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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Orbital Conflict in Tabletop Games
Sep 10, 2019
Building your space station. Space combat. Space investors. If these ideas interest you and you are intrigued to know how they work in a board game setting, read on. If you don’t care about head-to-head space stations obliterating each other and jockeying for position as the best bet in the cosmos, discontinue reading.
Orbital Conflict is a player versus player (PvP) card game in which the winner is the player showing the most VPs on their cards at game end. It is a game where placement of cards and orientation of cards is paramount in creating a space station that can dole out damage, take a ton of damage, or hybridizes offense and defense using resources granted from off-station investors.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are final components, and the game is available from the publisher and other online retail stores. Also, I do not intend to explicitly cover every rule for the game, but to give an idea of game flow and play. -T
To setup the game (in this case a 1v1 head-to-head bout) shuffle all the cards with the white back together and deal each player a hand of five. Shuffle the smaller investor cards to form a draw pile. Give the starting player the Initiative card and you are ready to start!
The game follows a simple game flow following three phases per round: Draw, Main, Combat. During the Draw phase, the player with the Initiative card (I’ll call them the active player) will draw two cards from the white-backed deck (which I will just call cards). Then the other player will draw two cards as well. The active player then draws two investor cards for themselves and places them in front of their play area as possible investors to claim. The other player does the same. If there are any cards containing discard abilities that a player would like to play during the Draw phase, and the discard text reads they may do so during the Draw phase or any phase, they may play them and follow the discard instructions now.
Once done, the game moves on to the Main phase. During this phase the active player will play any cards they wish that are appropriate for this phase, and then the other player will do the same. During this phase players will be playing cards from hand (and as many as they would like) to add on to their space station, activate modules that were previously deactivated, claim investor cards, and prepare for the next game phase. Space stations can be added to via modules. Modules can be single cards, or multiple splayed cards. As you can see in the photo above cards have icons to the left of the white barrier and some will also have icons to the right. Depending on how a card is added to a module certain icons may be covered and therefore inactive. When adding a card to a module (called an extension) the player decides if they want to add the card to the right of the splay, thus covering up icons to the right of the barrier of the covered card, or under the stack to the left of the splay. Additionally, players may flip any card over to have the back showing, which will provide icons usable in a station module. There are restrictions for playing cards, but I will let you discover those on your own.
The game follows a simple game flow following three phases per round: Draw, Main, Combat. During the Draw phase, the player with the Initiative card (I’ll call them the active player) will draw two cards from the white-backed deck (which I will just call cards). Then the other player will draw two cards as well. The active player then draws two investor cards for themselves and places them in front of their play area as possible investors to claim. The other player does the same. If there are any cards containing discard abilities that a player would like to play during the Draw phase, and the discard text reads they may do so during the Draw phase or any phase, they may play them and follow the discard instructions now.
Once done, the game moves on to the Main phase. During this phase the active player will play any cards they wish that are appropriate for this phase, and then the other player will do the same. During this phase players will be playing cards from hand (and as many as they would like) to add on to their space station, activate modules that were previously deactivated, claim investor cards, and prepare for the next game phase. Space stations can be added to via modules. Modules can be single cards, or multiple splayed cards. As you can see in the photo above cards have icons to the left of the white barrier and some will also have icons to the right. Depending on how a card is added to a module certain icons may be covered and therefore inactive. When adding a card to a module (called an extension) the player decides if they want to add the card to the right of the splay, thus covering up icons to the right of the barrier of the covered card, or under the stack to the left of the splay. Additionally, players may flip any card over to have the back showing, which will provide icons usable in a station module. There are restrictions for playing cards, but I will let you discover those on your own.
