Islebound Board Game

El juego es una especie de work placement usando barcos, tiene una mecánica sencilla que se puede entender rápidamente al jugar unos pocos turnos. Los componentes son de excelente calidad y destaca su arte. En general la experiencia del juego no es tan llamativa, se trata de poder consolidar una estrategia para obtener los mayores recursos y construir una ciudad; hay peleas por los puertos y su dominio, pero no son tan inmersivas como uno pensaría, está más dirigido a un público joven y aquellos que les guste mucho los juegos de mesa de mucha estrategia no encontrarán en este juego algo tan profundo.

Islebound is one of my favorite Euro-style strategy board games that comes in what I can only describe as a vibrant theme. The game takes place on an enchanted archipelago that sees you setting sail to various islands in order to grow your crew, obtain different resources (coins, fish, wood and books) to ultimately build or buy buildings that will score victory points. You can also attempt to seize islands through combat or diplomacy by gaining pirates/seamonsters and garnering influence on a diplomacy track through game events that change as the game as played. Other actions are available that will gain you points and gold, such as bragging of your escapades, and searching for treasure. Once a player has built or purchased 8 buildings, the game will end and points will be tallied to determine a winner.This game has a lot of interesting mechanisms and systems that blend well together, and there will be a few things to absorb on the first play. Once you are past the slight learning curve, you will see what the game sets out to do - present an interesting race to build an engine of actions and buildings that complement each other based on the chosen strategy of the player. Other players can affect one's ability to visit certain islands depending on where they are, and there is tension to see what buildings players will obtain or islands they are able to gain control of. The theme and components greatly enhance the experience, with colorful crew members, islands spaces and detailed buildings on the cards. The artwork of this game (and other Red Raven Games) is all hand-painted digitally by the designer and conjures up a wonderful whimsical quality, and feelings of which I can only really compare to that of Studio Ghibli animated films.Its important to note that this is going to be a fairly different experience than the previous game from the designer, Above and Below. Whereas a lot of Above and Below's game system is was based on encounters read from a storybook, Islebound is entirely focused on the mechanisms of the game and utilizing the actions of the various islands spaces you can send your ship to as you sail around. You still do many similar things (build buildings, gather resources, move persons around your playerboard) there is no accompanying storybook to read from. I do not mind this approach as I can enjoy both the games for the experiences they provide. For anyone looking for a game that conjures up similar feelings to Above and Below, but uses a more traditional resource management and action selection system with some interesting gameplay elements melded together, Islebound comes highly recommended.Also, it only takes an hour to do everything described above (another plus as my wife and I are usually short on time for this type of game).

My wife and I just finished our first playthrough. This is already one of our favorites. The rules are excellently written. I would suggest reading them a few times, but looking something up mid game is VERY easy. Also, at each location you are able to do something, this is also explained in the rulebook perfectly (so don't feel like you need to know all the symbols beforehand). It does seem overwhelming at first but sit down and read the rules and you will be fine. I also assume it is easier if you have played Above and Below or Near and far (his other games).I can't say enough good things about this game. You can take locations from another person but it never feels like you are out to get them. For us, this game works best with two because there are more options and locations available to overrun or ally with.Once you understand it the games offers quick turns with such a relaxing color scheme and theme.

It's a fun adventure board game. All of this guy's games are fun. This one isn't his very best, but it's still very fun. Ideal for someone who likes adventure RPGs. Like some of his other games, building a party and going adventuring is central to the gameplay.

Art and materials are nice, but I feel Ryan and team phoned this one in. Although the game is designed adequately, it's not really any more than that and it doesn't shine or stand out. I really get the feeling that the game was simply not developed sufficiently to burnish what was good about it and eliminate what is ho hum about it.In particular, Ryan's overuse of the "buy a building worth VPs" mechanic is wearing thin and should have been replaced with something more compelling. There are some very strange elements to the game, such as the fact that control of a town is essentially worthless outside of one special card--why even bother with this mechanic then? I feel like more time spent with the game would have allowed it to develop more character; it feels unripe.So, this game is likeable, like most Red Raven games, but in a very generic way. To me, Ryan's games feel like he's cruising with a well-known formula and art style rather than pushing himself to innovate. There are some great seeds here, like the way the influence track works, but I'd really like to see Ryan stretch as a designer and develop these seeds into something unique and special.