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Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out!
First up: We call on our tribesmen to settle the land in Vaalbara
Next: We call forth our Shamen to shape the land in Rauha
And lastly: We zoom towards the center of the void at a dizzying pace in Hypnosia
Vaalbara
Designed by: Olivier Cipière
Published by: Studio H (2022)
Players: 2 – 5
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 25 minutes
Vaalbara is a card game, a deck management game, in which players are clan leaders exploring uncharted lands in order to establish sedentary villages.
All players have the same deck of 12 cards representing the members of their tribe. Each turn, players secretly choose one card. Lowest number card plays first. In the order of initiative of the revealed Characters, players will be able to activate their powers and take over one of the available Territories. Each type of Territory has its own way of scoring points (collection, pair, diversity, risk…).
After 9 rounds, the player with the most points wins the game and unites the tribes of the continent under their banner!
Rauha
Designed by: Johannes Goupy, Théo Rivière
Published by: GRRRE Games (2023)
Players: 2 – 5
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 45 minutes
Rauha is a card drafting game where you are a venerable Shaman, whose divine powers allow you to shape your environment in order to turn this world into a cradle of life energy, keeper of serenity and harmony for the centuries to come.
The game plays in 2 Ages: In Age 1, vegetation, terrain, and wildlife will appear. In Age 2, civilizations will thrive. Each age has 4 rounds, divided into 3 turns followed by a scoring phase. Each turn, there are 5 steps which are:
1. Simultaneously take all Biome cards from the satellite whose symbol matches the one beneath your Avatar on your Player board (moon or star).
2. Choose one card to place on any square of your Player board or discard to the Black Hole.
3. Receive a Divine Entity if you create a row or column of matching symbols on your Player board.
4. Activate your Avatar, plus any Divine Entities in the same row or column as your Avatar.
5. Finally move your Avatar one notch clockwise along the edge of your Player board, changing the row or column that will be activated on the next turn.
During the Scoring Phase, you will activate all your Biomes with Spore tokens and any Divine Entities you may have, gaining crystals and points as shown on the components.
Obtain the most Life Energy, to win the game, while all other players must tremble in fear of your immense shamantic powers!
Hypnosia
Designed by: Renaud Joseph, Adam Novotny
Published by: Self-published (2018)
Players: 2 – 6
Ages: (not listed)
Playing time: 20 minutes
Hypnosia is a ludo style race game, with no theme whatsoever. Get as many of your 4 pawns to the center of the board without being captured in the process.
On a turn, a player will roll 2d6. Move 1 or 2 of their pawns the number of spaces indicated by each die. Important: a player must “burn” all the points of a die, so a pawn cannot stop short.
Pawns move in a counter-clockwise direction.
Some locations are special (double-colored). They permit a pawn to enter the next inner circle by crossing a “bridge”. A pawn must first land on this special space, and only then can it move into the next inner circle.
A pawn can’t move back to an outer circle. Your pawns can stack, meaning you can move 2 pawns together with the same roll. But watch out, your pawns can be captured by other players.
Play until all 5 spaces in the middle get filled, or if players have all their pawns captured. Most points wins, and declares themselves the Hippest Hipster of Hypnosia.