I really like the best way tabletop video games transport to completely different locations. Lots of them are worlds of fantasy stuffed with shining kingdoms, magical creatures, big-stompy robots, or house wizards. Others are based mostly in our world are have fun one thing distinctive a few area. PARKS, for instance, celebrates the fantastic thing about the Nationwide Parks in the US.
Águeda is one other instance as we dive into the Portuguese metropolis’s summertime pageant as one to 5 gamers work as road artists to steadiness the wants of the retailers on their road to construct probably the most lovely assortment of umbrellas. The sport was made together with the Umbrella Sky Mission.
Gameplay Overview:
The aim of Águeda is to construct probably the most fascinating show of umbrellas as you paint your mural, unlocking further vacationers, which, paradoxically, are employees.
There are 4 steps to every participant’s flip. The primary is to pick out a diagonal of umbrellas from the Market Board. If you choose a diagonal with just one umbrella, you’re taking that umbrella and a coin. A diagonal with two umbrellas will get each whereas a diagonal with three umbrellas prices a coin.
The second step is to put the umbrella(s) in your participant board, which might be executed in any order with out skipping areas. If you happen to cowl a paintbrush spot matching the colour of one among your facedown mural tiles, you possibly can flip that tile (which is the third step). Any umbrellas that don’t match onto a row are returned to the draw bag. After you have each mural tiles inside a row flipped artwork facet up, you possibly can add that vacationer to your accessible employee provide by inserting them on a suitcase house.
The fourth step is attracting vacationers. You may inform as a result of the meeples have cameras round their necks. Or possibly they’re paparazzi. Both manner, you possibly can place one vacationer on a row of your show to realize one level per coloration of one of many umbrellas on that vacationer tile. You may as well choose to put two to gather factors for each colours. Alternatively, you possibly can take a break and pull your vacationers again from the tiles after which shift the row tiles down one spot with the one which falls off the underside rotating into the highest slot.
After a participant’s flip, the provision is refreshed with extra umbrellas from the bag being added to empty areas following a sample of prime to backside and left to proper.
The sport continues till one participant fills their board with umbrellas at which level they take the bicycle token and one another participant will get one final flip.
Scoring is predicated on the tiles in your mural flipped over to the finished facet, the factors earned on the store tiles, and dropping one level per open house in your board.
Recreation Expertise:
The very first thing to say, and I really feel that is the norm with twenty fifth Century video games, the manufacturing is unbelievable. I really like the sensation of drawing the umbrellas from the bag and the sport is colourful, playful, and alluring. I hesitate to name it cozy as there might be some interactions between gamers as fascinating umbrellas are faraway from the Market Board nevertheless it’s undoubtedly extra cozy than cutthroat as there are occasions when sure colours both aren’t exhibiting up or are very fascinating.
To me, this incidental participant interplay is minimal as the sport typically performs out as a multiplayer solitaire expertise. It’s attainable to observe different gamers’ boards rigorously and spend your turns hate drafting but when that’s your jam this sport is probably not for you. And likewise, why are you so imply?
Nonetheless, with three rows to work on, umbrellas being taken from the market is extra of a minor setback than a game-wrecking state of affairs till late within the sport when issues tighten up. I discovered the larger situation was I’d wish to seize three umbrellas and didn’t have cash so taking a single umbrella usually grew to become my “I don’t love what I’m seeing” transfer. The place this technique exhibits some limitations is that the sport ends a flip after the primary participant fills their board and empty areas subtract factors, a la Sagrada. As the sport winds down, you may get a really feel for what number of turns you’ll have left to fill your board, and that is the place it slows down and will get extra intense as gamers scrape for these final factors.
Scoring for vacationers was an fascinating facet of the sport. As soon as a vacationer tile has a vacationer on it, you possibly can’t add one other one. Putting a vacationer primarily doesn’t value something apart from a future alternative and ultimately, you’ll have to clear the board of vacationers and earn zero factors that flip. Essentially the most troublesome idea for brand new gamers was that vacationer tile shifting whereas the mural necessities stayed the identical. Nonetheless, relying on how your row is shaping up, shifting the scoring tile may open up some good alternatives in a future spherical.
The scoring playing cards have a number of completely different targets that affect placement past simply inserting tiles to flip mural tiles and can barely change up the general expertise a bit. However this sport typically will play out pretty equally every time and does so in a reasonably snappy and really accessible method. Video games get longer because the participant rely will increase and 10-20 minutes per participant might be a good time estimation. General, this can be a nice gateway to gateway plus sport however with sufficient meat to be satisfying for a lot of avid gamers. It’s not going to switch Kanban or your favourite Brass for the heavier avid gamers on the market nevertheless it’s gentle enjoyable with easy selections to make every spherical.
In Águeda, I felt like I usually had a number of choices to select from however, with different gamers or solo bot, I couldn’t map out my subsequent few strikes making the sport really feel extra tactical than strategic. There’s nonetheless a number of technique in the way you construct out your participant board, however not a lot within the drawing of umbrellas from the market. In that regard, the sport is essentially learn and react with gentle planning for the longer term with inserting and eradicating vacationers. As the sport nears the top there’s some stress as you attempt to end your mural and never find yourself with empty areas, however it’s attainable that the colour you want doesn’t present up. That is extra doubtless in a decrease participant rely sport as there’s much less turnover on the umbrella provide.
Last Ideas:
I knew nothing about Águeda: Metropolis of Umbrellas after I supplied to overview it however noticed it was gentle and regarded attractive so figured it was one thing my household would get pleasure from in addition to would additionally match into the Friday afternoon board video games my staff sometimes performed after work. This was a pleasing shock and a sport I actually loved. I even had it in competition for my finest sport (to date) of 2024. I may additionally see my enthusiasm drop off over many repeated performs however that’s true for lots of video games.
Last Rating: 4 Stars – Águeda is a family-friendly sport with a stupendous manufacturing that permits you construct up a colourful participant board by way of easy selections.
Hits:
• High notch manufacturing
• Small tactical selections to make every flip
• Solo mode is clean and replicates a second participant rather well
Misses:
• Multiplayer solitaire
• Laborious to plan forward
