, in this review, we will make the setup section in ONLY 3 STEPS. By seeing the rulebook or the image of the full setup shown here, you will know what and where to place it.

Before you Start

The journey into Heroes of Timeline begins with selecting your fighting force. Each player chooses one of the four distinct teams, though for your first game, we strongly recommend the straightforward Dragon Hunters for newcomers. We’ve found that having each player take both copies of their team’s reference card significantly speeds up gameplay, eliminating the need to pass cards back and forth during intense battles.

Creating your heroes is the next step, and it’s here where the game’s innovative design first shines. Each hero portrait slots satisfyingly into a base, creating your army’s physical presence on the battlefield.

Now comes a crucial strategic decision – the placement of armor tokens. You’ll need to carefully consider how to distribute both regular and superior armor around each hero’s base, as these early choices can determine survival in the heat of battle. We’ve learned through many games that balancing armor between your front arc (for aggressive plays) and rear areas (for protection against flanking) is key to success.

First Step

The battlefield itself requires careful preparation. The hex-based board should be positioned so players face each other across its longer axis, each controlling three sectors on their side.

This is where the first major strategic decisions begin – wall placement. The player commanding the larger team (or winning a coin toss if teams are equal) starts this crucial phase. Each player will place six walls in total, dropping two into their three closest sectors. This initial wall placement phase often sets the tone for the entire game, creating corridors, choke points, and safe zones that influence every subsequent turn.

Second Step

Next comes the hero deployment phase, which follows a strict alternating pattern. Starting with the first player (who placed the last shield), heroes are placed one at a time in their respective deployment zones – the two rows furthest from the center in your starting sector. This back-and-forth deployment creates fascinating mind games as players try to anticipate their opponent’s strategy while positioning their forces. A special rule kicks in for significantly mismatched teams (three or more hero differences): the smaller team gets a free repositioning of one hero before the larger team’s final placement, adding an extra layer of tactical consideration.

Third and Final Step

The final setup steps prepare you for the coming battle. The turn counter is set to one, punishment tokens are placed nearby (you’ll likely need them soon enough!), and ability tokens are kept within easy reach. If any heroes or teams have pre-game abilities, now’s the time to declare them, with the second player having first rights to these declarations.

One often overlooked but crucial setup element is ensuring all hero cards are face-up and easily visible to both players. We’ve found that arranging them in activation order helps track turns more efficiently. Some players even like to set up a “graveyard” area for eliminated heroes – trust us, you’ll need it.

With everything in place, the board should now tell a story of potential – walls creating defensive lines, heroes poised for action, and the all-important central key tile beckoning with promises of victory. The stage is set for an epic clash of tactics and strategy, where every decision in this setup phase will ripple through the coming battle.

Game Mechanics

Heroes of Timeline is a heavy strategy board game filled with strategic mechanics that would make even the most experienced strategist of our team Ivan raise an eyebrow. It’s like Chess had a baby with Memoir ’44, but this baby grew up to become a tactical genius, much like the board game Onitama.

Turn Structure

Before we discuss the actions and mechanics, let’s discuss the turn structure. The game has up to five turns, each consisting of three distinct phases.

• Every turn begins with the Pre-Turn Abilities phase, where players can declare powerful special abilities that will influence the coming actions. This creates an exciting meta-game of prediction and counter-prediction that we’ve found adds tremendous depth to each match.
• The main Activation phase follows, where heroes perform their actions alternately.
• Finally, the Turn Resolution phase determines control and assigns Börd’s dreaded punishments.

Hero Activation

The heart of the game beats in its activation system. When activated, each hero performs the Move-Turn-Attack sequence – a brilliantly streamlined system that offers countless tactical possibilities. Movement allows heroes to traverse a number of hexes equal to their movement value, though walls and other heroes block passage (unless specific abilities say otherwise). The turning aspect is particularly clever, as facing determines both attack direction and armor vulnerability. Finally, heroes can execute either a ranged or melee attack, each with its own strategic implications.

Combat System

The combat mechanics are elegantly brutal in their simplicity. Ranged attacks can strike at a distance but are stopped by walls and other heroes. Melee attacks require reaching the enemy’s hex but are generally more deadly. The armor system adds a fascinating layer of complexity – regular armor can save you from ranged attacks, but against melee strikes, it will disappoint your expectations – you’re out, while superior armor offers protection against both but is extremely limited. We’ve found this creates intense decisions about when to risk exposure and when to maintain defensive positioning.

Armor Management

The most innovative mechanic is the armor system. Each hero’s base can hold multiple armor tokens, but positioning them is crucial. Regular armor gets destroyed when hit by ranged attacks but prevents elimination, while superior armor degrades to regular armor when hit by ranged attacks and gets destroyed by melee attacks. This creates a compelling resource management sub-game that influences every tactical decision.

Team Abilities

Each team brings unique mechanics to the battlefield. The Guards of Witgat can raise walls mid-game, the Hidden Temple excels at repositioning enemies, the Dragon Hunters can break through walls, and the Institute bends reality itself. These abilities fundamentally change how each team approaches victory, creating fascinating asymmetric gameplay that somehow remains perfectly balanced.

Reflex Moves

The reflex move system is a brilliant catch-up mechanism that kicks in when one team has fewer activations than their opponent. It allows the smaller force to either make a limited move or ranged attack with an already-activated hero, helping maintain tension even when outnumbered.

Victory Conditions

The dual victory conditions create a constant tension between aggressive and defensive play. You can win by eliminating all enemy heroes (total elimination) or controlling more turns (domination victory). Turn control is determined first by occupying the central key tile and, if empty, maintaining more sectors. This elegant system prevents stalemates and forces constant engagement.

Börd’s Punishment System

This unique catch-up mechanism punishes the losing player, creating a fascinating psychological element. Each turn’s punishment is different, from reduced movement to armor degradation, forcing players to consider carefully which turns they can afford to lose. While controversial among some players, it adds an extra layer of strategic depth to turn control.

Resource Management

Beyond the obvious tactical elements, the game requires careful management of several resources: armor tokens, ability uses, and positional advantage. The limited nature of superior armor makes its use a crucial decision point, while the one-time nature of many abilities forces careful timing considerations.

The Action Economy

Each hero’s single activation per turn makes every action precious. The inability to move and attack at maximum efficiency creates tension between positioning for future turns and capitalizing on current opportunities. This action economy, combined with the alternating activation system, creates a psychological battle of anticipation and reaction that keeps both players fully engaged.

These interlocking systems create a game that’s remarkably easy to learn. While the mechanics might seem overwhelming initially, they flow together naturally during play, creating a seamless experience that keeps players coming back with the famous saying amongst the board game community for “just one more match.”

The Art of the Wall Dance – Mastering Heroes of Timeline’s Most Overlooked Strategy

When we first dove into Heroes of Timeline, we focused on the flashy hero abilities and combat. However, after countless matches, we discovered the game’s most fascinating strategic layer isn’t about the heroes at all – it’s about the walls.

We call it “The Wall Dance,” and it’s revolutionized our approach to every match. Those 18 wall tokens create a dynamic, ever-shifting battlefield that can make or break your victory plans. What started as basic defensive barriers has evolved into an intricate strategic art form.

