Ora et Labora

[dyeyk2000]

They had me at: based mechanically on Le Havre. New game from Uwe. Eeeep! <3

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70149/ora-et-labora

Ora et Labora will be Uwe Rosenberg's 5th "big" game. It's based mechanically on Le Havre and set in the Medievals. Each player is head of a Monestary that gains land and constructs buildings, little enterprises that will gain resources and profit. The goal of each player is to build-up a working infrastructure and manufacture prestigious items, like books, ceramics, ornaments and relics to gain the most victory points at the end of the game.

Le Havre fans will recognise many well-known mechanics like loads of different two-sided resources with a basic side that can be upgraded (turned) to something more useful. Also, the game will introduce buildings from time to time that can be constructed with building material that players may take as one of their possible actions. The other possible action is to enter a building with one of your workers.

What's completely new about the game is a clever Rondell mechanic that introduces the resources. Agricola and Le Havre might be very fiddly from time to time as you were constantly moving stuff on the board and off. This is no more in Ora et Labora. The Rondell shows numbers that refer to the amount of resources in a given Rondell segment. There is one resource token of each kind on the Rondell. At the beginning of a player's turn, the Rondell is moved by one segment. This adjusts the amount of resources for all available ones with a single move - extremely clever.

Another big difference to its predecessor is that players now really build something in front of them. Each player starts with a little board that might remind you of Agricola, and places their start buildings (now tiles, no cards) on the board. Every new building has to be placed on that board. However, like in Farmers of the Moor, the board starts with some wood and moor tiles that hinder your development. By taking wood or peat from the Rondell, you remove a wood or moor tile, respectively. Once they're gone, they're gone. If you want more wood and moor, or more space to expand, you can buy extra terrain as an additional free action during your turn.

Another main difference - and we won't got too much in detail here about the smaller ones - is that you start with more than one worker piece. If you enter a building, you place your token in the building where it stays until you've placed all of your tokens. However, you can only enter your own buildings this way. If you want to enter another player's buildings, they'll have to move their token into their building for you! Of course, you'll have to pay them to do this.

The terrain tiles add another layer to the game. The times are gone by, where you've just entered a Building Firm and got what you wanted if you could pay the resources. You know have to build cleverly on your board as this effects your overall score. Also, some buildings have restrictions where they are allowed to be placed.

Also, player interaction has been improved. You now can screw your opponent - by entering their buildings with their tokens. You need to pay more attention now. The game has some new layers, but still doesn't take longer to play. It's a completely new, upgraded Le-Havre-like experience!

Uwe's next hit will be published soon, maybe in 2011. Stay tuned!

[Earl]

Is Uwe from a La Salle brothers school? That is our school motto in Singapore!!

[Adrian (the other one)]

Just finished reading the rulebook... and I think we have another winning game from Uwe right here.

The comparative gist:
- Goods are produced, which can be processed to other goods or are paid as cost for buildings/settlements/new plots
- Buildings are built to open up their "actions" to the players
- Goods and Settlements/Buildings have VP values at end game (main way to score)
- Goods production varies throughout the game (via a rondel)
- There are 20(?) rounds, with one action per player per round (except starting player which has two actions)
- Actions are taken by "family members" (max 3)
- You can use other player's "family members" but at a cost

In a gist:
Agricola + Le Havre + 2 new mechanics (rondel management of goods supply and ability to use other player's "family members").

[togashi]

Hmm, been thinking of getting this or Lords of Waterdeep. Any suggestions?

[dyeyk2000]

Why not just get both Doc?

"GOTTA CATCH EM' ALL!"

[jase]

Yeah, I am surprised to see Doc is choosing between games

Why not just get both Doc?

"GOTTA CATCH EM' ALL!"

[theredviper]

I played this game last Saturday at Claro's place (thanks for hosting a fun party btw ) and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

The Pro's: The game has an ingenious mechanic of distributing resources known as the rondel which really simplifies resource gathering and set-up time. I enjoy playing "engine building games" similar to Puerto Rico, Agricola and Race for the Galaxy and this is no exemption. I felt the game provided multiple choices towards finding your own personal path towards victory without overwhelming new players.

The Con's: You have to make a choice in the game. Do you build an engine or take as much victory points as you can? I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, but if you're used to playing the aforementioned games you would have been misled to thinking that your engine mattered. Taking one turn per round really limits what you can do, so garnering victory points per round is a must. Also when your opponent steals your last worker for that round, it really sucks and sometimes leaves you with nothing to do (especially when you don't have any coins or wine... sigh).

The Conclusion: Overall I really enjoyed playing Ora et Labora. I love discovering the best possible combination of cards, which is really what you should be doing in a game like this. I love the rondel system which simplified the resource management of the game and made it even fun. Stealing your opponents actions made for really interesting interaction (even if I never got to use my own stuff from time to time, Cursesssss!). I hope to play this game again soon. 8.5/10 for me in the fun-o-meter!!!                  

[togashi]

Yeah, I am surprised to see Doc is choosing between games

Why not just get both Doc?

"GOTTA CATCH EM' ALL!"

THats the problem of being a new dad. I got to prioritize

[dyeyk2000]

Yeah, I am surprised to see Doc is choosing between games

Why not just get both Doc?

"GOTTA CATCH EM' ALL!"

THats the problem of being a new dad. I got to prioritize

Awwww

[Zinegata]

Really liked it. Scored 494 on my first solitaire game and was one reliquary away from winning (500 points to win).

It seemed even more "solvable" in solitaire though, but I really liked the goods interactions.