2007.10.08
Die Dolmengötter
I have now played Die Dolmengötter twice, and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. On the surface, it’s a yet another Eurogame where the objective is to push wooden blocks around and achieve majorities in areas, but I think this one has the poential to be so much more.
I won the game rather handily. What bothered me most about the game, though, is that I knew I had won from about the halfway point. Nobody else had the board position to beat me, and I was able to focus on placing dolmens as fast as possible to force an early end to the game before someone else could catch up. I’m not sure what can be done to avoid this type of scenario, given that it takes an extra turn to prep druids so they can move to a completely different spot on the board.
Even still, I enjoyed the four-player game more than I enjoyed the previous two-player game Jason and I had played. I’m not sure that it is any better than other area control games; I’ll have to play it a few more times first to determine that.
Though I do think it’s a good candidate for Reiner’s Theme-all. Die Dolmengötter is an abstract game with a very obviously pasted-on theme. I’m sure it could be re-themed to better effect. When it comes to druid-themed games, I’d much rather play Druidenwalzer, though that too has a rather painted-on theme. I guess you can’t win them all. I completely ignore the theme of Die Dolmengötter when I’m playing it.
If only it had a name like “Die, Steven Seagal.”
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