The Elysian Fields

Vineta (domestic edition) - 2 to 6 players ages 10 and up (German edition)

Unless you're a nut like me, the domestic edition of this game will suit you just fine.

Maybe.

If, however, you are a nut, you're going to want to learn to read German and get the international edition, which is to say, the original German edition of the game.

While I can only speak to one of the differences authoritatively, others have reported thiner cardboard used to build the region pieces and some other bits, and a smaller size (which might be an advantage for traveling). What I can say, without question, is this:

The German edition has a board, the newer edition does not.

Region pieces and what difference the absence or presence of a board might make won't make any sense if you aren't already familiar with the game, and if you are familiar with the game, you're probably not reading this, so I expect that, by now, you need some more information about the game so you can figure out which end is up.

The heart of the game is in the 9 regions of the island city of Vineta, the Atlantis of the north. The pieces form a simplistic puzzle ~ three inner regions, three middle regions, and three outer regions. There are a number of little wooden houses that are set out amongst the 9 regions, all in different colors, with one more color (up to seven) than there are players (up to six, of course).

Eight of these 9 regions, and all houses on them, will sink, one by one, below the waves.

Why?

Well, it's simple: some fool in the city has royally ticked off the gods, and they're sending in wave after wave of, well, waves... and eight of the regions are destined to be washed away. By the gods.

And guess who get to play the gods? That's right: Odin, Thor, and the rest of the crew... that's who you're playing as.

Each god secretly favors one of the regions of the city and your followers are housed in one color of those wooden houses. Your goal is to keep as many of your followers safe from the deluge as possible, and, if you can manage it, to make sure your region is the last bit of dry land.

The game plays in eight rounds, and each round results in every player having three (more or less) turns to influence where the waves are, and, through some further intervention, which houses are on the region that will sink at the end of the round.

You play wave cards ~ either targeting a region that is not threatened, or adding to the waves already threatening a region. The region with the most waves at the end of the round sinks. Additional cards give you chances to add huge modifiers for or against a row of waves, or to manipulate houses in a variety of ways ~ moving them from threatened areas, to threatened areas, swapping them, or locking them down. There are also cards that can be played to reduce the number of turns in the round or increase it.

Two complaints that I've heard against this game are 1) that the theme of Norse gods is paper thin; and 2) that there's too much chaos. Obviously, those folks never played D&D where Norse gods were involved. If they had, they'd know the Norse gods are (mostly) chaotic, Chaotic Good, to be specific, for Odin and Thor and (most) friends.

Seriously, if you've ever looked at Norse mythology the gods were larger than life: great power, great might, and, quite often, great oops.

Now, maybe the theme would be more supported if the village was perched on the edge of fjord, and the gods sent avalanches of snow down on the city, but, really, it works quite well with the theme as is...

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It was wild and chaotic, but it was fun. None of us got to save our own little slice of the city, and I don't think we managed to save any houses, either.

One last word on the German edition vs. the domestic edition: I did notice that the kids really seemed to enjoy looking at the sea monsters that get revealed as each piece of the city goes under the waves, so the extra art is certainly appreciated, and, to my mind, helps make the whole experience more enjoyable.

And, finally, as an added bonus, here's a demo for the game: