Heartland

EvEvanstar5,9

This is a punchy euro farming game. In this game you lay tiles and score points based on contiguity of icons on either side of the tile. There are two different ways to score. One lets you get points, the other lets you increase on the matching tech track. When you reach a certain threshold, you can place a barn token which claims an area just for you, which will pay out for you in points at the end of each turn. The trick to this is other players can still lay dissimilar tiles across your field to shrink or cut it up so it becomes worse for you over time. Players who reach the end of the tech tracks also get bonus points of decreasing value for players who arrive in those spots later. Good game, lots of interaction. Can definitely suffer from tile draw luck and players not acting in their own best interests. After a few plays, this game came down to 'like, but don't love' for me. Not a bad game by any means, but I don't feel compelled to keep it around forever. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ★ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ☆ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★★★☆☆ Raw enjoyment