Plantful Life

Plantful Life is a roll and write game from Taiwan. You take care of a plant and you nurture it to grow and bloom. The game comes with six different plants, and they need to be taken care of differently. At the end of the game, you will score points in several ways, including how much your plant has grown, how many flowers it has, and how many butterflies it has attracted.

The game is played over 10 rounds. One card is drawn in the first round, two cards in the second round, and so on. You use the numbers on the cards to fill your player board. You can only use at most three cards, so from the fourth round onwards you have more options, but you are still limited to just three cards. There is only one card numbered 1, two cards numbered 2, and so on. This is something to take into account as you plan how to fill your player board. Small numbers are rarer.

You may have multiple pots. They are represented by the brown boxes. Numbers in every pot must be different. Plants grow from pots upwards. Boxes that grow from the same pot can only be filled with the same number. Pink and red boxes are small and large flowers respectively. They are worth more points than regular boxes. Also they are important for attracting butterflies. Wherever butterflies are drawn, players compare flowers. Whoever has the most ticks the same number of butterflies on their player sheet. Others who have fewer flowers tick fewer. Butterflies on your player board score points at game end based on their number squared. 

You have two player boards. One is the plant and the other is your workshop. Filling spaces at your workshop gives you special abilities. Each track can only be filled with increasing numbers. Normally you want to start with low numbers to make it easier to continue to fill them. One track lets you unlock gates at your plant. There are boxes you cannot proceed past unless you have done unlocking. There’s one powerful ability which lets you grow every pot once. If your plant has many pots (like this one above), this ability is very helpful. One ability gives you an extra number every round, which is very handy. However to gain this ability you need to have filled in the third box on the track. This is worth the trouble if you do it early. At late game there is not enough ROI. 

You can see several familiar elements if you have played other roll and write games. I like how different the plants are and how you will choose different powers that work better with them. I like that by using a card deck, the probabilities of drawing each number are customised as opposed to being equal and random. And a card deck has “memory”. You can card count. Playing the game is a pleasant experience. You feel clever when you utilise your workshop abilities well to grow your plant. I’ve never been a fan of roll and write games. The only one I truly enjoy and remember fondly is Draft & Write Records. Maybe it’s the theme. I must say Plantful Life is not radically different. However I enjoy it a lot. It is a little like a solo game since the butterflies is the only aspect that you need to compete in. I like how peaceful and pleasant the play experience is. The art certainly contributes to that. And I’m not even a gardening guy. 

Two of the plant types...

... and how they are presented in the game

Three Sisters

Three Sisters is a traditional companion planting technique where corn, climbing beans and winter squash (e.g. pumpkins) are planted together, and each of them provides benefits to the other two. The game Three Sisters is a roll-and-write game about agriculture and farming. Everyone has his own player sheet. Dice are rolled every round to determine the possible actions. You take turns drafting dice. What you take determines how you can check boxes on your player sheet. This is how you score points. The game ends after 8 rounds. 

There is a small game board to keep track of the rounds. On the left there is a circle of actions, and a farmer pawn which moves around the circuit. 

Every round when you roll dice, they are grouped according to value and the groups of dice are placed on action spaces from the farmer's space onwards, each group on a different space. The farmer is then moved clockwise to the next empty space. This is how only a subset of actions will be available every round. The die value determines where on your player sheet you can plant or water. The position from which you remove the die determines the board action you can take. All actions are related to different ways you check boxes on your player sheet. 

The pumpkin is the start player marker. That mini leather dice tray doesn't come with the game. That's Jon's dice tray. 

This is your player sheet

On the left you can see one of the garden sections numbered 3. Each garden section has a main area where corn (height 4) and beans (height 2) are planted, and a perimeter area where pumpkins are planted. To check the first box in any column of boxes, you must perform the plant action. For the remaining boxes, you must perform the water action. One plant action lets you mark one column, while one water action lets you mark all columns in a garden section which already have at least one box checked. One interesting restriction is you can plant a bean only when the neighbouring corn is at least two checkboxes high. 

The blue ribbon icons are point values. You gain points when you check those positions. You don't get points for pumpkins, but you get to mark the goods section (orange box icon). The goods section gives you benefits in various ways. In between pumpkin patches you will see single circles. These are perennials (long-lasting plants). When you complete adjacent pumpkin patches, you get to mark these perennial circles, which in turn lets you mark the specific perennial type in the perennial section of your player sheet. Perennials give you various benefits, depending on the perennial type. 

