Publisher: Garphill Games Games
Player Count: 1-4  Players
Game Length: 90-120 Minutes
Complexity 3.75/5

After decades in captivity to the Persian empire, King Cyrus in 539 B.C., moved by God, issued a decree to allow the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and re-establish the temple and sacrificial offerings.

In the game, Ezra and Nehemiah, you’ll follow 3 unique leaders, each tasked for a different purpose. Zerubbabel first returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple where God’s presence previously dwelled. Soon after, Ezra and Nehemiah return to re-institute the religious rules of the Torah and rebuild the outer city walls respectively. Players will compete to progress each of these areas, scoring points and earning bonuses along the way.

If you’re familiar with previous Garphill Games such as the West Kingdom series or more recently, the South Tigris games, you’ll definitely see some familiar mechanics. A culmination of a variety of actions, Ezra and Nehemiah is a fairly challenging euro-style game where meticulous planning is rewarded. It employs a hodgepodge of mechanics such as card management, set collection, worker placement, tech tree building and chaining. It has a fairly steep learning curve and clearly appeals to more seasoned gamers. So, the question remains: Are you up to the task of rebuilding Jerusalem or is it best to leave the heavy lifting to someone else?

ON YOUR TURN

You might recognize the game’s card system from one of Garphill’s biggest crowd pleasers: Paladins of the West Kingdom. Each player begins the game with an identical set of 10 cards. These cards are the core of E&N. They serve as the jumping off point for your primary actions, auxiliary actions and potential end of round bonuses. Each card features a set of 3 banners, The color of the banner determines the action and their number determines the strength of that action. On your turn, you’ll choose a single card to place on your player board/tableau. Then choosing one of the card’s color banners, you execute that action. Each player board features 3 available card spots and visible banners of the same color can be combined from all 3 spaces. This is a really cool concept that builds on the Paladins model creating a situation where deeper planning can lead to more powerful opportunities.

The game consists of 3 weeks and each week gives you 6 turns. Each turn allows you to play a single card (from a hand of 4), but each of the card locations can only hold 2 cards. When one is covered, that card’s banners are covered and unavailable further complicating the planning process.

The card banners are red, blue and gray and they correlate directly to each of the game’s 3 areas of play.

Red banners allow you to corporately build the temple as well as make sacrifices. Of course sacrifices need Levitical priests – so doing a red action will allow you to commit one of your workers to the priesthood for the rest of the game. The temple is an area of big points and benefits where players will strategically race to claim spots.

Blue banners give you access to the scriptures and tent camping. The scriptures play out like a tech tree where you gain access to additional tiles as players build beneath. These tiles provide exclusive player action bonuses across the board and can be a good source of direction in the game. The tent area serves as a rondel giving you bonuses as you move around the circle.

Finally gray banners allow you to clean up rubble and rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. The rubble consists of multiple types of rock-like resources that can be recycled for use in the temple or turned around to rebuild the wall. Another great source of end game points, rebuilding wall segments offers minor bonuses and benefits in relation to the city’s gates.

Additionally, you have access to auxiliary actions that allow you to upgrade your player board and make trades (available on the most recent card played) that are critical to planning and efficiently aligning your resources for future turns.

After 6 turns, players prepare for the Sabbath. During the Sabbath, players will feed their workers, evaluate your success offering sacrifices and earn any end-of-round scoring benefits. Players will “tuck” a card giving them that end-of-round scoring for the rest of the game, but subsequently lose that card from their rotating hand.

After 18 turns, the game ends and the player with the most points gets a high five from everyone else (because we’re really working together to return this city to its former glory, right? … right.)

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

The artwork is provided by long-time Garphill Games collaborator Sam Phillips. His work on games like Hadrian’s Wall and Raiders of Scythia have earned him a healthy following. The art is solid and the game’s graphic design doesn’t disappoint. It will take you a minute to get up to date on the iconography since it’s not always 100% intuitive, but it’s well done and does the job soundly once you’ve acclimated yourself.

The components are what you’ve come to expect from Garphill. Quality cardboard, wooden tokens and recessed player boards all fitting snugly in a smaller-than-normal box. Playing the game as often as I did gave me plenty of practice packing away all the pieces into a box that is just slightly too small (but acceptable) for the components.

Finally, the rulebook does a fair job of communicating the information. While everything is there and available… my brain is hard on rulebooks – often struggling to process all the information clearly. As is the norm, I had to revisit the rulebook multiple times. While everything isn’t exactly where I’d like it to be, it does it’s job and will get you the answers to the questions you’re eventually going to be looking for.

