World Splitters

• Designers: Tony Chen, Romain Caterdijan
• Publisher: EmperorS4
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 8+
• Time: 45-60 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher at SPIEL 2022

World Splitters is the second game from the Essen crop set in the same futuristic world.  The other game has already been reviewed – World Exchangers.  In this game: you, as one of the factions, are re-designing the administrative divisions of the New World with other competing factions. You will split and bid for the land while your goal is to obtain the highest influence in the enclosed regions. With that ambition in mind, are you able to intertwine multiple interests and make irresistible offers? You will place fences to divide the area into designated sizes for bonuses and auction the right to occupy the space besides.

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KuZOOkA

• Designer: Leo Colovini
• Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 8+
• Time: 30-45 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by Pegasus Spiele
• Amazon affiliate link – https://amzn.to/3VbCUqu

KuZOOkA was a high target of mine from SPIEL 2022 as it combined one of my favorite designers, Leo Colovini, with Pegasus Spiele – a company who has been giving me 2-3 hits per Essen cycle annually in recent years.  KuZOOkA has a clever humorous theme – 

It isn’t easy being a zoo animal. The enclosures are far too small for your needs, the daily routine is boring, and the visitors to the zoo are too obnoxious. For years, the visitors have been gawking at you and throwing all sorts of trash into your enclosures.  And now, due to an unfortunate incident, you are all going to be transferred to a smaller zoo in 8 days.  Now it’s totally clear: You need to break out of the zoo, ideally within the next seven days.  There are multiple ways to escape in KuZOOkA, but you need to work together with the other animals — in secret — to pool the trash left behind by zoo visitors and develop an escape plan that makes use of these items.  To make matters worse, you find it difficult to communicate with the other animals. The monkey screeches excitedly and the elephant trumpets loudly, but what are they trying to tell you?  What trash can they contribute to the escape plan? Which escape plan is the most promising? You must find a way to communicate. It’s high time to break out of the zoo!

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Evora

• Designer: Joao Quintela Martins
• Publisher: mebo games
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 60 minutes
• Played with copy provided by publisher

Considered by many to be one of the most timeless cities in Portugal, The UNESCO World Heritage city of Evora is rich with history, culture, architecture, and more. The city dates back more than 5,000 years. It was originally known as Ebora by the Lusitanians and was their regional capital. It was conquered by the Romans in 57 BC and began the growth that led to the popular city walls that help lend Evora its unique ambiance.

The city was conquered by the Moors in 715 along with other cities in the region such as Sintra. which led to further development before finally being recaptured in 1115. Between 1385–1580 it came under Manueline rule. During the reign of Manuel I and John III, Evora became the capital of culture. This time of growth led to some of the most iconic architecture in Evora as well as many of the magnificent monasteries that dot southern Portugal.

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The Wandering Towers

• Designers: Michael Kiesling, Wolfgang Kramer
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 8+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Played with copy purchased at SPIEL 2022; 5 times

Die Wandelnden Türme or The Wandering Towers was a new release with a fair amount of buzz at SPIEL 2022.  ABACUSSPIELE is usually good for a solid euro-game, and they are one of the stands that I usually try to see what they have each year.  In this game, your goal is to fill up all of your magic flasks (by trapping opposing wizards within a tower) and then getting all of your wizards to the Raven Castle.  The first person to do that wins!

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