You have an apiary section and also a fruit trees section. As you can see, the common mechanism of roll-and-write games is being used here. A big part of the fun is creating chain reactions, where checking one box triggers others to be checked, and you gain multiple benefits. 

This is the shed section. Generally these are abilities you can gain to help you with other sections. They are investments. Some of these give points too (see the blue icons). Choosing which shed tools to invest in will drive your strategy and lead you to focus on certain areas. There are many boxes and sections on your player sheet. You can't do everything and you need to choose which areas to focus on. You want to be able to check as many boxes as you can, because in general that translates to more points. You want to create good combos to help you check boxes efficiently. 

All this is influenced by what your opponents are trying to do. Although there is no direct aggression, sometimes you compete for the same dice. If you watch what your opponents are trying to do, you can deny them the dice they need. 

If you enjoy the gardening and farming setting, this will be fun. There are many aspects represented in the game. The strategy space is wide enough that you have meaningful decisions to make and you need to be disciplined and consistent. 

7 Wonders Dice

7 Wonders, first published in 2010, has now become a juggernaut of a franchise. The series has multiple expansions and spin offs. Some of the spin offs have different core mechanisms. They are different games, but they use the same theme and art style. The 2 player version of 7 Wonders has now been turned into a Lord of the Rings game. For the dice game version to get released only in 2025, 15 years after the original, is a little surprising. For many other successful franchises, the dice game version or the card game version would have been out much earlier. 

7 Wonders Dice is a roll-and-write game. Multiple dice are rolled every round, and you pick one to use. Everyone does this at the same time. Your choice does not affect other players. The same die can be used by multiple players. You normally use a die to tick one box on your player sheet, which represents constructing one section of a building. The game ends after any one player completes three buildings. The player sheets are the same, with two exceptions, your wonder of the world, and your university. Your wonder is in the top left corner, and it can be completed in only three steps. It is actually pretty easy to complete. You are not relying very much on other buildings to help you complete your wonder. Instead, it is your wonder which will help you complete other buildings or gain specific benefits. 

You roll the dice in a flat and wide box with a cover on, and you shake that box in a circular motion. This is because the box is divided into four sections, and depending on where a die is, the cost to use the die differs. The cost can be between 0 to 3 gold. If you can't afford any die, or if you are not willing to spend the money on what you can afford, you can choose to not use any die and collect 3 gold instead. 

The green building is the university. All the spaces on your sheet has a number below it. This number means how many resource types your nation needs to produce for you to be able to tick the space. If your nation does not produce enough, you can make up for the shortage by paying gold. This is why you need gold. At this particular university, the first spaces of the three rows mean (from top to bottom) the blue die becomes free for you, you earn 2 gold whenever you use the red die, and you get to tick your yellow building. Every player's university is different, and this nudges players in different directions. When you reach the third spaces at the three rows, they unlock an additional die - black, purple or white. The black die has faces for multiple buildings, so it gives you more flexibility. The purple and white dice are for two specific advanced buildings. 

You have two red buildings - garrisons - on the two sides of your sheet. You tick boxes representing offence and defence. Your garrisons are compared against those of your neighbours. If you tick offence boxes before your neighbours have any defences, you score more points. So here you have some player interaction. There isn't a lot in this game. You don't steal points from your opponents. It's just that they will be letting you score more if they don't put up defences. 

I played on BGA, and the convenience of doing so is a problem. It's not the website's fault. It's mine. Every turn the system highlights all the valid spots I can tick and indicates the cost. As a result I don't think much and just click. This is not a good thing. In the first game I played, I decided to be thrifty. I mostly chose to use dice which were free. Sometimes I chose to increase resource production even when it wasn't free, because having more resource types would help reduce costs in future. I later realised that this wasn't a good policy. I was reactive and I didn't really have a clear strategy. I wasn't building up any strong advantage. 

Those coin icons along the bottom of the player sheet are for recording your gold. When you earn gold, you circle coins. When you spend gold, you fill in the circles. A game starts with 7 coins circled, which means you start with 7 gold. If you look at the screenshot above (I'm at the top), I rarely earn or spend gold, much less than all my opponents. 

Being insistent on saving money greatly constrained me. I had little consistency when constructing buildings. I had no coherent strategy. Well, other than being thrifty, which I later realised was not a good strategy. I should have been more deliberate in planning which buildings and which strengths to leverage. I needed to focus on specific areas. Only with focus you can gain a stronger advantage. 

