Review Summary: Urland is a very well thought of planning game no one can afford to miss.
What you get: For your US$34.95 you get a medium-sized boardgame for three to five players lasting approximately one hour to one hour and a half. It contains the map, the gene cards, the 28 icthos per player in five different colours, seven volcanoes, ten tokens and of course the rule book.
The story: 350 million years ago, on the eve of the invasion of land by vertebrates, various species of fish are teeming in the ocean waters. The ichtos, one of the first species, take their first tentative steps onto land. Massive evolutionary advances are waiting to come into play. Which ichtos will develop and multiply best thus gaining mastery on land? The rules in brief: Three to five players control a group of ichtos each. Each one’s objective is to be the highest-ranking player at the end of the game.
After the initial set up the game is played in 2 or 3 epochs, each consisting of player turns and scoring rounds occuring alternatively. Special effects like the mutations and panic may occur after particular scoring rounds, while the epoch’s end is marked by the eruption of two volcanoes.
There are three roles in which players alternate each turn, the environment player, the dummy and the ichto players. The first is the one choosing in secret and in advance the area to be scored at the end of the round, the second does nothing during the round whatsoever, while the third are the remaining players who can actively pursue a better scoring. The aforementioned roles rotate at the end of each round.
The ictho players have two actions to take among the following choices in any combination and order: landing, breeding, water movement and retreat. Landing is about moving from see to land, breeding is pretty self explanatory and increases the presence of one’s force in the map, water movement is about moving from a see region to another and retreat is about ichtos moving from the board to one’s hand in a ‘strategic movement’ type of action.
After the ichto players actions have finished, the area to be scored is revealed. The player with the most ichtos in the area gets three points and the rest two, apart from the one with the player with the least presence who not only doesn’t receive anything but sees his icthos removed to his hand. There are rules covering the case of a tie or the presence of one player’s ichtos only.
Points are kept with a scoring track around the board, at whose intervals mutation spaces can be seen. When an ichto passes such an area, a mutation auction takes place. The players secretly bid with their reserve ichtos in order to pick first from the genes actually on offer. Depending on the number of players, the first two or three winners get to buy genes, with the price becoming increasingly steeper depending on the number of genes one already possesses. There are eleven unique types of genes and only three points during the game where mutations occur.
Panic is a special effect which can be drawn since it is among the environment chips, and causes the ichtos of the most populated land area to flee towards the adjoining sea.
In other reviews on the net I notice an occurring comparison between Urland and Ursuppe, Evo El Grande, and other games I have not played yet. With Ursuppe Urland only shares the theme and how particular rules are tied to it. That is where similarities end though, and if one expects to find in Urland the mechanisms for feeding, excreting, procreation and gene effects found in Ursuppe, one is in for a disappointment. In Ursuppe genes are one of the main mechanics, while in Urland genes provide a variation along with the main mechanic which is the different roles players play in different turns.
Evo is a good comparative point for Urland indeed, excluding the fact that Urland is superior to Evo in almost all aspects, adding the extra amount of choices and replayability. I presume that is the reason it receives the characterisation ‘Evo done right’.
Urland is indeed an ‘influence game’ like El Grande, but in the end both their mechanics and the mood they evoke are not similar at all. I find it an unjust comparison to both games, since El Grande is admittedly more serious and belongs to the all-time favourite list of countless gamers.
The strong points: The first thing anybody comments upon is the quality of the components. The Ichtos are lovely wooden pieces while the map is sturdy and gorgeous. Doris ‘N Frank have the spoiling habit of including more wooden pieces than needed in case one or two get lost. I suggest you count yours in case they are more than the 28 needed to play the game with, as this would provide a serious advantage to the player with the extra pieces.
There are two decks of gene cards, in German and English, thus saving you from the trouble of searching the net for obscure card translations. The rules come in both languages as well, and although I read them carefully I didn’t spot particular discrepancies.
The rules are, to say the least, intriguing. The game shines when 5 players actually play the game, without me implying that 4 or 3 make the game redundant. It takes a good tactician to deploy his Ichtos in the way he believes that will earn him the most points while he watches (almost) idly. Hardened gamers will particularly cherish this aspect of the game, as well as the variables introduced by the cards and differing approaches to the end goal. There is no perfect strategy to be followed, therefore the ‘serious gamist’ factor does not exclude the entertainment aspect of the game. In fact, in most games I played they balance finely creating a mixture of ‘hoody hoos’, ‘yeahs’ an ‘boos’ after the completion of the move along with mind-flaying thinking on the move before the latter is actually executed. To this add the actual art and components. No matter how seriously one plays, having the particular components on the board definitely lightens the atmosphere and balances the players’ mood from a cut-throat influence game to a more subtle one.
The weak points: I have difficulties finding weak points in the game. However, I understand that particular gamers might not enjoy it since for one round or two one sits waiting for the others to play. This particular unease might be enhanced by the logistic feel of the game. Particular players might again be bothered by the amount of time needed in order for everybody to maximise his profit by strictly calculating his move. Taking that in the extreme, the game might be turned into a mathematical problem with alternating variables, putting more light-hearted gamers off, or, conversely, become totally light-hearted if nobody cares a lot about the moves, thus putting hardened gamers off. The game demands similarly minded gamers indeed in order for its fascination factor to peak. Nevertheless, this appears to be a consideration relevant to all games and the dynamics of the players on the table.
Conclusion: I personally find Urland a great game to play due to both its varying strategies and its adaptability in playing styles, from the totally light-hearted to the extreme gamist one. It is a beautiful, solid medium-length game that can keep you occupied and interested for an entertaining third or half of an evening.
PS. Seeing that an expansion that adds extra gene cards exists since 2003, I can't but recommend the game even more, due to the extra options it provides. However, I admit I have neither playtested or purchased the expansion yet.