Orbital Conflict is a player versus player (PvP) card game in which the winner is the player showing the most VPs on their cards at game end. It is a game where placement of cards and orientation of cards is paramount in creating a space station that can dole out damage, take a ton of damage, or hybridizes offense and defense using resources granted from off-station investors.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are final components, and the game is available from the publisher and other online retail stores. Also, I do not intend to explicitly cover every rule for the game, but to give an idea of game flow and play. -T
To setup the game (in this case a 1v1 head-to-head bout) shuffle all the cards with the white back together and deal each player a hand of five. Shuffle the smaller investor cards to form a draw pile. Give the starting player the Initiative card and you are ready to start!
The game follows a simple game flow following three phases per round: Draw, Main, Combat. During the Draw phase, the player with the Initiative card (I’ll call them the active player) will draw two cards from the white-backed deck (which I will just call cards). Then the other player will draw two cards as well. The active player then draws two investor cards for themselves and places them in front of their play area as possible investors to claim. The other player does the same. If there are any cards containing discard abilities that a player would like to play during the Draw phase, and the discard text reads they may do so during the Draw phase or any phase, they may play them and follow the discard instructions now.
Once done, the game moves on to the Main phase. During this phase the active player will play any cards they wish that are appropriate for this phase, and then the other player will do the same. During this phase players will be playing cards from hand (and as many as they would like) to add on to their space station, activate modules that were previously deactivated, claim investor cards, and prepare for the next game phase. Space stations can be added to via modules. Modules can be single cards, or multiple splayed cards. As you can see in the photo above cards have icons to the left of the white barrier and some will also have icons to the right. Depending on how a card is added to a module certain icons may be covered and therefore inactive. When adding a card to a module (called an extension) the player decides if they want to add the card to the right of the splay, thus covering up icons to the right of the barrier of the covered card, or under the stack to the left of the splay. Additionally, players may flip any card over to have the back showing, which will provide icons usable in a station module. There are restrictions for playing cards, but I will let you discover those on your own.
The game follows a simple game flow following three phases per round: Draw, Main, Combat. During the Draw phase, the player with the Initiative card (I’ll call them the active player) will draw two cards from the white-backed deck (which I will just call cards). Then the other player will draw two cards as well. The active player then draws two investor cards for themselves and places them in front of their play area as possible investors to claim. The other player does the same. If there are any cards containing discard abilities that a player would like to play during the Draw phase, and the discard text reads they may do so during the Draw phase or any phase, they may play them and follow the discard instructions now.
Once done, the game moves on to the Main phase. During this phase the active player will play any cards they wish that are appropriate for this phase, and then the other player will do the same. During this phase players will be playing cards from hand (and as many as they would like) to add on to their space station, activate modules that were previously deactivated, claim investor cards, and prepare for the next game phase. Space stations can be added to via modules. Modules can be single cards, or multiple splayed cards. As you can see in the photo above cards have icons to the left of the white barrier and some will also have icons to the right. Depending on how a card is added to a module certain icons may be covered and therefore inactive. When adding a card to a module (called an extension) the player decides if they want to add the card to the right of the splay, thus covering up icons to the right of the barrier of the covered card, or under the stack to the left of the splay. Additionally, players may flip any card over to have the back showing, which will provide icons usable in a station module. There are restrictions for playing cards, but I will let you discover those on your own.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Deception: Murder in Hong Kong in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
One of the funnest (yeah I know, it’s not a word) parts of board gaming is getting to introduce new people to the hobby! Whether it’s a family gathering or a party with friends, I love breaking out a fun game for any occasion! Some board gamers have an aversion to the ‘party’ games category, but I think you just need to find the right game for the group to have the best experience! One of those games, for me, is Deception: Murder in Hong Kong!
MURDER! As an Investigator, that’s just another day on the job for you. This time feels different, though. Something about this case is off… After the initial evidence is gathered, the team’s Forensic Scientist has disclosed to the team that the killer is one of the Investigators! Everyone is on edge, accusing every other Investigator of being the murderer. Everyone had potential means and motive, and it is up to you to figure it out! As the Forensic Scientist uncovers more evidence, the details of the crime will come to light, and the killer will be revealed. Put your investigative and deductive skills to the test as you try to unmask the killer, or throw the team off your scent if you are the culprit!