In my second game, I chose to focus first on completing my wonder. My wonder helped me with resource production, and when I completed my wonder (which was also considered a building), I gained the bonus for a completed building. I realise that there is a sense of urgency in this game. You really should not waste any turn. You want to watch your opponents' progress so that you don't get caught unprepared when the game ends. Or look at it this way, if you are quicker in completing buildings, you have the advantage of being able to end the game when the time best fits you. That's a powerful thing. The decision you make every turn looks simple, but you actually need to put some thought into it if you want to play well and play more strategically. 

Player interaction is low in 7 Wonders Dice. It almost feels like a solo game. Among roll-and-write games, it's about mid-weight. Although the player sheets do differ, so far it doesn't seem to make a huge difference. Maybe I have not grasped this aspect well yet. For me the game is decent but not spectacular. However there is something instinctive that I enjoy about it which I can't fully explain. I think I enjoy the options I am given, and I enjoy the sense of progress. 

Miams

In Miams (I think it means yummy in French) you roll five dice and try to get combinations which will score you points. Normally you get one reroll, and you get to choose which dice to reroll. Throughout the game you gain abilities which let you manipulate the dice and do other things which help you score points. The game ends when anyone reaches 50 points. 

The die faces are different types of fruits, and one cross. That cross helps your opponents. You always have at least one reroll. Which dice to reroll depends on what you are aiming for. Sometimes you take risks. When you already have a pair, you may choose to reroll one of them to attempt to make five different fruits. You might fail and get nothing. Or you may choose to sacrifice a full house to attempt a four of a kind or five of a kind. When you reroll a fruit die, you are also taking the risk of rolling a cross which will help your opponents. 

On the player sheet you can see all the combinations you can attempt. Most of them are simply rolling multiple dice of the same fruit. Then there's a full house, and 5 different fruits. Whenever you manage to make a combo, you score the next available number in the row by drawing a heart around it. If an opponent rolls a cross, you get to cross off a number on your sheet. You don't score it, but crossing a number makes the next one available, so you will potentially score more points on your turn later. 

At some positions you earn stars. This is a currency for you to buy those power cards on the right. That column of power cards work like a sushi belt, always moving downwards. The bottom card is always free, so you can always take one card on your turn even if you have no star. These powers are important in helping you make good combos. They can also help you score points in other ways too. Some of these are ongoing abilities, like being able to treat one fruit as another type. Some are single use, for example scoring 3 points per orange rolled. 

Sometimes you get extra rerolls. Sometimes you get to roll an additional die. All these help towards making better combos. Sometimes combinations of powers can be particularly potent. 

The game is quick and easy. There is certainly some luck. However there are interesting decisions you need to make along the way. You want to make good use of the power cards. Stars are worth points when the game ends. Sometimes it's not easy to decide whether to spend them to help you cross the finish line faster, or to keep them for points. Which combo to go for is not always easy to decide. The game is a race to 50. It's exciting to watch what your opponents roll. 

Cartographers

Cartographers is a popular roll-and-write game. Every round a card is drawn, and everyone must fill their own player board following the instructions on the card. You will draw a certain shape of a certain terrain type. The game is played over four seasons, and you do scoring at the end of each season. You don't know exactly how many cards will be drawn per season. It depends on the cards being drawn. The cards trigger the countdown at different rates. 

There will be four different scoring criteria every game. They are randomly set up before the game starts. You will have variability because of this. At the end of spring season, you score points based on criteria A and B. Summer is B + C, autumn is C + D, and finally winter is D + A. Let's look at these in the screenshot above. Criteria A means every row and column that has at least one forest scores 1 point. B means every isolated single blank space scores 1 point. C means every farm and lake not touching the border or one another scores 3 points. D means the second largest town scores 2 points per square. 

You have some mountain squares on your player board. Whenever you manage to surround a mountain, you will earn one gold coin. Gold coins are good. Each gold coin scores you 1 point at the end of every season. If you earn one before the end of spring, you'll eventually get 4 points out of it. Sometimes when you flip over a card, you get to choose between two shapes, and the smaller one comes with a coin or two. This is another way you earn coins. 

The ruins icons on your board doesn't stop you from using those spaces. However you probably want to save some of them. Some cards will require that the shape to be drawn on a ruins space. If you don't have any more unused ruins, you can't draw the full shape and can only draw a single square. That may not always be bad, but I think more often it is. 

