Reviewing board games that shed a tear.

Santa Monica - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

Santa Monica boardgame box


SANTA MONICA

a review of the board game Designed by Josh Wood

Players: 2-4     Time Investment: 35-40 min

Rating:

Game Aesthetic


Components

The feature tiles, which indicate the starting point of the boardwalk, are a very nice sturdy cardboard. It does illicit some confidence in one's ability to build out their boardwalk, as good foundations are a must.

Feature tile and boardwalk card with VIP meeples for Santa Monica boardgame
VIPs leaving their mark on the boardwalk



Santa Monica's real shining stars are the wooden components, though. The meeples represent VIPs, tourists, and locals that meander about your boardwalk. Tourists sport a cute camera about their necks, while locals are of course the coolest kids on the block sporting sunglasses. VIPs... are kind of just there. Like they prefer. Please don't ask for a photo. Then, there are the cute sand dollars with lovely golden detailing and the cute pink food truck. Every one of the wooden components adds to the fun.

The rest of the components are standard cards, though the finish on them is very nice. There isn't much card handling in the game considering everything is focused on an unconventional tableau build -- since thematically you are constructing a boardwalk area -- so don't think about that part too much. On that note, this may also mean you don't need to spend precious time sleeving.

Locals, tourists, VIPs, footprints and sand dollar pieces for Santa Monica boardgame
Locals are always the coolest on the boardwalk with their sunglasses
and carefree attitude. We live here, who needs a camera?



Artwork by Brigette Indelicato , Jeremy Nguyen and Josh Wood

Can we talk about this box art for a moment? And the palette, too. Takes you back to the summertime, maybe during the times where surfing had a lifestyle surrounding it. Everything is bright, pastel and beachy keen. 

The details on the individual cards whether they are on the sidewalk or on the beach itself are charming. You'll see weddings in there, relaxing beach activities, 
and cute stores. The style in which all things are drawn also is reminiscent of old cartoon shows, which furthers the inviting feeling (at least for me).


The First Turn


Options

It's fairly clear that the beginning of the game that you're going to draft a card. The rules state that your two options are to select a feature card or use a sand dollar action to acquire cards in a different way. From past playthroughs more often than not you don't have enough sand dollars to start with so your likely only other option is to draft. This makes it easy and frankly I like that the game forces you to start making decisions right away. It also makes it easy to learn and/or teach the game because the turn overview is so straightforward.

From there, some of the deeper strategy is revealed through deciding what side of your feature tile your feature cards will go. There can be opportunities to swap these cards around in the future depending on what kind of sand dollar actions you have available, but for the most part you are deciding the permanent location on the beach or the sidewalk. Games that have variable starting powers, resources and/or objectives are helpful in narrowing down what an applicable strategy would be, and Santa Monica does just that. So, when in doubt, check out what your feature tile is all about, what location tags are associated to it, and then pair up feature cards accordingly.


Pink food truck and foodie meeples incentivizing one card on display in Santa Monica boardgame
When deciding between cards sometimes the incentive from the
food truck and the foodie can tip the scale



Rewards and Objectives

Aspects of the feature cards can impact where the meeples go, what scoring chains can be developed, or how you progress on the public objective card. Considering this section is literally labeled "Rewards and Objectives", perhaps starting with the objective card is a great option.

I've found that the objective card, while it may be tempting to try and dedicate your game play to your feature tile, is full of points to be had. It also usually comes with something detailed that is a penalty at the end of the game so an objective to avoid said penalty is also a viable goal. However, unlike other games I've played, I have had success just taking things moment to moment while leaving room for changing a plan in the future.

Individual feature cards can provide sand dollars, and almost always the sand dollar actions are the better way to acquire cards for your boardwalk. The reason being, it will provide more actions to take during the game.

Encouraging your VIP to walk to specific parts of the boardwalk can also be a fun theme to drive your objectives, because you can either design the boardwalk with the locals and/or tourists in mind, just the VIP, or a combination of both. I can imagine that there are cool vacation spots that are not for the "little people" but in my opinion -- both in principle and in terms of this game -- the boardwalks that really thrive are for the people.


Standard setup with feature tiles, cards, sand dollar tiles and objective card in Santa Monica boardgame
Sand dollar tiles and objective tile can provide some guidance
on making lucrative choices



Ability to Pivot

You'll know whether you can pivot in this game right away, based on the sand dollar actions. If there isn't anything that will let you swap cards in your boardwalk, and since this is a game where scoring is very heavily dependent on positioning of the cards, you can assume that pivoting is unwise. Planning from the get go is a must, but luckily the types of decisions you are making are limited to just looking for tags and patterns.

I would say the one thing that the game does not have a lot of room for is population control. Several feature cards bring in the crowds, and sometimes you don't want too many people hanging around doing nothing. 


