So Terra Mystica is a game I am not too fond of. I think it is okay, but after playing it a handful of times, it just isn't that interesting to me. All the pieces are there, but I think the sum of its parts is greater than the whole. Terra Mystica is a very well regarded game, however, and it has a sequel of sorts in Gaia Project.
Gaia Project is set in space. The goal of the game is to increase your races technology while you terraform and colonise planets on the board. You do this to form federations, get income, and score points. At the end of the game, most points is the winner.
Gaia Project is a very fascinating game. Each of its systems is tied together and feels like it has a good give-and-take. For example, the technology levels don't only give you points and technology, but also make things cheaper and give bonuses. These bonuses can increase your income and make you more efficient, which then let you do other things (such as increase technology) to keep the cycle going.
The changes Gaia Project makes over Terra Mystica makes the game a bit more exciting and gives a bit more freedom. It is still a tight optimisation puzzle, but you can chain up moves allot easier to pull off big plays. The actual board (having blank space between planets) also reinforces this, as it is harder to block people off completely but the focus is still on stealing their planets.
The only downsides are that the rulebook should have a glossary of key terms. The difference between neighbouring, neighbouring area or neighbourhood are huge and take a bit of finding if you need to look them up. The other thing is that the components are plastic. While they are nice, they don't quite have the same timeless wooden feel of Terra Mystica. Analysis Paralysis can also easily set in for players.
This is a very fascinating game. The more I play it the more I enjoy it as I explore the systems. As times is going by, it is slowly climbing its way higher into my favorite games.
5 out of 5 Terraformed Waffles.
Showing posts with label Terra mystica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terra mystica. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 August 2018
Monday, 18 August 2014
Board Game Review- Terra Mystica
Terra Mystica is a territory control-style board game for 2 to 5 players. In it, you play as a race of magical beings who are attempting to terraform the planet through mystical means to suit there own habitats (i.e. Mermaids into water, Elves into forest). Hence the name Terra Mystica. In order to achieve this, the players have to manage the resources of money, divine priests, energy and buildings.
Terra-Mystica is played out on a hexagonal board, each split into one of six different terrain types. Each race can then use various amounts of resources to terraform the landscape, build houses and then try to upgrade the buildings into churches, fortresses and the like.
What actions you can do during your turn governed by how many of all the different types of resources you have at your disposal. There is never enough resources to do everything that you want to do. It makes it imperative to plan out what you want to try to do and then work towards getting the resources you need to complete this strategy. This is both the greatest strength and biggest weakness of the game. There are so many different resources to manage and keep track of that the game can often slow down just so each player can fully assess their options.
There is also no direct way to interact with other players. The most you can do is try to spoil their plans by getting resources before them. There is no trading of resources between players or a way to directly attack them. This gives the player interactions a very negative feeling as opposed to any feeling of positive satisfaction or gain between the players.
Another problem is the downtime between turns. With no direct ways to interact between players and some turns taking a long time due to the amount that you need to keep track of, it is very easy to lose interest when it isn't your turn. This is worsened when you can't do many actions compared to other players (due to lack of resources) so you are often left just waiting.
Overall, Terra-Mystica is a game with allot of potential. I do have to mention that the board and all the components look stunning and the theme is nicely woven into the game. However, for too many games I was struggling to stay interested except for the brief time that it was my turn. It may work better with only 2 or 3 players, which I haven't tried yet, but that may run into the problem of no interaction between players as the territories are too spread out. With all the competition with better territory and resource management games, I would give this a miss.
1.5 out of 5 mystical waffle landscapes.
Terra-Mystica is played out on a hexagonal board, each split into one of six different terrain types. Each race can then use various amounts of resources to terraform the landscape, build houses and then try to upgrade the buildings into churches, fortresses and the like.
What actions you can do during your turn governed by how many of all the different types of resources you have at your disposal. There is never enough resources to do everything that you want to do. It makes it imperative to plan out what you want to try to do and then work towards getting the resources you need to complete this strategy. This is both the greatest strength and biggest weakness of the game. There are so many different resources to manage and keep track of that the game can often slow down just so each player can fully assess their options.
There is also no direct way to interact with other players. The most you can do is try to spoil their plans by getting resources before them. There is no trading of resources between players or a way to directly attack them. This gives the player interactions a very negative feeling as opposed to any feeling of positive satisfaction or gain between the players.
Another problem is the downtime between turns. With no direct ways to interact between players and some turns taking a long time due to the amount that you need to keep track of, it is very easy to lose interest when it isn't your turn. This is worsened when you can't do many actions compared to other players (due to lack of resources) so you are often left just waiting.
Overall, Terra-Mystica is a game with allot of potential. I do have to mention that the board and all the components look stunning and the theme is nicely woven into the game. However, for too many games I was struggling to stay interested except for the brief time that it was my turn. It may work better with only 2 or 3 players, which I haven't tried yet, but that may run into the problem of no interaction between players as the territories are too spread out. With all the competition with better territory and resource management games, I would give this a miss.
1.5 out of 5 mystical waffle landscapes.
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