Many cards dictate the exact shape you must draw, but you get to choose the terrain type between two options. 

One unusual and interesting terrain type is the monsters (purple). You don't fill these on your own board. You fill these on an opponent's board. This is unusual for roll-and-write games. You get to attack your opponents. Monsters make you lose points. Every empty space next to a monster space forces you to lose 1 point when the time comes for scoring. You want to surround the monsters as soon as possible, before the season ends. 

The play experience of Cartographers is about doing your best to fulfil the scoring criteria. You normally prioritise the criteria which will be scored soon. If a criterion has been scored twice, you will ignore it. Deciding how to fill your board, in addition to trying to fulfil the scoring criteria, is usually based on wanting to keep your options open as much as possible. You want to ensure it will continue to be easy to fill your board and to be able to score more points no matter what card is drawn next. There is no guarantee, of course, but you do your best. Usually when you decide on a particular way of drawing in a shape, you are forgoing certain opportunities and at the same time hoping for something that fits your board to turn up next. 

I did a 2-player game with Han. Although eventually our player boards turned out to look rather different, I have a feeling we were doing generally the same thing. Every season our scores were about the same. I wonder whether this is normal. Maybe it is because in this game we share the same scoring criteria, and also it is feasible to try to fulfil most if not all of them. Thus our strategies are similar. In The Guild of Merchant Explorers, there are also multiple scoring criteria, but it is impossible to try to do everything, and you must choose. Players thus tend to diverge more. 

My player board

Han's player board

This is a relaxing game. Although you do send monsters to your opponent's domain, generally this is a peaceful, solitaire-like game. You do your own thing and there is little direct competition. If you are looking for something friendly and comforting, this is a good choice. 

Defuse

I have been playing many boardgames online lately, that my blog is starting to look like one for digital games. So I need to play a physical game once in a while to get back to something non-digital. I need a digital detox. I still have games bought last year which I have not played. Defuse was one of them. 

The Game

Defuse is a game design from Thailand. It won several awards a few years ago. This is a roll-and-write game inspired by Minesweeper, that computer game in older versions of Windows. I used to play a lot of Minesweeper and I was pretty good at it. 

Minesweeper

Every player has a sheet of paper like this. This is your player board. This photo above shows the end of a game. At the start of a game it is blank, of course. The game is played over 10 rounds. Every round four dice are rolled, two black and two orange. You must pick a colour and use the numbers rolled to fill your sheet. 

The coloured spaces on your sheet are buildings. No colour means open space. Numbers need to be filled in buildings for them to score points, although you can write numbers on open space. Similarly bombs (black dots) can be drawn anywhere, just that if they are drawn in a building, that's one building you won't be able to use for scoring. 

The 8-sided dice give you numbers, and the 6-sided dice give you pips. When you fill a number in a space, it means how many spaces around it are bombs (including diagonally adjacent spaces). Pips are bombs. You must draw the same number of bombs as the number of pips. You must fill the number first, because your first bomb must be adjacent to that number. Subsequent bombs must connect to your first bomb drawn this round. 

When the number in a space matches the number of bombs surrounding it, that's good news. It means this space is secured. All bombs have been identified. All these bombs are defused. You draw a box around the number, and circles around every bomb next to it. You also draw lines linking the bombs to the number. If there are empty spaces next to the number, you cross them all out, because it is impossible for them to have bombs now. If the space with the number is a building, it will help you with scoring. 

Sometimes invalid situations occur, e.g. the number of bombs surrounding a number is more than the number, or all spaces around a number have been filled, but the number of bombs is too low. In such situations, you will need to use tools to make corrections. There's a tool which lets you change a number. There's one which lets you add or remove bombs. You start the game with some tools, and during play you may gain more. Leftover tools are worth points. In case you run out of tools and cannot use them to fix any invalid situations, you must still make the fixes, just that instead of using tools, you are taking penalty. In game terms these are called mistakes. Every mistake costs 1 point. If you make more than 20, you lose immediately. 

Most of your points come from buildings (i.e. coloured spaces) which have numbers and have been secured. It is not possible to put a number in every building. You'll have to choose. Orange is residential. Everyone compares the sum of their numbers in orange buildings. You score points based on ranking. Purple is government departments. You want to fill the same number in them. The more same numbers you have, the more points you score. Other colours score in other different ways. One other way you score is complex bombs. This means defused bombs linked to two or more numbers. This is one consideration when you fill your sheet. 