PROS & CONS

Beautiful production

Ambitious theme

Great card system that will likely be stolen by other publishers

Think-y choices cater to players who enjoy deep and meticulous planning

Fair amount of replay ability

Serious onboarding time – this is a chore not to just teach, but to get a full grasp of all the game has to offer

Turns have the tendency to bog down the game with overall analysis

This leads to heavy, slow pace that drags down the game

Disconnect between the game’s 3 main sections lost some of the overall synergy

Excitement level for the game never got too high

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

I think people are going to be drawn to Ezra & Nehemiah for 2 reasons: They are likely huge fans of Garphill Games track record of snappy, think-y and satisfying mid-weigh euros or they’re drawn in by the unique, Biblical theme. It may be 1 or the other or a combination of the 2. Ultimately, I think players who enjoy dry, think-y euros are going to find the most value. The game’s combos work hard to provide added spice, but this is a game about perseverance, planning and calculating. It definitely sits on the heavy end of the Garphill library and the theme integration, while pretty well done, will only take you so far.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about the game is the individual player cards/decks. The process of cycling through 3 cards to trigger your best possible actions takes so much into consideration. While obviously pairing together the most same-colored banners gives you the strongest actions, the auxiliary trade actions on each card can be just as valuable to your success. I loved this in Paladins of the West Kingdom and it’s taken to the next level here.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ezra & Nehemiah was one of my most anticipated games of 2024. I’m a huge fanboy of all things Garphill and this looked like a winner right from the get go. The unique theme only elevated things as I’m also a sucker for Biblical history. The game’s designers, Shem Phillips & S. J. MacDonald are 2 of the best in this niche and great designers deserve an honest review. I think it was the combination of my monumental expectations and a few misfires from the game that ultimately led to E&N falling a little flat for me.

First, the positives: This is a solid production. It looks amazing and there is a ton of value for the price point. It’s a bit of a smaller box which pleases my gaming shelf, but there is nothing small about what the game delivers.

The designers did a solid job with the theme. Installing a historical and Biblical theme is a challenging proposition and I think they did it justice. By nature, the Bible doesn’t offer much wiggle room for competitive board gaming. Creating circumstances where God’s will might fail in a game doesn’t sit well with its more devout audience. The deterministic and unchanging nature of God forces designers to be incredibly creative with their choices. I’ve had knowledgeable friends nit-pick a number of things, but I think the general idea of the time and events shines through in a healthy way. Now, that theme only carries the game for so long until you revert to moving cubes and playing cards, but that’s pretty typical with any euro game.

The card system is solid. I touched briefly on that above and look forward to future games using this cool “banner” system.

The challenges of the game hit me right from the beginning. Onboarding was a serious chore. Learning the game and teaching the game are serious hurdles. It wasn’t until I had read the rulebook 3 times and played 3 full games that I started to grasp concepts and strategies. I may be a little slow sometimes, but this really got me. Additionally, a 4-player game early on with my gaming group almost led to a riot. Players rose up in frustration as they struggled to grasp a viable strategy. At this point Ezra and Nehemiah was going to have to dig its way out of this hole.

As I continued to understand the game, the actions became less abstract and I started to realize what the game expected of me. Where I had previously railed against the idea of trading away my hard earned resources, I began to embrace the need to exchange resources for future plans. I also dove head first into the Torah actions that give you on-going benefits, which provided direction and advantages.

None of these revelations could help the game’s pacing. It often bogged down to a slow drip – especially in the 4-player game. There is so much to consider on your turn that even the least AP prone players stumbled in my experience. A lot of this was due to the extensive implications of each card, but it also didn’t help that there seems to be a disconnect between the game’s 3 main areas.

Typically, in a Garphil/Combo-driven game, you can decipher how to best chain your actions and get the most from your turns. The water was a little muddy here. I would often evaluate 2 different options based on my available cards and realize there was no distinctive difference or benefit between the 2 actions. I was going to earn the exact same points and see the same resource result either way. Perhaps that the game was too balanced or maybe it was me failing to play far enough ahead. This all resulted in some very uneventful, unexceptional turns that never let the game rise above a low roar.

Ezra & Nehemiah is a fine game. It’s a solid euro for think-y individuals who like quality productions and exotic themes tied to their games. But, be it expectations, mechanics or indescribable, inaudible subtle waves of dissatisfaction, Ezra & Nehemiah just didn’t get there for me. I’m fully aware that there is an audience out there who will likely love this and cherish it for years to come. I certainly wouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying it outside of this report. I still love Graphill Games, these designers and this artist. I’m still just as excited for their upcoming games as I ever was. But when it comes to Ezra & Nehemiah… I think I’d more likely recommend one of their many contemporary classics.

