Page 32 - Spielbox_2_2020

and is “medium-heavy”. However, that hasn’t stopped us enjoying it just as much as the earlier game. If you are comfortable with games such as Great Western Trail, the extra complexity
and the playing time shouldn’t be a problem for you either. BGG rates it as slightly lighter than that one.
The components are good, the rule book is clear, and the player boards are well designed, with graphics to remind you of what each action does. We did not find it a difficult game to
learn, despite the initially alarming number of pages in the rule book. The game also has a nicely different feel to the play, even though at its heart
you are again acquiring and placing workers.
I’m curious to see how the third game in the series, Viscounts of the West Kingdom – due to be published
towards the end of this year – , man- ages to stay true to the series while once more presenting fresh ideas.
Stuart W. Dagger
Title:
Publisher: Designer:
Artist: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Paladins of the West Kingdom
Garphill Games Shem Phillips, Sam J. Macdonald
Mihajlo Dimitrievski 1–4
about 12+ years
about 120–150 minutes about 55 €
Reviewer Playing appeal
Stuart W. Dagger . ............ 8
Udo Bartsch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Stefan Ducksch . . . ............ 8 Matthias Hardel* . ............ 8 Alan How. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
REVIEW
Ecos - The first continent
Exhausting Act of Creation
What was it like billions of years ago when the earth was created? All we can do is guess, since there was no record-keeper on hand. That is why different possible narratives have emerged, like the Big Bang. There’s an extremely popular piece of world literature
that, on the other hand, talking about the whole thing as a weeklong handicraft project by a creative, skilled older gen- tleman. It is now possible to make up your own story through an experiment, one in which the first continent is constructed through group effort.
It feels good to be a member of what I’m calling the Genesis Work- shop. It awakens the divine in all
of us to be part of a story getting a stretch of a planet’s surface built. One player can create landscapes or destroy them; another piles up massive moun- tains, everyone places flora and fauna together on the experimental conti- nent, sometimes in abundance, some- times sparse. Also good: The GW does not require a full seven days, one eve- ning is enough. Although we will still need to talk about that.
I Low-barrier pleasure
As per the GW manual, players embody forces of nature that shape the continent, but this is admittedly a neutral description of the divine. At least it allows us to counter any blas- phemy allegations. In fact, Ecos - First Continent is really nothing more than a Bingo variant, which sounds more like gambling to win a bottle of Asti Spu- mante one evening at an all-inclusive vacation resort, so it’s actually quite profane and not in the least bit sacred. You begin by placing three of twelve cards in front of you. If the group- agrees, everyone can receive a curated starter set of cards, or players can draft their own continental blueprints, hoping that your co-creators will send you precisely the cards that develop excellent interactions. Sometimes this
plan works out, sometim does not.
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like the sun, are found quite often among the 40 element draw tokens. Others, like
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The cards allow you u
particular symbol on one of your other cards. In addition, you can get victory points for fulfilling certain tasks, some- times a modest amount, sometimes loads, not unlike the manager bonus payments at Deutsche Bank. The first continent does not get shaped with a common goal in mind. Instead of building a particularly balanced land- scape, players seek to achieve their personal goal of being the first scoring 80 points.
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30
* At first appearance, the same as usual. As always, actually there is a
very special feature that lets the usual actions develop a completely new dynamic and feels different from what one is used to. A particularly nice ele- ment is the recruitment of the Paladins that sets the course for the upcoming round. Barely any direct interaction, but all the more indirect interaction through the snatching of cards and occupying of places in the few overlapping areas. And
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