The dance begins during setup, where each player places six walls across their three nearest sectors. We’ve developed several opening “wall formations” that have become like chess openings in our local meta:

The Funnel Gambit: Arranging walls to create an apparent weakness, channeling opponents toward a killing ground. This strategy particularly shines with the Hidden Temple team’s superior mobility.

The Fortress Defense: Creating a defensive pocket around the sector closest to the key tile – perfect for the Dragon Hunters’ superior armor.

But the real magic happens mid-game. The Guards of Witgat’s ability to raise walls during battle adds a new dimension. We’ve seen matches where skilled Witgat players completely reshape the battlefield, gradually constricting their opponent’s movement options while creating safe passages for their own forces.

What makes the wall system brilliant is its interaction with other mechanics. Walls don’t just block movement – they prevent ranged attacks, create safe zones for armor management, and force commitment to movement paths. We’ve discovered that wall positioning becomes even more crucial when Börd’s Punishments come into play.

As we like to say in our gaming group: “Heroes win battles, but walls win wars.” After all, even the mightiest hero can be stopped by two inches of well-placed purple plastic!

Sweet and Sour of Heroes of Timeline – Pros and Cons

What We Liked About the Game

• That moment when you perfectly predict your opponent’s movement and catch their hero with an exposed, unarmored side—pure tactical bliss! It’s like scoring a checkmate but with more dramatic flair.
• Armor tokens create a mini-game of psychological warfare. We love how players instinctively stare at each other’s hero bases, trying to memorize where the superior armor is placed. It’s like poker but with armored fantasy heroes.
• Those intense “should I or shouldn’t I” moments when deciding whether to sacrifice position to grab the key tile. We’ve lost count of how often we’ve debated this in our heads, only to watch our opponent do precisely what we feared.
• The Guards of Witgat’s wall-raising ability. There’s something deeply satisfying about dropping a wall right before an opponent’s carefully planned attack route. Their expression is always priceless!

What Could Be Improved

• While clever, the innovative hero base design can occasionally present challenges with armor token stability, mainly when multiple tokens are adjacent. Even with the recommended base assembly modifications, we’ve experienced minor disruptions during intense matches. It’s no big deal, but it could be worked on.

• While adding strategic depth, the punishment system can sometimes create significant momentum shifts, especially in the final turns. The Turn Four armor downgrade, in particular, can have a decisive impact on the game’s outcome that might feel a bit steep for some players.

• While the rich lore and backstory add tremendous depth to the game’s universe, having this content primarily accessible through the website means some fascinating character connections and storylines might be missed during regular gameplay. A companion lore booklet would have been a welcome addition to the physical game.

The Unexpected Joy: Despite its small imperfections, Heroes of Timeline has carved out a special place in our gaming evenings. What often starts as “just one quick game” inevitably transforms into marathon sessions of tactical battles that keep us engaged until the early hours. Something about its blend of strategic depth and elegant design makes you forgive its minor flaws – much like a classic that stands the test of time despite its quirks.

Our Final Thoughts

The game is interesting in the space between Chess and Neuroshima Hex. Like Chess, it’s completely deterministic – no dice, no cards, just pure strategy. Like Neuroshima Hex, positioning and facing are crucial. However, unlike either, Heroes of Timeline creates narrative moments that feel more like a tactical RPG than a pure strategy game.

Speaking of depth, let’s address the elephant in the room: the learning curve. It’s not steep, but your first few games will likely end in crushing defeat as you learn the hard way that leaving an unarmored side exposed is asking to be eliminated. However, unlike many complex games, each loss in Heroes of Timeline teaches you something concrete: a massive benefit for the players.

For those considering adding this to their collection, here’s our advice: if you enjoy pure strategy games but want something more dynamic, this is your game. If you like the idea of tactical combat but hate when dice determine your fate, this is your game. This is your game if you enjoy games that reward repeated plays and mastery.

However, you should look elsewhere if you prefer games with more social interaction. This game demands your full attention and rewards dedicated play. It’s also only great as a family board game if your family enjoys intense tactical battles.

If you’re willing to invest the time to master it, Heroes of Timeline offers some of the most satisfying tactical gameplay we’ve ever experienced. Just be prepared for those moments when your carefully planned strategy crumbles because you forgot about the Lady’s storm winds ability.

In the end, Heroes of Timeline isn’t just a game – it’s a journey of tactical discovery that rewards dedication and strategic thinking. Whether you’re plotting elaborate multi-turn traps or enjoying the satisfaction of outmaneuvering your opponent, there’s something here for every type of strategy gamer. Just be prepared to lose your first dozen matches spectacularly – and to enjoy every minute of it.

The post Heroes Of Timeline Review: The Ultimate Mind-Duel Board Game appeared first on Board Games Land.

Overview of Black Forest

Black Forest is a one—to four-player board game that transports the players back to 13th-century Germany, where they’ll establish glassmaking empires amidst towering pines and shadowy glades. As a spiritual successor to Rosenberg’s Glass Road, this game takes the core concept of resource wheels and expands it into a full-fledged worker placement extravaganza. Players will navigate a modular board, construct buildings, and manipulate their production wheels in a delicate dance of efficiency and timing.

With its blend of historical theme and crunchy economic gameplay, Black Forest promises to satisfy history buffs and Euro game enthusiasts alike. But before explaining the mechanics, let’s take a moment to appreciate the physical manifestation of this woodland wonder.

Components of the Game

This is where the game board shows uniqueness, so let’s see what awaits us. The box doesn’t have slots for components, which we don’t like, but it isn’t a big deal. Instead, it is well sorted with the cardboard cutout.

Game Board

Of course, we start with the main part – the centerpiece, its double-sided game board featuring a sprawling map of the Black Forest region. One side caters to solo play, while the other accommodates 2-4 players. The board is a feast for the eyes, with beautifully illustrated villages, winding paths, and lush forest landscapes. It’s not just pretty – the board is functionally designed with clear spaces for workers, job cards, and resource tracking. The image on the left shows the solo-player game board, and the right-side image shows the 2-4-player game board.

Production Tableaus

Each player receives a personal production tableau, the heart of their glassmaking operation. These dual-layered boards feature two ingenious resource wheels – one for glassmaking and one for cooking. The wheels are a tactile joy to manipulate, with satisfying clicks as you rotate them. The dual-layer design ensures your resource markers stay put, even if the table gets bumped.

Glass Huts and Progress Trackers

The glass huts are charming wooden pieces that represent your main glassmaking facility. They come with accompanying progress trackers that move up a track on your tableau, marking your advancement in glassmaking art. When you reach the top, you expand your domain – a clever visual representation of your growing empire.

Building Tiles

Black Forest boasts an impressive array of 36 small and 14 large building tiles. These double-sided cardboard pieces are thick and durable, with clear iconography on one side and evocative artwork on the other. The buildings range from simple clay pits to grand manors, each offering unique benefits and scoring opportunities.

Landscape Tiles

Expand your domain with various landscape tiles – fields, ponds, pastures, and forests. These sturdy cardboard tiles fit snugly on your player board and the additional estate tiles you’ll acquire throughout the game.