Publisher: CMYK Games
Player Count: 2  Players
Game Length: 15 Minutes
Complexity 1.5/5

The definition of Lacuna means a gap between two things and is from the latin lacus, meaning “lake or “pool.” That cleverly defines this quirky, abstract game that likely doesn’t play like any game in your collection. In this gentle, 2-player game, players are collecting different colored flowers resting on a pond. It’s a spatial puzzle where you’re measuring between objects to collect while simultaneously planning for the future. It takes just a few minutes to explain, can be grasped by kids of all ages yet still has the potential to stir your strategic hankerings. Let’s briefly dive into the tranquil pond of Lacuna and see if this strange game is right for your home.

ON YOUR TURN

Packed in a cylinder shaped container, you can tell from the start this is going to be a bit of a different gaming experience. The game itself takes place on a square piece of fabric representing a night pond. Using the container as a pitcher, you pour out the 49 colored flower tokens randomly across the space and you’re ready to play.

The game takes place over 2 distinct phases followed by scoring. It’s a quick game, but the nature of it will allow you to analyze and process the board to your heart’s content.

During the first phase, players will take turns placing their own player pawns onto the pond between two unobstructed flower tokens of the same color. These pawns can be placed anywhere between the two tokens (which is critical to the next phase), but there cannot be any additional tokens or player pawns between the two.

Once players have placed their 6 pawns, play moves to the second phase. During this phase, each remaining token will be evaluated and given to the player with the closest player pawn. The game comes with a ruler to ensure no funny business. Players divide their tokens into sets based on the 7 different token types and point is awarded to the player with the most of each type. The player with the most points at the end wins.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

The art direction does a nice job of complimenting the game experience. Simplified, colorful flowers dance across the packaging highlighted with gold flecks of foil spot colors embracing the abstract nature of the game, but this is a game primarily driven by the components. The wooden flower tokens and metal player pawns contrast each other and are distinct on the fabric pond player board without feeling disconnected.

Everything in the game fits in this unique cylinder container. This may excite you or it may not. I personally love the choice, but I can see it causing some trouble for certain gaming shelves. All-in-all, Lacuna looks as different as it plays and will definitely be an eye catcher at your next game night.

PROS & CONS

Gameplay will challenge players with a unique spatial puzzle not common in standard strategic, modern games

Simple ruleset can be taught in a matter of minutes and setup and clean up are a breeze

This is truly a game for all ages. Anyone can play and players can bring their own level of engagement

The game’s quick play time will have you playing multiple games at each sitting

Fun components create a unique, tactile experience

Portable container great for travel

Highly replay ability

 The game plays at a slower pace. I attribute that to the game’s old school approach

The container may not fit conveniently on all gamer’s shelves

Because it’s a spatial game where you’re measuring, it can possibly be a challenge to truly measure between objects.

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

I really want to define this more clearly, but Lacuna is a game when you’re in the mood for “something different.” It’s a bit of a conundrum since it’s a family game that only plays with 2 players. It’s light hearted and simple. It knows who it is and doesn’t try to be anything more. The choices are satisfying, challenging and relaxing all at the same time. It plays quickly and is a breeze to set up, making it a perfect filler or weekday evening right before bed.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about this game is how easy it is to get into. While most games can take a couple plays to feel comfortable, Lacuna takes a couple turns. The entire experience is simple, clean and satisfying.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lacuna is the type of game that can win over the harshest cynic. It’s straightforward and accessible, while still being engaging and a little mysterious. It sits in that sweet spot offering simple mechanics and decently challenging choices, but it does it in a completely refreshing way.

Its abstract nature isn’t going to sit well with everyone, but it tends to cross boundaries with a satisfying level of strategy that naturally adjusts to the player’s skill level. The spatial element is a nice change of pace for someone like me who typically plays more linear, traditional board games.

Replay ability is another major positive here. The quick setup and tear down make it a breeze to get to the table or layout on the floor and the short playtime guarantees it doesn’t have to wear out its welcome. Additionally, it wasn’t rare to play 2, 3 or 4 games in a row. My kids enjoyed this just as much as my (hardcore) gaming group proving it’s perfect for any sort of family.

Lacuna is a bit more “mass-market, retail game” than hobby game, but its quirkiness will still have you talking about it and bringing it regularly to game nights, road trips and parties.

