You are now ready to start with the first player being the person with the earliest letter in the alphabet on their ‘board’ How To Play

There are two forms of resources in the game, the first being wooden cubes of five different colours and the second being produce. Generally speaking, the cubes are gained by activating or placing a worker in an area and spent to obtain produce such as oxen, wagons, ploughs, grain and so on. Management of these two resources, the cubes and produce is essential. The Village Board Game is an award-winning strategy game created by developer Tasty Minstrel Games. The game has players manage village life in the 1300s in Medieval Europe, creating resources and labourers and gathering followers to gain points. Players must choose between different expansion options from farms to markets, drafting and trading resources accordingly. At the end of the game, each player’s score is determined by their amount of followers present in their village. I normally love collaborations between Matthew Dunstan & Brett J Gilbert and this is no exception. Together they have created a very clever, thinky but at the same time simple tableau game which has a lovely theme and lots of replayability. Osprey Games have made the cards small and the components fairly basic but that has kept the costs lower and it all fits into a compact box. Then if the line had any trip cards associated to it you would score them. They offer scoring opportunities for having other lines already completed, the types of terrain on the line, the types of features on the line, scoring farms etc a second time and lots of other interesting ways. These cards also have lovely illustrations of steam locomotives and will give train enthusiasts a real joy to look at them. Which Terminus Do I NeedAll the players are witches who have come upon a medieval village without a crone. They send out familiars to gather ingredients they can use in spells to complete Witch’s Scheme cards. Each of the cards is worth 1, 2, or 3 points, which also indicates how difficult the scheme is to complete. The witch who scores 13 points wins. Conversely, the monster’s actions are all very fluid, with simple but effective actions. Eachmonster has a unique role to play in your castle. There is tons of rooms for teamwork, for example luring or stunning villagers to allow other players to pass through and set up traps or recover. You’ll need every ounce of skill you have though, as the game tends to cascade out of control. Eventually it gets to a point where the villagers outnumber you to such an extent that even with all your power you are likely to fall to the humble pitchfork!

Each player also has a pet which offers a unique special power/ability. They are not groundbreaking but they do offer some variation and uniqueness to your character. There is also a decent supply of buildings, all of which require different resources to build. This keeps the game fresh. Green cards generally can’t be played on top off, while award cards can be, allowing a shift in tactics mid game. Green cards come in one of three flower types and one of three colours, and when played can only be played next to empty spaces or cards with the same colour and/or flower. You will build your strategy out by aiming to grab a few early award cards and working towards these. At heart Village is a worker placement game, each player takes on the role of a family trying to become the most prominent in the village. Family members can work in various areas, at home in the farm, in the church, as a travelling merchant or craftsman, in the village hall, and there are also options to trade and to bring future generations into play.

At the end of a player’s turn they roll the Illagers die and perform the action depicted on it. This may move the Illagers one space forward or is blank and nothing happens.