Resource Markers

A colorful assortment of wooden discs represents your various resources—from essential goods like wood and sand to refined products like glass, provisions, and commodities. The color-coded markers and feature stickers for easy identification make resource management a breeze.

Meeples and Pawns

Each player gets a set of wooden meeples in their color to represent workers and other game elements. The pawns used for worker placement are satisfyingly chunky, making them easy to grasp and move around the board.

Job Cards

A deck of job tiles adds variety and additional objectives to each game. These tiles are printed on quality cardstock with clear illustrations, representing various tasks and opportunities in the Black Forest. For example, the tiles can include “Feudal Lord” (requiring players to spend specific landscape tiles), “Market” (allowing players to exchange livestock for resources), and “Builder” (rewarding players with free building if they provide the required resources). These diverse jobs offer unique challenges and rewards, keeping each playthrough fresh and exciting.

How To Setup Black Forest

It’s time to set up this remarkable board game. Think of it as constructing your miniature medieval village on your table!
The image below shows you the complete setup of the board game:

Step One

First, let’s lay the foundation. Lay out the game board in the center of the table, choosing the side that matches your player count. You’ll want the side with the charming cuckoo clock symbol for solo play, while group games use the other side. This board is your window into the Black Forest, with its winding paths and bustling villages waiting to be explored.

Step Two

You can’t leave it like that, so start by populating your forest with opportunities! Take the two larger building boards for small buildings and arrange them near the main board. Here’s where things get interesting: you’ll place all 36 small buildings on these boards, but only after adding a dash of randomness. Flip 10 of these buildings to their ‘B‘ side before placing them all according to their numbers. This ensures that no two games of Black Forest will ever be quite the same!

Step Three

Place the board for large buildings nearby, making sure to use the side that matches your player count. Then, sort the large building tiles by their Roman numeral backs, shuffle each stack, and place them face-up on the corresponding spaces. These imposing structures will be the crown jewels players vie for throughout the game.

Step Four

Every village needs its tradespeople, and Black Forest is no exception. Sort the tradesperson tiles by their backs, shuffle each stack, and then populate the five villages on the board with these skilled workers. Once they’re all in place, flip them face-up. Your forest is now teeming with coopers, glassblowers, and other medieval artisans!

Step Five

Shuffle the job tiles and place them face-down on the designated space on the board. As the game progresses, these will be revealed, offering players enticing opportunities to prove their worth.

Step Six

Now, players have to establish their domains. Each player takes a production tableau with resource wheels that they’ll adjust throughout the game. They’ll also gather their starting resources, place their main estate board to the right of their tableau, and set up their initial glass hut with its progress tracker.

Final Step

The final touches involve distributing starting landscape tiles to each player’s estate, choosing player colors, and determining the first player. In a two-player game, you’ll also place a neutral pawn on the board, adding an extra strategic element to navigate.

The player setup should look like this:

As you complete these steps, you’ll see that the table has transformed into a microcosm of Medieval Germany. The forests are lush, the villages are bustling, and the air is thick with the potential for glassmaking greatness. With everything in its place, you’re ready to embark on your Black Forest adventure!

How Does Black Forest Work – Game Mechanics

Here, we will explain the Game Mechanics and how they work from start to end, and of course, our opinion on them. Let’s start first with the turn structure. Each turn in Black Forest is a three-act strategy and resource management play.

Commodity Phase

First, players have the option to spend a commodity to move the traveling merchant, a clever mechanism that allows for board manipulation reminiscent of the worker placement twists in games like Keyflower. This action can dramatically alter the options, adding delightful adaptability to your strategies.

The Movement Phase

Players must move their workers to a new location, either within the same village or to a different one, by spending precious provisions. This creates a fascinating spatial puzzle as you balance the need to access specific actions against the cost of travel. It’s a mechanic that would make even the most seasoned Uwe Rosenberg fans nod in appreciation.

Finally, players perform one or two actions at their chosen location. These actions are the heart of the game, and we’ll talk about them in a minute.

Resource Management and Production Wheels

At the core of Black Forest lies its innovative resource management system, centered around two production wheels on each player’s tableau. These wheels, reminiscent of the resource dials in Uwe Rosenberg’s earlier game, Glass Road, are a stroke of genius. The wheel mechanism’s looks kind of remind us of Finca, where you pick up resources, only this time, the resources are on the wheel instead of wooden components. This clever mechanic saves a lot of downtime.

The left wheel focuses on glassmaking resources (wood, sand, water, coal, and glass), while the right wheel manages cooking resources (meat, porridge, coal, provisions, and commodities). As you gain and spend resources, you’ll rotate these wheels. When certain conditions are met – specifically, when all of the basic resource markers are above zero – the wheel automatically produces, converting essential resources into more valuable refined goods.

This system creates a fascinating timing puzzle. Players must carefully manage their resources to trigger productions at opportune moments, a mechanic that adds depth and rewards forward-thinking. Also, instead of trading the basic resources and gaining produced ones, players simply turn the wheel until it hits the first resource marker, and the values change themselves.

Actions

Upon reaching a village, players can visit two adjacent tradespeople or complete a job. Each tradesperson offers unique benefits, from resource gathering to building construction. The dual-action possibility in villages creates delicious decision points as players weigh the benefits of different action combinations. The actions available in Black Forest are as varied as the forest itself.

Visit Tradespeople

When your worker lands between two tradespeople in a village, you can activate one or both of their abilities—from gaining resources to constructing buildings or advancing your glass hut. The combo potential here is immensely satisfying.

Complete Jobs

Jobs are another way to score points and gain resources. When the arrow hits the resource reminder tile, one job is placed on the board and can be completed by moving to their location and meeting the requirements. It’s a race to grab the best jobs before your opponents! The number of available jobs matches the number of players who have reached this milestone. For instance, in a four-player game, four jobs will be available simultaneously on the board once all players have moved their reminder tiles.

Jobs can be claimed by traveling to their specific locations and fulfilling their requirements, creating an engaging race among players to secure the most valuable opportunities. When a player completes a job, they immediately gain its rewards, and a new job is revealed to replace it, maintaining a constant number of available opportunities. This creates a dynamic economy of possibilities, where players must carefully balance the cost of traveling to these locations against their potential rewards. Each completed job is removed from the game permanently, adding weight to the decision of when and which jobs to pursue.

Construct Buildings

Buildings are a vital source of points and ongoing abilities. The variety of buildings available ensures that no two games feel the same, and the strategy of which buildings to prioritize adds significant depth to the game.

Expand Your Domain

As your glass hut progresses, you’ll expand your domain by adding new estate boards. This provides more space for buildings and resources, crucial for scaling up your operations. When your Glass Hut Progress tracker reaches the top of its track, you immediately gain a new Small Estate tile. This tile comes with two Forests and several empty spaces for additional buildings or landscape tiles. Each expansion gives you more room to grow and scores you points, representing your increasing influence in the Black Forest region.

Manage Livestock

Cows and pigs can be acquired and housed in pastures, forests, and stables. They’re a source of meat for the cooking wheel and can score points at the game’s end if stored on pastures. Here, ‘how it works,’ The cows can only be stored in stables or pastures. The pigs, on the other hand, go on forests or pastures. The pasture can not hold both types at the same time.

