Two player war game a blast

If you are looking for a game that is getting rave reviews from just about every corner, then look no farther than A Few Acres of Snow.

The game, released this year from Treefrog Games, is a two-player war game, based around a card play mechanic, and it is garnering awards from the get go, including the 2011 International Gamers Award - General Strategy: Two-players, the 2011 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Winner, and the 2011 Golden Geek Best Wargame Winner.

The game should have a particular appeal to Canadian gamers.

"A war fought at the edge of two mighty empires. For over one hundred and fifty years Britain and France were locked in a struggle for domination of North America. Thousands of miles from their homes, settlers and soldiers were faced with impenetrable forests, unpredictable American tribes, and formidable distances. Despite these obstacles they were able to engage in bitter warfare, with the British ultimately taking the prize of Quebec," describes the game box.

Any game which reflects a piece of Canadian history intrigues me, and when it comes to war games the options are limited so this one based on the battle for Quebec jumped out at me.

The game also takes a different approach to a game mechanic in terms of a war game.

Again from the game box, "A Few Acres of Snow takes an innovative approach to the subject, using cards to represent locations and manpower. As the game progresses you add to your selection of cards, increasing the range of actions available to you. There are many strategies to be explored. How quickly should you build up your forces, do you employ Native Americans, what energy should be expended on your economy?

"The game is about more than just fighting - you must successfully colonize the land to have a chance."

The actual card deck-building mechanic is one used successfully in Dominion.

The Treefrog website describes play well.

"Each player starts with a small set of cards. Cards come in two general types, location cards and empire cards. You can add an empire card to your discard pile simply by taking one as an action. Adding a location card is a little more involved. Each location card has a list of locations that it connects to and the transport type required to move to each of those locations. To take control of a neutral location you would have to play a location card with that neutral location on it, then a card that has the correct transport symbol, and then possibly a card with a settler symbol on it if required. You then place a cube in the location and add the location card to your discard pile.

"Players take it in turns to perform two actions. There are a range of actions available, such as settling new locations, besieging locations, trading fur, launching Indian raids, and building fortifications. There are also cards that allow you to perform actions to manage your deck, such as getting rid of useless cards and drawing additional cards from your pile. You can also place cards in reserve so that you can use them at a later point in time.

"The game ends if a player manages to capture his opponent's capital city or he has managed to place all of his village or town pieces on the board. In the latter case points are calculated to see who wins."

The game was designed by Brit Martin Wallace, who told this reviewer the idea of focusing on Quebec came from a friend.

"The idea to do the game came from a historian friend of mine, John Ellis, who happened to be studying the period," he said, adding "The game took about 18-months to research, design, and develop."

The Quebec theme was one of the challenges for Wallace.

"Probably the hardest part of the design was making sure the geography was accurate," he said. "I wanted to make sure that only those routes that could be traversed at the time could be used in the game. The Kennebec route was designed to reflect one sentence in a book that mentioned that Benedict Arnold got stuck there during the AWI (American War of Independence)."

With a unique approach in terms of a war game mechanic, solid components, a rather quick 60-minute game time, and best of all the Canadian history setting make A Few Acres of Snow a must for most Canadian gamers.

Check this one out at www.treefroggames.com/a-few-acres-of-snow-2

If anyone is interested in this game, or other boardgames feel free to contact [email protected]

Past reviews are collected online at calsboardgamemusings.blogspot.com