“He’s crossed all the oceans all around the world.” <PERSON>, The Sound and the Fury
Archipelago is an obtuse, conflicted, and wildly engaging Euro game full of chaos and caustic judgment. On the surface it feels like a stream of consciousness design with mechanical quip and obfuscated layers making the journey more difficult than necessary. The truth is, Archipelago is spiritually the board game equivalent of a <PERSON> novel, with its unrelenting prose proving a forest upon your path. Like much of <PERSON>’s work, beyond the outright chaos and seeming hodge-podge is a deep and enrapturing experience that is exceptionally enjoyable and surprisingly focused.
This is a Euro game as only <PERSON> could fashion. The philosophy behind the design unsurprisingly mirrors the ideology present in its Ameritrash brother Earth Reborn. Layered mechanics give way to depth and are integrated in a streamlined fashion which beckons you to return again and again. One could posit that <PERSON> is cut from the same cloth as <PERSON>, although the former’s games tend to have a greater degree of coherency and direction that elevate them to a level of grandeur rather than toil in a realm of overwhelming difficulty.
Archipelago can be dissected into 3 vital organs and spheres of interaction that form the guts of the title. The Action Wheel provides for the turn to turn momentum and pace of player manipulation as each participant places action disks worker placement style. The hex board is built as players branch out and explore, discovering new vistas and resources to exploit. The final and most powerful element is the market system which dictates the vitality and health of the raging economic undercurrent that players interact with on a constant basis. All of these are nuanced and developed, comprising fleshed out interfaces to manipulate and be manipulated by.
The box is packed full of cardboard goodness.
The Action Wheel is made up of a plethora of spaces for players to utilize. Each player takes a turn placing one of their action disks (workers) and then executing the corresponding action. Actions are tight and you will often want to accomplish much more than you are afforded. Options include harvesting resources, constructing buildings, taxing the locals, birthing or hiring additional workers, and exploring. 937
Most actions are pretty straightforward and indicative of the typical fare. Exploration is the most fascinating and reminiscent of <PERSON>’s search mechanic from the earlier mentioned Earth Reborn. When you explore you may either take the top tile from the stack or the tile beneath it. Tiles are double sided and you are able to attempt to place either side, but you can only see the top-most face which is readily visible. The difficulty arises in that tile placement is restricted based on respecting land features – so a mountain must connect to a mountain, sea to sea, and so on. So, when presented with the desire to explore but the only visible tile face is not currently place-able, do you take that risk and go with the tile below it? If you fail, then your entire action is wasted. This is a chief example of that aforementioned chaotic current interwoven throughout the game that forcefully shoves the design in the opposite direction of its genre associates. The risk/tension is fascinating and in no way feels tacked onto the game or shoddy.
One of the most interesting elements of the Action Wheel is the fact that some spaces allow only limited placement while others permit freedom of being able to be repeatedly selected. There is no limit to the number of people that can harvest Exotic Fruit, but if you want to explore you are only able to place your disk on the space marked with your color. Once you have done this, you may explore with a subsequent action by placing your action disk on one of the multi-color spaces, as long as they haven’t already been occupied. This hybrid of limited and free action selection adds to the tightrope struggle of balance embedded in the design’s nature. While this intrinsic elegance is belied by the cluttered and busy graphic design of the Action Wheel, the simplicity and strategic engagement rises to the surface quickly upon engaging.
The map is built of these hexes that players explore and place, branching out and taking shape like watching a map being charted by a cartographer in accelerated real-time. The tiles themselves are beautiful and a joy to gaze upon, erecting a flourishing portrait as players place Citizens, Buildings, and Boats on the map, giving life to a newfound culture sprouting from its energetic roots. The map is perhaps the most forgiving element of the design as you can readjust, move, and shift focus all at the cost of an action or two. Placement of your Citizens and the tiles themselves due limit you in scope, but the game offers enough breadth of strategy that you can often make do no matter the draw.
Gorgeous artwork sets the backdrop for the Archipelago. 349