Publisher: WizKids Games
Player Count: 2-5  Players
Game Length: 75-100 Minutes
Complexity 3/5

As the head of a Renaissance-era, Italian, aristocratic family, supporting the artists, builders and scholars of the day is essential for cultivating fame and prestige. Build your reputation as patrons seeking out worthy artisans, develop your own principalities and become the princes of Florence.

In this tile-laying, contract fulfillment and bidding game, players will bid against each other to help local artisan’s fulfill their creative pursuits. Resources will be tight and savvy bidders will know when to strike in an effort to maximize their returns over 7 rounds where tension continues to escalate and both long term and short-term planning are critical for victory. Are you ready to become a prince of Florence? Find out in the review below:

ON YOUR TURN

The Princes of Florence was originally published in 2000 from the designers behind classic titles such as El Grande, Tikal and Colosseum and more recently, Downforce. In this revised edition, the artwork and components have received a major upgrade to bring this traditional euro into the new era of board gaming.

The game takes place over 7 rounds with each round divided into 2 distinct phases. Players will earn prestige points through a variety of ways and in the end, the player with the most prestige is the winner.

One of the central objectives of the game is to gather professional cards and meet as many of the requirements listed on each card as possible. These cards represent artisans of art, architecture and scholastic pursuits. Each artisan is influenced and inspired in different ways and it’s up to you to cultivate your resources to meet these needs.

Each round begins with an auction phase where players bid on 1 of 6 available objects. These objects carry a variety of benefits that may serve your available artisans. The active player selects one of the objects and all players bid. You can only win 1 object per round and once you’ve acquired an object, you can no longer participate in that round’s auctions. Once a specific type of object has been bought, no one else can buy that object for the remainder of the round. The objects feature landscape tiles that will later be added to your principality board, prestige and recruiting cards that provide endgame objectives and the ability to steal professional cards from other players respectively and builder and jester tokens that provide price and scoring benefits.

Once all players have completed the auction phase they move onto the action phase. During the action phase, players will be able to perform 2 actions from a selection of 5 choices.

Among other things, this is where you cash in your professional cards. Each professional card earns points for meeting certain point-scoring objectives. You don’t have to meet them all, but each round has point requirements for cashing in cards that must be met if you choose to cash in a card, so the later you wait, the more you need to earn. Your professional cards earn points for having certain landscape tiles or buildings in your principality (which can be purchased during the action phase) as well as holding certain cards in your hand as well as owning other objects.

Just from a setup perspective, the principality board plays a fairly prominent role in the game’s presentation. This gridded board allows you to place purchased landscape and building tiles throughout. These polynomial shaped tiles need to fit together in the grid and will benefit you when you cash in artisans. This provides an additional puzzle to consider when executing your strategy.

Having finished the action phase, players can choose to take money earned into your hand for future rounds or use it to purchase prestige points. The player with the most money earned during the round receives a bonus. This continues for the 7 phases and a winner is finally declared.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

I am a huge fan of the artwork in Princes. The characters are colorful, credible and full of personality. It’s full of style and nothing is overly silly or cartoony which is a great tone for the game.  The game’s components are good and the overall production has a fairly classy feel to it. The game’s wooden token paws used to track points aren’t amazing. I would have liked to see a more custom shape than the traditional chess pawn, but they do get the job done.

The rulebook is fairly clear and easy to understand. I was able to jump quickly into both the base game and the solo mode without too much trouble.

PROS & CONS

 The bidding feels very tight and gaining those initial auction items is a real challenge

 Many paths to victory, but you have to be very intentional about your goals

 Great artwork and production

 Cool points/money split mechanic at the end of each action phase. This could be your key to victory, but you feel the tension in your choices.

 Overall set collection feels really cutthroat in a good, challenging way

 The game plays at a slower pace. I attribute that to the game’s old school approach

 This isn’t a crowd pleaser. It’s certainly for a niche audience.

 A bit rules-y and that can slow down gameplay

NEUTRAL You have to be very particular about your choices. Failing to grab a needed object can disrupt your pursuits and cost you big time.

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Fans of classic bidding and euro games are going to enjoy the old school feel. This is a tight, cutthroat game and it can get pretty competitive. There is plenty of interaction in the bidding phase and it can get a little nasty with the right group. It has a little Use Rosenberg with the tile laying and there are plenty of choices and paths to victory for fans of that sort of thing.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

This is both the best and the worst thing about the game: The auction phase can be brutal. Sometimes you really need to overpay to guarantee the right piece. It can be incredibly irritating when your opponents start driving up the prices, but it’s also super satisfying to pull one over on them. I’m a fan of bidding games and the tight choices really elevate the bidding process here.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I wasn’t sure how Princes of Florence would translate 20 years after it was first released. It definitely has an old school euro feel, but there is still plenty of personality in the mechanics that make for a fun, engaging experience.

