Loot

The Game

Loot is the official game of the 2024 Essen game fair. When I bought the entrance ticket for the fair, there was an option to purchase a fair kit, and this official game was part of the kit. The other part of the kit was a huge tote bag, which can be used to carry quite many boardgames. I didn't expect to be a regular visitor of the Essen game fair, so I did not hesitate to add the fair kit to my purchase. It would be a good souvenir. I must admit I did not have any particular interest in the game itself or high hopes. It is a roll-and-write game, and I don't particularly fancy them. However now that I have finally played the game, I have to say it is enjoyable, and it also matches the setting well. 

The idea of the game is you are visiting the Essen game fair, and you want to visit many interesting game booths. Every player has his own map (i.e. player sheet). You will have a pawn moving around a 7x7 grid which represents the fair. Every space on the grid is a fair booth (and there are booths in four colours), or an encounter with Meeps the mascot. You start the game with your pawn off grid on the left edge, next to any space you fancy. During the game, everyone moves his pawn using a common die roll. 

There are three dice in the game. You roll them and place them in a queue. Every round, everyone must move his pawn using the die under the exclamation mark. The next two dice will be used in the subsequent two rounds, so you know what is coming up and you can plan ahead. Once a die is used, the queue moves and that die is rerolled and goes to the end of the queue. 

When you move your pawn following the die value, you must move in a straight line and you must move the exact number of steps specified. You can't bang against a wall. Also the walls do not wrap around to the opposite side. You mark your landing space with a slash. If you land on the same space again, you mark it again, turning that slash to a cross. Once a space is crossed, you are not allowed to land on it a third time. If you go to Essen you shouldn't be visiting a booth a third time! That's not the right way to spend your time unless you work there. If you are unable to move because there is no valid move, that can actually be a good thing. You are then allowed to place your pawn on any unmarked space in the board. You can't mark it, but with this flexibility, you can set yourself up for good subsequent moves. 

As you fulfil certain criteria, you score points. For example when you completely mark a booth (they come in sizes 1 to 4), you score points. When you fully visit a certain number of booths of the same colour, you score points. When you fully visit a certain number of booths of the same size, you score points. In a round where you score points, you note your updated point total at the bottom right of your sheet. There is a limited number of point recording boxes. The game ends when any one player fills the second last box here. This player scores an addition 3 points, and fills the last box with his final score. 

Whenever you meet the mascot, you score points and circle this track. Some spaces that you circle on your player board give you special abilities. This third space on the mascot track allows you to move one step more or fewer than the die value. Once you use a special ability, you cross it out. These abilities are all single-use. 

Here you can see that when you fully visit three booths of the same colour you'll score 3 points. Fully visiting a booth gives you points based on the booth size. When you visit multiple booths of the same size, you get special abilities. 

The Play

Although the player sheets are all the same, and you play using the same die rolls, if you start your pawn at a different location, you will get very different outcomes. Even if you happen to start at the same spot, you will likely diverge pretty soon. Every round you have up to four options, i.e. moving in the four directions. You can look forward to see the die rolls for the next two rounds. There is some planning you can do. When you have no valid move that adheres to the die roll, that actually means your possibilities open up significantly. You must move your pawn to an unmarked space. I find that often it is beneficial to force yourself into such a situation. You will mark one space fewer, but you can likely mark a space you really want, and that will be worth the sacrifice. 

When you mark spaces, you need to focus on completing conditions which score you points. You can't do everything and you must have some level of focus. It is better to do just a few things well, than to do many things half-heartedly. There is no direct interference between players, but you do want to watch your opponents' tempo. The player interaction, although limited, is present in the scoring tempo. You may want to patiently go for the big scoring opportunities, but if your opponent is scoring frequently and only aiming for the low hanging fruits, he might end the game earlier than you wish, when you are still some way from making your big wins. 

The Thoughts

The game is mostly solitaire, but it presents an interesting puzzle. The die rolls you get depend on luck. You do your best to make use of what life gives you. When you get the special abilities, you get a bit more flexibility and you have to think carefully when to use those abilities. Despite the dependency on the die rolls, you feel there are several things you can do. It is a pretty abstract game. Ways of scoring points and gaining special abilities are rather arbitrary. However I do appreciate how some of the elements relate to the setting. When you are a fan of a specific genre of games (e.g. blue is card games), then of course you'd want to visit all the booths of that genre. Loot doesn't change my mind about roll-and-write games, but I must say I've truly enjoyed playing it.