Game End and Scoring

The game end is triggered when a player’s provision (food/purple) marker reaches a specific point on their cooking wheel (shown in the image). After a final round, points are tallied from various sources: glass produced, cooking wheel position, estates acquired, livestock, buildings, and end-game scoring effects, which are calculated through the Player Aid.

The Alchemy of Glassmaking – Mastering the Production Wheels

Playing Black Forest, we’ve been utterly amazed by the game’s crown jewel: the production wheels. These ingenious contraptions are not just a clever nod to the game’s glassmaking theme; they’re the beating heart of its economic engine and possibly why Black Forest has been hailed as the #1 board game of 2024.

We first noticed the wheels’ uniqueness during our second game. As we rotated the dials, watching resources disappear and reappear, we realized we were witnessing a miniature economic ecosystem. The moment when all basic resource markers are above zero, triggering automatic production, never fails to elicit a collective gasp of excitement from our gaming group.

It’s a delicate balancing act – push too hard for immediate gains, and you might disrupt your long-term production cycle. Hold back too much, and you risk falling behind your opponents.

This mechanic brilliantly simulates the ebb and flow of a medieval economy, where resources are consumed to produce goods and fuel further production. We’ve rarely seen this level of economic simulation executed so elegantly in board games.

While Glass Road, Black Forest’s spiritual predecessor, introduced the concept of these production wheels, we feel that Black Forest has perfected the mechanism. The increased complexity and interplay with the expanded worker placement elements create a richer, more satisfying experience.

It’s no wonder Black Forest has been hailed as the #1 board game of 2024. The production wheels, the game’s strategic options, and the beautiful presentation create an unmatched gaming experience. Critics and players alike have praised its ability to offer a balance between beginner-friendly mechanics and strategic depth for veterans.

Highs and Lows – Our Black Forest Experience

Things We Love

• No wonder the first thing that caught our eye was the production wheels; they are a stroke of genius. We were mesmerized by the constant give and take of resources, creating a satisfying rhythm to our turns. It’s like conducting an economic orchestra!
• The sheer variety of buildings in each game kept us returning for more. We particularly enjoyed the “Tannery” building, which turned our leftover pigs into a surprising source of end-game points.
• The tension of timing our glass hut expansions was intense. We’ll never forget the collective gasp when Tijana expanded her domain just before nabbing a crucial job card.
• The artwork is simply stunning. We spent far too much time admiring the intricate details on the tradesperson tiles, and the glassblower’s determined expression became a running joke in our group.

Things That Gave Us Pause

• While we appreciated the depth, Having so many options was very confusing. It took us a complete game to feel comfortable with all the buildings and their functions. Thankfully, they are all organized by the resources they produce, making things a bit easier.
• The two-player variant with the neutral pawn felt forced. We longed for the more organic competition of our three and four-player games.
• Storage became an issue. After our third game, fitting everything back into the box felt like solving a particularly frustrating puzzle. We eventually resorted to a custom foam insert.
• The abundance of choice sometimes led to analysis paralysis, especially in the late game. Our friend Mike’s turns started to rival the lifespan of a medieval glassworks!

Final Thoughts – A Journey Through the Black Forest

As we pack away the last of the building tiles and carefully align the resource wheels for storage, we can’t help but reflect on our journey with Black Forest. From our first encounter with the game at Essen Spiel Day 1, this creation from Uwe Rosenberg and Tido Lorenz has left an indelible mark on our gaming group.

There were a bunch of people playing Black Forest. It was the main show of that hall, and no wonder it was. Black Forest exemplifies what Uwe Rosenberg does best—creating intricate economic simulations that somehow manage to be brain-burning. It’s a hallmark of his designs, seen in classics like Agricola and Caverna, but it feels more refined and focused here. The production wheels, mainly, are a stroke of genius that will influence game design for years.

One of our most memorable moments came during our fifth playthrough when our colleague Vanco, usually the analysis paralysis poster child, pulled off a stunning combo. He managed to trigger three production cycles in a single turn, converting a mountain of sand into a glittering pile of glass and victory points. He also collected all the jobs.

The game can be overwhelming for newcomers. The sheer number of options available each turn can lead to decision paralysis. We’ve introduced new players with a “starter” setup, limiting the available buildings to ease them into the game’s depths. It’s a testament to the game’s design that it remains engaging and strategic even with this simplified setup.

Black Forest sits comfortably alongside other heavy economic games like Brass Birmingham, but its unique production wheel mechanism and the thematic integration of its medieval glassmaking setting set it apart. Fans of Rosenberg’s other works will find familiar elements—the tight resource management of Agricola and the spatial puzzle of A Feast for Odin—combined in a fresh and exciting way.

We particularly appreciate how the game encourages players to specialize while remaining flexible. In one memorable match, Angelina focused entirely on meat production, converting it into Bricks and wood by a special building. The risky strategy paid off spectacularly because this allowed her to gain even more buildings since they all required some combination of wood and bricks. This demonstrates the game’s capacity for varied play styles.

As we close the box on another session, already planning our following strategies, we’re reminded of why we fell in love with board gaming in the first place. Black Forest isn’t just a game – it’s an experience, a journey, a story we create together around the table. And in the end, isn’t that what great games are all about?

So, whether you’re a Rosenberg fan or a newcomer to heavy Euros, we wholeheartedly recommend giving Black Forest a try. Just be prepared – once you enter these woods, you may be reluctant to leave. Happy gaming, and may your glass huts always prosper!

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Top Strategy Board Games for Engaging Minds and Fostering Competition

• Cosmic Colonies – This is one of top board games featuring space-themed strategy, that has taken the board game world by storm since its release last year. Players compete to establish colonies on distant planets while managing resources and fending off rival civilizations. With its stunning artwork and deep gameplay mechanics, Cosmic Colonies offers endless replayability and has quickly become a modern classic.
• Everdell: Spirecrest – While not brand new, this expansion to the famous Everdell game continues to impress players with its charming woodland theme and worker placement mechanics. The “Spirecrest” expansion adds new challenges and opportunities as players guide their animal citizens through harsh weather conditions and epic expeditions.
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – This streamlined card game version of the hit Terraforming Mars retains the strategic depth of its predecessor while offering a more accessible entry point for newcomers. As the climate crisis continues to be a pressing issue, this game’s theme of transforming the Red Planet feels particularly relevant.

Party Games Designed for Laughter and Bonding

•  Wavelength: Harmonized Edition – This updated version of the popular mind-reading party game includes new categories and a sleek, eco-friendly design. Players attempt to read their teammates’ minds by placing a marker on a spectrum between two contrasting concepts. Wavelength: Harmonized Edition is perfect for large groups and always leads to interesting discussions and laughs.
• Just One: Expanded Universe – Building on the success of the Spiel des Jahres-winning Just One, this top board game edition includes thousands of new words and introduces optional rule variants to keep the game fresh for veteran players. Its simple premise – giving one-word clues to help a player guess a secret word – makes it accessible to all ages and group sizes.
• Codenames: Pop Culture – The latest Codenames franchise addition focuses on movies, TV shows, music, and internet memes. This top board game version brings a contemporary twist to the beloved word-guessing game, making it especially appealing to younger players and pop culture fans.

