I managed to snatch an early English copy of Elysium. I've been waiting for this game for quite a while without really knowing what to expect. But I knew I wanted it, not only did the box art look the best artwork I had seen in a long time, but the game seemed to fit that range of 7 Wonders and Abyss that has only been represented by the former on my gaming shelf.
I do a lot of research into what games I actually buy and I do not buy good games - there's just too many good ones out there. For a game to quality, if has to be great or have a potential to become great.
Most of my collection consists of games that have a strong connection between theme and mechanics. I am not necessarily euro-gamer and I am not ameritrash/thrash gamer either, though I have games that lean one way or another every now and then. But I love theme and I love good artwork, both are important for a game to get into my collection.
So now I have Elysium.
And Elysium is not a game that is full of theme. In fact, it is relatively themeless. In fact, 7 Wonders has more theme than Elysium does. But you cannot say that the designers have not tried, the rulebook talks about epic journey to godhood and every card is given a semi-thematic reasoning (which works in some cases, but less in others). You never feel like you are dealing with gods and heroes the way the rulebook and the game box sets you up.
If this sounds as if I have thrown the game into trash already or have put it up for trade, then making it sound like that is my intention. I want you to feel somewhat how I felt, shattered expectations of the theme delivering on the advertised promise.
But read on.
This is a really good game, great even, if you give it a try.
Here are my thoughts about the game:
• Drop any ideas about this game being thematic. Ignore the rulebook sections about theme, it gets in the way. Consider theme as something that has been carefully tacked onto the game as 'flavor', and not as theme. If you stop thinking about theme, then you can focus on the game.
• This is primarily a game about collecting sets on a competitive game board and finding these little opportunities to get additional bonuses through combinations. 304
This can get addictive in a really good way, because what Elysium does well is that it is easy to comprehend, but difficult to master. Even a beginner has no problems understanding how to construct these sets and get points, but it takes a skilled player to balance the resources and take advantage of given opportunities.
• In every big round of the game the players have a selection of new cards that they can buy. But these cards do not cost money, they cost a resource that is the same for all the players. Every player gets four colored columns and can take any cards on the table into their 'domain' - as long as they still have that color column in front of them. As they take a card, they have to part ways with one of their columns (it can be of different color than the card requires, player only needs to have the right color in their possession). This makes the game board very dynamic, as you can gain opportunities based on what columns other players have parted with, or you can lock yourself up if you don't pay attention. But this is not as complicated as it sounds and is surprisingly intuitive - it can, however, cause some analysis paralysis.
• There are eight different families of cards in the game, belonging to different gods in theme. Every family has 21 cards (actually 22, but they seem to have removed one card from each god for 'promo' purposes, which will be really difficult to find). And every game uses five families, which you can pre-select or randomize out of those eight decks. This means that the games and combinations are really different every time you play. This is awesome if you love variable setup games like I do and are a more tactician minded player.
• Cards are different as well, each card can be activated in a different way. Some are activated when you obtain them, others can be triggered once per game, others give permanent abilities while the card is in your domain and others can be activated once per round - and more. This is really easy to grasp and even less experienced players had no hard time figuring it out and building combinations.
• Points are not gained just by obtaining the cards (placing them into your 'domain' as the game describes it and activating them in various ways). Points are mostly gained from transferring your domain cards over to Elysium (which is under your game-board) and building your final sets there. A set is a family of three different numbered cards of the same color, or five different colored cards of the same number. 629