Steve Finn's Biblios board game immerses us in the atmosphere of a medieval monastery, where we'll try our hand at being the abbot and collect the most valuable and majestic library. How to succeed in this field and become the most influential abbot you will find in this review.
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In order to perform the task, the abbot of the monastery needs to collect sacred books, forbidden volumes and manuscripts, hire scribes and buy pigments, while distributing the money with maximum benefit for the prosperity of his cause. It is also important to remember to compete with other abbeys and to maintain a good relationship with the church in order to win the bishop's favour.
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The goal of the game is to get the largest number of software, which is formed in a very unusual way, as will be described in more detail below.
How to play
The game consists of two phases. The first "gift" phase distributes the cards among the members. In the second phase of the "auction" the cards are redeemed to create the strongest sets of cards.
In the "gift" phase, the active player must place the cards in one of the three places:
in the auction stack face up
Upside down in front of you for further dialing into your hand
in the common field, shirt down.
At the same time, the cards are taken one at a time, and here you have to rely only on your own luck and intuition, choosing which card to take in your hand, which to give to your opponents, and which to postpone to the auction. When the number of cards defined by the rules is laid out, the active player's turn ends, and the remaining players reach the laid out cards from the common field to the hand.
After all the cards of the deck are distributed, the next phase begins - the "auction". In this phase, players take turns opening the top card of the auction deck and assigning a price for it (the first price is announced by the player to the left of the active player and then clockwise). Thus, the remaining cards, which are not in demand, are distributed.
The cards are divided into three classes:
The first class consists of maps of the main resources, which are divided into five categories: pigments, monks, sacred books, forbidden volumes and manuscripts.
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The second class is gold, which is necessary to buy resources.
And finally, the third is the help of the church. These cards increase or decrease the value of the cards in one or two categories by using cubes.
At the beginning of the game on a gaming tablet - a scriptorium tablet - set 5 dice with a value of 3, that is, initially all categories have the same value. In the course of game by means of cards of church it is possible to increase or decrease value of categories that does game rather gambling.
The calculation of the final points is as follows: at the end of 2 phases (auction) players lay out the collected sets in front of them and determine the winner in each of the categories. The player with the largest number of software receives a corresponding cube, which displays the value of this category. Thus, all 5 cubes are distributed, the results on the cubes are added up and the winner is determined.
It may turn out that the player who collected the set of a large number of expensive cards, as a result, gets for him less than the player who laid out one card in the category that no one else has collected, but which has increased in price.
What did you like?
The colorful design of the game by illustrator David Palumbo helps to plunge into the atmosphere of the Middle Ages. The box of dense cardboard is equipped with hints on the back of the lid, and the box at the bottom of it helps to conveniently store the small number of components that make up the game. The rules are written in a simple and clear way, perfectly illustrated, supplemented by examples. Very nice heavy cubes. The game is localized by GaGaGames publishing house.
It struck how little gaming space is occupied by the "Abbey"! On the game table is laid out a scriptorium card (the card itself is made of dense cardboard under the "flax") size of 12.5 x 8 cm, it is exposed to 5 dice, next to - a deck of 87 cards. Everything! And this is all preparation for the game! Amazing! You don't need to lay out any rows of cards in front of you - they are in the hands of the players until the end of the game.
The game lasts 20-30 minutes, you can play a few in the evening.
Conflict is very low - of course, during the auction there are tense situations, but here - whoever has had time, he ate it, and there is no money - you will not write anything, it does not lead to direct conflicts, but ignites the excitement.
The game is characterized by an unusual gameplay - a combination of auctioning with the collection of sets of cards, dynamism, emotionality and unpredictable outcome. Until the moment of counting points it is impossible to predict who will be the winner. Here, not only luck and intuition are important, but also care, good memory, subtle mathematical miscalculation.
Which I didn't like
It's an earful subject. Instead, there could be anything - the conquest of Mars or salvation from the zombie apocalypse, for example. But this, in principle, is typical for most fillers.
The box is standard as in "Codenames", "Somnickum", "Alien planet". But half of it is air, because there are very few components. Standard boxes are convenient, but the less space the game takes, the more space for other games.
Opinion
Board game "Abbey" (Biblios) is a great family filler - fast, fun, dynamic, gambling, unpredictable. Develops memory, attentiveness, logical thinking. The game with a minimum threshold of entry, easy to prepare, is interesting to both adults and children, both experienced players and beginners. Will be appreciated by those who like games based on the auction and bluff, where you need to collect sets of cards.
Advantages
Quality localization
Nice artwork.
Simple rules, low entry threshold, fast preparation in the game
Takes up little gaming space
Low conflict
Rapid batches
Unusual gameplay
Unpredictable result
Gambling
High repeatability.
Minuses.
Topics are pulled by the ears
The box can be smaller.
