Leylines

• Designers: Daryl Andrews and Wolfgang Kramer 
• Publisher: Arcane Wonders
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 10+
• Time: 60-90 mins
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4eRebnW
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Your ancestors have lived in the forest for generations, surviving by following the Leylines – tangled wisps of magic that weave between the pines and lead to the forest’s most coveted bounties. But you can’t sustain yourself on only moss and berries for long. Every solstice, the fae-markets roll into the forest with their caravans bursting with food and supplies. Gather what you can from the woodland floor and seek out the markets before they move on.

Leylines is a re-imagining/update of the classic game Auf Achse by Wolfgang Kramer set in a brand new world with new rules by Daryl Andrews, featuring beautiful acrylic standees and a circular board filled with magical leylines and mystical markets!

To win, players must collect resources in the forest and bring them back along the leylines to the markets to sell them. Be aware though the magical merchants pay different amounts depending on what they are interested in!

Each round players will take turns waking up and preparing for the day by placing their dice to program their actions and then adventuring through the forest using their placed dice. They will pick up resources along the way and deliver them to the markets for either Gold or Magical items to help them in their journey.

Place the round board on the center of the table, placing 3 cubes on each lettered space and 1 cube on each hub.  The different Contract Cards, Forest Friend cards, Item Cards and Night cards are shuffled separately and placed near the board.  The six market discs are randomly placed in the appropriate spots on the edge of the board.  Each player gets their own player board, 5 dice, 10 gold, and one starting contact from each of 3 decks.   

The game is played over 4 rounds, each broken up into a Day Phase and a Night phase.  

In the day phase, players first roll all 5 of their dice and put them near their board.  Each player has a one-time chance to spend a coin to re-roll any dice they like.  Then in turn order, the active player will place a die onto a Movement space on their board.  The player then moves on the board along the paths a number of steps UP TO the number on the die.  A second die can be placed on one of the two Quickness spaces to add more steps to the move.  If the movement ends in a space with cubes, the player can pick up any one resource from that space.  An extra die can be placed on one of the two Quickness slots on the player board in order to pick up ALL the cubes at that location.  (You can even use a Quickness action to take all the cubes in your starting location prior to moving).  Regardless, you are limited to the two slots for the round.

If your movement ends on one of the four hub spaces – you have two options at that space: First you may buy an Item then you must start a Contract Auction.

You can buy an Item card from the display if you spend the resource cubes shown in the upper left of the card. This Item is active immediately and can be used once per Round.  Items also provide Gold (VPs) at the end of the game.

Then, the active player starts an Auction, choosing one of the faceup contracts in the display.  The first bid is made by the player to the left of the active players.  All players must either raise the bid or pass in this once around auction.  When the bid gets back to the active player, he must either match the highest bid to take the contract or pass on the bid and the highest bidder wins the contract for their offered price.  Contracts are always face up for all to see.

The player which lost the bid (either the active player if passing or the highest bidder) can optionally take a Forest Friend from the display, placing 1 coin on the option they do not take and taking the other card into their area. 

If a player ends their turn in a Market, they can complete Contracts there – in fact, the cannot enter a Market space unless they have at least one to complete. Resources are returned as shown on the Contract card and gold is collected.  Players score a bonus 4 Gold if 2 Contracts are done, and 9 Gold if 3 Contracts are completed.  For each contract completed, a Night card is drawn and placed face up next to the board.

After all players have taken a turn, the Night Phase starts. First, for every Night Card which was placed face up as a result of a contract fulfillment, place 3 random cubes on every letter space seen on those cards.  Then draw a number of Night Cards equal to the current round and place 2 Random cubes on each of those spaces. Finally, place 1 cube on any space which remains empty.  Each hub space gains a cube as well.  Item cards are restored and the start player marker moves clockwise for the next round. 

After four rounds, the game moves into final scoring.  Players get 1 Gold per resource that can be assigned to a space on an unfulfilled contract, and then 1 Gold per 3 unassignable resources left over.  Players also get 1/3/6/9 Gold for 1/2/3/4+ Item cards purchased during the game.

The player with the most Gold wins. Ties broken in favor of the player with the most completed contracts and then by most leftover resources.

My thoughts on the game

In my youth, I used to love pick up and deliver games.  Leylines is a new game built on the bones of Auf Achse – a classic game and a Spiel des Jahres winner.  Here is a link to our re-review of it:  https://opinionatedgamers.com/2015/06/15/sdj-re-reviews-9-auf-achse/

It has admittedly been a hot minute, in the fifteen plus year sense, since playing the game, so honestly, I don’t have many recollections of it – and as such, I’m not going to make too many comparisons to the original.  In fact, most of my memories of the game are good times spent with a dear old friend, Dave Vanderark – as he was one of the champions of Auf Achse.  So, Dave, this review is for you.

In this modernized game, we’re now traversing a forest, trying to deliver those cubes to the markets that want them.  It helps to roll high numbers on the dice, but it’s not paramount.  WIth the two quickness spaces available each round, players can use inconveniently low rolls as a way to collect all the cubes in a space or move that extra little bit to reach a desired destination.  

There is an interesting bit of planning at the start of the round when you first try to mentally allocate your dice to a plan, but then you’re constantly watching what other people do and then changing your plans accordingly. 

The game rewards efficiency as you do get bonuses for delivering multiple contracts at the same time. You’ll also need to figure out the cost/benefit curve of the items on offer.  All of the items can be quite helpful in the long run, but you’ll be using resources that would otherwise fulfill contracts in order to get them.  However, if you’re shooting for the huge 9 Gold bonus for delivering 3 contracts at once, you’re almost certainly going to need the Item that increases your cube storage…. 

The Contract Auction and Forest Friend bit is also a good way to build your engine.  There are times where you want to be the one in control of the auction so that you can make sure that a contract which is useful to you is up for grabs.  Alternatively, if there is a Helper that you really want, you might simply trigger the auction to purposefully lose in order to choose the Friend that you want.

As with many logistics games, there is a chance of the dreaded Analysis Paralysis.  There are simply a few points in the game where players are going to have to sit back and think about what they want to do.  Game length is directly proportional to player count as each extra player in the game adds 5 more dice each round to be dealt with.  That being said, it’s rare these days to have a game that can handle up to six players so it may stick around to fit that niche.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Larry:  I’ve played this once and thought it was pretty good.  I’ve never played Auf Achse, so I can’t compare it, but Leylines seems solid.  Nothing I’m going to rush out and buy, but I was happy I got the chance to try it.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y, Larry
• Neutral. John P
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4eRebnW