VIP meeple on beach feature card during gameplay of Santa Monica boardgame
Unless something says otherwise (usually a sand dollar tile)
this beach feature card is staying put



Game End

When one player has placed their 14th feature card, it triggers the end of the game. Everyone gets equal turns and then you start to tally everything up! The cards themselves score off of location tags, or, if you're lucky, make those sand dollars actually worth something. That's right, sand dollars are meant to be spent and if you haven't been spending them then you're SOL. Other scoring opportunities, if you were paying attention to them, are activities on the cards (they'll have a dashed ring with a population requirement), or footprints from VIPs based on your feature tile. Finally, like I mentioned before, the objective card is also evaluated. 

It's a Wonderful World - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

It's A Wonderful World boardgame box


IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD

a review of the board game Designed by Frédéric Guérard 

Players: 1-5 Time Investment: 30-60 min

Rating:


Silent Tears


Game Aesthetic

Components

Nothing very special here, as there are cubes and there are cardboard bits and there are cards. I would say that the common board area is fun as it splits in half to fit in the box, and clearly explains what commodities will be produced next since it is arrow shaped. But if we're simply talking about stuff you get to constantly get more of and use, it's not that exciting. 


It's A Wonderful World board game cards and cubes
Resources represented (in order from closest to farthest): 
Materials, Energy, Science, Gold and Exploration.


Artwork by Anthony Wolff

I cannot say enough about the artwork, the futuristic settings and the plays on science fiction. As with all games, I do wish there was more representation and inclusivity but at least they did put a woman on the cover. We all have to start somewhere. It's also curious thinking about what the world will be like after periods of globalization where countries start to blur together. For example, you can play the Noram Estates, which I am assuming is short for North American and looks like a glassier urban jungle you can recognize.


It's A Wonderful World boardgame development and token for Noram Estates
The art on cards and tokens is crisp and futuristic, and
the iconography is clear
.


The First Turn

Options

It's going to feel a lot like clockwork, but luckily if you play with the variable player side of the civilization name cards then it gives you quite a bit of direction on what cards to draft from the original hand size of seven. After that, you'll have a chance to plan (literally called the Planning Phase) and figure out whether you want to build towards a card you drafted (slate it for Construction), or scrap it for resources (Recycle) that can feed into a new or existing build. This, in my opinion is part of the heart of the game in balancing the different states of your engine. Do you give up an intimidating project just for a few commodities to finally complete a project you started? Do you give up on that other project and start the intimidating one? Do you start completely new, scrapping the intimidating project for parts and feeding into a project you just found out about? The options are exciting!

It's A Wonderful World boardgame starting hand
Of the seven, you can only keep one
and pass on the rest to draft.



Rewards and Objectives

Different types of scoring can allow for hedging your bets or just for straight up points.
The straight up points look yummy but in the end the winning edge belongs to the multiplier, so the math is in your favor if you stack up and lean into what you have. If you want -- but I haven't tried it -- you can also try and ensure that you receive the bonuses that come with whoever has produced the most of a commodity. In this way, you're banking on both scarcity and building up towards the future. One of my favorite aspects of the way that production happens in this game is that is goes in a specific order, so if there's a way you can have those pauses in between work in your favor, do it! If you find you are producing too much of one resource and nowhere for it to go, there is at least a 5:1 ratio to turn it into a red wild resource known as Krystallium.


It's A Wonderful World main component bonus
Bonus tokens known as Financiers (blue) and Generals (red) indicated at the top
 of each resource for whoever produces the most of it!



Ability to Pivot

Very little. Since resources are dedicated, if you just didn't make it to full Constructed, you just didn't make it. There's no going back. Makes a bit of sense considering you are thematically building out a civilization. You wouldn't want your leader to change their mind willy nilly and just demolish everything you worked on would you? Well, okay. Turns out you actually can, if you want, discard a card in your Under Construction area but that Recycling bonus goes straight to working towards Krystallium. All hope is not lost though; if you're doing it early enough, you can try and accelerate a build with 2 out of 4 of the rounds available to you. You'd have one less successful round but if you build a tight tableau it can be possible to pivot at round 3. Anything further out than that and you should just choose to lean into what you have.


It's A Wonderful World boardgame Materials production
As you produce, resources can be assigned to get a project to completion
and prepare reap the short- and long-term benefits.


Game End

Four rounds. That's it, no more, no less. You'll add up gross victory points, which are the vanilla laurels with numbers, combo victory points that have a multiplier indicator "X", victory points specific to Generals (gross and combo), and then Financiers (gross and combo). Highest score wins the game. Tie breakers, in order: most cards in their Empire, most Character tokens, then after that... too bad, you share the victory. But hey, at least there are solo scenarios in case you want to just kick out your opponent and play again in peace. :)