From the very first moment that I played Elasund: the First City (Mayfair Games, 2005 - Klaus Teuber), I could tell that it was a game inspired by Herr Teuber. Yes, the "Catan Adventures" label on the box gave that away, as this is the second game in that particular series (Candamir being the first), but from the mechanics I could sense it. I've always found Teuber to be a much wrongly criticized designer. People accused him of milking his Catan series (which, in my opinion makes perfectly good sense), while they don't want to talk about his absolutely other brilliant designs, Domaine in particular.
So, while I could tell that Elasund was a Teuber game, I will also offer up that it plays like no other of his games. At first, it may seem as a hodge podge of mechanics stirred up in a pot, but the resulting game stew is actually quite refreshingly tasty! It's very confrontational, offers a wide range of options each turn, and is easy to learn and play. This is a hallmark of Teuber designs, and Elasund may very well be one of his best yet! (though not as good as Domaine).
A board representing Elasund, which is the first growing city of Catan, is placed on the table, showing a grid of squares (with rows numbered "2" through "12", and columns that vary depending on the number of players.) Each player chooses a color and takes all of their pieces of that color, placing two building tiles in the marked areas in the city grid. Each player's pieces include more building tiles, five building permits (numbered "0" to "4"), ten victory cubes, a stack of nine city walls (which are placed in a stack from "1" to "9"), and a turn overview card. Players also put a round token of their color in the first spot of an eleven space "trade point" track. Piles of neutral buildings are placed near the board, and a pile of nine church tiles is shuffled and placed near the top of the board. A stack of gold cards is placed near the board (with each player receiving three of them), and a stack of influence cards is shuffled and one dealt to each player with the remainder forming a draw pile on the table. One player is chosen to go first, and then play proceeds clockwise.
On a player's turn, the first thing they do is roll two six-sided dice and then place a wooden ship next to the corresponding row. Every player who has a building in that row (some buildings are in more than one row) receives the rewards that building shows - either gold cards and/or influence cards. There is no "7" row, however; if a player rolls that number they may place the ship in a row of their choice. Instead of players receiving income, however, any player who has a victory cube in that row must discard one gold or influence card, and the person who played the "pirate ship" may steal one card for each city wall tower they have.
Players then have three steps to finishing their turn…
First, they can build one or two buildings.
- These buildings can either be their own building, or one of the neutral buildings on the table. Each building, however, has certain requirements - printed on the building itself. There is a cost that the player must pay, using gold cards, and the player must place the building on an open space that has a certain amount of building permits. Each building covers from one to six squares, and each building permit is in a single square. A player may use building permits from other players to place buildings, but only as long as the sum of the number on their building permits is higher. (This sounds confusing but is a lot easier to understand when you see the examples in the rulebook). If a player meets the requirements, they place the building, removing the building permits. If the building happens to cover a smaller building - either in whole or in part, the smaller building is removed from the board, along with any victory point markers on it. If the building was one of the starting buildings (marked with a small totem pole), the player whose building it is may replace it for free. Buildings may only replace smaller buildings, never larger ones. In fact, they cannot replace a building that is the same size UNLESS the layer plays three influence cards of the same color (the influence cards are green, red, or blue).
- Players may also build a piece of the church, which does not require a building permit. The first player to build the church piece (paying nine gold) places one of the top two pieces of the church stack on the board (their choice). That piece determines the position of the nine piece church. After that, whenever a player places a church piece, it must be placed in the correct position. Whenever a player places a church piece, they put down one victory point cube of their color on it.
- Players can build a wall piece, connecting to one of the wall pieces on the table and paying the amount shown in that row (either two or four gold). When building a wall, the player may be able to draw one or two influence cards (shown on the wall piece). Some of the wall tiles have towers on them, which allow the player to place a victory point cube on them.
- If a player places a building on a square that has a windmill on it (or two), they earn one or two trade points, moving their piece on the track accordingly. At several places on the track, there is room for victory point cubes. If a player's piece passes one of these spots, a victory point cube is placed there. These can be removed if a player's buildings are destroyed, thus lowering their marker.
The player next then has the choice to either place one building permit in the row that the ship resides, paying gold equal to the number on the permit; or taking two gold.
Finally, the player may take one of four special actions:
- Move a building permit to any space by discarding two matching influence cards.
- Upgrade a building permit to a higher number by discarding two matching influence cards and paying the difference in gold.
- Place a new building permit to any space by discarding one influence card of each color and paying the cost in gold.
- Take two gold cards by discarding one influence card in each color.
Play then passes to the next player. This continues until one player places their last victory point cube on the board, giving them the victory!
