Knitting continues to be one of the more popular hobbies in the world and one that has brought joy to generations of people. The beautiful patterns and designs that people do are brought to life as wonderful 3D creations. I appreciate the wonderful works of art these designers do and I am excited to see what it looks like in the world of board gaming. Let’s take a look at a game that does just that!
Overview:
In Arch Ravels players compete in the crafty hobby of fiber arts, collecting components and fulfilling orders in this colorful adventure. Set collection, engine building and drafting all combine in vibrant ways to allow players to do their best to hook and stitch themself to a win.
Gameplay:
Arch Ravels starts with players picking a character board, action marker and a yarn bowl with one of each of the different token colors.
The game area is set up with the game board, yarn deck and bazaar and the project list. Once the players have all of their items and the main game area is set up play can begin.
Gameplay is done in clockwise order from.plauer to player and consists of three steps. Those steps are:
- Take Player Actions
- Restock the Yarn Bazaar
- Take Restock Actions
In Step 1, players will take an action on one of the four action spaces they are not already on. These will allow you to do a variety of different actions including Shop, Craft, Exchange or another unique choice. Shop allows you to take yarn from the bazaar, craft gives you yarn to make new items and exchange lets you change the yarn you have for a different type.
In Step 2 Players will Restock the Yarn Bazaar by filling in empty spots with cards from the yard deck. Any event or special request cards are dealt with as they come up. Events can change what you are able to do and give an in-game benefit. The special requests will be big projects that you need to finish or give to another player to try and finish but be careful-if you don’t finish them they are negative points at the end of the game!
Finally in Step 3 Actions are restocked and you can learn a pattern or finish a project to earn victory points. Learning a pattern means turning in a competed project but it makes it easier to finish them later in the game. You can also frog a project to get the yarn back you started with!
The game ends when there are no cards in the project deck and fewer than three projects in the project list. The current player and then all other players will take one more turn. Players then add all of their victory points gained and subtract points for each special project not completed and each piece of leftover yarn. The highest score wins!
Impressions:
Arch Ravels brings the pop to the game table and I love it. It is a beautiful game with some of the brightest and most vibrant colors I have seen recently and it all fits together so well. The game starts and stands strong on the design and color and it is by far one of the best parts of this title. I love the whimsical characters, the lean into the theme and the characters and their personalities that seem to jump off the cards.
The gameplay for this one is smooth and it is easy to pick up and learn quickly. I was able to teach this one in a short amount of time to a number of different players both experienced and not from a hobby gameplay end. They were all able to pick it up very quickly and jump right in to the game. The decision tree for this one isn’t overcomplicated which lends itself to easier gameplay for everyone involved but the decisions are still challenging enough to give even the most experienced players meaningful moves and strategies in the game.
Theme is strong in this game as well, so if you have someone in your family or friend group who loves to knit this one will hit hard for them. It is one they will instantly see and recognize components from, everything from the yarn bowls to the patterns and completed projects. I even like that there is a move to tear apart your creations back to yarn if you need it. My friend who loves to yarn saw this and although not much of a gamer was very intrigued by the concept of this game!
Overall Arch Ravels will appeal to a number of different players and levels of experience and is bound to be a hit for those looking for a good family focused game. The more experienced/strategic gamers may find this game to be less difficult than they normally enjoy but fear not gamer-it is an excellent choice to play with friends or family members looking for a fun experience that will still provide choices and meaningful moves for you to play around with. For the knitting favorite in your life this might be another hit as well for them and an excellent foray into the world of board games. Make sure to check this one out at your local game store or directly from XYZ Game Labs!
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