Archeos society: Polishing a rough diamond?

 

 

Ethnos was a weird little game. Published by CMON, they of the hugely expensive Kickstarter games with glossy production values, lots of theme, even more minis that have grown over time to be anything but ‘mini’. By contrast Ethnos had a clumsily pasted on theme, some truly appalling graphic design, but it was well-regarded mechanically.

It’s been out of print for a while, and rather than a reprint, designer Paolo Mori refreshed the design/theme and it’s been published by ‘Space Cowboys’, not CMON.

 

Archeos society is now no longer generic fantasy, but instead a slightly more thematic concept of gathering different specialist explorers to go on expeditions to 6 different locations (represented by 6 different scoring tracks). This is the major change to Ethnos, which has a bland central map in which the players sought to get additional points from getting area majority in the map locations.

 

Mechanically it is extremely similar to Ethnos. On your turn you either:

-         - Choose a card from those on display / off the top of the deck (but now getting to draw 2 off the top if no cards are on display) 

       OR

-         - Play a set from your hand, either of the same colour, or same role (Botanist, physician, student etc.), with the card you choose to place on top dictating the ‘leader’ and hence which of the 6 coloured tracks you get to advance on, plus the special rule-breaking ability of your leader. The game’s lovely twist is that the remaining cards in your hand must be placed face up into the display area, sparking something of a feeding frenzy on following turns as players scoop up one of these cards that fits their hand.

Larger sets score more points, but conversely getting lots of sets played will move you up the scoring tracks quicker. Classic points salad choice for players to choose their own approach.

There’s still the same lovely ‘push your luck’ end of round timer, with the drawing of the  3^rd of 3 special cards triggering an instant finish to the round (and muttering/cursing that happening).

 There is some board interaction on the advanced side, but we didn't play that as most of our players hadn't played this game before, nor Ethnos, so we trusted in KISS (Keep it simple stupid). Conversely Ethnos had greater interaction as players jockeyed for the higher scoring regions, but wasn’t as combative as it might appear.

The new Archeos society boards are mechanically a little bit a 'much of a muchness' on their basic side, with slightly different points scoring (at end of each round). Each has a # of cards in the set requirement to progress, which generally gets larger. Of note were the pilot, allowing you to choose which board you progress on (subject to the minimum set size requirement), plus the red track which rewards players with increasing amount of cards to draw off the top of the deck... which in one round very much rushed the end.

 

So, that flimsy theme and poor graphic design have been resolved? Yes, but only to a degree.

- The text of the cards in Ethnos has been replaced by symbols. Whilst these are good / understandable, it does take half a round until people have really embedded what each one does.

- The text on the central tracks could be more visible, especially as this plays up to 6 and invariably Ethnos was a game that got pulled out for higher player counts and I expect the same of this game.

- There’s an odd choice of player colours, with white, black, grey and then three shades of brown. The different wooden shapes are a help, but not especially obvious what each represents. Nonetheless that’s a big help for colour-blindness accessibility.

- Dual layer boards for the tracks would have been helpful, albeit a simple block for each column, rather than anything more fancy. It is somewhat easy to knock the pieces as it is.

- Flimsy score track. The thinnest of card, maybe 200gsm or less, so little more than paper-thin. This is absolutely something I would laminate.

- (Bleeding) Student cards. They made a mistake on the student cards, printing right to the very edge, unlike the other cards. That is noticeable if you look for it... but even despite knowing this, at no point did I notice that during the game, either in the draw pile or players hands. On that basis I'd happily live with this issue, but others may find that very problematic.

 

Additional thoughts: It plays very similarly to Ethnos, but doesn't forcibly push players towards one colour or another, based on the random rewards of Ethnos. It also seemed to encourage players to get more small sets out in round 1 in order to progress up the tracks (perhaps because the set scoring again was quite small and on the scoring track which was placed off to one side, as it’s not in constant use. I think a player aid would have really helped (for this and the symbols).

 

Overall: I liked Ethnos, but didn't care much for the theme or the graphic design. The new game an improvement on both counts for me, but the new theme is still somewhat flimsy, and the board readability is an annoyance. The new tracks feel rather themeless as well, even when compared to the themeless central board of the original.

For me, overall it's slightly better, and I'll probably buy a copy. Mechanically it remains a super game, fast playing, easy to teach and with some nice twists, plus it plays up to 6, which I value for a game that plays fast, but isn't a party game.

 

Archeos Society, not to be confused with Archaos, the utterly crazy, yet brilliant French circus troupe. It also lacks the excitement of chainsaw juggling.

The only slightly evil 6x6x6 quiz

A little light entertainment for the festive break. Answers will be posted on NOBOG facebook page (behind a spoiler screen)  

Round 1. Anagrams – There’s a board game in there, what is it?

