Sagrada is one of my favorite games from the last few years, providing many enjoyable games around our table. The original game was introduced to me by Randy and I fell in love with it almost immediately. Like any good game, an expansion can really breathe new life into it and make familiar aspects seem new. Today we are going to see if that’s true for Sagrada.
Sagrada Passion is the first expansion in a series of three Great Facades expansions. It is published by Floodgate Games for 1-4 players and plays in 30-45 minutes.
Overview and Gameplay
For those already familiar with Sagrada, the mechanics and additions of this game expansion are straight forward. As a review, Sagrada is a dice drafting game where players take turns trying to pick dice that best match their personal objectives and stained glass windows. Dice fit certain designs as you build up your window, matching colors and numbers to the underlying board design. You score points based on how well you match those personal and community objectives.
In Passion, new mechanics and additions are made to the base game and allow you to add everything or only certain components of the expansion a few at a time.
The additions and contents of the box include:
Inspiration cards
Rare Glass Dice
Rare Glass Private Objectives
Rare Glass Boards
Symmetry and Balance Public Objectives
The first module is the Inspiration Module which adds Inspiration cards. These give each player a specific in game advantage over others. Players are dealt a card each then reveal before the game starts. Some are single use only per game or per round.
The Rare Glass Module introduces new dice that are able to be placed next to any color dice in your window. Rare Glass boards let you acquire and place those rare glass dice. New Private Objectives give you new ways to score also.
With this module the game is set up a little differently. One Rare Glass Board is placed in the middle of table and a die is rolled in placed in each spot. You also only reveal 2 Tool cards instead of 3.
For an action you may pay favor tokens to take rare glass die. This can be done only once in the game. A new die is added to the slots once one is taken.
The rare glass dice are not considered to be any color, so they never break adjacency rules for color but the shade is still in effect. They can be placed on any color on your window. They contribute to scoring cards as if they were a unique color as well. The Rare Glass Private Objectives give scoring opportunities based on the Rare Glass die in your window and how other dice relate to it.
Finally there are also Symmetry bonus Objectives that can be mixed in with other public objectives. These add some new ways to score public objectives and really challenge the normal scoring mechanics with some new and unique objectives.
Impressions
I really like Sagrada base game and it has been played numerous times in my house. That being said, games start to lose their spot in our rotation when they have been played over and over. Sagrada Passion brings some new elements to the table that refresh this game enough without completely making it something new. It’s like a fresh coat of paint on the game, it is familiar still but looks new. I really enjoy the Rare Glass dice and how they factor in to your decision making. The Rare Glass Objectives are great also, really changing the way you would normally play.
For someone familiar with the game, this is a must-have to add some variety to your window making. If you are satisfied with the game as-is, you probably aren’t looking for an expansion to the game. Those who have logged quite a few plays of Sagrada will lo e the new twists it adds to an already good game. I don’t think this is a necessity for new owners of Sagrada, but instead a welcome addition to the game and the start of a series of expansions that I hope can really shed some new light through these beautiful windows.