The pacing of the game is where it does feel a bit dated for me. I think we’ve come a long way when it comes to pacing in modern games and Princes shows a little wear in this area. Perhaps there is a way to condense some of the actions, but it is what is and while the pacing felt off it certainly wasn’t a deal breaker for me.

This is a set collecting game, but the path to get there is what really makes it interesting. The bidding and tile laying aren’t anything revolutionary, but it’s the limited choices that make them engaging. Grabbing objects (or resources if you prefer) is super tight here. This all starts with the bidding phase and how only 1 object of each type can even be drafted that round and each player leaves the phase with only 1 object. The choices are solid as well. Should I grab a jester that’s going to earn me additional points with each professional card I cash in or go with the builder who is going to decrease the cost of buildings later on? Maybe it would be smarter to grab a prestige card to provide an additional end scoring goal to pursue? Don’t forget Landscapes or Recruiting cards! It all comes down to your own strategy and how that conflicts with the other players as the bidding commences.

The principality/polyomino mini game follows in a similar fashion. The space is limited and makes choices more of a challenge. Buildings can’t be adjacent to other buildings early on and this creates a bigger spacial puzzle that needs to be planned for and solved.

The key to your engine is the end of round scoring choices. After players cash in professional cards they can either take the money or trade it in for prestige points. Obviously the player with the most prestige is the winner, but you’re going to need money to outbid your opponents and purchase objects during the action phase. I doubt this is the only game to employ this technique, but it’s brilliant and needs to exist in more games. This mechanic GUARANTEES at least one really interesting decision EACH round.

Princes of Florence is an unforgiving game. Making the wrong choice or bidding too much for something can completely derail your game. Resources are tight and the 7 rounds feel not nearly long enough to accomplish all your goals. When you’ve finally finished fighting the other bidders, you then turn around and realize you have to start fighting the game with its tough resource stipulations and limited actions.

If it’s not clear by now, this isn’t a game for everyone. It can sludge along with the wrong players and be a bit frustrating at times. But, for players looking for a cutthroat game with really tight and challenging choices, Princes of Florence may be for you. I think fans of old school euros are going to find a lot to like here, but there are some progressive ideas that play well in today’s gaming landscape. I found the game also gets better and better with each play and that’s a huge plus for me. I think if you find the right group that embraces a more challenging, interactive and cutthroat game, this can be a real gem that begs for repeat plays.

Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
Player Count: 1-4 Players
Dedicated Solo mode: Yes
Game Length: 90-120 Minutes
Complexity 3.75/5

Inspired by the life and business exploits of entrepreneur and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, who rose to fame in the steel and railroad transportation industries, becoming one of the world’s richest men during the late 19th & early 20th century. He ended up donating $350 million dollars to foundations and charities throughout his life building a legacy that still produces fruit to this day.

In this heavy network building and economic efficiency game, players will manage a staff of workers and a series of interconnected company departments. Players will be working to establish companies across major train routes in the United States in order to build a network of transported goods while growing your work force and individual business as you earn wealth and contribute to various charitable organizations. In Carnegie, points represent an impact in both economic and charitable endeavors with the high score proving the biggest imprint on culture. Is this historical, economic builder right for you? Check out our in-depth review:

ON YOUR TURN

The game of Carnegie takes place over 20 rounds, with each round consisting of 4 phases. Players will take turns being the first player and choose 1 of 4 timeline actions that will trigger an event, a department within the players company to activate and an end-of-round clean up phase.

Timeline actions are the primary motivator for each round. The timeline is a series of 4 company actions and 16 event actions across 4 tabs that are randomized at setup and triggered one at a time. The active player will choose 1 of 4 actions that serve as different aspects of the company’s organizational structure: Human Resources, Management, Construction and Research & Development. Choosing 1 of these actions will activate those departments within the company later in the round. This is followed by an event where players have the potential opportunity to take income or make a donation to a cause.

Each player has a personal player board that, to begin, consists of the same 5 company departments. New departments can be added as your company grows giving you new and more powerful actions. To use a department, that department must have at least 1 active worker. Each department’s actions vary, but maintain similar end goals based on the department icon. Human Resources moves workers around the company, Management allows you to acquire goods and money while expanding your operation, Construction allows you to build new projects and R&D allows for new designs and to develop transportation networks.

Throughout the game, players will be sending workers to different regions of the United States. These workers can then be brought back through events within that region. These events act as a secondary action, but precursor to the primary department actions. Each region has a track that can be upgraded through R&D. When that region is activated, any workers in that region can be returned to your player board taking with it the rewards on that region’s track. In addition, your company can take income earned on project tabs. These project tabs serve as a catalyst for R&D to develop new building project designs and generate residual income.