Let's start things off relatively easy. All these are board games, some older, some modern (and of the modern ones. all have been played at NOBOG)

1. Nice damp
2. Cooler tot  
3. Pork watch
4. Tito Deck rite
5. Dirty PC
6. Toe or pain

Round 2. Cult of the old – match these dates to the games that were first published in that year

Perhaps a little harder, but easy to have a guess if you don't know

1. 1983
2. 1993
3. 2001
4. 2004
5. 2007
6. 2011

.    

1. Castles of Burgundy
2. Cockroach Poker
3. Escape Rooms (i.e. the date of the 1^st physical escape room)
4. Jenga
5. Magic the Gathering collectable card game
6. Munchkin

Reverse quiz - Here’s the answer, but what is the question?

Now here's the truly evil round, and it covers wider than just board games, extending to cards and hobbies/puzzles. No sneaky use of internet to look these up! It's much more fun to try and work them out. Get more than a couple without cheating and that's impressive.

1. Alison Hansel
2. $12,969,608 
3. 24 Wensum St, 16 Charing Cross, 41 St Andrews St, 17 Tombland
4. 43 252 003 274 489 856 000
5. John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson
6. Cinema City (or Suckling House as it was known at the time)

 

 

Co-operation? What sort of trickery is this?!!!!

 

Forgive me a little ancient history. 

In my original era of gaming, barring D&D / Dungeon-crawlers (neither my thing) I can’t recall other co-operative games. I suppose Escape from Colditz was close, as a 1 vs many, though I had a rude awakening the first time someone showed me it could very much be played semi co-op

 “I’ll have that traitor court-martialled!!”

 

 

So after a rather long break from gaming that started just before the millennium, returning to the hobby a decade and a half later revealed an amazing array of co-operative games, and that richness has continued since. Here are a few examples played at NOBOG over the years. Perhaps you were one of the players?

Pandemic is very well-known, but my favourite ‘Pandemic system’ game is one that doesn’t carry that name, though it was designed by the same person (Matt Leacock). The game is Thunderbirds, originally released via Kickstarter crowdfunding, and followed by a retail release…. but then the IP licence expired, never to be reprinted. Here’s a shot of it being played at NOBOG in Sept 2019. The board may look rather simplified, but it presents a fierce challenge, as it’s not enough to plan for your own turn, but have to consider the player(s) that follow you. Will your move aid them as well, or risk leaving them helpless? Gameplay is pretty easy to learn, though it does present a bit more of a puzzle than Pandemic, despite the use of dice in solving most events. For anyone who grew up on the Gerry Anderson series, there will be plenty of moments where a wry smile develops as you remember an episode from decades before.

Cthulu / Lovecraft has become a popular theme, and especially so for co-operative games. There is something so obviously appealing about ones sanity being tested by unspeakable monsters, though any schoolteachers will I’m sure say that the joy wears off after a while. Recent gaming has seen Mansions of Madness (a very cinematic crescendo with the narrative side to the fore) and Cthulu Death May Die (a more cerebral puzzle, albeit with figurines that may be outgrowing the term ‘mini’), but the game illustrated takes us back to a NOBOG session in the dark and distant June 2017, the game being the “Big book of madness”.

Between two… Games design might sometimes feel a little derivative / repetitious, but there are some cracking original ideas out there. I’d definitely count in this the games Between two cities of Mad King Ludwig, and Between two castles of Mad King Ludwig. The premise is that whilst the games are competitive, this is achieved by playing co-operatively with the players to your left and right. You create a tableau with each of those players, but only the lowest scoring of those two counts as your score, so you’re naturally encouraged to treat them both equally. Such an innovative design, but also a game that must be useful to bring new players into a more experienced group, as they’ll get help from both sides. Here is Between two castles, being played at NOBOG in December 2019.

Escape rooms have become a big thing in the wider public awareness and NOBOG even played one in board game form this month (Adventure Games - November 2022). Have any been played at NOBOG before? I can’t recall any, but they seem like they’d be a good fit.

Just One has been a popular closer to NOBOG evenings for a while now, and we’re most likely to play it as an uber-chilled casual game than actually keeping score. Here’s a more recent photo of a large game of it being played at NOBOG in Sept 2022. Super easy to teach / learn, and it gets some longevity from needing to think about the interests / experiences of your fellow players e.g. a clue based on a Marvel superhero would be wasted on me, but might be perfect for someone else. For me it (and not Monopoly) should be the game that is in every household, and Christmas would be a lot more tolerable were that the case.

 

How about you?

-        Do you enjoy a little co-op play alongside more traditional competitive games?

-        Any favourite co-op games, or ones you’re keen to try out?

-        Did you play in the game illustrated (or any other time)? If so, any thoughts on the game?