- Publisher : Pixie Games
- Designer(s) : Simone Luciani, Nestore Mangone
- Artist(s) : Klemens Franz
- Players : 1–4
- Playing time : 90 Min
- Weight BGG : 3.38
What's this?
Newton is a strategy board game created by Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone , published in 2018. It immerses players in 17th-century intellectual Europe, at a time when great minds were shaping modern science.
How do you play?
Each round has 2 phases :
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Action phase
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Maintenance phase
1. Action phase
Your turn, you:
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Play 1 Action card on your desk.
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Perform the indicated main action (and possibly its special effect).
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You can also use quick actions (for coins).
⚡ The power of an action = number of symbols of this type visible on your desktop (including the played card).
The 5 possible actions :
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Jobs → advance on the Jobs track and earn coins. At each space: you can earn coins, trigger a bonus or reach a Specialization space .
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Technology → Advance a student on the technology tree, unlock bonuses, income and objectives.
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Travel → Move your scholar around Europe and place cubes in cities, universities or ancient sites.
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Studies → Fill your library with tiles. Completing rows/columns earns points.
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Lessons → acquire new Action cards.
📌 Important: At the end of the round, you will have to “bury” a played card (removed from your hand, but its symbol remains active for the rest of the game).
2. Maintenance phase
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Each player chooses 1 played card to place under their study board.
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Collect the other cards played in your hand.
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Earn your income (according to library and Income tiles).
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Discard the revealed Action cards, replace them with new ones.
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The first player marker passes to the next player.
End of game
After the 6th round, the final count is carried out
Is it good?
Newton is a challenging game that will appeal primarily to fans of management and optimization games . Its card system, where you gradually strengthen your actions while sacrificing options, is both clever and effective, offering real strategic depth. It’s a pleasure to see your engine improve, to combine travel, discoveries and books in a logic of efficiency.
What makes the game so rich is the diversity of its strategic axes . You can build a game centered on the library , filling its shelves to generate a maximum of victory points. You can bet on travel , exploring the cities and universities of Europe in order to obtain immediate bonuses and powerful final objectives. The technology tree opens up other possibilities, with its progressive income and objective conditions. Finally, some players will favor the recruitment of new cards to boost their actions and multiply the special effects. Victory often comes from a fine balance between these different avenues, and this is where Newton reveals all its subtlety.
On the other hand, its scientific theme remains in the background: we think more in terms of symbols and clues than in terms of true immersion. The interaction is weak , everyone plays in their own corner, and its austere visual appearance can put off players. But for those who like cerebral challenges and Eurogames with a well-regulated tempo, Newton is a safe bet.
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Newton review
Positives
- A deep, strategic and rewarding game
- An ingenious card system that creates real dilemmas
- Several strategic paths
Negatives
- A rather cold theme
- Limited interaction
- A functional but unattractive visual
