‘Festival’ is a charming offering from board game designer Grégory Grard, which sees players compete to produce the greatest fireworks display. The big question though: is it an absolute firecracker or just a damp squib? Let’s get into it and find out!
HOW TO PLAY
Like Grard’s other games, see ‘Castle Combo’ or ‘In the Footsteps of Darwin’, the gameplay is based around collecting tiles to complete personal objectives or shared ‘Crowd Pleasers’ on their 3×3 tableau.
‘Festival’ is a charming offering from board game designer Grégory Grard, which sees players compete to produce the greatest fireworks display. The big question though: is it an absolute firecracker or just a damp squib? Let’s get into it and find out!
HOW TO PLAY
Like Grard’s other games, see ‘Castle Combo’ or ‘In the Footsteps of Darwin’, the gameplay is based around collecting tiles to complete personal objectives or shared ‘Crowd Pleasers’ on their 3×3 tableau.
During your turn, you have the choice of picking up a new objective from a pile of objectives or selecting and placing a tile on your tableau. Your turn is then rounded off by moving any completed objectives to your scoring zone. Objectives are based around the placement of tiles with specific colours or patterns on your tableau.
At the end, scoring is based on points for completed objectives / Crowd Pleasers and then the number of tiles you have that match the target pattern and colour of your city palette.
With a playtime of around 20 minutes and a very short reset time, it’s a breeze to setup and go again for another game if you haven’t got your firework fix.
STRATEGY
In this game, you will mainly be focused on your own tableau but, the more devious of players will be keeping an eagle eye on the plans of the other players too. Each player can draw tiles from either of two piles, shared with the players to their left and right respectively, so there are opportunities for mischief by manipulating the tile supply for other players.
‘Crowd Pleasers’ can be claimed at any time by any player so if you can claim these early then you’re depriving the other players of crucial points that may tip the balance during the final scoring.
TARGET AUDIENCE
If you want a game that encourages massive grand strategies then “Festival” is probably not what you’re looking for. The core mechanics are quite simple and it is hard to apply too much planning in the face of the randomised tile stacks. Turning the perspective about though and it’s obvious that the simplistic gameplay makes “Festival” a great choice for playing with family (no adult content so it’s very kid-friendly) or with friends who haven’t caught the board-game playing bug …. yet.
A special mention needs to be made of the Melody Leblond’s adorable art style which, along with the gentle gameplay, mean that although you’re playing against the other players they never feel like opponents (which is why I haven’t used that word in this review).
If you want a game that is easy to pick up, quick to play, gorgeous to look at and won’t cause a Monopoly-style rift between players then ‘Festival’ is a fantastic option.
SUMMARY
All in all, playing “Festival” with friends, the simple game loop means you can very quickly teach the game to friends or come back to it having not played it for months and the delightful art-styling helps to create a fun atmosphere as you build your fireworks display. If you’re looking for a tense game of wits that commands your attention then you’ll probably want to look elsewhere, but if you want to have a calm evening / weekend with friends, catching up whilst collecting tiles then “Festival” is a fantastic choice that you are going to want to add to your collection soon!