Family Games – Fun for All Ages

• Ticket to Ride: World Tour – This new installment in the Ticket to Ride series combines elements from previous editions into one global adventure. Players can now build train routes across multiple continents, adding a new layer of strategy to the familiar gameplay. With its vibrant board and easy-to-learn rules, “World Tour” is perfect for family game nights.
• Catan: Green Revolution – This eco-friendly reimagining of the classic Settlers of Catan incorporates sustainable resource management and green technology into its gameplay. Players must balance development with environmental conservation, reflecting real-world challenges. The game’s components are recycled materials, emphasizing its environmentally conscious theme.
• Pandemic: Rapid Response Team – Building on the cooperative gameplay that made Pandemic a household name, this top board game version focuses on emergency response logistics. Players work together to deliver aid to crisis-stricken areas worldwide, managing time and resources under pressure. It’s both educational and exciting, making it an excellent choice for families with older children.

Two-Player Games That are Perfect for Couples and Duos

• 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon – This expansion to the award-winning two-player version of 7 Wonders introduces a pantheon of gods from various mythologies. Players can invoke divine powers to gain advantages, adding new strategic layers to the base game’s card-drafting mechanics.
• Patchwork: Folkart Edition – This visually stunning remake of the popular two-player game features intricate folk art designs worldwide. Players still compete to create the most beautiful quilt, but now with pieces inspired by diverse cultural traditions.

Top Board Games for Solo Players

• Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles – While not new, this top board game expansion to the massive dungeon-crawling game Gloomhaven continues to offer one of the best solo gaming experiences. Its intricate storylines and challenging gameplay make it perfect for those looking for a deep, immersive experience.
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Edge of the Earth – This standalone expansion to the popular Lovecraftian card game provides a complete campaign that is playable solo or cooperatively. Its narrative-driven gameplay and atmospheric setting make it an excellent choice for those who enjoy story-rich experiences.

Classic Games with a Twist

• Chess: Quantum Edition – This futuristic take on the age-old chess game incorporates elements of quantum mechanics, allowing pieces to exist simultaneously in multiple states. While it may sound complex, clever design makes it accessible even to those unfamiliar with quantum concepts.
• Scrabble: Etymology Challenge – This top board game variant of the classic word game adds an educational twist by rewarding players for their knowledge of word origins. Special tiles and bonuses encourage players to explore the rich history of language while competing to create the highest-scoring words.

Conclusion

The board game renaissance shows no signs of slowing down in 2024. There’s something for every taste and group size, from strategic epics to laugh-out-loud party games. These top board games offer more than just entertainment. They provide opportunities for face-to-face interaction, strategic thinking, and shared experiences in an increasingly digital world.

Whether you’re an advanced gamer or new to the hobby, the diverse selection of top board games available today ensures you’ll find something to enjoy. So gather your friends and family, put away the screens, and rediscover the joy of playing together around a table. In a world that often feels divided, board games continue to bring people together, one roll of the dice at a time.

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From our numerous playthroughs with different groups, we can attest that Brass Birmingham offers a deep and rewarding experience. The rulebook, meticulously written and edited by a team led by Simon Rourke, provides clear guidance on navigating the game’s complexities. However, as with many strategy board games of this caliber, it takes a few plays to fully grasp the nuances and strategic depth.

Components of Brass Birmingham

Board

The game board in Brass Birmingham is a visual masterpiece illustrating the West Midlands during the Industrial Revolution. It features two sides, a day side, and a night side, allowing players to choose their preferred aesthetic. In this review the gameplay will be on the day side. The board is beautiful and functional, with clearly-marked locations for canals, railways, and various industries. The quality of the board is robust, with a thick, durable material that can withstand repeated play without showing wear and tear.

Player Mats

Each player receives a player mat that organizes their industry tiles and tracks their income and victory points. These sturdy cardboard mats are designed to help players manage their resources efficiently. The mats are well-illustrated, with clear icons and spaces for each type of industry tile, making it easy to see which tiles are available for building or development.

Character Tiles

The character tiles represent the entrepreneurs each player embodies. These small but detailed tiles feature historical figures such as Sir Richard Arkwright and James Watt. They are made from thick cardboard, ensuring they remain in good condition through many games. These tiles also play a crucial role in determining the turn order based on the money spent by each player during the previous round.

Income Markers and Victory Point Markers

These markers track each player’s income and victory points throughout the game. Made from durable plastic or wood (depending on the edition), they are easy to move along the progress track on the player mats. Their design ensures they stay in place without slipping, accurately representing each player’s status.

Wild Cards

The game includes eight wild cards (four wild location cards and four wild industry cards) that offer players increased flexibility in their actions. These cards are printed on high-quality cardstock with a linen finish, making them durable and pleasant to handle. The artwork on these cards is consistent with the game’s overall aesthetic, adding to the immersive experience.

Location and Industry Cards

There are 64 location and industry cards in Brass Birmingham. These cards dictate where players can build industries or expand their networks. Like the wild cards, they are made from high-quality cardstock with a linen finish. The cards feature detailed illustrations of various locations and industries, enhancing the thematic feel of the game.

Player Aids

Each player receives an aid summarizing the game’s rules and actions. These aids are invaluable for new players learning the game or experienced players needing a quick reference. They are printed on thick paper stock and designed to be clear and concise.

Coal Cubes, Iron Cubes, and Beer Barrels

The game includes 30 coal cubes, 18 iron cubes, and 15 beer barrels, all made from wood or plastic (depending on the edition). These resource tokens are essential for building industries and performing actions like selling goods or expanding networks. Their tactile nature adds to the game’s enjoyment, as players physically manipulate these resources throughout play.

Link Tiles

There are 56 link tiles (14 per color) used to represent canals and railways built by players. These tiles are made from sturdy cardboard or wood (in the deluxe edition) and feature detailed illustrations of canals and rail lines. They fit neatly onto the board’s designated spaces, helping to create an interconnected network across the West Midlands.

Industry Tiles

The game includes 180 industry tiles (45 per color) representing different types of industries, such as cotton mills, coal mines, ironworks, manufacturers, potteries, and breweries. Each tile is double-sided, with one side indicating it has been built but has yet to be flipped (unflipped) and the other side indicating it has been flipped after fulfilling certain conditions (flipped). The tiles are made from thick cardboard with clear icons showing their type and level.

Merchant Tiles

Nine merchant tiles represent various markets where players can sell their goods. Based on player count, these tiles are placed in specific locations around the board. Made from thick cardboard, they feature detailed illustrations of merchants associated with different industries. Each tile also includes spaces for beer barrels used in selling actions.

Money Tokens

Brass Birmingham has 67 money tokens (or 70 Iron Clays in the deluxe edition). These tokens represent currency used for building industries, expanding networks, taking loans, etc. In the standard edition, they are made from thick cardboard with denominations marked. The deluxe edition’s Iron Clays add a luxurious touch with their weighty feel and intricate design.

Deluxe Edition Components

For those who opt for the deluxe edition of Brass Birmingham, additional premium components enhance the gaming experience:

• Iron Clays: Replacing standard money tokens with poker-style chips known as Iron Clays adds a tactile pleasure to handling currency during gameplay.

