Euro games are gaining a massive following in America. For those unfamiliar with the term 'Euro game', this generally describes games made in Europe, often in Germany, with a minimum of luck and a lot of planning and forethought. These games generally contain little or no violence – interestingly enough, outright violent games are largely frowned upon in Germany, if not completely illegal. They tend to have nice parts, not a lot of plastic, and simple rules that lend themselves to huge decision-making quandaries. Typically, the more popular Euro games are imported by companies like Rio Grande or Mayfair.
Sometimes, however, these games are made in America, for American audiences delighted to see games that don't involve bloodshed. Terra Nova, from new publisher Immortal Eyes, is such a game.
As the name suggests, Terra Nova involves a new land. Players comes to this new continent with a number of settlers, and try to carve out the largest territory for themselves. They build walls to block their opponents, and try to retain the largest areas with the best land.
Terra Nova comes with essentially three components – the board, stones, and settlers. The 'stones' are actually little wooden hexagons, which depict walls that settlers may erect. The settlers are brightly colored wooden men. The board is a handsome depiction of the new land, divided into hexagons and decorated with varying types of terrain.
Play begins with each player taking turns placing his or her settlers. All settlers start in play, and try to position themselves to take as much land as possible. Once all settlers are placed, players take turns moving their settlers and building walls.
On his turn, a player make take three actions. The first must always be moving a settler, who can move any number of hexes in a straight line. The second and third actions may be either moving again or placing a stone.
As stones are placed, walls begin to enclose portions of the board. When a wall completely encloses three or fewer terrain types, that area is scored. The player with the most settlers inside the area gets all the points. Each hex is worth one, two, or three points, depending on how many terrain types were enclosed. The interesting thing is that the score actually goes down if you grab more than one terrain type. In another twist, once an area is enclosed, all settlers inside are removed from play.
For a game this straight-forward, there are certainly a lot of nuances. Allowing one player to take an area might be a good strategy if it robs that player of several settlers. You might even build the wall yourself – but include that one extra terrain hex that makes the area worth a lot less. Then your own settlers will be free to roam the board and carve out territories for themselves.
Another tricky factor of Terra Nova comes from the way the game ends. It ends when only one player can move – so the player that saves up and leaves just one opponent's settler on the board may find himself shorted of his big opportunity when that one settler walls itself off and ends the game before the other player can score.
One fantastic feature of Terra Nova is that the entire game can be played in less than half an hour, even with the maximum number of players. It is perfect for times when it's an hour before bedtime, or you can spend an evening playing it. It is fun, easy and fast, which makes it a great family game that stays interesting throughout the whole thing.
Terra Nova is very similar to other territory grabbing games, such as Into the Desert. It has some interesting twists, but for people who like to play these simple land-grab games, Terra Nova is a sure thing. Like many Euro games (including those made in America), Terra Nova may not be for everyone. However, it is a very solid showing from a new publisher, and if Immortal Eyes keeps making games this good, they'll be around for a long time.
Style: 4 – The wooden pieces are very nice and quite colorful, and the board is very attractive.
Substance: 4 –A short rule book and lots of strategy make Terra Nova a great game for the whole family.
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