Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa – David Wood

When I heard Fabio Lopiano, the designer of Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road, was coming out with a new game with co-designer Mandela Fernández-Grandon, I was instantly interested.  While Merv is a medium weight game, Sankoré is on the heavy side.  Don’t get me wrong; the mechanics of the game are straight-forward.  It’s just that there are lots of moving parts to remember and keep track of.  It took me and my gaming group several games to get the hang of it and eliminate mistakes.  That aside, Sankoré is a great optimization puzzle. 

Players work to generate prestige in 4 academic topics:  Astronomy, Law, Theology, and Mathematics. They do so by various means, such as teaching classes, graduating students, completing objective cards, and collecting Sankoré tiles.  However, they also need to manipulate the victory point (VP) value of each of the 4 different types of prestige.  This is done by placing books in the library.  The topic with the most books on a shelf awards 2 VPs per prestige.  One VP per prestige is awarded to the topic with the second most books on each shelf.  Given there are 3 shelves in the library, 9 total…

The post Quick Peaks – Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa, Quacks of Quedlinburg, Secret Santa, Barrage, Roll Player appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Amygdala - Andrew Lynch

It’s been a less-than-stellar month for me and the Kiesling/Kramer design team, but what can you do? Sometimes that happens. Pueblo was an interesting idea that didn’t result in an interesting game, and now we have Amygdala, a resource management and tile-laying game that’s about emotion. Really, it’s an abstract game.

I thought Amygdala was perfectly alright. It didn’t do much for me, but one member of my playgroup enjoyed it tremendously, enough so that he requested it at subsequent game nights. It looks great on the table, especially if you play on the black-and-neon side of the board. I thought the ten-space limit for inventory was a fun restriction, but I’ve seen that before. The tile-laying isn’t dynamic enough for my tastes, and left me wanting a round of Babylonia. I personally wouldn’t recommend Amygdala, it struck me as forgettable, but it seems to have its audience.

Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ - The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★☆☆☆ - Would play again but would rather play something else

Read more articles from Andrew Lynch.

Fractal: Beyond the Void – David Wood

Fractal touts itself as an “an ever-changing, story-driven” 4X legacy…

The post Quick Peaks – Amygdala, Fractal: Beyond the Void, Orion Duel, Sequitur, Pax Pamir appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Voidfall – David Wood

Man, oh man, was I ever excited to have this baby show up on my doorstep, and it did not disappoint.  Touted as a Euro 4X space game, Voidfall is a beast both in terms of table space and complexity, but it was so worth it.  The core mechanic is playing Focus cards to take actions.  Each card has 3 actions listed on it, but players can normally only take 2 of them.  The number of Focus cards that can be played each cycle varies, so players will have to plan out their strategy each cycle by selecting which cards they will play, and just as importantly, the order they will play them.  IMO, it’s this planning feature that makes the game shine. 

The game comes with a bunch of scenarios (solo, co-op, and competitive) of varying complexity, including a solo tutorial that helps new players navigate the learning curve.  There’s a bunch of iconography players will need to become familiar with, but after a while it becomes second nature.  Combat is simple and completely deterministic.  In fact, there’s an app you can download that automatically determines the outcome for you.  And because each game is limited to 3 cycles, this a 4X that doesn’t out stay its welcome. 

…

The post Quick Peaks – Voidfall, Hollywood 1947, Star Fighters: Rapid Fire, Carnival, Durian appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

We play a lot of games here at Meeple Mountain. Some of them are brand new, not even on shelves yet, and some of them are classics. But no matter who's playing, or what, we all have our favorites. Here's a list of the best games we played this year, including a few games that might surprise you…and no, they're not all from 2023!

Root

Andy Matthews

Last year I joined a gaming group which skewed towards heavier games. This allowed me to indulge myself with games I might not normally play with my other groups…games like Root. This is a “battle royale”, set in a forest, where the players are cute and fuzzy creatures like birds, cats, mice, rabbits, and raccoons. And Leder Games has added many more factions like otters, badgers, moles, rats, and even lizards.

You might say 2023 was the year I went all in on Root. Thanks to a great group and amazing and varied games, I decided to pick up all the expansions. Root is such a satisfying challenge because no two gaming sessions are ever quite the same. While everyone plays within the same basic framework, each faction has their own unique play style and win conditions. This rewards people who play Root more often.…

The post The Best Games We Played in 2023 appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Utopia – David Wood

What would it be like to go back in time and change history?  That’s the premise of Utopia.  Except rather than trying to change the past to make things better in the future, you’re a megalomaniac Time Lord trying to create your warped vision of the future.  Players recruit famous people from history to pilot their chronoships to different eras where they gain knowledge, obtain technologies, and recruit more chronoship pilots. These are used to complete butterfly effect missions that will alter the timeline.  The first player to complete 3 butterfly effect missions wins the game.

