- Publisher : Super Meeple
- Designer(s) : Laurent Guilbert, Jérôme Daniel Snowrchoff
- Artist(s) : Emmanuel Roudier, Yvan "Gawain" Villeneuve
- Players : 1–4
- Playing time : 30–120 Min
- Weight BGG : 3.63
What's this?
The goal of the game is to score as many points as possible by collecting resources, building huts, jewelry, statuettes, painting frescoes and hunting animals.
How do you play?
The game is played in several rounds, each divided into 5 phases:
1. Action programming phase: each player takes turns programming the actions that he wishes to carry out during the round.
2. Phase of revealing terrain tiles: the first player reveals new terrain tiles and places them on the game board.
3. Action resolution phase: each player resolves their actions in the order of their choice.
The actions that players can carry out are:
– Build a habitat (simple or prestigious)
– Create a craft object (necklace or statuette). Crafted items earn victory points
– Breed to increase the size of their clan
– Collect resources (wood, stone, fruit, shells, small game): players can collect resources from the territories by sending an expedition. Resources can be used to build habitats, create craft items, etc.
– Hunt big game (horse, reindeer, bison, mammoth)
– Paint the fresco: players can use Animal meeples hunted put in the “collective memory” of the clan to paint the fresco. Painting the fresco earns victory points
– Improve the clan’s abilities. (Movement range, transport capacity, tool making)
– Use the village shaman: 8 special actions that can be performed only once during the game
4. Migration phase: the animals move
5. End of round phase: There will be different steps to take (feeding the clan, validating common objectives, adding new animals, change of season etc.)
Please note that in winter you will need furs to send your meeples to perform actions.
The game ends after 8 sleeves. The player with the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner.
Is it good?
Doggerland stands out as an expert game immersing players in the prehistoric universe with a perfect combination between its theme and game mechanics.
Elements such as winter fur management , the preliminary hunt for painting, animal migrations and the perpetual struggle for food thus create immersion.
If the art of programming at the heart of the games appeals to you, then Doggerland is an experience that will win you over.
At the start of each round, you will need to do some programming and optimize the actions to be undertaken, based on available resources.
Thus, Doggerland adopts an almost accounting dimension, requiring the precise calculation of resources to orchestrate the most judicious actions, while ensuring above all to feed its tribe at the end of the round.
The race for objectives and research constant optimization will become essential allies to surpass opponents.
Each round will largely repeat the same steps: hunting to feed the tribe and adding one or two actions intended to accumulate victory points , such as crafting, painting or even improving the habitat.
A slight regret could emanate from the limited possibility of further personalizing one’s tribe, by adding skills, talents crafts or objects acting not only as vectors of victory points, but also as real engines of actions.
Despite this, my experience with Doggerland was particularly satisfying, and I can only say so. ardently recommend to all fans of prehistoric games combining programming and strategic optimization of actions.
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Review Doggerland
Positives
- Theme well transcribed in the actions
- Very nice material
- Good programming game
- Works well at 1, 2, 3 or 4
Negatives
- Repetition of actions during rounds
- Quite calculative
- Limited clan and action engine customization
Breakdown
- Components and illustrations 9.0
- Mechanics 7.5
- Theme 8.5
- Replayability 7.5
- Handling 9.0
- Interaction 7.5
- Originality 8.5