DISCLAIMER!! This review is for vanilla Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. We have plans to add in the expansion once one of us purchases it and learns it and teaches it to the rest of us. Should that happen and our review change, we will add that information to this review or to a new review and link to it from here. -T
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a game of bluffing, deduction, and hidden identity. All players (except for the Forensic Scientist) have a secret role in the game – Investigator, Witness, Murderer, or Accomplice. The Forensic Scientist knows who the killer is, and how they did it. It is their job to guide the Investigators to the killer by providing clues about the uncovered evidence. The Investigators are trying to interpret the clues and uncover the killer’s identity. The Witness knows who the killer is, but has not yet figured out how they did it. The Murderer and Accomplice are looking to pin the murder on one of the other innocent members of the team! As clues are revealed, each player gets a chance to make a case against the player whom they think is the murderer. You must convince everyone of your logic, or else the killer could get away! In a game where everyone is a suspect, who can you trust? Gather clues, present your case, and put your poker face to the test in this ultimate game of deception! (See what I did there?)
I thoroughly enjoy games of deduction. Anything where you have to think and solve puzzles/riddles/etc. is fun for me. In Deception, it’s a race to see who can find the solution first. Not only do you have to deduce the correct answer from the provided clues, but you also have to put your persuasive skills to the test! Unless you can convince everyone that a specific player is the killer, they might turn their accusations towards someone else, or even worse, towards YOU! You really have to think outside of the box to interpret the Forensic Scientist’s clues, and I like to challenge myself to find the solution in as few turns as possible. The faster I can solve the murder, the smarter I feel. Don’t lie, it makes you feel smart too when you figure it out before anyone else!
The only part of Deception that I don’t really enjoy is the bluffing aspect, which is one of the most integral parts of the game, I know. I am just a horrible liar with a questionable poker face. If we play and I am the Murderer, I am almost always found out. Whenever anyone accuses me, my mind blanks and I cannot think of a single convincing way to get everyone off my scent! That is a personal problem, though, because when I get to be just a regular ol’ Investigator, I have a blast! I can still be accused, but I always feel like I have an easier time getting people off my case if I am actually innocent. I know some people really enjoy being the Murderer because they like the challenge of deceiving the entire team. I am not one of those people though. If I was guaranteed to be just a plain Investigator (or the Forensic Scientist) every time, I would probably pull this game out more!
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a ‘party’ game, but with the right group, it can still be a challenging game. A higher player count, in this case, does not necessarily equate to a chaotic game either. So give Deception a try. It’ll be worth it! Purple Phoenix Games gives it a 17 / 24.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/deception-murder-in-hong-kong-review/
MURDER! As an Investigator, that’s just another day on the job for you. This time feels different, though. Something about this case is off… After the initial evidence is gathered, the team’s Forensic Scientist has disclosed to the team that the killer is one of the Investigators! Everyone is on edge, accusing every other Investigator of being the murderer. Everyone had potential means and motive, and it is up to you to figure it out! As the Forensic Scientist uncovers more evidence, the details of the crime will come to light, and the killer will be revealed. Put your investigative and deductive skills to the test as you try to unmask the killer, or throw the team off your scent if you are the culprit!
DISCLAIMER!! This review is for vanilla Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. We have plans to add in the expansion once one of us purchases it and learns it and teaches it to the rest of us. Should that happen and our review change, we will add that information to this review or to a new review and link to it from here. -T
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a game of bluffing, deduction, and hidden identity. All players (except for the Forensic Scientist) have a secret role in the game – Investigator, Witness, Murderer, or Accomplice. The Forensic Scientist knows who the killer is, and how they did it. It is their job to guide the Investigators to the killer by providing clues about the uncovered evidence. The Investigators are trying to interpret the clues and uncover the killer’s identity. The Witness knows who the killer is, but has not yet figured out how they did it. The Murderer and Accomplice are looking to pin the murder on one of the other innocent members of the team! As clues are revealed, each player gets a chance to make a case against the player whom they think is the murderer. You must convince everyone of your logic, or else the killer could get away! In a game where everyone is a suspect, who can you trust? Gather clues, present your case, and put your poker face to the test in this ultimate game of deception! (See what I did there?)
