We are quite fond of the whimsical artwork in Above and Below / Near and Far from Red Raven Games. They are engine-building games, and like most, it starts out slow, and the shifts to high by the end of the game.
New Game Mondays
When we saw that there were more adventures in – The Land of Arzium and lost adventurers needed our help, we were up to the challenge.
Roam is a swift strategy game where you use your adventurers to search in unique patterns, claim lands, and rescue the lost, to grow your league of adventurers.
Along the way, you can spend earned coins to collect artifacts that grant special abilities.
Bits and Bobs
The artwork by Ryan Laukat revisits vibrant colors and whimsical cartoony characters.
The action takes place on a 3×2 card grid in the center. The play area consists of three cards in a row facing one direction and three facing the opposite direction. These landscape cards are traveled and, once claimed, turn over to reveal the characters. Smart mechanism placing the characters on the backside of location cards. New adventurers earn you points and open up different points of travel. The artifacts purchased have point values as well as perks.
Turns consists of adding new terrain map cards, filling the tracks on the cards, employ artifacts, resolve completed maps. Pay coins to place a blank square or take an early rest, which consists of refreshing your characters that are face down or pay to turn them all face-up. Refined play continues till one player has 10 characters in their league. The rounds finish and then tally points. The highest points win.
Thoughts
Roam is a crafty, portable version of Above and Below, but keeps the depth of story and strategy. Overall the game is beautiful and intriguing. Both are what attract the Nerdz to a game and keep it on the table. There is variety in the encounters, allowing for a new experience each game.
ROAM
Year Published: 2019
Designer: Ryan Laukat
Artist: Ryan Laukat
Publishers: Red Raven Games
Mechanisms: Area Majority / Influence
Deck, Bag, and Pool Building
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Nerdz Garage
Suzzan Smith