Hi, I’m Ulanopo and I collect games. To the Table will (hopefully) be a weekly look at games you should be playing — and some you should probably not be playing.
Century: Golem Edition
BGG Link — Watch It Played Link
I thought I would start with something simple and fun, so as to get back into the rhythm of writing about games.
Century: Golem Edition is a reimplementation of Century: Spice Road. A reimplementation is where they change the theme and/or graphics of a game, but the mechanics stay the same. This is sometimes done to service specific fandoms — such as the many variants of Love Letter — or when the designer comes up with a better theme for the game, like Big Points turning into Bites
Century: Golem Edition is also a Euro Style Game or Eurogame. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a style of game that tends to feature less conflict (and less interaction overall), a lack of player elimination, less randomness, and a focus on trading, negotiation and engine-building. Risk and Monopoly are very much American-style games.
Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride are two of the best-known Eurogames.
How does it play?
(This is a simplified explanation. For a complete playthrough, please see the Watch It Played Link).
The goal of the game is to end with the most points. You do this by claiming Point Cards, which you purchase with gems you create or trade for. You also get points for coins and for leftover gems.
The gems are money, with values from lowest to highest as seen here: yellow » green » blue » pink.
Each turn, you can do one of four things:
- Play a Card
- Gain a new Card
- Refresh your hand
- Purchase a Point Card
trade cards
You start the game with the two Trade Cards shown in the photo. When you play a Trade Card, it stays on the table and you may not play it again until you refresh your hand.
The left Trade Card allows you to promote gems. You do this one at a time, so you could promote two, such as two yellows to two greens, or you could double-promote one, such as a yellow to a blue.
The right card earns you income. You simply gain two yellow when you play it.
merchant cards
There will be a marketplace of advanced Trade Cards — called Merchant Cards, but functionally identical to the Basic Trade Cards. Basically, you have to pay gems to take one not in the leftmost position of the spread. They’re all unique.
I’ve included a sample. The top three are transforming Merchant Cards: You pay the top cost to gain what is beneath the arrow. Note that the result is not always a promotion, as in the case of the one pink » two blue transform.
The bottom two are simple income. These cards tend to be more valuable, so you should be mindful of letting one player snap up too many of them.
A purchased Trade Card goes to your hand, so you may play it on a future turn without having to Refresh your hand.
point cards
The Point Cards are similarly straightforward. You pay the cost listed at the bottom and gain the card. It will score the points listed. There are some small complications with the coins, which are demonstrated in the video playthrough.
game end
The game ends at the end of a round in which a player gains a set number of Point Cards determined by player count. You should expect a game to last about 20-30 minutes.
Minor Concerns
Dead offer
If you’re like my group, you will come to a point in the game where no one wants any of the Merchant Cards on offer. There isn’t a mechanism for resetting the offer. You may wish to implement a house rule.
wear and tear
The cards are of high quality and you won’t be shuffling that much, but you will see some table rash from use, especially on the Trade/Merchant Cards. Normally, I would sleeve the game, but Century: Golem Edition uses an unusual not-quite-tarot size that requires custom sleeves. The game is still in print and not too pricey, but I’m always reluctant to rely on that for games I truly enjoy.
Why you should play
Century: Golem Edition is a nicely casual game that can be played while chatting. The decisions are simple enough that you can play with younger children and not have them feel overwhelmed.
Having depth without complexity puts it an a delicious sweet spot: You can play it with both your gamer and non-gamer friends.
It’s also quite robust. I’ve played a fair number of games and the point spread was never large enough to make anyone feel like they got wiped out.
The mechanics of gaining and transforming gems are satisfying on a tactile level, as well.
Final Ruling
8/10