I thoroughly enjoy games of deduction. Anything where you have to think and solve puzzles/riddles/etc. is fun for me. In Deception, it’s a race to see who can find the solution first. Not only do you have to deduce the correct answer from the provided clues, but you also have to put your persuasive skills to the test! Unless you can convince everyone that a specific player is the killer, they might turn their accusations towards someone else, or even worse, towards YOU! You really have to think outside of the box to interpret the Forensic Scientist’s clues, and I like to challenge myself to find the solution in as few turns as possible. The faster I can solve the murder, the smarter I feel. Don’t lie, it makes you feel smart too when you figure it out before anyone else!
The only part of Deception that I don’t really enjoy is the bluffing aspect, which is one of the most integral parts of the game, I know. I am just a horrible liar with a questionable poker face. If we play and I am the Murderer, I am almost always found out. Whenever anyone accuses me, my mind blanks and I cannot think of a single convincing way to get everyone off my scent! That is a personal problem, though, because when I get to be just a regular ol’ Investigator, I have a blast! I can still be accused, but I always feel like I have an easier time getting people off my case if I am actually innocent. I know some people really enjoy being the Murderer because they like the challenge of deceiving the entire team. I am not one of those people though. If I was guaranteed to be just a plain Investigator (or the Forensic Scientist) every time, I would probably pull this game out more!
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a ‘party’ game, but with the right group, it can still be a challenging game. A higher player count, in this case, does not necessarily equate to a chaotic game either. So give Deception a try. It’ll be worth it! Purple Phoenix Games gives it a 17 / 24.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/deception-murder-in-hong-kong-review/
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Raccoon Tycoon in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
ALERT! This game has railroads! ALERT #2! This is NOT a train game! That makes ME feel lots better. Right now in my life train games and war games scare me. I don’t have the time, and frankly I do not think I am quite smart enough for either. But then this game comes along and it looks intimidating at first. Like games I am not smart enough to play, and that’s a huge compliment. Not because I think I am smart, but because this game seems like it would be way more complex than it actually is.
Technically, the players are these cute little Victorian-era anthropomorphized animals trying to become the wealthiest of all Astorians (the city is called Astoria). This is measured by Victory Points. You gain VPs in several ways and the actions you take on your turn are limited.
What are these actions you can take on your turn? You may take one action on your turn: play a card from your hand to receive commodities (in really great meeples) and increase the price of commodities to be sold, sell commodities from your supply and decrease the price of the commodities by the number sold, purchase a town card using commodities, purchase a building using money earned, or begin an auction of a railroad using money. Each of these actions ultimately affects your opponents as they either adjust the market price of commodities, removes certain coveted assets from the offer, or otherwise depletes their resources. Also, there are mission cards in the box that are just not referenced in the rulebook, but two are to be dealt to the players and one chosen as a hidden goal for endgame scoring.
I will be honest. I would not normally be attracted to this style of game, and I may not have ever purchased it in the wild based on the box. I have zero games like it in my collection, and have not really played many that are similar. BUT, I absolutely love this game. Once you get the hang of the different actions you can really start planning ahead and creating your strategy based on what your opponents are doing and how the commodity market is shaping up. You can block opponents from monopolizing similar types of railroads, preventing them from scoring bulk points. You can just concentrate on liquidating assets for maximum return. All of this can be done by completing just one action on your turn, and it keeps you interested in what your opponents are doing as well. That is a mark of a great game. This isn’t just multiplayer solitaire at all.