• Wooden Resource Tokens: This edition’s coal cubes, iron cubes, and beer barrels are made from high-quality wood instead of plastic.
• Metallic Foil Embossing: The box cover features metallic foil embossing, which gives it an elegant look befitting its premium status.
• Upgraded Box Insert: A custom insert helps organize all components neatly within the Box while providing easy access during setup or cleanup.

Component Quality

The components in Brass Birmingham are widely praised for their exceptional quality and durability. Every design and production detail has been carefully considered, ensuring each piece looks fantastic and withstands repeated use. The board is thick, resists warping, and maintains its vibrant colors over time. The location, industry, and wild cards have a linen finish, enhancing durability and preventing fraying at the edges.

The industry, link, and merchant tiles are sturdily constructed and remain firm despite frequent handling. The standard cardboard or plastic tokens and the deluxe wooden alternatives are precisely crafted for longevity. The upgraded box insert in the Deluxe edition offers efficient storage, keeping all components organized and protected between sessions.

Setting Up Brass Birmingham

Setting up Brass Birmingham is an integral part of the game experience, setting the stage for the industrial competition unfolding. The setup process involves preparing the board, organizing components, and getting each player ready to dive into the strategic depths of the game. Here’s a detailed guide on how to set up Brass Birmingham, ensuring you’re prepared to embark on your industrial journey.

Board Setup

Choose the Board Side: Begin by selecting which side of the board you’d like to play on – the day or night. Both sides are functionally identical, but they offer different aesthetic experiences. The day side features a bright, bustling depiction of the West Midlands, while the night side presents a serene, moonlit version.

Place Merchant Tiles: Depending on the number of players, place merchant tiles in specific locations around the board. For a two-player game, remove all merchant tiles showing player counts more significant than two and put one tile each on locations marked for two players. In a three-player game, do the same for tiles showing counts greater than three. In a four-player game, use all merchant tiles.

Distribute Beer Barrels: Place one beer barrel beside a non-blank merchant tile on each designated space. These barrels are crucial for selling goods later in the game.

The image above shows where the beer barrels should be placed in the situation on the image. If there is confusion check out the image below this text:

Coal and Iron Markets: Populate the coal market with black cubes and the iron market with orange cubes. Fill these markets from left to right, leaving one £1 space open in the coal market and both £1 spaces open in the iron market.

General Supply: Place any remaining coal cubes, iron cubes, and beer barrels beside the board in what is known as the General Supply.

Bank Setup: Organize money tokens (or Iron Clays in the deluxe edition) beside the board to form the bank. This will be where players draw funds during gameplay.

Card Decks: Separate wild location cards and wild industry cards and place them face up on two card draw areas on the board. Shuffle the remaining location and industry cards together to form a draw deck and place it face down on another draw area.

After doing all of the things shown above, the board game setup should look something like this:

Player Area Setup

Distribute Player Mats: Each player receives a mat matching their chosen color. These mats help organize industry tiles and track income and victory points.

Starting Funds: Give each player £17 from the bank as their starting capital.

Character Tiles: Each player selects a character tile representing their entrepreneur persona for this game session.

Link Tiles: Players place 14 link tiles in their chosen color in their player area.

Industry Tiles: Stack each type of industry tile (cotton mills, coal mines, iron works, manufacturers, potteries, and breweries) face down (black top half) in its respective slot on your player mat.

Income and Victory Point Markers: Place your income marker on 10th space of the board track and your victory point marker on zero.

Draw Initial Cards: Each player draws eight cards from the draw deck to form their starting hand. Players should keep these cards hidden from others.

Discard Pile Setup: Draw one additional card from the deck and place it face down in your discard pile beside your player mat.

Determine Turn Order: Shuffle all character tiles together and place them randomly along the turn order track on the board to determine who goes first.

Gameplay Mechanics: What is There to Do

This board game weaves intricate mechanics to create a rich tapestry of strategic decision-making and economic maneuvering. Each action you take ripples through the game, influencing your progress and your opponents’ plans. Here’s an in-depth look at the gameplay mechanics that make Brass Birmingham a standout in board games.

Actions Overview

In Brass Birmingham, players take turns performing actions to build their industrial empire. Each turn consists of two actions, except for the first round of the Canal Era, where players perform only one action each. The available actions are Build, Network, Develop, Sell, Loan, and Scout. Understanding when and how to use these actions is key to mastering the game.

• Build – Building industries are at the heart of Brass Birmingham. To build an industry tile, you must discard an appropriate card from your hand. The card can be a location card, which allows you to build any industry in that specific location, or an industry card, which lets you build a particular type of industry in any location within your network. When building, you must pay the cost shown on your player mat and consume any required coal or iron. The placement rules dictate that industries must be placed in undeveloped spaces showing their icon. Overbuilding may be necessary if no such spaces are available; we will discuss that later.

• Network – Expanding your network is crucial for accessing new locations and resources. A player can only build links if they connect to their network. During the Canal Era, players could build canals by discarding any card and paying £3 to build a canal link. In the Rail Era, rail links replaced canals, costing £5 for one link or £15 for two links. Beer is also consumed, but not from merchants. Networking connects locations on the board, allowing for resource transportation and opening new opportunities for building and selling goods.

• Develop – The Develop action allows players to remove lower-level industry tiles from their player mats to access higher-level industries. This is essential for advancing your industrial capabilities and scoring higher points.  Discard any card and remove 1 or 2 industry tiles from your mat by consuming iron for each tile removed. Pottery tiles with a lightbulb icon cannot be developed; they must be built directly.

Development is a strategic move that requires foresight. It prepares you for future rounds by unlocking more valuable industries. Players flip these tiles and score income and victory points by selling goods from cotton mills, manufacturers, and Pottery.

• Sell

1. Discard Any Card: Place it face-up on your discard pile.
2. Choose Industry Tile: Select an unflipped cotton mill, manufacturer, or pottery tile connected to a merchant that shows that industry’s icon.
3. Consume Beer: Use beer barrels from breweries or merchant tiles if required.
4. Flip Tile: Advance your income marker using the spaces shown on the flipped tile.
5. Repeat: Choose another industry tile and do the same until you run out of unflipped industries or beer.

Selling is often a multi-step process involving careful planning of connections and resource management.

• Loan – Loans provide immediate cash flow but at the cost of reducing your income level. To take a loan discard any card and take £30 from the Bank. Afterwards, Move your income marker three income levels backward not spaces which are the golden and silver coins printed next to the victory point spaces. Loans are never repaid but must be strategically timed to avoid crippling your long-term income potential.

• Scout – The Scout action allows players to acquire Wild cards for increased flexibility in building industries. Discard three cards and place them face-up on your discard pile. Receive one Wild Location card and one Wild Industry card. This action provides strategic versatility but comes at the cost of using up one action.

Turn Order and Spending Money

Turn order in Birmingham is determined by how much money each player spends during their turn. Players who spend less money go earlier in the next round. Spent money is placed on top of character tiles on the turn order track. At the end of the round, the turn track is rearranged. 

This mechanic introduces a layer of tactical planning where players must balance spending against turn order advantages.

