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Rating: 8/10 after 10+ playS
by Emanuele Ornella
art ?
published 2004 by Mind The Move
players: 2-5
duration: 60 mins.
type: middleweight card/board game
PACE: MEDIUM. There are a lot of layers to this game, and woe to the player who takes too much time to think his turn over. The bottom line is that the more you play this game, the quicker it will go, but trying to trade efficiently, as well as plan you hand and next turn or two can slow the game, and I suspect that "APPs" (analysis paralysis players) should not be let near this one. The turn really consists of trading, laying down cards, and adding them to your stack, but actual planning and trading can a bit of time.
COMPLEXITY: MEDIUM. Really, the rules are not all that complicated, and thankfull the designer designed almost every facet of scoring and penalties in a simple 1=1, 2=3, 3=6 formula which applies to almost every part of the game -- and works very effectively, I might add. Players need to try and play goods cards that will help them build a valuable stack (read: lots of the same goods consecutively). But laying down cards entails making sure those cards don't have too many pirates, don't overload your hand, provide you with useful actions next turn, move your ship to the city you need it in, and provide you with income. Sounds intriguing? It ought to, because this is a mesmerizing piece of design, but with that design comes some fairly complicated hand management. Do not play this game with Aunt Mabel.
LUCK: MEDIUM. There is no doubt luck plays a good size role in this game. Luck of the draw not only affects what commodities you hold in your hand (which dictates how often you will need to trade), but also which "version" of a commodity you get: commodities can be "clean" (no pirates) or "dirty" (pirates), and clean cards make a big difference in the game. Condolences to the players who draws nothing but dirty cards the whole game... Still, the game mitigates some of the luck by allowing players to acquire special powers. Different special powers allow for different possible strategies!
TENSION: MEDIUM. Some of your planning is dictated by the cards you are dealt, but players still have a lot of options with their hands not only because of different tactics they can try, but also the options of trading in the game. Of every hand management game I've played (a genre I enjoy) Oltremare rates way up.
CONFRONTATION: LOW. About all you can do to harm a player is give him goods with pirates on them during the trading phase, or beat him to the city he is trying to get to, but nothing really serious.
INTERACTION: MEDIUM. Trading will largely depend on who you are playing with. Comparisons to Bohnanza are only fair in the sense that the distribution of goods, and the accumulation of end-game points are similar, but Oltremare is a whole differnt (bigger) beast. Trades are not nearly as straightforward as Bohnanza, and as a result, trades are far less frequent. Still, the potential is there.
VISUALS: EXCELLENT. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the visuals in Oltremare. For one, the graphics remind me of the artistic style found in the Asterix comics. A miniature board to move around on and acquire special abilities, and clear, concise, and extremely well illustrated cards, add up to very pleasing, useful visuals. The only knock would be that the board is so small the the chits have to be tiny (one per city) and they can be a little hard to see. If the board was 2 inches longer, 2 inches wider, and the cities were spaced out with more licence given to equidistance, the presentation would be ideal. Still, they packed a ton of game into a box the same size as Pick Picknic! Wunderbar.
THEME: MEDIUM. Excellent idea for a theme, and I think well implemented. Ship icons allow you to sail, pirates represent lost goods that must be recovered, markets allow freee goods to be loaded, ship power dimishes cargo capacity and vice versa. All in a very simply system with a Bohnanza like scoring mechanic for goods.
PLAYER SCALING: GOOD. I've played with all numbers and enjoyed them all. 2 players lacks something special due to less trading options, but still decent since the game depends so largely on management.
GAMER APPEAL: YES. This game is Bohnanza all bulked up. The hand management alone makes for a very engaged exercise, and the trading allows for some interaction and a way to mitigate unhelpful draws. There would seem to be a lot of depth here as well with different strategies possible. I look forward to exploring this game for quite some time.
CASUAL GAMER APPEAL: MAYBE. Bohnanza is a kitten, fun to play with, everyone love it; Oltremare is a lion, big, bulky, magnificent...and just a little too much for the faint of heart. But there will be a core of casual gamers who will see the Bohnanza in Oltremare, and like the extra meat.
REPLAY: GOOD. I don't know about great, but definitely good. Good management always seem to have a fair bit of replayability due to their payoff for good play..
RATING: 8/10 after 10+ PLAYS
- Sail the Sea in your ship, shipping and selling goods, staving off pirates, planning carefull for the voyage ahead...all the while thinking this game feels an awful lot like Bohnanza. As in Bohnanza, there are commodities whose numbers vary, and whose value accumulates at different rates, but, like Bohnanza, staying with a good for a longer period of time is always better than switching goods all the time. To get these goods in sets, you simply play them from your hand, and build your scoring deck. The problem is that when you play cards, they will nto only go into your deck, but they will also dictate how many commodities you can hold in your hand, how much gold you secure this turn, how many pirates you encounter, how many free cards you get, how far you ship moves, and how many goods you will get to ship next turn. Oh! and there is a trading mechanic that involves bonus points, and chits that given special actions and award bonus points. You'll know this game is your style of game if you made it through these last couple sentences and are more excited than confused.
My 2 cents: I really enjoy my first playing. I admit that my strategy of piling up military bonus points didn't work (I needed to ship more often), but every turn I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the process of managing my hand effecitively. The cards have seven different attributes (two of which have an inverse relationship) and planning effecitively really felt rewarded. The incredibly small package was also a nice change too, since the game board itself is only one small (but well thought) part of the game (not to mention that it helps keep the price point down.) I wish I had a copy, because I don't get to play this as often as I want to. Let's hope for an American publisher!