Components. The box has really really great artwork on it. In fact, the whole game LOOKS incredible. I have seen some remarks that the artwork on the building tiles is in a different style from the rest of the game and it detracts from their enjoyment and immersion. I disagree. When we played the first time I asked if my opponent noticed the difference in art style and if it detracted from the enjoyment of the game. Nope. The game board is good quality and laid out well. The commodities tokens are really great. I do wish, however, that the meeple shape matched that of the icon shown throughout the game. This is apparent in coal and iron, specifically. The others are fine and they match well enough, but there is a missed opportunity. The town and railroad cards are of good quality, and the building tiles are very thick and chunky – and ultimately not necessary to be so since you don’t really handle them much, but it’s always nice to have deluxe-feeling components. The paper money is of good quality – for paper money, that is. The best component of the game – the 1st player marker. I didn’t get it in the shot below because it just woodent (I did that on purpose) fit! It is a HUGE brown raccoon meeple and it’s marvelous. Know what else I really appreciate? THERE IS NO INSERT. Nothing to throw away as soon as you open the box because undoubtedly once you punch everything and try to put it in the useless insert there is no way so you just throw it away anyway and are left feeling like maybe they could have saved some time and money not worrying about an insert that is actually pointless and detrimental to setup and teardown (I’m looking at you, pointless Fantasy Flight box-space-eater inserts).
I don’t know if you can tell from my verbosity in this review, but I adore this game. It is sleek, it is well-produced, and ultimately it is incredibly fun to play. We at Purple Phoenix Games give this one a VERY enthusiastic 14 / 18.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/raccoon-tycoon-review/
Technically, the players are these cute little Victorian-era anthropomorphized animals trying to become the wealthiest of all Astorians (the city is called Astoria). This is measured by Victory Points. You gain VPs in several ways and the actions you take on your turn are limited.
What are these actions you can take on your turn? You may take one action on your turn: play a card from your hand to receive commodities (in really great meeples) and increase the price of commodities to be sold, sell commodities from your supply and decrease the price of the commodities by the number sold, purchase a town card using commodities, purchase a building using money earned, or begin an auction of a railroad using money. Each of these actions ultimately affects your opponents as they either adjust the market price of commodities, removes certain coveted assets from the offer, or otherwise depletes their resources. Also, there are mission cards in the box that are just not referenced in the rulebook, but two are to be dealt to the players and one chosen as a hidden goal for endgame scoring.
I will be honest. I would not normally be attracted to this style of game, and I may not have ever purchased it in the wild based on the box. I have zero games like it in my collection, and have not really played many that are similar. BUT, I absolutely love this game. Once you get the hang of the different actions you can really start planning ahead and creating your strategy based on what your opponents are doing and how the commodity market is shaping up. You can block opponents from monopolizing similar types of railroads, preventing them from scoring bulk points. You can just concentrate on liquidating assets for maximum return. All of this can be done by completing just one action on your turn, and it keeps you interested in what your opponents are doing as well. That is a mark of a great game. This isn’t just multiplayer solitaire at all.
Components. The box has really really great artwork on it. In fact, the whole game LOOKS incredible. I have seen some remarks that the artwork on the building tiles is in a different style from the rest of the game and it detracts from their enjoyment and immersion. I disagree. When we played the first time I asked if my opponent noticed the difference in art style and if it detracted from the enjoyment of the game. Nope. The game board is good quality and laid out well. The commodities tokens are really great. I do wish, however, that the meeple shape matched that of the icon shown throughout the game. This is apparent in coal and iron, specifically. The others are fine and they match well enough, but there is a missed opportunity. The town and railroad cards are of good quality, and the building tiles are very thick and chunky – and ultimately not necessary to be so since you don’t really handle them much, but it’s always nice to have deluxe-feeling components. The paper money is of good quality – for paper money, that is. The best component of the game – the 1st player marker. I didn’t get it in the shot below because it just woodent (I did that on purpose) fit! It is a HUGE brown raccoon meeple and it’s marvelous. Know what else I really appreciate? THERE IS NO INSERT. Nothing to throw away as soon as you open the box because undoubtedly once you punch everything and try to put it in the useless insert there is no way so you just throw it away anyway and are left feeling like maybe they could have saved some time and money not worrying about an insert that is actually pointless and detrimental to setup and teardown (I’m looking at you, pointless Fantasy Flight box-space-eater inserts).