Another big portion of the game is the opportunity to make donations to various causes. By donating money, players reserve end-of-game scoring opportunities in a variety of ways across 4 charity categories. While players can grab the occasional victory point during the game, the primary way to earn points is by snagging these end-of-game multipliers earning you points in a variety of ways such at “most buildings in the midwest” or “most human resource departments” on your player board.

All of Carnegie’s different areas are so interlaced, I couldn’t discuss building until now—which is one of the game’s primary features. Building or Construction allows players to build projects in various cities across the map. Connecting cities (specifically major cities) will earn players points at the end of the game for how connected the game’s 4 major metropolitan areas are as well as how developed those regions tracks have become.

I know this description is a little wordy, but I wanted to properly convey how the theme is tied into the mechanics for those who are into those things.

Once players have completed all 20 rounds (exhausting all the timeline’s actions), the game ends and the player with the most points is the winner.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

Carnegie can be a bit of a challenge in your first few plays, but the production does a great job attempting to bridge the concepts with both beautiful and informative pieces.

The board is bright, colorful and well organized. The layout and illustration style compliment each other very well. There is a ton of iconography to learn, but it’s relatively easy to pick up on and you likely won’t need to reference the rulebook by your second play.

The standout component is the personal player boards. These triple-layered boards have space allowing for project tabs to slide in and out charting your building opportunities. Not only do these look and function great, they provide a unique and fun way to organize and reveal new information available to the player. I’m starting to see this type of thing more in other games, but Carnegie was the first (that I saw) and have really done it the best so far.

The rulebook does a good job explaining the game. The game’s concepts can be a little confusing at first, but the rulebook does its best to communicate everything up front, but also serves as a great reference for the first few plays.

PROS & CONS

Think-y gameplay that not only rewards forward thinking, but building contingencies that benefit you in light of your opponents choices.

Beautiful presentation including some standout components

Tight resource system that forces you to stay on your toes

While it is a solitaire-style game, each player is directly affected by choices made by their opponents

Careful planning can build nifty combo opportunities throughout the game

Turns move quickly for seasoned players

 Familiar mechanics aren’t anything new

 Grabbing the more beneficial department tiles can give you an unfair advantage

 Despite a 3rd AI player, the board feels a little loose at 2 players

 While the iconography is pretty good, it takes a couple plays to really familiarize yourself with them

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Economic, Eurogamers looking for a unique theme and think-y gameplay with quick turns and satisfying results are going to find a lot to like here. Carnegie is an efficiency puzzle, but it doesn’t come across as work. Colorful choices, engaging gameplay and a bright theme masks what could have been another relatively dry euro.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing for me are the community/timeline actions. You can plan ahead, but with Carnegie’s tight resource management system and unpredictable opponents, you’re never guaranteed things will play out like you planned.  Carnegie rewards players who not only build a solid, strategic plan, but one that accounts for contingencies.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It took me quite a few plays to fully appreciate Carnegie. This is a game tightly wound where mistakes can be costly, but successful planning can be truly rewarding.

The biggest initial hurdle was learning the iconography (which is well done). There are a number of different icons from department labels to worker activation, project types, map symbols and donation benefits. There is a reference sheet on the back of the rulebook, but it still took me a game and a half to get a good grasp on these. From there it was building a strategy.

Carnegie is truly an efficiency puzzle. Figuring out how to manage your departments in a way to benefit one another, gain resources and plan for the future… all the while building in contingency plans since the timeline actions aren’t going to always trigger at the time and in the order you want them to. You can definitely thank rogue opponents with their independent strategies for this one! But that’s what keeps you on your toes and makes Carnegie so engaging. It’s the layers that force you to think through your approach, consider obstacles and then make the best of it.

As I got more plays under my belt, I could definitely see more optimal approaches that worked best for me, but Carnegie is a game that shifts from game to game (thanks in large part to a variety of setup options from the timeline to new department growth opportunities). There are many different ways to approach the game and I found most to be equally satisfying.

As long as you’re playing with players familiar with the game, the turns go by quickly and the time length is acceptable. There is definitely room for over thinking, so you may want to be careful who you bring along to the table.

While I’m really enjoying Carnegie, I do wonder if I’ll get into a groove where I follow a similar strategy each game. While there is a fun amount of variability, I could see this becoming “same-y” after you’ve seen everything the game has to offer. The mechanics aren’t necessarily unique in their own right, so it could eventually fall into that preference area where choosing Carnegie over something similar depends on our thematic tastes for the night.