Utopia is easy to learn, quick to play, with a good deal of player interaction as they vie to place their chronoships in the different time zones.  Players can even assassinate other players’ chronoship pilots, but with the ability to time travel, no one ever truly dies.  The components are very good and the game comes with an insert for storing everything neatly (no baggies!).  The game also comes with a mini-expansion and both a solo and a co-op mode. Kudos too for the designer who was very responsive to the few rules questions we had.

Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ - The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★…

The post Quick Peaks – Utopia, Le Roy des Ribauds, Mobile Markets: A Smartphone Inc. Game, Tanis appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Ark Nova: Marine Worlds – David Wood

Ark Nova is one of the most popular and most played board games today.  So why create an expansion and mess with near perfection?  What does it add that would make it worth purchasing?

First, the expansion contains some replacement sponsor and goal cards to address play imbalance issues.  It also adds upgraded components, several new bonus tiles, and as the name suggests, aquatic animals along with new enclosures to put them in.  These new animals come with several new abilities.  For example, when reef dwellers are played, they activate the ability of every reef dweller in your zoo.  The expansion also comes with a new type of university which allows players to search through the deck for a card with a specific animal icon.  This can help players find that one card they need to complete a conservation project.

Perhaps the most exciting addition are the asymmetric action cards.  Players draft three of these at the beginning of the game, keeping two of them to replace the standard action cards.  These provide unique abilities that are accessible to only that player.  Effectively exploiting these unique abilities could make all the difference in the outcome of the game.

So, is all of this worth the price?  Oh yeah!

…

The post Quick Peaks – Ark Nova: Marine Worlds, Setup, What the Cup!?, That’s Not a Hat!, Karakum appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

What is Dominant Species?

Dominant Species (DS) is a game of adaptation and survival in the face of an encroaching ice age. Players take on the role of 1 of 6 major animal classes: mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, arachnids, and insects. They select and execute actions to improve their animals’ chances of survival and dominance over other species. The player who accumulates the most victory points (VPs) when the ice age reaches its zenith wins and is crowned the dominant species.

[caption id="attachment_286319" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Setup for a 3-player game[/caption]

Each game turn is divided into 3 phases. The first of these is the Planning Phase, where players take turns placing an Action Pawn (AP) on an empty action space on the board’s Action Display. In the Execution Phase, starting from the top action and working down and left-to-right, players take actions removing their APs as they do so. Finally, during the Reset Phase, players check if any species has gone extinct, determine which player has the greatest survival, and then prepare the board for the next turn.

The playing area consists of hexagonal spaces on which players can place Wanderlust Tiles depicting different types of terrain. During the game, players will place their species cubes onto these tiles, as well…

The post Dominant Species Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

What is Gaia Project?

Gaia Project is the sequel to the highly successful Terra Mystica. But whereas Terra Mystica had a fantasy theme, Gaia Project takes place in outer space in the far future of the “Terra Mystica universe.” Players try to settle and terraform new worlds, advance their technology, create multi-planet federations, and achieve in- and end-game objectives. The player who accumulates the most Victory Points (VPs) by the end of the sixth-round wins.

[caption id="attachment_284595" align="aligncenter" width="533"] Set up for a 3-player game.[/caption]

Each round of Gaia Project is played in 4 phases. During the Income Phase, players look at their Faction Board, Round Booster tile, tech tiles, and position of their Player Tokens on the Research Board. Wherever they see the palm-up hand symbol they gain those resources. In the Gaia Phase players complete any Gaiaforming operations they may have started the previous turn. The Actions Phase is the heart of the game where players take turns performing one main action. Once a player passes, they turn in their Round Booster tile and take one of the other available tiles. The first player to take the Pass action also takes the first player token. Finally, the Clean-Up Phase resets everything for the next round.

Mechanics and Features

…

The post Gaia Project Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

What is Kingmaker?

Kingmaker is a game covering the War of the Roses, the dynastic clash for the throne of England between the houses of York and Lancaster from 1455 to 1487. A remake of the 1974 Avalon Hill classic of the same name, this latest version by publisher Gibsons has a double-sided board and two rulebooks, one for playing Classic Kingmaker, and the other for playing Kingmaker II —a streamlined version of the game. Depending on the version, the game can support up to 5 or 6 players. There is even a solo mode. This review is limited to Kingmaker II.