The Play

I found the game difficult to learn. It is based on Minesweeper, but there are many other rules. Now that I know how to play, it isn't actually that complicated. But somehow reading the rules was quite challenging. Maybe it's the small font making reading difficult, or maybe how the rules are written and organised can be done better. I needed to actually play the game to get a clear understanding. The first few rounds I still had to refer to the rules several times. I made quite a few mistakes I had to correct, and I created a mess on my sheet. 

Once I understood how the game worked, it was smooth sailing. The board initially gives an impression that there is a lot of space. Once you get into it, you will realise that the spaces quickly fill up. By Round 10 you will be more or less running out of space. There is no direct player interaction, but for some of the scoring criteria you have to compete with the other players. So there is some pressure. It is helpful to watch your opponents. It helps you decide where to compete and where to concede, so that you don't waste effort and you grab opportunities which others have given up. Overall this feels like a solo game, since this is roll-and-write after all. 

The Thoughts

It's interesting to see Minesweeper implemented as a roll-and-write game. If you have played Minesweeper before and enjoy it, or if you like roll-and-write games, give it a go. 

Welcome to the Moon, and to New Las Vegas

The Game

Welcome to the Moon is part of a family of games - the Welcome To series. I have not played the first game in the series. This was my first time being introduced to the series. This is a roll-and-write game. Technically you don’t roll, because there are no dice. Instead you draw cards. Every round three pairs of cards are drawn, determining the three options you have. Everyone decides which pair to use and marks their individual player sheets. In this game you compete to launch colony ships to the room. Marking your player sheet translates to preparing your colony ship. Once anyone has enough points to launch, the game ends and you compare points. 

The golden rule in this game as you fill your sheet is the numbers in every row must be in increasing order. For example if you fill a 9 in a particular spot, thereafter any spot to the left must be less than 9, and any spot to the right must be more than 9. The number distribution of the cards is from 1 to 15. The middling numbers occur more frequently, the extreme numbers rarely. In each pair of cards drawn every round, one is a number and the other an icon. The icon tells you which row you can fill the number. You choose from the three pairs and then choose a valid spot on your sheet to fill the number. In case you can’t, you take a penalty (in game terms, an error). As you fill up sections on your sheet, you gain various benefits. Rocket icons increase your readiness to launch, which translates to points. There are some inactive rocket icons. For them to take effect you need to activate them first using an activate icon. There is an icon which lets you fill a spot with an X. Sometimes it is hard to fill spots due to the number restriction. When you fill an X you are not subject to this restriction. Finally there is an error icon which forces your opponents to lose points. Such attack icons in specific sections can only be activated once by the first player to complete the sections. If another player completes the same section afterwards, there is no more attack triggered. 

The icons in the corners of the number cards tell you these are the icons you can expect next round. 

As you gain rockets, you cross them off accordingly on the right. Once you cross out all these rockets, you launch and the game ends. The player who launches scores 150 points for launching, but may lose points from errors (red exclamation mark). Launching doesn't necessarily mean you win. 

You must complete a room (not the whole level) to gain the benefits. For example in the blue row (above), you only need to fill the two leftmost spots to complete that room on the left to gain its benefits. 

The Play

Welcome to the Moon is a fun game of risk assessment and completing sets. You can pursue different goals. How successful you are is somewhat dependent on luck, but your choices do make a difference. You should fill your sheet in a strategic manner to keep your options open as much as possible. You want to position yourself such that no matter what cards get revealed, there is something useful you can do. There is a wild row. Regardless of icon you can always fill a number there. It is an important safety net. You want to maximise points by activating those inactive rockets before you complete their sections. You want to have some X’s ready to fill those difficult spots. There are several tactical considerations to ponder. However there are only three pairs of cards to choose from, so you probably won’t have analysis paralysis. 

Although mostly a solo game, you do have to watch your opponents a little, because of the attack abilities. You don’t want to be at the receiving end too much. It’s nice to see a roll-and-write game have a bit of player interaction. 