Resource Management

Resource management is a cornerstone of gameplay in Brass Birmingham:

• Coal Consumption: Coal is required for building rail links and specific industries; it must be connected via networks or purchased from the market.
• Iron Consumption: Used for developing industries; iron can be consumed from any unflipped Iron Works or purchased from the market.
• Beer Consumption is necessary for selling goods and building multiple rail links; beer can come from breweries or merchant tiles.

Managing these resources while disrupting opponents’ plans is key to gaining an edge.

End-of-Era Scoring

Each era ends with scoring based on link tiles and flipped industry tiles:

1. Score Links: Each link tile scores 1 VP for each adjacent location displaying VP icons.
2. Score Flipped Industries: Flipped tiles score VPs shown in their bottom left corner.

After scoring, remove all level 1 industry tiles (except Pottery) from the board at the end of the Canal Era while resetting merchant beer barrels and reshuffling discard piles into a new draw deck.

The Crucial Role of Coal in Brass Birmingham

In Brass Birmingham, coal is the lifeblood of industrial expansion. Understanding how coal works—and how to manage it effectively—can make or break your strategy. Whether laying down railways, building industries, or scrambling for resources, coal is pivotal in your journey through the Industrial Revolution.

When There’s No More Coal on the Map

Picture this: the game board is bustling with activity, industries are popping up everywhere, and suddenly—you realize there’s no more coal available. This scenario can create a tense atmosphere around the table. When the coal supply runs dry on the map, players must turn to the Coal Market.

Buying from the Market

• Costly Consequences: Purchasing coal from the market can quickly drain your funds, especially if you’re forced to buy at higher prices. Each increment in cost represents a significant expenditure that could have been used elsewhere in your industrial expansion.
• Market Dynamics: The Coal Market adds an economic layer to the game where supply and demand fluctuate based on player actions. Market prices might be low early in the game, but prices rise as players consume more coal, reflecting scarcity.

Strategic Implications: Running out of coal on the map forces players into a precarious position. The sudden need to spend money on market purchases can disrupt even the most carefully laid plans. This situation often leads to a frantic scramble as players vie for control over new coal mines or seek alternative strategies to mitigate resource shortfall.

We’ve had games where players were caught off guard by a sudden coal shortage, leading to frantic recalculations and creative maneuvering to stay ahead. The options you have in that situation are to:

• Disruption of Plans: When your planned actions hinge on affordable coal, and you suddenly have to pay premium prices, it can derail your strategy. You might find yourself postponing crucial builds or expansions due to unexpected costs.
• Scramble for Control: A coal shortage can trigger a rush among players to establish new coal mines. This race involves building mines and strategically placing them where they can be most beneficial—or disruptive—to others.
• Alternative Strategies: In response to coal scarcity, players might pivot to different strategies. For instance, they might focus on industries that require less or no coal or more effectively leverage other resources like iron and beer.

When There Is Coal on the Map

When coal is available on the map, it opens up a world of possibilities for strategic play. If connected via networks, all players can use coal mines owned by any other player. This shared resource dynamic adds layers of complexity and interaction central to Brass Birmingham’s gameplay.

Using Opponent’s Coal

One of the most intriguing aspects of having coal on the map is the ability to use coal from mines owned by other players if they are connected to your network. This mechanic encourages interconnected networks and even temporary cooperation among competitors.

Free Resource Access: If another player’s mine is connected to your network, you can use their coal for free, potentially saving money and allowing you to allocate resources elsewhere.

Strategic Cooperation: While you benefit from free coal, the mine’s owner also gains. Your use of their coal can help them flip their industry tiles faster, scoring them victory points. This creates a delicate balance where alliances form based on mutual advantage.

Flipping Industry Tiles

Removing the last cube of coal from a mine flips that industry tile, scoring victory points for its owner. Using an opponent’s coal can inadvertently benefit them, adding a layer of tactical consideration to your decisions.

• Scoring Opportunities: Flipping an industry tile by depleting its resources is one of the primary ways to score points in Brass Birmingham. When you use an opponent’s coal and flip their tile, you give them points.
• Tactical Decisions: Deciding whether or not to use an opponent’s coal involves weighing the immediate benefits against the potential long-term advantages you’re giving them. Sometimes, it might be worth securing necessary resources quickly; other times, finding alternative solutions to avoid boosting your rival’s score might be better.

When a New Coal Mine is Made

Building new coal mines can shift the balance of power dramatically. Here’s what happens when you establish a new coal mine:

Placing Coal Cubes

When you build a new coal mine, you place black cubes (coal) on it based on its level. For instance, a Level 1 coal mine might generate three coal cubes, with higher levels producing more. These cubes are now available to any player connected to your network, making coal an essential resource for building industries and expanding networks. Since any connected player can use this coal, it encourages interaction and competition, requiring careful planning to utilize your coal or avoid helping you too much.

Moving coal to the market gives an instant cash boost, which can be crucial for funding further expansions. Filling the priciest spaces first maximizes earnings while impacting market dynamics. Other players will now face higher costs when buying coal, potentially disrupting their plans and forcing tough decisions.

Strategic Benefits

Building a new coal mine provides strategic benefits beyond resource generation:

Control Over Resources: Placing a coal mine in a key location allows you to control the flow of resources. Players needing coal must connect to your network, giving you indirect influence over their actions.

Income Generation: Connecting your mine to the market ensures a steady income as long as there’s demand for coal, which can be reinvested or used to outmaneuver competitors.

Victory Points: If other players use all the coal from your mine, it flips and scores you valuable victory points, making strategic placement crucial for endgame scoring opportunities.

Iron: The Unsung Hero of Brass Birmingham

In Brass Birmingham, while coal might be the flashy resource everyone scrambles for, iron plays a quieter but equally crucial role in driving your industrial empire forward. Understanding how iron works, primarily through the Sell action, can give you a significant edge over your competitors. Let’s delve into the nitty-gritty of iron management and its unique interactions in this strategic masterpiece.

The Iron Sell Action

Iron isn’t just for building and developing industries; it’s also a key player in generating income through the Sell action. Here’s how the Iron Sell action works and why it’s a game-changer:

Selling Iron to the Market

1. Building an Iron Works: To start selling iron, you first need to build an Iron Works. When you construct an Iron Works, place orange iron cubes on it according to its level.
2. Connecting to the Market: If your newly built Iron Works is connected to any merchant space (even those without merchant tiles), you must immediately move as many cubes as possible from your Iron Works to the Iron Market, filling the most expensive spaces first.
3. Earning Income: For each cube moved to the market, you earn money based on the price indicated by the market space. This can provide a substantial boost to your finances, enabling further expansions and developments.
   • Immediate Cash Flow: Moving iron cubes to the market generates instant income, which can be crucial for funding subsequent actions or recovering from previous expenditures.
   • Market Dynamics: By filling the most expensive spaces first, you maximize your earnings but also affect market prices for other players who might need to purchase iron later.

The Beer Mechanic: Brewing Success in Brass Birmingham

The beer consumption system is one of Brass Birmingham’s most unique and intriguing mechanics. As we delved deeper into our numerous playthroughs, we found that how beer is integrated into the game adds a fascinating layer of strategy and interaction that sets it apart from other economic board games.

