Having been a new gamer just since the later parts of 2007, I was immediately facing a dilemma I'm certain everyone with budget has to face: "So little money, so many games." I would look at people's collection list and my jaw would drop with envy looking at those numbers beside 'Games Owned. '124', '233', '498' "My Gosh!" I muttered. "Is everyone here dentists & lawyers??"
But I'm neither a dentist nor a lawyer, and many of you probably are not either. With a small collection, making sure that each purchase is the wisest it can be is at the upmost importance. My goal for this simple review is to help you determine if Arkadia belongs in your collection. Of course, if you're just an Euro fan in general and you're a lawyer or a dentist, don't even bother reading, just buy the game already!
I first came across Arkadia as I was reading reviews of other similar games in its genre - Family games with relatively short playing time that still offers strategic decisions. People were alluding to this game in their reviews and after looking at the premises I found the game to be interesting, so I put it in my wantlist and moved on. I later acquired the game from B&N on a nifty price of $15. Suffice to say, I have been delighted. Arkadia is quickly becoming one of my favorite games, one I can pull out knowing I don't have much time for my longer games and still offer me many, many compelling decisions.
COMPONENTS
Arkadia is a very pretty game that will draw people's attention when it's all laid out on the board. The components of the game are top-notch with a few exceptions. I'm a proponent of nicely produced (some would call 'overproduced', but hey I'm all for getting my money's worth in the components ) and Arkadia certainly does not dissapoint. The castle pieces are excellent and some have compared it to <PERSON>' castle pieces. The board is the right size (not too big or too small) with pleasant colors, and the player colors are distinctive enough not to be confusing.
One very underrated aspect of game production that I come to appreciate is the Box insert. 386
When I buy a game, I'd like the insert to at least attempt to look like it was made for that specific game. Some games fail miserably at this, but Arkadia is one of the few that was done very well. My inclination is that Ravensburger games tend to have this quality. There's a place for everything and everything fits just right. Kudos, <PERSON>!
My minor complaints regarding the components are that 1) The cards are a bit small, 2) the player screens and banners are on the flimsy side, and that 3) it's a little tedious to set the game up. The small card phenomenon has hit recent games lately and though it works fine in some games, in arkadia I think having a slightly bigger size would help in identifying the building shapes / colors. As far as the flimsy screens, just dont squish it with your arms and you should be fine.
GAMEPLAY
One thing that I'm very happy about Arkadia is that it doesn't take long to explain the game to people. This is crucial with games that attempt to appeal to the family market. However, behind the simple mechanics (this word is really overused around here, by the way ) is many, many strategic decisions that make this game the proverbial 'easy to teach, difficult to master' game. Some 'family' games do just the opposite (complicated rules, but silly & stupid decisions) and as a result you feel like the game is playing you. Fear not, for Arkadia is truly a simple game to teach, with many opportunities for play improvements (which comes a long way in determining a game's replayability.)
On to the mechanics: On his turn, a player must either build a building or place as many workers as he wants. He them may cash in one of his 4 banners for 2 additional workers and/or converting his seals into cash.
When a building is completely surrounded by workers, the building is finished and a payout is triggered. Whoever have workers around the building will get seals of that building's color. Finishing a building also trigger the continuation of the castle building, in which the player then picks a castle piece and place it wherever he wants.
HOW THE GAME 'FEELS'
This aspect of the game is something I've been trying to get a better grasp on personally to determine what kinds of game I actually like. How the game 'feels' when you play it is, in my opinion, a very important determining factor in playing the game.
Arkadia has a certain 'feel' to it that I like and I will try to describe what it is. 366