My only other criticism was at 2 players. I did enjoy it at 2 players, but I had some issues with the 3rd, mandatory, AI player and the looseness of the board. A 3rd, AI player is used to block random donation goals, limiting your end game scoring opportunities. I can’t think of a better option, but it was frustrating to see my favorite goals tied up before the game began. Additionally, the 2-player board (despite certain building spots blocked prior to the start by the AI) felt a little too loose. Most often 1 player would move out west while the other would start work in the south. This may be the case of just having a limited number of plays, but there never seemed to be too much tension fighting for spots on the board.

Criticisms aside, Carnegie is a very good game that I would highly recommend. If you’re looking for a tight, thematic euro with fun, satisfying decisions, you should definitely give it a look. It took me a minute to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed the turns, the planning and exciting finish where players tally up their donation bonuses and you see how you stacked up. Carnegies is one of the better heavy euros of the last few years and one of the best of 2022.

Publisher: iello
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Dedicated Solo mode: No
Game Length: 75 Minutes
Complexity 3/5

Serving as head of a growing city-states in Ancient Greece, you’ll pursue 7 different avenues in an effort to earn the most glory. Compete in philosophy, legislation, culture, trade, military, politics and development in this tech-tree driven game where you’ll choose actions, boost your tracks and build an engine to capitalize on the virtues you choose to pursue. Begin with an asymmetrical city, leverage the luck of the dice and chase after a number of unique paths to victory in this quick playing, historical euro.

ON YOUR TURN

I LOVE quick playing, think-y, multi-player, solitaire-style euro games. On the surface, Khora: Rise of an Empire looks like it has it all: plenty of tech tracks, simultaneous action selection, more tech tracks, glorious euro-khaki colored boards and community scoring goals. It even scores bonus points for some really solid artwork AND asymmetrical player boards. I always think it’s fair to air my expectations going in and Khora does almost everything right on the surface.

The asymmetrical player boards provide a unique path for personal development goals and that’s enough to give direction to each player going in.

As I mentioned in the intro, the theme centers around Ancient Greek city building. It’s somewhat tied into the actions, but it does provide a cool backdrop for a game of token pushing.

Each turn you’ll roll a pair of dice and apply each of those dice to 1 of 7 action tiles, each providing different ways to build your tech-tree kingdom. And this is a game about tech tracks. The game board prominently features 4 unique tracks (citizens, taxes, glory & troops) that you’ll gain and cash in in various ways through the game’s 9 rounds. Additionally, each personal player board features 3 additional tracks: economy, culture & military.

Action tiles each require a uniquely specific valued dice to activate. If you’re short, you can always spend a few citizen points to make up the difference. Action tiles provide benefits such as increasing your citizen track total, earning politics cards, gaining money, gaining victory points, etc. — typically in relation to another track’s value.

As you level up certain tracks, you can be the first to achieve community goals or pursue military exploration which earns you knowledge tokens valuable for playing political cards or leveling up your personal development track. Overall, it feels a bit like a ledger or really cool Excel spreadsheet as you’re working to find the right combinations to what will ultimately end with the most points.

While it is primarily a multiplayer solitaire game, player interaction comes in the form of event cards benefiting or punishing players based on certain achievements. The player with the lowest die roll gets the opportunity to play first each round and that can potentially provide advantages when it comes to military exploration.

Once you’ve grasped the concepts and action process, the game plays through the 9 rounds fairly briskly. At the end of the game, players add up points earned throughout, end game scoring bonuses typically played through political cards and a multiplier based on tokens earned and your personal glory track.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

Khora is not hiding its intentions as it works diligently to appeal to the hardcore euro crowd. The beige boards and player tokens just feel right. The production team added in some pretty solid artwork that goes a long way bringing the theme to life. The dual layered player boards are pretty cool and provide a place to “drop-in” each individual player faction as well as securely hold player tokens. There aren’t any mind-blowing components, but I’m happy with the board, card and token quality as a whole. The iconography is solid and easy to follow and the graphic design does a fine job accenting the entire production.

PROS & CONS

 Quick playing euro

 This game knows who it’s targeting

 Fairly tight game

 Interesting decisions

 Nice production

 Easy to teach and learn

 Definitely a game where I can “do better next time”

 Asymmetrical factions and political cards add variability to each game

 I worry about the long term replay ability

 Mitigating the dice with your citizen track never felt that tight

 While the game boasts many paths to victory, I worry that’s not entirely true

 This is going to appear bland to a casual gamer

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

If you love tech tracks, this is the game for you! Manipulating and leveraging each track against each other to build the best engine is what this game is all about.

BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about the game is the simplicity of the 7 action choices each turn. On the surface they might even feel limiting, but that’s where the beauty of the game comes in as you attempt to strengthen paths where there might not appear to be one.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Khora is a fairly tight, fast-paced euro that will definitely find its audience. The production is really solid and it gives a euro-player pretty much everything they want on the surface. I really appreciate the play time and even toward the end of my testing realized we could play an entire game in about an hour.

For the most part, I really enjoy what the gameplay has to offer. The actions are good and I appreciated the race for community goals and the treasured philosophy tokens. Some of the politics cards felt a lot more valuable than others and while you can draw more of these throughout the game, it seemed the players with the best hand to start the game had a distinct advantage. The game plays quickly and the “worth it” factor rears its head early as you have to determine if there are enough rounds left to justify playing certain cards and pursuing certain benefits almost from the beginning.

I was surprised by how simultaneously tight and loose the game was at the same time. While building certain tracks can be a real challenge, mitigating your die rolls only forces a tough decision every now and then. Planning and efficiency are key. You can often achieve anything you set your heart to, but with the limited number of rounds, may come up short in the long haul (and judging by my final scores… I came up short a lot). That being said, I was able to better myself with each game as I began to understand the system and how to make it work for my needs.

There is a decent amount of variability. The asymmetrical faction and political cards serve as guides to move you forward and they differ for the most part each game. I do worry about the long term replayability. While the factions are different, they’re not THAT different. And while the political cards shift your focus, I was often quick to dismiss the majority of them. I even found myself not using all the actions regularly through the game, but focusing on the 2 or 3 that I felt gave me the best advantage. This is just a perception, but I could see you basically playing out the same game strategy game after game when you get a real feel for everything… And I think all that’s fine. Khora does a great job filling a gap in most gamer’s collection: A quick-playing euro with interesting decisions that you can play in just a hair over an hour. It’s fun for the right group and there is a good value there… and along with an appealing production, gives Khora an advantage in this space.

While I enjoyed Khora, I do wonder how I’ll feel about 10 more plays in 6-12 months from now. For now, Khora is going to stay in the collection. I’m looking forward to refining my strategy as well as using it as a way to introduce an accessible, economic, track-heavy euro to players not that familiar with them. Khora has a lot going for it and it’s one I would definitely recommend for the right crowd.

Designed by Christian Marcussen
Published by WizKids!
2-4 Players  |  180-240 Minutes

In this highly anticipated update to the original 2012 game of the same title, players take on the role of some of history’s greatest civilizations. From humble beginnings, expand your empire flexing your power, prestige and influence. Seek your place in history by developing technology, evolving your culture, spreading your influence and seeking victory in war. There are many paths to victory, but is Clash of Cultures the right path for you?

Growing up I spent hours in front of my PC playing the game Sid Meier’s: Civilization. I started playing in the evening, and before I knew it, the sun was coming up. I am aware of the different Sid Meier games available and their own rabid fan base, but Clash of Cultures was sold to me as the most literal interpretation of the classic video game to date. While I never had the opportunity to play the original game released by Z-man Games, I am fully aware of both the visual and mechanical updates available in the new release. I’m going to approach this review allowing Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition to stand on its own merits apart from other civ-building games or seeking to compare it to the previous edition.

That said, I know many Clash of Cultures fans will be pleased to know that the Monumental Edition comes with the much sought after Civilization expansion. This included expansion allows players to take the helm of some of history’s greatest civilizations and their most infamous leaders. An addition that brings asymmetrical player abilities, some unique strategy and setup options and a lot of personality to the game.

In Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition, players start small with high aspirations. Throughout the game, players will carefully choose their actions as they explore the land and seek to grow their culture in both size and knowledge. Let’s take a look at how it plays, what I thought and hopefully determine if this massive civilization builder is right for you.

Scythe + Invaders from Afar Expansion
Designed by Jamey Stegmaier | Art by Jakub Rozalski
Published by Stonemaier Games
1-5 Players  |  90-115 Minutes

After a the long war, there was an uneasy peace across Europa as eccentric new leaders, empowered by ungodly steam technology began to assert their influence across the land. What remained of the Scots, Clan Albion, entered the fray along with the Nordic Kingdoms of the North, whilst the Rusviet Union encroached upon the land from the East. However none of them could win the hearts of the people like the Crimean Khanate, who was serving the people as he blessed the farms, ending the famine that had wracked the continent after the war. But no one saw what was coming next…