At the end of 2023, we were able to test An Age Contrived, a beautiful and really strategic Euro game, and present it to you in our crowdfunding previews. At the time, we were completely thrilled with the game. Although it hadn't been released yet, it became one of our highlights of the year in its prototype form. Now the game has reached its supporters and a German retail version via Skellig Games is also on the way. On February 04th, an expansion called "Folklore & Pilgrimage" will be released on Kickstarter, which is intended to respond to feedback and requests from players. We were able to test the expansion for you and give you an overview of what to expect.
This article deals with the prototype of the expansion. Changes cannot be ruled out. This version also contained placeholders for all miniatures from the final game. Since we played the English prototype, some terms may differ from the German version.
An overview
In An Age Contrived we take on the role of gods who compete to be the god with the most power. The game uses an interesting engine building and resource management system, which is fresh in its combination. We need energy to build the world of Eldain and to use actions. To do this, this energy must first be placed as cleverly as possible on our personal game board. With the so-called "Advance" action, we add new transmutation tiles to the game board that have spaces for our energy tokens, into which we can place or program our tokens. In later turns, we can then activate this energy and activate various actions to build monuments in the world and thus activate points for the end of the game. As soon as all monuments have been built, the game ends and the person who has the most points wins.
So far an extremely shortened explanation of the game. For a more detailed explanation, please take another look at our Article on An Age Contrived The two new modules Folklore & Pilgrimage are intended to boost movement and the charging action in the game and make it really rewarding. In addition, two new characters who want to score points with fresh skill ideas. While Chronari Among other things, the “Advance” action has been expanded with a new programming ability, which creates more strategic freedom, Valimod collect new transmutation tiles particularly quickly and also collect valuable points. Both characters complement the game brilliantly and fit perfectly into the grid of the basic game.
The Folklore Module
The Folklore module is the simpler of the two new modules for An Age Contrived. Here we can decide to activate artifacts (instead of our channel marker) with the recharge action (the first action on our game board). If we now move our playing figure across the game board, we can place our activated module on the same field on which our figure ended its movement. We then activate one of three powerful actions of the new Folklore cards in our hand. These can really boost the game. It's great that opposing players can also place their artifacts next to ours. If this happens, we can play an additional effect of a Folklore card that has already been played. Our opponent also gets a reward for this and can activate two effects of a card at the same time. Classic effects include directly binding energy to corresponding fields or doubling energy, which offers significantly more opportunities to generate more points.
The Pilgrimage module
The Pilgrimage module is the slightly more complex module, but it captures the feeling of the basic game and expands it in a meaningful way. Here, too, we can build buildings or so-called shrines, which also have various effects for us as soon as we enter a shrine. Building shrines works in the same way as in the basic game. In addition to monuments, we can now also bind energy on the new game board. If a person has at least 2 energy on the game board, they can build a shrine at the end of their turn. Then all players who have at least one energy on the Pilgrimage game board can activate their pilgrims. They can then move along the pilgrimage path according to their amount of energy and their movement speed and visit shrines to receive rewards. Your own movement speed can also be activated by the channel marker's charging action.
Additional movement can also be gained by placing two new bridge spaces on the main game board. In general, movement is an important point here, because you have to decide which shrines or whether you want to visit a shrine. If you choose a shrine, you cannot visit one opposite. In addition, whoever is the first to reach certain hurdles or even the end of the pilgrimage board receives valuable victory points.
So what do we think about this?
The two modules of the An Age Contrived expansion, Folklore & Pilgrimage, are a very good addition to what we consider to be an excellent game. Both modules eliminate important negative aspects of the basic game and give you the feeling of having even more control over your actions. In general, it just feels much better to be able to carry out your actions quickly. One problem with An Age Contrived was that you could sometimes only carry out "advance" actions round after round because you no longer had any energy on your own game board that you could use. Since the first possible action has now received useful additions, you often find yourself completing new action rounds more quickly. That's great!
It's also nice that there are now new ways to generate points. This helps to find new ways to win a game. But despite all the new variety, both modules remain pleasantly simple. The Folklore module has few new rules and many of the new options are explained via the cards. This makes this module quick to explain and understand. The Folklore module, on the other hand, is very reminiscent of the basic principle of the game and can be integrated quickly and easily with experienced players.
All in all, the Folklore & Pilgrimage expansion is definitely worth a look in our eyes, because it does exactly what an expansion should do. It complements the basic game in a meaningful way and improves it in exactly the right places. The expansion launched on Kickstarter on February 04th and is available starting at around $49.
Information about An Age Contrived: Folklore & Pilgrimage
| Number of players: 1 – 5 Age: from 12 years Playing time: 90 - 120 minutes Difficulty: Expert game Classification: Eurogame Author: Chris Matthew Illustrations: Serena Malyon Publisher: Bellows Intent Official Website: Link Link to the campaign: Kickstarter Campaign start: February 04, 2025 Campaign ends: February 26, 2025 |
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