Village (2011) Board Game – Board Game Guys

Village is a board game designed by Inka and Markus Brand and published by eggertspiele in in 2011. It is set in medieval times and focuses on players managing a small village and competing to earn the most prestige points.

Game Components of Village

Game board featuring various village locations (market, travel zone, crafting zone, church, council house)

Colored cubes (for actions and resources)

Black cubes (representing plague/time costs)

Family member tokens (meeples) with generation numbers

Player mats

Goods and resource tokens (grain, horses, oxen, plows, etc.)

Book of Honor and graveyard

Time trackers and circular bridges for tracking generations

How To Setup Village

To set up Village, each player starts with four family members of the first generation placed on their player mat. The game board is seeded with colored cubes and black cubes based on the number of players. Each zone on the board (market, travel, crafting, church, council house) is filled with these cubes. Players also receive their starting resources and goods. The Book of Honor and graveyard are prepared according to the rules, and each player sets their time tracker.

Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective

Action Drafting: Players take turns by selecting colored cubes from various action spaces on the board, which determine the actions they can perform.

Time Management: Every action costs time, and as time passes, family members die, requiring players to manage their family’s lifespan.

Resource Management: Players manage goods, resources, and family skills to optimize their score.

Generation Management: Players must balance the lives of their family members across multiple generations.

Objective: The goal is to maximize the family’s reputation score by selling goods, traveling, working in government, and ensuring notable deaths are recorded in the Book of Honor.

Player Experience

Playing Village involves a delicate balance between short-term and long-term strategies. Players must adapt to the tempo of generations, ensuring they get the most benefit from each family member’s life. The game is not about direct competition but rather about managing resources and time efficiently. The theme, while morbidly comic, adds a unique layer of depth, as players must consider the mortality of their family members to achieve points.

Pros

Innovative Mechanics: The game integrates time management, resource management, and generation management seamlessly.

Multiple Paths to Victory: Players can focus on different areas such as market, travel, crafting, or government to score points.

High Replayability: The random distribution of cubes and the dynamic nature of the game ensure different experiences each time.

Strong Theme-Mechanic Integration: The theme and mechanics are tightly interwoven, creating an immersive experience.

Cons

Complex Rule Set: The rules can be confusing until internalized, with many ‘if this then that’ exceptions.

Emotional Accessibility: The constant theme of mortality can be triggering for players with death anxiety.

Initial Learning Curve: New players may find the rules and systems complex and overwhelming.

Personal Thoughts on Village

Village is ideal for players who enjoy strategic planning, resource management, and thematic depth. It is not a game for those looking for simple, straightforward mechanics or those who are sensitive to themes involving mortality. The game requires a balance of short-term and long-term thinking, making it appealing to players who enjoy complex, layered gameplay. Despite its weight, the game’s mechanics flow smoothly once understood, offering a rich and rewarding experience for those who invest the time to learn it.

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