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.
Summary
Game Type - Euro Game
Play Time: 30-60 Minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Mechanics - Hand Management, Tile Placement
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Can be learned in 20 minutes)
Components - Excellent
Release - 2004
Designer - <PERSON> things <PERSON>)
Overview
The title of the game says it all really. Pompeii takes the players back to the time period between 63 AD and 79 AD when first an earthquake scared the city and then Mount Vesuvius herself erupted and condemned the inhabitants of Pompeii to their fate.
The game adheres to this time line by splitting its play into two distinct halves. The first half of the game replicates the period just after 63 AD when Roman citizens began to flock back to the newly re-built Pompeii after the destruction of the earthquake.
The second half is triggered by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and sets the players a simple task…Get your people out…Get them out NOW!
The Components
Pompeii is really a component light game, which is in keeping with its streamlined mechanics and its fairly straight forward game play. But the components that are offered are of very good quality indeed.
Game Board – The game board used by Pompeii is a 1 flip design that unfolds to be about the length of a classic euro board (if there is such a thing). The artwork depicts the city in all its glory, consisting of bathhouses, a colosseum complete with an adjoining training barracks and all manner of civilian and administrative buildings. The city is surrounded by defensive walls and gatehouses are set at various intervals. The artwork is complete with the inclusion of surrounding grasslands and roads leading away from the city. I don’t normally describe a board in such detail but it really is a lovely rendering to look at and really adds to the game’s experience.
The whole city is also divided into a grid, with some buildings occupying more than one square. This is important to the mechanics of the game but thankfully the grid lines are drawn in such a way that they are functional and still allow the artwork to be the main focus. 581
Then there are the 5 squares that feature an icon of importance to the people of the time (gladiator helmet, mask, coin, scroll and vase). These are mechanical in nature and help to place lava in the 2nd half of the game.
The final feature of the board is the unusual hole in the top left corner…
Image Courtesy of tasajara
Volcano – Pompeii could easily have depicted the volcano artistically with a drawing but the very clever decision was made to include a plastic template that can be wrapped around and joined together to create a 3D volcano, which sits within the hole in the board. The result is an imposing reminder of history and the task before the players.
Image Courtesy of tasajara
Cards – The game uses standard sized cards, which are used to help populate the city. They are highly functional, offering information that relates to how many cards there are of each type and which building they relate to on the board. The cards are topped off by gorgeous artwork that dominates the middle of each card and represents one facet of life in Pompeii.
In addition there are also Omen and Eruption cards but more on those later.
The only additional thing a gamer wants to see is the use of a matte or linen finish and Pompeii delivers in this respect also.
Images Courtesy of cvandyk
People Tokens – These get the classic Euro treatment and use coloured octagonal wooden tokens (as per Puerto Rico if my memory serves me correct). The fact that these are wooden generic pieces and not little miniatures serves to underline the time frame that this game was released in (2004 - not to mention the publisher’s 'design/publishing' principles) but I am glad for this decision. Pompeii is a modest game and miniature based figures would not have been in keeping with the rest of the game. It would have been chrome simply for the sake of it.
It's worth noting that there are varying numbers of tokens for each colours to accommodate differing numbers of players. For ease of set-up I have my two 2-player colours in a separate bag to speed things up.
Image Courtesy of kilroy_locke
Lava Tiles - A total of 45 lava tiles are included to help depict the spread of lava from the violent bowel movement of the volcano. Each tile offers a splattering of lava and an icon, which helps in the placing of the tile. 84