Nunatak is the latest game, designed by Kane Klento, creator of Fuse, Dead man tell no tales, and Cosmic factory. It was published by Kosmos in 2023. The goal of this game is, like the title suggests, build a Temple of Ice. To do this you need to put down Ice blocks and when enough of them are placed you will be able to place ice blocks on the layer above, slowly but surely creating the temple from the ground up.
Gameplay:
On your go you will pick up a card from the four face up on the board, and place one of your Ice blocks on a tile of corresponding type. The Card types are: Elder, Builder, Artisan, Sculptor, Beast of Burden & Architect. You get points at the end of the game depending on how many cards you have of each type. Most cards get exponentially better as the game goes on, so you will want to mostly stick to one strategy, but because you draw from the same pile, if the person next to you is utilising the same strategy then you might have to swap strategies in order for you to still get enough points to win the game. When a 2x2 square is completed, a new tile is placed and you get points depending on how many tiles you contributed to its support, now that there is a new tile you have the option of placing there if you have the right card. Nunatak is very similar to Azul, due to the gameplay being relatively simple, as you pick up a card and place down an Ice block. However, like Azul, the scoring is complicated and the strategy immense. Due to the great variety of strategies, every game will feel different. This is one of the only games I have played where it actually is better to play with 3 people instead of 4, unlike the norm.
Game Design:
Each Ice Block is magnificently crafted so that they fit flush and flawless to construct the Temple of Ice. There are 4 different colours to choose from: Dark Blue, Orange, Turquoise, and White/transparent. They are colours that are very unique to this game and all look great next to each other. One small issue I had was that the White colour’s point counter is pretty hard to see on the board due to it being, well, transparent. The artwork on the actual cardboard components and cards is also phenomenal with it all looking like it's part of the same cohesive world. All the tiles and cards have a number on the back so that you arrange the Temple correctly and the card types are evenly distributed throughout the game, this means that setting up the game does take a little longer than it would otherwise but the positives outway the negatives. Also, while this is a small feature, I thought it was necessary to mention, the game comes with a divider for the box so that you can pack it up neatly and efficiently, this little cardboard strip is so unbelievably useful and just makes packing up the game a lot easier, which is very helpful due to there being a multitude of different pieces.
Final Thoughts:
Nunatak is a fantastic game and deserves high praise, every component is brilliantly made and everything fits together perfectly in order to construct an amazing Temple of Ice. The strategy might take a few goes to perfect despite the actual gameplay being simple. Do you like games that get you to construct a colourful work of art, or that are simple to learn, or that are challenging to master all of its strategies? If you said yes to any of those questions, then this game should undoubtedly be the next addition to your gaming collection.