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: As with all Mayfair games from the last couple of years, the components from Elasund are top notch. In fact, I must say that the box insert is one of the best I've ever seen. No plastic bags needed here! - all the pieces fit in securely and easily. The tiles were all thick, in bright, vibrant colors and tremendous artwork. The cards were small but easy to distinguish - each different colored influence card has different symbols on them for the color blind. The victory cubes were your typical little wooden cubes, and the ship looks very similar to the pirate ship from Seafarers of Catan, except that it's not a black ship. The board is really nice - one of the best looking boards I've seen in a while; and although it's a grid, it actually does make one feel like they are building a city. The game could be abstracted in theme, I think; but the beautiful artwork as well as the building permits really help to bring the theme to life. Everything fits inside a nice large square box with more of the great artwork from Tanja Donner.
2.) Rules: The rulebook is six pages of well written rules, although you have to jump around sometimes to find the rule you are looking for at that time. Full color illustrations and examples really help explain it well, and I quickly gathered it up after only one reading. Teaching the game, however, was a different matter. Although the game is simple, and nice player aids are available for each player, the idea of using building permits is a new one to most people, and I often have to show by examples on the board just how it works. Elasund takes me about ten minutes to explain (maybe less - depends on the gaming experience of the players), but players will learn best while playing.
3.) Influence: At first, players are deceived into thinking that influence cards are worthless. Indeed, money cards seem much more critical, and players will often quickly build more buildings that help their gold input, while ignoring their influence cards. But a wily player can use their influence cards to simply wreak havoc on the other players, by moving their permits to where they want them to be, destroying key buildings, etc.
4.) Building permits: One of the more difficult concepts of the game, it's still fascinating. Players can only place a building permit in the row the ship is in, thus limiting their options (unless they use influence cards, of course). When placing building permits, a player must be careful not to spend too much money (or they'll have none to build buildings with), but not too little (or opponent's will use their permits to build their own buildings). Also, placing a building permit telegraphs to the other players where you are thinking about building. Placing these permits sometimes becomes a tense game, as players try to actively destroy buildings by others, or quickly grab the good spots, where the windmills are.
5.) Walls: The walls are easy to build, and many players will build as many as they can (especially as the initial walls that are built are cheaper than later walls). A player can get rid of three cubes, which is no small feat, through the walls and can be a much more effective pirate. A player who spends too much time building walls, however, will not get prime choices in real estate in the city itself and earn less money.
6.) Church: The church is a powerful building, giving a victory point to every player who builds a part of it and destroying every building in its path. The problem is that it is massively expensive. One player can build three walls in the time another can build one part of the church. Which is worth it?
7.) Buildings: Deciding which buildings to place is critical at all stages in the game. Some buildings provide only a victory point cube (which is necessary to winning), while others provide money and/or influence. The larger buildings are much harder to build but much harder to destroy, and players also much take care as to which rows they place their buildings in! Placing a money building in the rows "6" and "8" can really do wonders for your income but also make you a prime target.
8.) "Screwage": The game certainly offers a lot of ways to hurt your opponents. You can steal their building permits, destroy their buildings, place buildings where they were planning to build, etc. The pirate, while not as bad perhaps, as in Settlers of Catan, can still cause devastating damage, and it's this level of intensity and attacking your neighbors that makes Elasund stand out amongst the Catan games. Some people may not enjoy the high level of confrontation, but I found it light enough and preventable enough to not worry too much about it.
9.) Fun Factor: For me, the most fun that Elasund provides is in the strategy. Yes, players must make tactical moves based on what influence cards they draw, and where their opponents place their buildings / building permits. But a lot depends on the overall strategy a player takes. Will they only do a few things - such as build all their walls and some church pieces? Will they try to get rid of five of their points on the trading track? Will they try to do a little of everything? Will they try to dominate financially? Elasund feels like a race with each player moving as fast as they can to get rid of their victory point cubes, while at the same time trying to mess up their opponents.
10.) Time: Elasund takes a little over an hour to play, and it feels fairly "meaty" for that period of time. I would classify it as a heavier "medium" game, one that seems to work best with four players. It is possible that one player can get bogged down on their turn, but I haven't seen this happen too much, so I don't think it's that big of a problem. Players have a lot of choices, but not THAT many.
If you like Settlers of Catan, this is a good step up from that game, allowing players to have more interaction with one another, and fight a little as they build the city of Elasund. I enjoyed the high level of interaction in the game, and the four different ways to get rid of victory point cubes. While not a game for everyone, it might be too confusing for younger children, Elasund is beautiful to look at and certainly gives it's money's worth in the seventy minutes it takes to play. Each game plays out differently, and there's a lot of back-and-forth in the game that makes it shine. Is it Teuber's game? - the answer is yes! Is it new and different? - the answer again is yes!
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com