The Thoughts

I find the game highly enjoyable. There are many clever little things you can do. It is satisfying to learn to manage risk well and to be able to plan your development well despite the uncertainty. The game is easy to understand and it will work for casual gamers. 

~~~~~

Welcome to New Las Vegas

This is another game in the series. After trying Welcome to the Moon as a two player game, I gave this a go but as a solo game, playing against a bot. There are several common principles, but I find the game quite different. It’s still roll-and-write, but it’s a bit more complex. You still have those three pairs of cards, but instead of choosing a pair, you choose a number from one pair, and then you must choose an icon from another pair. So instead of three options, you have six. 

The things you do in the game are different. It is not only about filling spaces. One thing you need to do is to trace the path for a VIP's limousine. He needs to make a circuit before the game ends, and certain casinos (spots in this game are called casinos) he passes by gives you benefits. If he doesn't complete the trip and return to the airport by game end, you lose points based on how far he is from the airport. 

One way you score points is having consecutive odd or even numbers. You score points based on your longest odd stretch and even stretch. You also score points for completing columns on your sheet. There are several dimensions to juggle. 

Some of the plots are empty, and you need to perform the construction action to build the casino before you can fill any number. 

The scoring sheet looks intimidating, but once each section is explained it's not that complicated. However during play there are multiple aspects to consider and prioritise, so this is a more challenging game than Welcome to the Moon. You can charge up a power (the opening ceremony track along the top) and use it for three special actions (top right). For example one special action lets you treat an icon as wild. This gives you a bit more control, but it also means more to think about on your turn. 

I'd say Welcome to the Moon is more beginner friendly, and for those who like roll-and-write games and want a bit more challenge, then go for Welcome to New Las Vegas. I personally enjoy Welcome to the Moon more. I prefer the simplicity. Welcome to New Las Vegas felt a bit like too much work. Maybe it was because I was expecting a carefree holiday but it was actually a city planner and chauffeur job. 

The Guild of Merchant Explorers

The Game

This is a game about exploration. You start at the capital at the centre of the map, and you place explorer cubes extending from there to various parts of the map. There are different things to discover and to score points for. The interesting part is how your progress will reset at the end of every round. All your explorer cubes will be removed. To protect yourself from losing all progress, you need to establish outposts, so that in future rounds you can start exploring from these outposts as opposed to starting at the capital again. 

This is mostly a multiplayer solitaire game. It also feels like a roll and write game, despite having no rolling or writing involved. Everyone plays the same map, but you have your own board and you place cubes on your own board. The game comes with different maps so there are different scenarios you get to play with. Every turn, a card is revealed from the deck, and it tells you how you can place your explorers. You know the basic exploration deck, but every game there will be some random advanced cards added which help you explore in powerful ways. There are cards for each terrain type. Usually a card will tell you how many explorer cubes you can place, and on which terrain type. Since you know most of the deck, just not what order you will draw the cards, you can somewhat plan your exploration. 

When you explore, you establish an outpost by completely filling a region, i.e. a connected group of similar hexes. You place your outpost on one of these hexes, and it will stay there permanently. Some hexes have coins, and coins are your victory points. You score points by placing a cube on these hexes. Some hexes contain treasure chests. You draw a treasure card when you access these hexes. They give various benefits. This is a blind box gacha thing. Some hexes are trading posts. You need to connect two of them to score points, and the point value you score is their individual values multiplied. 

These purple buildings were my outposts (technically called villages). This was the start of a new round, so all the explorer cubes had been removed. However with outposts having been set up, I had many options. 

The game is played over four rounds. In the first round only one random advanced exploration card will be introduced. In the second round, this same card stays in the deck, so you know what it is just not when it will show up. A new advanced card will also be introduced, and you won't know what it is yet. In the third round, the previous two remain, and yet another new one is introduced. In the fourth round… You think I’m going to repeat the same thing right? Then you’re wrong. A new card will NOT be introduced in the fourth round. However one repeat card is added which lets you use one of the three previous advanced cards one more time. After four rounds are completed, the highest scorer wins. 

The Play

I learned the hard way about the need to plan for the future. A round ended much quicker than I expected and I hadn’t set up any outpost. The map is large, and you can’t try to do everything. You will probably need to focus on some areas and sacrifice others. This will somewhat depend on the advanced exploration cards that turn up in your game. It also depends on where you have set up your new bases for exploration, and the order the cards are drawn. 

It is fun to plan your adventure. You can’t make exact plans since you have no control over the order of the card deck. The advanced exploration cards always bring some excitement. They are the big breaks. Sometimes you make bets, hoping the cards turn up in a certain order. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you need to adjust plans. 

The Thoughts

The Guild of Merchant Explorers is a pleasant family game. It’s multiplayer solitaire for sure. Think of it as a solo game that you play together with friends to compare how well you do given the same conditions. The exploration is an interesting puzzle to solve. You decide how much risk you want to take. You try to grab opportunities that come your way.