Image Courtesy of Debate
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.
In addition this is the 3rd in a series of reviews that will focus on the Kosmos series of 2-Player games. A full list of titles I plan to review or have reviewed from the series can be found at the bottom of this review (Pick & Pack was also included but is not a Kosmos game).
Summary
Game Type - Card Game
Play Time: 20-40 minutes
Number of Players: 2
Mechanics - Racing, Hand Management
Difficulty - Moderate (Can be learnt in 30 minutes & a play or 2)
Components - Excellent
Release - 2002
Designer - <PERSON>( Aton, Cape Horn, No Thanks!)
Overview
In Odin's Ravens, each player assumes the identity of one of <PERSON>'s ravens; Hugin or Munin. Every morning <PERSON> sends these two ravens out to watch over his lands and it is at these times that the two ravens would race one another. So effectively each player is racing one another with the winner presumably earning bragging rights and <PERSON>'s affections...maybe? (I'm just making stuff up now).
Unlike many of the games in the Kosmos Series, the game play actually lends itself to the theme as each player must speed their raven across the landscape cards as quickly as possible. The game takes several races to determine the winner and the key mechanic of managing your cards (in hand and once played) are key.
The Components
Once again the components are very good in Odin's Ravens but they are perhaps not quite as eye catching as other games in the series due to the lack of a board or real character based artwork.
Raven Tokens - Each player is represented by a functional, but nice, wooden token in the shape of a raven. One raven is coloured grey and the other brown.
Image Courtesy of Debate
<PERSON> - A small, raised wooden disc featuring a thunderbolt symbol of one side is called the Odin's Marker. Its purpose will be outlined in the Game Play section below.
Cards (General) - The game comes with a total of 106 cards. Kosmos seem to like producing cards of unusual dimensions for their games and if nothing else the decision certainly does help their games stand out in one's memory.
All cards used in the game feature the same dimensions, which are 8cms longer than a standard playing card (but shorter than those used in Lost Cities) and they are about 2/3rds the width of a standard playing card. This all means that the cards are narrow and longish, but they are still easy to hold.
Flight Cards - Each player uses their own deck of 33 cards, although both decks are identical in their make-up. 299
Flight Cards account for 25 cards in each deck and each card depicts a single terrain type such as; a river, river, forest, canyon, hills, and snow covered mountains.
These cards feature the terrain artwork centered on the card and smaller icons of the same image are located at the top and bottom of the card. This is a design feature to ensure that a card type can still be identified when the cards are fanned during play.
Image Courtesy of Honey
Odin Cards - The remaining 8 cards in each player's deck are Odin Cards, which feature a picture of <PERSON> holding a stone tablet that contains text. Each tablet displays the two options that are possible by playing the card (more on that later). There are a total of 4 different <PERSON> cards of which there are 2 of each.
Image Courtesy of Terraliptar
The rear of the cards used in the player decks depict a birds eye view of <PERSON>'s lands, featuring each of the terrain's used in the game. A raven flies through the sky as if surveying all that is below.
The card backs are differentiated by being either grey or brown, which matches the colour of the player raven tokens. All neat artistic design decisions.
Image Courtesy of petersjs
Landscape Cards - Then there are the 40 Landscape Cards, which are used during the game to create the Flight Path that both birds must negotiate. Rather efficiently each card features 2 different landscapes which are drawn in a mirror image fashion. This allows a single Landscape Card to represent a new section of the Flight Path for both players. A crisp dividing line separates the mirror images and clearly identifies that each landscape is independent of the other.
Some land cards feature 2 different terrain types, whilst others feature the same landscape for both players. Not surprisingly the images used for each land type are identical to those used for the Flight Cards in the player decks. By now some of the mechanics are becoming clear. 937