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Review Ezra and Nehemiah

What's this?

Ezra and Nehemiah is a strategy game where players rebuild Jerusalem by managing resources and completing actions based on banners of different colors.

How do you play?

Each player must play a Character card. Each Character card has three banners representing its attributes.

Each turn, a player must choose one of three main actions, each action being associated with a banner color (red, gray, blue). The player adds up all the banners of the chosen color on his board to determine how many he can use to accomplish his action.

The 3 main actions:

Temple and Altar (Red): The player can use his red banners to place resources in the Temple or on the Altar via the Levites he has placed. Each resource placement brings victory points (VP), progress on the Altar track, and sometimes additional rewards such as coins or resources.<

Rubble, Walls and Doors (Grey): The player must first clear the rubble before rebuilding the walls or doors. Each type of debris requires a certain number of grey banners to be removed. Walls and gates rebuilt with resources provide VP and various rewards, as well as bonuses depending on the connections made.

Teaching and Movement (Blue): Blue banners are used to place your Scribes on scrolls, allowing you to obtain permanent powers or VP at the end of the game. They are also used to move your tent on the city map to obtain rewards.

Auxiliary actions:

In addition to their main action, a player can choose to perform an auxiliary action. They can use this action to trade with the character on the card they just played or to turn over a Development tile.

Sabbath:

At each Sabbath, players must feed their workers and store 1 to 2 played Character cards under their player aid. This earns victory points (VP).

End-of-game scoring:

Once all players have completed the 3rd and final Sabbath, the final scoring of the game is carried out.

Is it good?

Ezra and Nehemiah is an excellent management and strategy game that offers a fluid and enjoyable gaming experience. The card management mechanics on your personal board provide an interesting strategic depth, without overly complicating the game.

The three major actions available make the game accessible to a wide audience, while offering many strategic possibilities to explore. After several games, we discover different approaches and strategies, which guarantees replayability. But be careful to see if there is not a dominant strategy after several games.

The material is of quality, with neat illustrations. The box is generously filled with components.

Once again, S.J. Macdonald and Shem Phillips deliver an excellent management game. Less complex than “Scholars of the Southern Tiger”, Ezra and Nehemiah is a strategic, accessible and enjoyable game, which provides immediate pleasure.

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Review Ezra and Nehemiah
8.4Very Good
Ezra and Nehemiah is a management and strategy game that offers a fluid experience thanks to an intuitive and accessible card management mechanic. The quality material and strategic depth provide excellent replayability, even if some dominant strategies can emerge after several games.

Positives

  • An accessible game but offering strategic depth
  • A well thought-out card management mechanic
  • Quality material

Negatives

  • Long term replayability
  • Lacks a bit of originality
  • The theme is quickly forgotten

Breakdown

  • Components and illustrations 9.0
  • Mechanics 8.5
  • Thematic 7.5
  • Replayability 8.0
  • Handling 9.5
  • Interaction 8.0
  • Originality 8.0

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