Watch your Back: Week March 27 to April 2
The last week of March will bring us an artistic area control game, a worker placement game set in ancient Rome, a polyomino euro by Scott Almes, an astronomy-inspired game, and a fantasy game with animal mages. Then April starts with a cinematic love story. But let's check them out one by one.
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Nightmare Cathedral is a 1- 4 player area control game featuring dark surreal works by the Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński. As a Dreamer, you will be competing for the control of locations on the board while the cathedral at the center will be spawning nightmares that devour any units that stand in their way.
Gameplay is driven by action cards that you will use to move, build forts, or perform rituals. Your goal is to complete objectives and score the most points. The solo mode hasn't been revealed yet but Board & Dice said it will be designed by David Turczi. It is launching on Gamefound on March 28, and you can check the preview here.
Personal opinion: I'm a sucker for artsy board games, and love these little sculptures. I'm not so convinced about the solo suitability, however. I hope the solo mode will pit you against the Cathedral itself and its nightmare minions (in which case I'll back the game), but I'm afraid Mr. Turczi will go down the bot path (which means I'll have to pass).
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Age of Rome is a 1-4 player worker placement game set in ancient Rome, following the death of Julius Caesar. You are playing as one of Caesar's potential successors and will try to win by building structures, placing followers, trading, conquering regions, and plotting against your rivals. The game features a 'lazy Susan' rotating board and acrylic buildings. There isn't any info available on the solo mode yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 29.
Personal opinion: For some reason, this historical period never sparked my interest. I'm sure this is a perfectly fine eurogame but it's not for me.
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Moving on to Silicon Valley, a 1-4 player economic polyomino game in which you are a startup company creator trying to get your company valued at 1 billion bucks. You will hire assistants and try to get funds for your products. Products can be built with polyomino tiles that you acquire over the course of the game. No info on the solo mode yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 29.
Personal opinion: Really not my style in any polyomino shape or form.
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In Ptolemaeus, a 1-4 player hand management and set collection game, you are playing as an astronomer observing the firmament and trying to predict the movement of the planets. You will be drawing constellation cards and matching them with the colour or type of constellations on the board in order to observe conjunctions, oppositions, trines and squares. No solo rules available yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 28.
Personal opinion: Moving on.
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Then we have Darkest Doom: a 1-4 player competitive fantasy adventure game in which anthropomorphic animals (the Guardians) are trying to stop the spread of doom that would lead to the annihilation of their region. Each Guardian has their own stats and powers that they use to fight the forces of evil and also gain advantage over the other Guardians. In the solo mode, you play against up to 4 bots. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 29.
Personal opinion: You know my usual 'no bot' policy.
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And lastly, on April 2 we have Bonnie and Clyde, Love and Death. This is a 1-2 player resource management game inspired by the famous criminal couple. Your goal is to rob banks without getting shot by the police or running out of food/ammo, or having your love-meter go down. It is primarily a solo game, and you can choose the level of difficulty you wish to play at.
Personal opinion: The designer of the game approached us to test it before launch but since none of us had time to spare, we didn't take up the offer. I sometimes find resource management a bit dry (as e.g. in Unbroken), but I'll take a look when this launches. The artwork doesn't do it any favours unfortunately. These drab colours would kill anyone's will for love and life.
Age of Rome has a tricky board - spinable and built-in counters. Cool.
Image Source: BGG
Since I'm already backing too many things, it's easy to brush away all these games. Nothing in the categories that interest me usually.
Nightmare Cathedral looks pretty cool, but I have serious doubts regarding the solo mode; it's not the kind of game (Dudes on a Map, from the looks of it) where solo shines (Automa are either "doped" to compensate their dumbness, so you're up against the big short-sighted bully of the school as in the good old days, or they are convoluted to approach a maximize strategy but then you feel as if you're going through a computer algorithm every round; and if you don't go with Automa, how to provide some feeling of antagonism?). Also, too much…
Nightmare Cathedral, Age of Rome, and Darkest Doom. I am impressed with the amount of content coming out these days!
Aw.. I would've tested Bonnie and Clyde. It looks interesting for sure. I have that and Darkest Doom on the wishlist now. 😀