I don’t know if you can tell from my verbosity in this review, but I adore this game. It is sleek, it is well-produced, and ultimately it is incredibly fun to play. We at Purple Phoenix Games give this one a VERY enthusiastic 14 / 18.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/raccoon-tycoon-review/
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Fossilis in Tabletop Games
Feb 17, 2021
Whether it lasted for days, months, or years, I’m willing to bet that you all have had some minor (or maybe even major) fascination with dinosaurs at some point in your life. I am definitely no exception to that statement. When I was younger, I absolutely went through a paleontology phase, and the “Jurassic Park” movies have kept that love of dinosaurs alive. So when I saw KTBG was coming out with a game about excavating dinosaur bones, I was immediately sold. Did it live up to my childhood expectations, or was this excavation a bust?
Fossilis is a game of set collection and tile placement in which players are working to excavate and collect sets of dinosaur bones for display in museums across the world. To setup for a game, prepare the dig site as described in the rulebook. Populate the Score Track board with 9 random Skill tokens, 3 face-down randomly selected Event cards, and a Plaster pool based on the player count. Create a Market of Tool and Supply cards, as well as a Dinosaur Display. Each player receives a mat, Paleontologist meeple, and score marker in their chosen color. Pick a starting player, and in reverse turn order, players place their Paleontologists onto a corner tile of the dig site. The game is now ready to begin!
Every players’ turn has 3 steps: Actions, Market, and Lab. At the start of your turn, you have 4 Energy to spend on Actions. The available action choices are: Gain 1 Plaster (from the Plaster pool), Move up to 2 spaces (orthogonally or diagonally), Climb onto the Dig Site (if your Paleontologist was knocked off the board), Place 1 Sand tile (anywhere on the Dig Site), Dig 1 tile (slide a terrain tile 1 space in any direction), or Extract (excavate a bone/hammer). With the exception of Digging, all other Actions cost 1 Energy to perform. Digging 1 tile costs energy dependent on the type of terrain tile being moved. To dig Sand is 1 Energy, Clay is 2, and Stone is 3. To Dig, you select 1 tile that is orthogonally adjacent to your Paleontologist, and slide it 1 space in any direction you wish. Tiles that are pushed off the edge are claimed by that player, and can be used to purchase cards from the Market. It is possible for a Paleontologist to be pushed off the Dig Site, so watch out! To perform the Extract action, you will excavate a bone or hammer from an open pit orthogonally adjacent to your Paleontologist. Extraction costs Plaster dependent on the type of bone being collected. For example, extracting a tooth costs 2 Plaster, while a skull costs 6. Extracting hammers has no cost, and you immediately trade the hammer for one of the available Skill tokens in play. The Skill tokens provide benefits for the remainder of the game. Once a player has spent their Energy, they move to the next phase.
On your turn, you may buy 1 card from the Market: either a Tool or Supply card. These are purchased using the icons on any tiles you collected during the Action phase. Supply cards gain you immediate resources, while Tool cards are saved for use during a future Action step. After the Market phase is the Lab phase. You may claim a Dinosaur from the Display if you have at least one of the required bones for that Dinosaur. You can only ever have 1 Dinosaur in your Lab at a time, so strategize carefully. At any point during a turn, you can score the Dinosaur in your lab – either for full points if all required bones are present on the card, or partial points if you only have some of the required bones.
Events are triggered 3 times throughout the game when the Plaster pool has been depleted. The active player draws the top Event card, and follows the instructions on the card. Once an Event has been performed, the Plaster pool is refilled and play continues with the next player. After the 3rd event has been triggered, the Plaster pool is refilled one last time. When the last Plaster pool is depleted for this final time, the game ends. Players count up all their points, and the player with the highest score wins!
