Spice trade and exploration ruled the known world centuries ago. Explorers set out to build up and even destroy some countries while they searched for ways to further build up their trade power and discover new areas yet unseen. Today we will be doing the same as explorers of the brave new world!
Century: A New World is a new release from Plan B Games designed by Emerson Matsuuchi and produced by Sophie Gravel. Illustrated by Chris Quilliams and Atha Kanaani the game plays 2-4 players.
Setup and Gameplay
In Century: A New World players will take on the role of an Explorer working or resting each turn in attempts to collect resources and discover new areas while collecting points from Fort tiles and cards. Setup involves taking the four main game Locations board marked A1, B1, C1 and one of the other boards to make a square. Point cards are placed along the top of the Location board one for each spot. Each Bonus tile is stacked in the appropriate spaces under each point card. Exploration Tiles are added to the bottom of the board covering areas that will later be explored through gameplay.
Each player starts with their own player board, 12 settler meeples of their color and the starting cubes based on turn order. Six of your Settlers start on your board, 6 start in reserve that you can gain later.
On your turn during gameplay you have the option to either Work or Rest. During Work you chose any one location spot on the game board that does not have an Explorer tile or your own Settlers on it. You will place the appropriate number of Settlers as designated on the space on that location and take the action. Some of them will give you resource cubes, some will exchange what you have for other resource cubes and a few will upgrade the cubes you already have. If there are other Settlers from another player on the spot, you must add one more to the spot to use the action. If you take a location you must use the location’s action immediately.
If you are unable to use a location or you chose not to you may Rest. During a turn with Rest you obtain all of your Settlers from the board back to your player board.
During the game you will also be obtaining Point cards that are along the top of the game board. These can be purchased with your resouce cubes and then are put in front of you. Each one has an in-game bonus that will increase resources, add more Settlers, decrease costs of locations or explore new territories. This will happen immediately once you obtain the card. You also have the option to take a Bonus Tile that will give you sets to try and collect or straight up victory points. They will reward you for collections of symbols on the point cards or number of Settlers in the game. But be forewarned-you can only take three and then once you have them you must keep them the whole game without switching!
Play continues until a player has acquired their 8th Point card triggering play until the end of the current round. Most victory points in cards and set collections wins!
Impressions
What could be better:
Meeple Settlers. The little meeples in this game are little. They are tiny for my hands and I’ve had other people note that as well. I would love to see this a little bigger but hey wouldn’t need to be large like regular size ones. I may even try to find something to sub in for them long term.
Boards. I would love to see a thicker cardboard for the player and game boards- they work how they are out of the box but a more sturdy board would be a good thing to include in this.
What I liked:
Gameplay. I really enjoy the worker placement in this game-it feels like Century Spice Road in a good way but is unique enough on its own. The movement and exploration of new spaces is fun and the game really challenges you to make an early or later decision on set collection. This really makes it a challenge to know when the right time is to make your move.
Directions. Not often cited as a favorite, Emerson always does a great job at making the instructions quick and simple and ready to play out of the box. It’s once again in this series a one sheet front and back to be able to jump right in.
Art. I love the design on this game-it is period specific and great to look at on the table. This game looks great on display when you are playing it and it is one that draws others in.
Integration. I won’t get into the details of the different versions but when you combine this with Century Spice Road or Eastern Wonders in pairs or with all three you can make some very unique games that all play a little different. I do not have any other games in my collection that all integrate together like this-it is really an awesome aspect to these that sets it apart from games with expansions or additions.
Overall
Century: A New World is exactly what I wanted in this final chapter of the Century series. It’s quick and clean to learn and set up, the gameplay is tight and easy to follow and it brings new mechanics we haven’t used to the series. Plan B Games has truly helped bring a gem in the board game community to the masses in this series and Century: A New World is that final jewel in the crown. It fits a 2-4 player count very well and we have had players of multiple ages and skill levels really enjoy it.
This game will be a hit for all of the worker placement fans out there along with those who enjoyed the Century games up to this point. Smooth theme and gameplay make this a solid entry for anyone’s collection. It’s a strong contender for my game of the year for 2019 and one I expect to be on our table often this year!
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