Hey everyone.
I got the steam game on a sale some time ago. Now my wife is playing it a lot more than me through family share. Her birthday is coming up and I’m thinking about getting the game for her as it also won Spiel des Jahres this year.
Have any of you played the game? I’d be happy to hear any experiences you want to share.
I’ve played it several times, and bought it to play with my wife who is pretty discerning when it comes to games. We like it a lot! A few thoughts:
Do you like doing puzzles? It’s definitely more of a puzzle like activity than any other games I’ve played. Honestly, it’s a one player game that you can play cooperatively.
I think the game excels in spurts. Playing one time and then waiting a week in between is a bit of a letdown. It shines when you score 120, then go again and score 140 and unlock a box, the playing again and using the new scoring conditions to score 160 and unlock something else. But because there’s not tooo much variation in gameplay, playing the entire campaign in a day (10-15 games maybe?) would be a slog.
Overall, it’s a game I’d pull out on a rainy cold day with pleasure, but wouldn’t bring to game night. Hope it helps!
Can you tell if the game requires language skills? I’m looking for cooperative games that can be played by a group of people of different nationality.
Sure at least one would have to understand the rule book, but the gameplay should not require to understand text on some cards.
The game itself does not need language skills, as everything is represented by art or iconography, but when new tiles or rules are introduced, you’ll have to make sure everyone knows what they do and how to score them.
Thanks for the reply, you mentioned some things I did not think about before.
Honestly, it’s a one player game that you can play cooperatively.
Sounds like playing the PC game with someone backseat gaming over your shoulder.
Sort of, yeah, but I think it’s in how you play it. We alternate who draws the tiles and gets first crack at placement (and ultimately final decision). That keeps the game from becoming too one sided. I never felt like it was backseat gaming.
My copy is still in the mail but based on the gameplay videos I’ve watched I am very much looking forward to playing it.
I’m going to preface this with: I do not own nor have I played the board game! But I’m very familiar with the original video game. I recall there being complaint from a subset of people that the video was very light, with little to do.
With that in mind, I’ve heard similar ‘complaints’ about the board game. But the reason I’m hearing this is because the board game is a hilariously accurate representation of the original. It’s very light (hence the Speil de Jahre win), but if you’re looking for a co-operative version of the game, I think this will be a winner!
My wife adores the steam version so if it is very close to that but cooperative then that’d be a plus.
After you’ve finished the first game, you’ll score and be allowed (or maybe have to save up points) to open up boxes with new content to play with again - just like the Steam version!
I think they key to enjoying this one is to be aware of what Dorfromantik is, and I think you and your wife already know!
Does this game suffer from the alpha gamer?
I enjoy playing it in single mode quite a lot now. But it worked well in a corporate mode as it was labelled earlier, too.
I only knew the video game by name and because of some images I saw. Therefore I wasn’t aware of the campaign mode. Naturally this requires to play the game in a certain group more often, which doesn’t seem to be an issue for OP, though.
I unlocked everything in 18 games, solo only. I felt it was worth the $30 (got mine discounted), and would be worth $40 I feel for 2+ people playing all the way through.
However it is out at Pegasus Spiele US so retailers cannot obtain anymore so just make sure you are getting it for it’s SRP in your country
18 games isn’t too bad for a campaign game at that price point yeah. We don’t get to play super often so it seems like a fine length to me. Thanks for the input.
I live in Germany and it is super easy to get here. I’ve seen it in every store since the Spiel des Jahres win.
My son (5) loves it. We played the first campaign already and are well into our second campaign. The best thing is, aside from rails and rivers there are almost no rules how to place tiles, so imho it is well suited for children as well as adults.
If Dorfromantik is a game—and I’m 💯 not saying it’s not a game, it looks fun and cozy actually—then doing a jigsaw puzzle with a friend is also a game 🤷🏻♀️
But that’s not too shabby since jigsaw puzzles are fun and an endless box of one seems like a fun time. I got Mists over Carcassonne a while back for the same reason, although that game is stressful and agonozing while Dorfromantik is chill.
One thing I’l give Dorfromantik a lot of credit for is how they laid out the houses on the so that “all directions are up” so it looks nice and ambiguous and not too jarring. An Escheresque feat. We’ve been playing Zamek lately and it really suffers from having the tiles drawn and shaded such that one direction is clearly up.