Kingsburg

I first discovered this easy to play yet very replayable, strategic game at the Essen Games festival last year (2007). My son (12) and I were walking around one of the deeper and less frequented halls when we were accosted by an Italian gentleman who asked us if we would like to play his new game that had just been published. The genetleman in question was Andrea Chiarvesio, the co author and the game, Kingsburg. Of course we obliged him and what followed was a fun one and half hours of dice-play and decision making. Our game had 5 players but we recently played with just two using a dummy yet workable faux player technique.

There are a lot of dice in Kingsburg but you do not use them to move around a board as such. Many people are put off strategic games with dice, as luck can upset many a well thought out plan. In this game however the key is not just what score you rolled on your own coloured dice but how you use that score and those dice to influence the advisors who help you win the game. And this is the key. By choosing the right advisors, collecting the right balance of raw matarials and then building the correct city/town for yourself, you accumulate a number of victory points and 'see off' the monsters that visit you every Winter. Choose the wrong advisors and buildings and then resultantly not have enough soldiers to fight off the Zombies and Goblins (2 of a numnber of increasingly menacing enemies that you must confront as the game progresses) you can end up losing that Cathedral you spent two goes building, as well as possibly resources and Victory points.Ouch.

The games develops through 4 seasons per round and ends in a logical way after the 5th year. With a mechanic that rebalances the weaker player each round, the game can be quite tense till the final monsters are revealed. This is an excellent device as in many games some players have to play on knowing full well they cannot win.

The game components are excellent and the art on the Board is first class. Can you spot the author's own picture as one of the advisors? The rules are excellently laid out and you can play the game as you read. The game is suitable for adults and childen (as young as 9-10) alike. But be careful they might beat you on the turning of the last card.

Recommended. I bought the game from the author's stand immediately afterward my first play. Can't say fairer than that.