Brewing and Consuming Beer

In Brass Birmingham, beer is not just a resource; it’s a critical component for selling goods and expanding your network during the Rail Era. Each brewery you build produces beer barrels essential for performing specific actions. This mechanic mirrored the historical importance of beer during the Industrial Revolution when clean drinking water was scarce, and beer often served as a safer alternative.

Building Breweries

Breweries can be built during both the Canal and Rail Eras, but their importance becomes even more pronounced in the latter. When building a brewery:

• Canal Era: Place one beer barrel in your brewery.
• Rail Era: Place two beer barrels in your brewery.

The placement of these breweries requires strategic foresight, as they need to be connected to your network to be effective. We often carefully planned our brewery locations to ensure they were accessible when needed.

Selling Goods with Beer

One of the most compelling aspects of the beer mechanic is its role in selling goods. To flip your Cotton Mills, Manufacturers, or Potteries for income and victory points, you must consume beer:

• Merchant Beer: If a merchant tile has a beer barrel beside it, you can use this beer to sell goods.
• Own Breweries: You can also consume beer from your unflipped breweries without a connection.
• Opponent’s Breweries: If connected, you may use an opponent’s unflipped brewery’s beer, adding a layer of player interaction.

This mechanic creates dynamic competition over limited resources. In one memorable game session, we witnessed how one player’s control over crucial breweries forced others to adapt their strategies, leading to intense negotiations and tactical maneuvers.

Network Expansion with Beer

During the Rail Era, expanding your network by building two rail links in one turn requires consuming beer from a brewery. This rule emphasizes the importance of securing and maintaining access to beer throughout the game. We frequently found ourselves balancing the need to expand our networks quickly against the availability of beer resources.

Thematic Richness

The inclusion of beer as a central mechanic not only adds depth to gameplay but also enhances thematic immersion. This mechanic resonates through the historical context—beer was vital due to unsafe drinking water. It’s a brilliant design choice that ties gameplay directly to historical realities, making each decision grounded in the era’s challenges.

Why Brass Birmingham is #1 Board Game

Brass Birmingham is celebrated as the #1 board game ever made due to its unparalleled blend of deep strategy, thematic richness, and interactive gameplay. The game’s intricate mechanics require careful planning and adaptability, rewarding players who can think several steps ahead. Its historical accuracy and immersive components also transport players into the heart of England’s Industrial Revolution, offering an educational and entertaining experience. The game’s complexity is unbelievable. The first time we played a single game was about 2 hours, and we can tell you, the first hour, we were lost. But when you know what you’re doing, you will have one of the best board game experiences. It’s one of our favorites.

Personal Reflections on the Game

During one particularly intense game session, we were embroiled in fierce competition over the coal market. One player had monopolized the early coal mines, forcing the rest of us to either pay exorbitant prices at the market or develop our own mines rapidly. This created a tense atmosphere where every move was scrutinized, and alliances were fleeting. The dynamic interaction between players adds a unique narrative element to each game and is one of Brass Birmingham’s strongest suits.

Brass Birmingham is a game that’s not for the faint-hearted. Its complexity can be daunting for newcomers, but it offers unparalleled strategic depth for those willing to invest the time to learn its intricacies. We recommend first playing a Kickstarter board game, then starting with the introductory game if you’re new to heavy economic strategy games. This shorter version focuses solely on the Canal Era, providing a gentler learning curve while offering a taste of what makes Brass Birmingham so unique.

For experienced gamers, diving straight into the whole game is highly recommended. The Canal and Rail Eras transition introduces a refreshing reset that keeps gameplay dynamic and engaging. The need to adapt strategies between eras ensures that all games are unique. We won’t recommend Brass Birmingham to people just getting into board games because if you try to play it with so-called veterans or just people who have played this game, the chance is likely bigger for you to lose. We love the complexity of this board game.

What We Like and What We Don’t Like About Brass Birmingham

What We Like

• Strategic Depth: One of the standout features we love about Brass Birmingham is its immense strategic depth. Every decision, from building industries to expanding networks, requires careful planning and foresight. The dual-era system keeps the gameplay fresh and dynamic, ensuring that no two games are identical.
• Player Interaction: We thoroughly enjoy the high level of player interaction. Whether we’re competing for resources, strategically placing link tiles, or using opponents’ breweries, the game constantly keeps us engaged with each other’s actions. This interaction creates a vibrant and competitive atmosphere that makes every session memorable.
• Thematic Immersion: The historical theme is beautifully integrated into the mechanics. We love how the game transports us to the Industrial Revolution, making us feel like true industrial magnates navigating the era’s challenges. The beer mechanic, in particular, adds a unique thematic twist that enhances the overall experience.
• Component Quality: The components are top-notch, especially in the deluxe edition. From the sturdy board and detailed industry tiles to the luxurious Iron Clays, every piece feels premium and adds to the game’s enjoyment.
• Replayability: Brass Birmingham has incredible replayability. With so many strategic avenues to explore and different player interactions in each game, we find ourselves coming back to it time and time again, always discovering new strategies and tactics.

What We Don’t Like

• Steep Learning Curve: While we appreciate the complexity, Brass Birmingham can be intimidating for new players. The rulebook is comprehensive but dense, and it takes a few playthroughs to grasp all the nuances fully. This can be a barrier for those who prefer lighter games.
• Setup Time: The setup process is quite involved, especially with fewer than four players. Specific cards and merchant tiles must be removed, which can be time-consuming and may deter some from playing it as frequently as they’d like.

• Analysis Paralysis: Due to the game’s deep strategic nature, it’s easy for players to fall into analysis paralysis, particularly during critical turns in the Rail Era. This can slow down gameplay significantly, which might be frustrating for those who prefer a faster-paced experience.
• Resource Scarcity Frustration: While resource management is a core part of the game’s challenge, there are moments when resource scarcity—especially coal—can feel overly punitive. We found ourselves stuck in some games because an opponent controlled key resources, leading to frustrating stalls in our plans.
• Player Count Sensitivity: The game shines brightest with four players due to its balanced competition and resource availability. While it’s still enjoyable with two or three players, some tension and interaction are diminished, making those sessions slightly less engaging.

Final Thoughts: A Journey Through the Industrial Revolution

Having played Brass Birmingham extensively, we can confidently say it is one of the most captivating and rewarding board games we’ve ever experienced. This game is not just a test of strategic prowess but a deep dive into the historical intricacies of England’s Industrial Revolution. Every playthrough has offered new challenges and unforgettable moments, cementing its place in our hearts and gaming table; now, we don’t wonder why it is known as the #1 board game on the market.

Martin Wallace, the mastermind behind Brass Birmingham, is renowned for blending thematic depth with complex mechanics seamlessly. Wallace’s games often feature intricate economic systems and require players to think several moves ahead. His designs are characterized by their historical themes and rich strategic layers, making them favorites among hardcore board gamers.

Brass Birmingham is more than just a board game; it’s an experience that transports you back to a pivotal era in history. Its meticulous design by Martin Wallace offers both a challenging puzzle and an immersive narrative that keeps us coming back for more. Whether you’re a veteran strategist or a newcomer eager to explore economic simulations, Brass Birmingham promises an unforgettable journey through the heart of the Industrial Revolution.

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