There is nothing quite like feeling cosy. From pyjama’s to blankets and throws, whatever your vibe is, there is nothing like it. For me, the sound of fire, plus that irresistible warmth, is what I think of when it comes to cosy. And with cosy comes a whole lot of board games to fit this vibe perfectly. From Coffee Rush to Flamecraft, the list of cute and cuddly titles is endless.
With this backdrop comes the new game Sweet Lands, created by Totsuka Chuo. A heavier game than the title suggests, this game’s theme is caramelised by the ultimate sweet theme. A fantasy, almost fairytale story places you as competitors to become the new ruler of Sweet Lands. For 1 to 4 players, this game take between 1 hour 40 and 3 hours this game is certainly a Euro driven experience!
Place, Draw, Points!
Each player has their own Map Board where they will be placing terrain tiles and scoring points throughout the game. As you develop cities, you’ll advance your prosperity before the 5th round comes to an end. Each player will appreciate the income phase, actions, and playing cards all used throughout the game. Actions include placing tokens on your map and incorporating adjacency bonuses.
There are plenty of opportunities to score different points depending on the feel you have in each game. There are also various alternative adjustments that can be made to change up the replay value of Sweet Lands.
Taking elements of worker placement plus the variety found in many games of this genre, Sweet Lands delivers with five different city maps for variation across players and new challenges to face each time. The game is a little bit of a beast to set up with various elements of the main board to have ready and organised before the game starts. But the artwork and amazing theme make this more than worthwhile.
Icecream or I Scream?
This leaves us with a question: Sweet Lands too much? With a complexity rating of over 4 on BGG, this game is not for the faint-hearted. However, it is my opinion that once you have played one Euro, then every other Euro after that is so much easier. There is nothing about this game that makes me want to flip the table. The only flipping involved is the upgrading mechanism.
The game is so generous with its points that it provides a good score around 270, considered good by the designer themselves. While the game has a long time on the table for players around the table, it feels sweet and easy to digest.
For those who might have played Gaia Project, Ark Nova, Lost Ruins of Arnak or Brass: Birmingham will like this game. For the theme it might not be to everyone’s taste, but it is a fun a cosy theme with a hidden killer instinct. Massively replayable and good solo and at 4 players too this game has everything a good Euro should be.
