Villagers (2019) Board Game
Villagers is a card game designed by Haakon Gaarder and published by Sinister Fish Games in in 2019. The game combines elements of city building, industry/manufacturing, and medieval themes, making it a unique and engaging experience for players.
## Game Components of Villagers
– **Founder card**
– **Village square card**
– **Villager cards**
– **Gold coins**
– **Market cards**
– **Reserve deck of villager cards**
– **Special settler cards**
## How To Setup Villagers
To set up *Villagers*, each player starts with a founder card, a village square card, 8 gold coins, and a hand of 5 villager cards. The remaining villager cards are shuffled and divided into six stacks, with the top card from each stack flipped over to form “The Road.” Market cards are placed at the bottom of the 2nd and 6th stacks. A reserve pile of villager cards is also created, and the coins are kept nearby.
## Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective
– **Card Drafting**: Players take turns picking villager cards from “The Road,” limited by the number of food symbols on their village square.
– **Tableau Building**: Players build their village by placing drafted cards into their play area, adhering to production chains and building requirements.
– **Set Collection**: Players collect sets of villager cards to form productive chains.
– **Solo / Solitaire Game**: Includes a solo variant where players compete against the “Countess,” an AI driven by solo event cards.
– **Objective**: Build the most prosperous village by recruiting and strategically placing villagers, managing resources, and disrupting opponents’ plans.
## Player Experience
Playing *Villagers* is an engaging experience that requires constant attention to the cards other players are drafting and the progress of their villages. The game is easy to learn but deep in strategy, with a significant element of player interaction. Players must balance short-term needs with long-term strategies, and the game’s final scoring round can lead to dramatic turnarounds, keeping players invested until the end.
### Pros
– **High Replayability**: The game offers a lot of variability with each playthrough due to the drafting mechanism and the diverse skills of the villagers.
– **Strategic Depth**: Players must manage resources, build production chains, and disrupt opponents, making it a game that rewards strategic thinking.
– **Engaging Gameplay**: The need to monitor other players’ moves and adjust strategies accordingly prevents the game from feeling like multiplayer solitaire.
– **Satisfying Engine-Building**: Building a prosperous village is satisfying and feels like genuine engine-building.
### Cons
– **Initial Complexity**: New players might find the interdependencies between villager cards overwhelming at first.
– **Rulebook Quality**: The rulebook is not the best, requiring frequent references, especially for new players.
– **Potential for Dramatic Swings**: While exciting, the final scoring round can sometimes feel arbitrary if one player scores heavily and overtakes others.
## Personal Thoughts on Villagers
*Villagers* is ideal for players who enjoy strategic card drafting and tableau-building games. It is particularly suited for those who like managing complex systems and interacting with other players in a competitive yet cooperative environment. The game’s medieval setting and the necessity of building a thriving community add a charming and thematic layer to the gameplay. If you enjoy games that combine engine-building with social interaction and strategic depth, *Villagers* is a great choice.
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