Rebirth Board Game Review

If gaming has an equivalent to A-list celebrities, past the lone idiosyncratic successful the framework for that grant would beryllium German decorator Reiner Knizia. He made his sanction successful the mid-late '90s with a slew of superb games similar Ra and Battle Line, which struck a beauteous equilibrium betwixt luck, strategy and subordinate interaction, truthful overmuch truthful that the second inactive ranks among our picks for the champion 2-player committee games today. His games were truthful good received that they’d marque a memorable bequest for immoderate decorator but, astonishingly, the hits conscionable support connected coming. Last twelvemonth saw him nutrient the superb Cascadero and now, property 67, he’s travel retired with the appropriately titled Rebirth.

What’s successful the Box

Rebirth - Tile Laying Board Game

Since this is simply a tile-laying game, determination are a batch of tiles to punch: 144 of them to beryllium exact, crossed 4 subordinate colors. These are the astir disappointing aspects of production, small, fiddly, somewhat flimsy counters that are easy mislaid and consciousness similar they volition deterioration rapidly with the predominant handling required. Each subordinate besides gets a small clan committee to store spare counters, a people marker and a fun, if superfluous, balloon you flip implicit erstwhile you scope a 100 points.

Thereafter the constituent prime goes done the roof. The committee is double-sided with a representation of Scotland connected 1 broadside and Ireland connected the other. The creation is lush and green, depicting the titular rebirth: the taxable of this crippled is rebuilding civilization successful harmony with quality aft an apocalypse. That doesn’t truly travel done successful the mechanics – arsenic is often the lawsuit with Knizia – but it surely does done the presentation.

Yet the committee layout is wide and functional contempt each the small creator flourishes you tin enjoy. The accompanying decks of cards don’t person immoderate creation but are inactive presented successful a matching benignant and are arsenic wide and usable.

In keeping with the theme, each subordinate besides gets a acceptable of 3D castle and cathedral pieces, intricately elaborate sculptures of celtic-style buildings. They’re truly delightful, not lone for the ocular aesthetics but due to the fact that they’re not acold integrative but consciousness similar pleasantly-textured resin. In fact, they’re RE-Wood, a caller exertion that allows recycled wood to beryllium molded successful large item portion inactive remaining recyclable. It’s beauteous stuff, which we volition hopefully spot overmuch much of successful aboriginal releases.

Rules and How it Plays

Rebirth is really 2 related games successful 1 box. There’s a basal version, played connected the Scotland broadside of the committee and a much precocious version, played connected the Ireland side. The rules for Scotland are incredibly straightforward. On your turn, you prime up a tile successful your supply. If it shows a nutrient oregon vigor symbol, you tin spot it connected immoderate hex showing the aforesaid icon, and it volition people you points adjacent to the fig of continuous adjacent matching tokens. If it shows 1 oregon much location symbols you tin spot it successful a town, a delineated country which isn’t scored until it's full, astatine which clip it scores points for the players with the astir location symbols successful the group.

Many hexes are besides adjacent to castles oregon cathedrals. If you spot successful 1 of these, you tin delegate 1 of your delightful RE-wood pieces to the adjacent feature. Castles are worthy a useful 5 points astatine the extremity of the game, but there’s a catch. If different subordinate tin get much adjacent hexes to a castle you ain than you have, past they tin region your castle portion and regenerate it with theirs. Cathedrals, by contrast, tin beryllium shared. Each 1 you spot allows you to gully a ngo card, which you tin fulfil for other points.

That's beauteous overmuch the full deal. Yet successful Knizia’s trademark near-magical style, these casual rules blossom into a full acceptable of madly competing priorities from the precise archetypal placement. Castles are worthy contiguous points, but they person to beryllium defended, and the missions cathedrals assistance tin beryllium worthy much successful the agelong run, truthful getting them aboriginal gives you much power into the endgame. Is it worthy much to seizure a castle oregon cathedral implicit extending a tally of tiles and getting bigger points? Are immoderate of these much invaluable than blocking an opponent’s tally of tiles, oregon progressing a ngo paper instead? And let’s not adjacent commencement connected the comparative merits of erstwhile and if to decorativeness filling retired a town.

All these competing priorities marque the process of placing a azygous tile acold much engaging and dynamic than it sounds. Most don’t person hard answers, and instrumentality acquisition and educated guesswork to muddle through, ensuring the crippled doesn’t get bogged down successful investigation paralysis. And arsenic things advancement and placement options go much limited, the contention for power of castles and to decorativeness missions ensures that there’s nary let-up successful presumption of hostility arsenic options dwindle. Well-timed and well-placed precocious tiles tin beryllium important successful determining the wide victor.

At the aforesaid time, the information you propulsion a random tile each crook gives much longevity than you mightiness expect to playing implicit and implicit connected the aforesaid map. Because of the chaotic tile bid and the interactions betwixt the players, nary 2 games unfold successful the aforesaid way. And, though the crippled does get much absorbing – and somewhat longer – arsenic you adhd players, it’s inactive a batch of amusive with two, though 3 players is simply a saccharine spot. This is, however, wherever the simplicity of the basal plan begins to amusement immoderate weakness. Once you’ve learned the ins and retired of the Scotland map, the crippled does commencement to consciousness a small lightweight.

This, of course, is the perfect clip to determination to Ireland. The basal rules for castles and placement are the same, though there’s a bigger municipality and a batch of unmarked hexes wherever you tin spot either nutrient oregon vigor tiles arsenic you prefer. Cathedrals person been replaced with towers, adjacency to which wins you a bonus depending connected a random tile assigned to the operation specified arsenic a people bonus, oregon an contiguous other turn. The ngo cards you earned from cathedrals are replaced with 8 nationalist cards which are each a race, giving apical points to the archetypal subordinate to complete, and a much humble reward for those who negociate it thereafter.

So: you inactive person each the aforesaid competing priorities you had to juggle erstwhile you were playing Scotland. But, connected apical of that, it dumps a full load of further worldly to see from the precise archetypal turn: you’ve got an further 8 nationalist missions, and six antithetic operation effects. While it isn’t a large measurement up successful presumption of rules weight, it feels similar a immense measurement up successful presumption of depth, particularly for the archetypal fewer games connected the caller board, erstwhile the sheer fig of factors you request to see erstwhile placing 1 tile tin beryllium astir crushing. It’s a precise antithetic benignant of extent to the dilatory snowballing web of actions and resources that qualify much analyzable strategy committee games due to the fact that it’s front-loaded, but it’s extent nevertheless.

It’s astir excessively overmuch successful presumption of adding to the decision-making, particularly for much casual players, but it’s inarguable that it’s an effectual mode to code concerns that the Scotland broadside of the committee is excessively straightforward. However, it tin weirdly trim the consciousness of contention for committee abstraction that Scotland has. With truthful galore different priorities, the uncertain rewards of blocking different players, oregon trying to bargain their castles, thin to instrumentality a backseat. Over time, arsenic you get utilized to each the competing demands, Ireland shows its ain rewards arsenic a slower, much reflective, but inactive precise engaging mentation of the game.

Where to Buy

• Get it astatine Amazon
• Get it astatine Mighty Boards
• Get it astatine Recess Games
• Get it astatine eBay