Dorfromantik
When the game Dorfromantik was first released on Steam, it instantly got popular. Maybe because it’s different: the player doesn’t do much besides assembling landscapes from hexagonal tiles. There are missions and tasks, yes, but there’s no real conflict - the game is peaceful, and the artwork is really nice.
I had never played this on Steam; my son had shown it to me and explained it. I liked it enough to keep it in mind. When I read about a board game edition of Dorfromantik, I was instantly interested and got a copy for the family. Yes, the family: other than the Steam game, the board game can be played not only solo, but by up to six players. It’s still conflict free by virtue of being cooperative.
The game is played by picking random task tiles (there have to be three active tasks on the board) and landscape tiles. They are assembled by following some simple rules: rivers must connect to rivers, and railways to railways. Anything else connects however the player wishes. The idea is to form combinations of tiles that yield areas of forest, corn fields, village, or stretches of railways or rivers large or long enough to satisfy the task.
One begins by picking three tasks (the sizes are also random). See below for a start, and also for the situation a few moves in.
This goes on, until eventually there are no more landscape tiles left. The more tasks one got to complete, the better - there are points to be collected. See below for the final state and the evaluation sheet. I didn’t do too well - played myself into a corner here and there, and made some stupid mistakes. However, because I made 30 points in this game only from railway tasks, I unlocked an achievement. Thanks to this, I get a new tile I can use in future games.
The achievement model is nicely done. There are several cardboard boxes that stay closed at first, but can be opened by making achievements. These accumulate in a campaign, progress of which is tracked on another sheet that contains more unlockable achievements, all of which also enrich the game.
Dorfromantik is beautiful, peaceful, cooperative, and had all four of us in the family hooked instantly. It has a strong long-term engagement force. I very warmly recommend it.
Tags: games