Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. If you thumb the bottom as well, I consider that a bonus. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type – Roll 'n' Write
Play Time: 10-20 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Mechanics – Paper & Pencil, Set Collection
Difficulty – Pick-Up & Play (Can be learned in under 10 minutes)
Components – Excellent
Artist – <PERSON>
Release – 2019
Designer – <PERSON>( Adventure Games: Monochrome Inc. + The Dungeon + The Volcanic Island, Archaeology: The New Expedition, Barenpark, Cacao, Gingerbread House, Gizmos, Imhotep, Imhotep: The Dual, All things Sushi Go!,Sushi Roll)
Overview and Theme
In Silver & Gold we have another roll 'n' write design so don't expect any outward theme here. Actually I need to correct that on two fronts...sort of. For starters, the game is actually a flip 'n' write (in similar vein to Welcome To...[although not as meaty]) and the game does use a theme of trying to collect buried treasure on islands, but the game doesn't waste any time referring to who you are and there is no sign of pirates.
In truth what Silver & Gold actually is, is another game to make use of polyominoes. In this case the shapes range from 2-4 squares in size but they are still very Tetris-y. I saw you roll your eyes...but stick with me.
Silver & Gold first came to my attention via a BGG 'Game Night' Video, otherwise I would never have noticed it. For one it is relatively new and two, the game has only had a wider release outside of Germany very recently.
It comes to us from the steady mind of <PERSON> most will probably know from other games such as - and Imhotep. <PERSON> would be, I think, our most respected designer here in Australia and he is building up a nice portfolio of world-wide releases now with other notable designs such as Barenparkand Gizmos. We are rather proud of him.
Ok let's dig into this sucker, grab me that shovel will you!
The Components
Silver & Gold is published by in Europe and brought to North America and associated regions by . 470
They've done a great job here in creating a quality package that gets the basics spot on.
Treasure Cards – In total there are 47 Treasure Cards. Each of these cards depicts an island of one shape or another. Each island is made up of boxes and the number of boxes also equates to the value of the island. The values are found in the top left corner and each one is associated with a treasure type.
In truth the treasure type is irrelevant. What really matters is the points that the card is worth if completed and the colour of the card. I guess the symbols could be very important for the colour-blind actually.
The other features of note are the 3 icons that may frequent any given card. These consist of a red 'x' or cross, gold coins and green palm trees. I'll cover what these do in the body of the review.
The cards are of decent thickness but most importantly they have a glossy finish that enables the marker ink to be rubbed off with a tissue quite easily. The card backs feature an illustration of doubloons to support the buried treasure concept.
Image Courtesy of stooge
Expedition Cards – The game contains 8 Expedition Cards, with each of these featuring 1 polyomino. These shapes take center stage and they range in size from 2-4 boxes and feature 6 different shapes in all (two of the shapes appear twice).
The card backs feature a question mark to help underline that the players do not know what is coming next. Thematically the shapes on these cards represent the pattern by which the players opt to search the islands for treasure...that would make them a search pattern?!
We probably shouldn't look too deeply here.
Image Courtesy of kalchio
Scoring and Round Cards – Each player will receive a Scoring Card to track how well they are doing. There are 4 key sections to these cards and I will cover them in detail when I outline how to score points. All you need to know now is that these cards are a clever and concise bit of design. 872