Wildlands is a game whose simplicity in play is initially obscured by its production quality and overall elegance. When I looked at the box cover, I expected some grand adventure set in a high fantasy universe. And once I opened the box and saw the twenty detailed miniatures inside, I expected a war game requiring rulers to determine line of sight and charts to determine damage roll results. Thankfully, what I was actually looking at is a tight hand-management/light skirmish game, that provides excellent decisions and takes less than an hour to finish regardless of player count. Plus, it’s really easy on the eyes.
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Designed by Martin Wallace and published by Osprey Games, Wildlands accommodates 2-4 players whose goal is to obtain a combination of five kills or crystals before their opponents do. To begin, each player takes control of a faction with five characters who fit some combination of the usual fantasy stereotypes – think fighter, mage, tank, rogue, etc. Players are dealt 10 cards to start, each representing one of the numbered spaces on the board. The players secretly assign one card to each of the characters which will indicate where those characters’ miniatures will enter play when revealed. The remaining five cards are passed to player on their left. These cards will determine where that player will have to place each of his or her five colored crystals. Each player also gets a unique deck with cards that contain unique combinations of the actions that their five characters can perform during the game. Again, the goal of the game is to collect five total of either your own faction’s crystals or kills of other players’ characters.
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After the respective crystals are placed on the board, each player draws a hand of seven cards from their deck and the game begins. On a turn, a player must reveal the location of at least one of her characters and place its mini on the board (corresponding to the number indicated by its aforementioned starting card). Then the player can use any number of cards in her hand to move characters, attack other players’ characters, or pick up one of their colored crystals. Choosing which cards to use for an action can be difficult because each card has unique actions listed on it that can be performed by different characters, and they are all usually very good options. Do I use this card to let this character attack now or should I save it to allow another conveniently located character to pick up a crystal? Designer Wallace did a very good job with the math in Wildlands. The mechanics are so tight that I found myself really having to make important decisions on every turn. There is also an interrupt mechanic that is triggered by five of the cards in each player’s deck. These five cards allow you to stop an opponent’s turn and take actions as if it were your turn. Other players can interrupt the interrupter, adding some (controlled) chaos to the festivities. It all works really well.
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Each of the factions’ strengths and weaknesses provide an asymmetry in strategy that gives Wildlands a good variety. There is an expansion, The Unquiet Dead, that adds another faction and some new mechanics. Also, the board is double sided, with one side providing additional terrain mechanics concerning elevation. This also increases replayability nicely. Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with Wildlands. It is always great when a game’s pretty package ultimately contains solid, meaty game play. Wildlands hits a perfect mix for me. Check it out if you haven’t.
Thanks for reading, and keep nerding on!
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