At first it may seem overwhelming, like there is a lot going on, but after a couple of turns the gameplay feels intuitive and streamlined. There are quite a few aspects to keep track of, but the overall flow of the game makes it feel clear and concise. During my plays, I have never once felt lost or confused as to what the next turn step is. The tight gameplay also lends itself to providing a variety of strategic options for players. Do you want to go for all the highest-scoring Dinosaurs, even though their bones take longer to collect? Or maybe you want to snag as many lower-scoring Dinosaurs as possible, since they should be faster to collect. You can earn end-game points based on Characteristic sets of Dinosaurs (carnivorous, herbivore, etc), so maybe you decide to focus on those sets. Or if you’re in a particularly confrontational mood, maybe you want to knock opposing Paleontologists off the Dig Site, causing them to ‘waste’ an Energy on a future turn just to climb back on into the play area. There really is no right answer as to what strategy is a sure-win, and I like that I can choose and adapt my strategies based on the current standings in the game.
Probably my favorite innovative mechanic in Fossilis is the 3D terrain and ‘digging’ actions. When setting up the game, bones and hammers are randomly scattered and distributed around the Dig Site before terrain tiles are added. So there is absolutely no way to know where you should dig for what you want! Just like a real paleontologist, you’ve got to give it your best guess. I have had some frustrating turns, spending lots of Energy to dig a tile just to find the space to be empty! Or maybe you dig and hit the motherlode, which just means you’ll probably have to fight off other paleontologists for the bones that you need. The 3D board adds another element of strategy that heightens the gameplay and makes it more immersive.
Let’s touch on components for a moment. They are AWESOME. Admittedly, I have the Kickstarter version, but I just love how well-produced this game is. The terrain tiles are nice and thick bakelite-esque tiles, and they are just dang fun to manipulate. The plaster and bones are small, but pretty detailed and sturdy for their size. The artwork on the cards is colorful and clear, the Paleontologist meeples are cute little wooden bits, and the cardboard bits are all good quality. Excellent production quality all around.
It should come as no surprise, based on my score, that I love this game. The gameplay is immersive and engaging, the mechanics add a neat twist to your normal set collection/tile placement game, and the ability to adapt strategy on the fly means that nobody is truly out of the game because of one bad turn. Purple Phoenix Games gives Fossilis a roaring 11 / 12. If you’re looking for a good dinosaur game, look no further. Yeah, they’re technically just bones here, but it still counts!
Fossilis is a game of set collection and tile placement in which players are working to excavate and collect sets of dinosaur bones for display in museums across the world. To setup for a game, prepare the dig site as described in the rulebook. Populate the Score Track board with 9 random Skill tokens, 3 face-down randomly selected Event cards, and a Plaster pool based on the player count. Create a Market of Tool and Supply cards, as well as a Dinosaur Display. Each player receives a mat, Paleontologist meeple, and score marker in their chosen color. Pick a starting player, and in reverse turn order, players place their Paleontologists onto a corner tile of the dig site. The game is now ready to begin!
Every players’ turn has 3 steps: Actions, Market, and Lab. At the start of your turn, you have 4 Energy to spend on Actions. The available action choices are: Gain 1 Plaster (from the Plaster pool), Move up to 2 spaces (orthogonally or diagonally), Climb onto the Dig Site (if your Paleontologist was knocked off the board), Place 1 Sand tile (anywhere on the Dig Site), Dig 1 tile (slide a terrain tile 1 space in any direction), or Extract (excavate a bone/hammer). With the exception of Digging, all other Actions cost 1 Energy to perform. Digging 1 tile costs energy dependent on the type of terrain tile being moved. To dig Sand is 1 Energy, Clay is 2, and Stone is 3. To Dig, you select 1 tile that is orthogonally adjacent to your Paleontologist, and slide it 1 space in any direction you wish. Tiles that are pushed off the edge are claimed by that player, and can be used to purchase cards from the Market. It is possible for a Paleontologist to be pushed off the Dig Site, so watch out! To perform the Extract action, you will excavate a bone or hammer from an open pit orthogonally adjacent to your Paleontologist. Extraction costs Plaster dependent on the type of bone being collected. For example, extracting a tooth costs 2 Plaster, while a skull costs 6. Extracting hammers has no cost, and you immediately trade the hammer for one of the available Skill tokens in play. The Skill tokens provide benefits for the remainder of the game. Once a player has spent their Energy, they move to the next phase.
