DESIGNED by Bruno Cathala |ART by Cyril Bouquet |PUBLISHED by Cucafera Games and Blue Orange Games | Drafting, Tile Placement | 25 minutes | RELEASED 2021 | PLAYER COUNT 2-4 |
There have long been plenty of games of all genres set all across historical periods & settings, including the now popular, future, but very few in prehistory. Kingdomino Origins has successfully boosted the predecessor game with refined mechanics and actions. The regions in your 5x5 territory will earn you points by expanding your tribe, territories, resources, and our favorite, Fire!
Gameplay
Kingdomino is swift to set up and is just as fast to understand the gameplay. The rulebook takes the player through each module with ease. The game is essentially drafting and tile placement.
Setup
Each player chooses a color and takes components corresponding to their selected color: Starting tile and hut. The starting tile is placed in front of player with the hut placed on top of it. One tribe chief. Shuffle the dominoes. After shuffling them, put them face down in a pile in the box with the number side face up.
Draw four tiles from the pile and sort them by number with the lowest number at the top. Once the tiles are sorted, flip them over to the other side. Sort the fire tokens by their value and place them on the table. One player will take the tribe chief from each player and randomly select one. The player who controls that tribe chief will place it on the tile they prefer. The next tribe chief is chosen who will choose the tile they want. This continues until all of the players have selected a tile. If a tile was not chosen, that tile is discarded. Create a new set of four tiles following the setup used to sort the initial tiles. Order is decided by the choice of previous round tiles.
Fire
Players try to match up the same type of tiles and place them connecting within their 5x5 tile area. Points for connected terrain type multiply with fire icons and tokens. If there is no fire- no points. Fire tokens can be added when volcano tiles are placed. Depending on how many volcanoes are on the tile denotes how many fire tokens players can place on their board. The volcanoes tiles range from 1 to 3 craters. These tiles are limited and will run out. They were a hot commodity – pun intended- when we played. One volcano with one crater launches 1 fire token up to three spaces away. One volcano with two craters launches 2 fire tokens up to two spaces away. One volcano with three craters launches 3 fire tokens one space away. More fires can rack up the points in a region!
Totems
The totem symbols on the tiles: Mammoth, Fish, Mushroom, and flint, are resources. A player places a tile with an icon receives a wooden resource. When a player has most of that resource, the Totem tile that is worth points at the end game. The Totem tile can be moved from player to player during a game depending on who has the most of that resource at turn end. There are plenty of choices to gain points, but this module was a true favorite when we played. It should be noted that if you place a fire on a tile with a resource, that resource is burnt- lost- gone. So many choices.
Cavemen
This module utilizes the resources to be traded for Cavemen. The Cavemen gain points for favored things surrounding them. This was more thinky and had our focus more on what the other players were placing than our own.
End Game
When the last group of dominoes have been chosen and placed, the game ends. On each players’ last turn, they will only place their tile and not chose another tile.
Players will then tally their score based on how they placed their tiles. A player’s territory is divided into regions. A region consists of all of the squares that are touching one another (not diagonal) that are of the same terrain type.
Each region will be scored based on the number of squares in it multiplied by the number of fire symbols in the region (includes fire symbols printed on tiles and fire tokens).
Mechanics
The volcanos added a balancing mechanic that ramped up the competition in the game. Deciding your next turn by what you draft in the current turn is clever and worked at any number of players. The Totem collecting and racing to have Totem tile at the end of the game made for a very lively game.
Last Words
Kingdomino Origins does tile placement with a focal point of set collection exceptionally well. We found Kingdomino Origins a delightful game with plenty of choices that never led to a bad turn.
The art is charming and wooden tokens are well done. The replayability is high due to the various modules. There is the luck of the draw; however, how you move forward lends to multiple choices.
The rulebook is very straightforward.
Kingdomino Origins does an excellent job with ease of play and engaging to the end….. and it was close!
Nerdz Garage recommends Kingdomino Origins – a family game that all age ranges will enjoy.
Kingdomino Origins (2021)
Published by Blue Orange Games, Cucafera Games
2-4 Players
25 minutes
Ages 8+
BGG Weight: 2.11 / 5
A review copy was provided by Blue Orange Games.
Let’s be honest; there is still a bit of drama when we play.
Sit Down. Grab a Drink. Join the Game.
Suzanne
Comments