[caption id="attachment_284878" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Setup for a 3-player game[/caption]

Each player controls a varying number of nobles at the start of the game, along with the troops loyal to those nobles. Nobles can be awarded titles, offices within the English royal court, bishoprics, control of towns and cities, mercenaries, and ships. These are used to fight battles, conduct sieges, and gain control of royal family members from the House of York or Lancaster. An immediate Royalty victory is won when one player controls the only royal family member who has been crowned king. Barring that, a faction controlling a king can win a Prestige Victory under certain conditions.

Game…

The post Kingmaker Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

The Last Kingdom Board Game - David Wood

In the late 9th century, the Danes invaded the Saxon kingdoms of what will eventually become England. Based on the hit Netflix series and novels by Bernard Cornwell, players take on the role of one of the major characters allied to either the Danes or Saxons. Although they start allied with one side, they can change their allegiance repeatedly over the course of the game.

Over two rounds, players draft cards and play them to take various actions. Once all players pass consecutively, there is a conflict in one of the five kingdoms. Leaders on the winning side of the battle gain victory points based on their affinity with each faction taking part in the conflict. This is repeated until a conflict has been resolved in all five kingdoms. After two rounds, the player with the most victory points wins. 

The game successfully recreates the chaos of medieval combat through the play of cards and market actions that can suddenly shift the tide of each conflict. By skillfully managing your hand of cards, increasing your affinity with the right factions, and changing your allegiance at the right moment, you can score more victory points than your opponents. There is no such thing as a sure victory. Destiny…

The post First Take Friday – The Last Kingdom, Terraforming Mars, Sugar Heist, Coffee Rush, Splito appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Theurgy - David Wood

In Theurgy each player takes on the role of an almost forgotten god in a world that is increasingly skeptical about spiritual matters. Working though your two acolytes and remaining followers, you must convert people to your cause and have them build temples in your honor. The player who builds the required number of temples, which varies depending on player count, wins.

Players will use a mix of mechanics – action selection, influence bidding, hand management, variable player powers, etc. – to achieve victory. There are only four actions to choose from, and like Scythe, you cannot take the same action twice. So, players will need to plan their moves carefully. Actions include:

• Pilgrimage: moving your acolytes and followers to other settlements and converting members of the local population.
• Spread the Word: placing faith tokens to mark your growing cultural influence in surrounding settlements.
• Divine Intervention: performing miracles or summoning monsters to overcome local skepticism.
• Test the Faith: seeing which god the locals turn to when their faith is tested and building a temple if you have the most followers remaining in that settlement..

The game is suspenseful. You are always on the edge of your seat waiting to see if your plans will reach…

The post First Take Friday – Theurgy, Trekking Through History, Disney WordARound, Pyramido appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

What is Storm Over Jerusalem?

Storm Over Jerusalem (SoJ) is a wargame that simulates the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Emperor Vespasian’s son and future emperor, Titus, commanded four legions, while the city was defended by multiple Judean factions, including the Zealots. The siege began in April, just three days before Passover. This meant the city’s population was teeming with pilgrims. After almost five months, the Romans eventually overwhelmed Jewish resistance, sacked the city, and more importantly for the Jewish people, destroyed the Temple, the center of Judean worship.

According to the Jewish historian Josephus — considered a turncoat by his fellow Jews — over one million Judeans were killed and 97,000 were made slaves. The fall of Jerusalem effectively ended what became known as the First Jewish War, although it did not officially end until the capture of the mountaintop fortress of Masada in 73 AD. The successful termination of the Jewish War solidified the position of Vespasian, who had only come to power a year earlier, and ensured the continuation of the Flavian Dynasty.

Setup and Victory Conditions

The Judean forces begin the game occupying all city areas and fall under the overall command of one of two leaders, Simon bar Giora and John of…

The post Storm Over Jerusalem: The Roman Siege Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Federation - David Wood

It’s the year 2442 and each player represents a small solar system competing to join a powerful Federation of planets. The game uses a unique double-sided worker placement mechanic. In addition to taking the action of the space where you placed your worker, each worker can either be used for its votes to influence the outcome of proposed legislation or to fund a major project. Actions can generate resources, increase your influence, give you access to bonus Special Mission actions, and much more. The actions, end of round voting results, and major projects all have the potential of earning players prestige points. The player with the most prestige after the fifth and final round wins.

Federation is a highly approachable game that is chock full of decision-making, yet it never feels overwhelming. There’s a great balance between player interaction and being able to focus on your own path to victory. So while there are plenty of different strategies players can take for racking up prestige, they must keep an eye on what their rivals are doing and block them if and when possible. Add high replay potential and the typically top notch components from Eagle Gryphon Games, and Federation is a great value.

Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ - The odd…

The post First Take Friday – Federation, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, Shapers of Gaia, Tapeworm appeared first on Meeple Mountain.