On your turn, you may buy 1 card from the Market: either a Tool or Supply card. These are purchased using the icons on any tiles you collected during the Action phase. Supply cards gain you immediate resources, while Tool cards are saved for use during a future Action step. After the Market phase is the Lab phase. You may claim a Dinosaur from the Display if you have at least one of the required bones for that Dinosaur. You can only ever have 1 Dinosaur in your Lab at a time, so strategize carefully. At any point during a turn, you can score the Dinosaur in your lab – either for full points if all required bones are present on the card, or partial points if you only have some of the required bones.
Events are triggered 3 times throughout the game when the Plaster pool has been depleted. The active player draws the top Event card, and follows the instructions on the card. Once an Event has been performed, the Plaster pool is refilled and play continues with the next player. After the 3rd event has been triggered, the Plaster pool is refilled one last time. When the last Plaster pool is depleted for this final time, the game ends. Players count up all their points, and the player with the highest score wins!
At first it may seem overwhelming, like there is a lot going on, but after a couple of turns the gameplay feels intuitive and streamlined. There are quite a few aspects to keep track of, but the overall flow of the game makes it feel clear and concise. During my plays, I have never once felt lost or confused as to what the next turn step is. The tight gameplay also lends itself to providing a variety of strategic options for players. Do you want to go for all the highest-scoring Dinosaurs, even though their bones take longer to collect? Or maybe you want to snag as many lower-scoring Dinosaurs as possible, since they should be faster to collect. You can earn end-game points based on Characteristic sets of Dinosaurs (carnivorous, herbivore, etc), so maybe you decide to focus on those sets. Or if you’re in a particularly confrontational mood, maybe you want to knock opposing Paleontologists off the Dig Site, causing them to ‘waste’ an Energy on a future turn just to climb back on into the play area. There really is no right answer as to what strategy is a sure-win, and I like that I can choose and adapt my strategies based on the current standings in the game.
Probably my favorite innovative mechanic in Fossilis is the 3D terrain and ‘digging’ actions. When setting up the game, bones and hammers are randomly scattered and distributed around the Dig Site before terrain tiles are added. So there is absolutely no way to know where you should dig for what you want! Just like a real paleontologist, you’ve got to give it your best guess. I have had some frustrating turns, spending lots of Energy to dig a tile just to find the space to be empty! Or maybe you dig and hit the motherlode, which just means you’ll probably have to fight off other paleontologists for the bones that you need. The 3D board adds another element of strategy that heightens the gameplay and makes it more immersive.
Let’s touch on components for a moment. They are AWESOME. Admittedly, I have the Kickstarter version, but I just love how well-produced this game is. The terrain tiles are nice and thick bakelite-esque tiles, and they are just dang fun to manipulate. The plaster and bones are small, but pretty detailed and sturdy for their size. The artwork on the cards is colorful and clear, the Paleontologist meeples are cute little wooden bits, and the cardboard bits are all good quality. Excellent production quality all around.
It should come as no surprise, based on my score, that I love this game. The gameplay is immersive and engaging, the mechanics add a neat twist to your normal set collection/tile placement game, and the ability to adapt strategy on the fly means that nobody is truly out of the game because of one bad turn. Purple Phoenix Games gives Fossilis a roaring 11 / 12. If you’re looking for a good dinosaur game, look no further. Yeah, they’re technically just bones here, but it still counts!
