Page 25 - Spielbox Special 2022 - English

Kosmos
It‘s almost as if he knew it: While everyone in this country is turning down the heating and digging out the wooly winter pullovers, Michael Menzel presents a landscape frozen in ice: Die Legenden von Andor – Die ewige Kälte (Legends of Andor – The Eternal Cold). The familiar, now frozen heroes are on the road again in the four legends of this standalone game with the well-known basic mecha- nisms. Even the trolls have grown a
fur coat and gained some new creature buddies.
A pile of firewood is now available as an equipment to log about, and its value
is just becoming clear to all of us. A player who lights it up for two willpower gets a combat bonus on their space and receives five willpower at the end of the day, assuming they are still standing on the spot. Unfortunately, all fires go out when the rooster crows.
And there is another thing that makes us shiver: the “eternal cold.” Its marker advances on an extended day track from the right toward the players’ action pieces. Soon it reaches the first overtime hours spaces. And then more and more hampers the heroes’ activities on the board. Their main goal is therefore to find out what is behind this “eternal cold” phenomenon. Die Legenden von Andor – Die ewige
when the “meat” reward comes in handy to lure animals, allowing you to carry out your task with less turns and disruption.
The many video scenes form the core of the game. Realistically, you need con- siderable time and patience, minimum two hours, to keep an eye on their con- ditions. Wild – Serengeti is already in stores. (cc/cs)
LAookout Spiele
tiwa by Uwe Rosenberg is both a worker placement game and a bi- ology education piece. It explains how the people in the southeast of Ghana currently have to dig for raw materials to make a living, and
in doing so poison
their environment.
However, if they are
shown how to care
for the flying foxes
(which are normally
eaten), the families
learn that these
animals’ excre-
ments help with
the reforestation
of large areas
and thus improve
the quality of life
for all.
Rosenberg translates
this into a seven-round game: Each play- er in turn places their workers on action spaces, which allow them to gain new landscapes for their own display, to plant trees, to train families or to establish an- imals. Mining for raw materials, however, will render individual spaces in their own display unusable. In addition, you man- age your materials, because fruits, trees, animals and families come from your own tableau, where they also earn points once they are cleared away. In addition to the worker action, you have an optional fly- ing fox action. It simulates the nocturnal flight of the animals and helps to grow forest on your territory.
According to the publishers, the game is aimed at people aged ten and upwards and takes about half an hour per player. Since the theme is very dear to Rosenberg’s heart, he even wrote an accompanying book to inform players about the living conditions in Ghana. And at the SPIEL in Essen, he will give a lecture: “Ghana in Worker Placement
Kälte has been announced for January.
Michael Menzel (46), illustrator and game designer, lives with his family
in the Lower Rhine region
of Germany. legendS of andor was his very first game as an designer, and awarded Kenner- spiel des Jahres in 2013.
I remember after the third box set
Legends of Andor – The Last Hope, you mentioned that you wouldn’t be making any more An- dor games?
Michael Menzel: That’s right. At the time, I had finished telling the trilo- gy and didn’t want to write any more original legends. I also had ideas for other games, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood. The fans continued to care for the series and carry it forward. There were new boxes by people who were really deep into the story, and I just illustrated. But after a while, I re- ally felt like contributing again. It also
(sd/cs)
seemed quite appropriate to do so for the tenth anniversary.
And it hasn’t really ever been winter in Andor yet.
I love winter, and snow! Even in the game, the days are now getting short- er. And it’s exciting to see how the Andor world changes when it gets cold and everybody huddles together. When the ice cracks on crossing the frozen lake, and those spots are then no longer passable, leading to some detours.
This is another standalone game and also suitable for beginners. What about the Andor pros?
At specific stages of the game, we ask the players: Are you already ex- perienced? Those who are playing for the first time can just keep going. But the experts can say, “We’re going to reveal one more card.” Let’s see what happens!
And now we like to know if that was your last game in the world of Leg- ends of Andor, yet again?
(laughs) I don’t think so. It was a lot of fun to be in the system again. Like coming home. That’s why it’s subtitled “A New Era”. (sd/cs)
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