YORKTON - Biome Blitz from designer Matthew Sauder, who also supplies the wonderful art, is another of those games that is just a little difficult to write a review about.
From Barracuda Games Biome Blitz will attract eyes in a games store. While a smallish box, the artwork is highly eye-catching, and while that has nothing to do with game play, the first detail in sales is getting someone to stop and take a closer look at the game, and that will happen here.
Inside the box is a resource management game that’s easy to learn which plays two-to-six.
That it plays a higher player count is a bonus, and while often larger numbers bog down a game The Meeple Guild while not yet playing with a larger table feels this one will actually shine brighter that way. For example, there is a mechanism to trade resources, and at lower player numbers you are rarely going to want to help someone get what they need by trading, but at a larger number you might find an ally in a similar ‘in-game’ position to make a trade more logical.
In this one you are collecting resources – up to two as your turn action – which then are used ‘to buy’ one of a rather large array of ‘critters’ all with very nice art deco-ish yet realistic art, and each with unique ‘powers’. Once you spend the resource it’s gone, so you spend a turn or two gathering more, that might seem like it would bog the game down, but doesn’t.
As you might have gathered already animals are a huge selling point here, aided by the fine art. It is actually at the heart of this one’s creation.
“I’m a big fan of animals,” offered designer / artist Matthew Sauder via email. “Even before developing Biome Blitz, I enjoyed going on internet deep dives and watching documentaries to learn about animals and their unique traits. While growing up, card games brought me closer to my brother: when we were kids, we made up games and doodled characters on card stock Then, as we got older, my brother taught me the complex yet rewarding strategies of Magic the Gathering.
“Over the last two years, I challenged myself to figure out a way to translate animal facts into abilities for a card game—like making superpowers out of the way a giant squid propels itself through the water, or the diet of a fiddler crab.”
Sauder added the animals seem to grab attention.
“During the play testing phase, I saw people’s faces light up with wonder and curiosity over the animals and ecosystems I featured in the game – and that’s exactly what I hope this game does for everyone who plays it,” he said.
“Mechanically, I wanted to create a fast-paced experience that keeps everyone engaged without long downtimes. It took over 60 play testing sessions to get the pacing just right. Introducing the resource management system and limiting players to one action per turn were key changes that made the game flow smoothly and feel exciting from start to finish.”
You can also buy ecosystem cards which influence the game in some way, and while buying one is voluntary, we felt their value was underwhelming in terms of ultimate game impact.
Now certainly the ecosystem cards offer synergies with certain critters but there are so many animal cards and games so short most may never been seen, so building a synergy driven array of cards is luck at its merriest best.
There are two ways to win; get 30 points, or five animals, and it’s probably 50/50 which will win.
Now so far this has a ‘Dominion-feel’ in the sense of a market and buying cards.
It really veers though in the ability to send one of your animals into battle against an opponent’s animal you select. Both players roll a die and add their animal’s bonuses—the highest total wins! If your total power matches or exceeds the opponent’s animal’s defense, you defeat them, sending them to the discard pile and scoring points equal to their value.
For the aggressor there is limited downside. Yes there is a modest resource cost and it is your only action on the turn, but you don’t lose anything is you lose, and you could win and get points.
Now when an opponent gets to four animals every opponent will be sending animals to battle, because if it gets back to the one with four and they have resources to buy that fifth animal they win. It’s a sudden and anticlimactic win to be sure, so you have to trim their herd.
“Prepare for fierce competition and unexpected comebacks,” said Sauder. “I’ve seen so many different strategies during play testing: from entire tables banding together to take down one player’s unstoppable lion, to one player building a board of tiny sea creatures that collectively put up a good fight. I also illustrated every card with the goal of showcasing the rich and colourful wildlife of our world. . .
“In my mind, the best part of Biome Blitz is how the variety of animal and ecosystem abilities allows players to get creative with their combinations. I love when a game gives me the freedom to create something that feels truly mine and keeps me engaged with new strategies each time I play. That was something I wanted to make sure Biome Blitz delivered.”
In the end this game is good, but felt as if it aspired to something grander, and sort of got halfway over that hurdle and tripped a little. It might be the near sheer chance of building an array that really sparks with synergy, or the sudden ending that occurs and you are defenceless to stop, but it didn’t quite grab us as fully as we sort of expected.
We often end up talking if a game will cross our minds at year end when we select our top-five, and Biome Blitz is likely one that will be thought of as a game we hoped would be top-five, but is will likely be at best an honourable mention.
