Leylines
- David Breaker
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Leylines from Arcane Wonders reimplements a trucking-themed pick-up-and-deliver game from Wolfgang Kramer called Auf Achse (Schmidt Spiele). Auf Achse was the winner of the coveted Spiel des Jahres award in 1987 and was a light family game, and Leylines is likewise a great family game. This time, Wolfgang Kramer is joined by co-designer Daryl Andrews, and with it comes a new, lighter, family-friendly fantasy theme. In Leylines, you are inhabitants of a magical forest who gather resources to survive by following the leylines. You will be visiting crossroads to bid for contracts and gather items to increase your power. At the start of the turn, you will roll your dice, which you will slot into actions to either move or collect resources dotted around the board.
The game flow is simple and easy to pick up, which is great for teaching new gamers. You have plenty of choices to make on your turn, based on what you rolled on your dice and the contracts you want to complete. There is a bit of race in the game, as you not only want to grab resources before the other players but also to complete as many contracts as you can. The game plays rather quickly, with strictly limited actions achievable each turn: four actions a turn with an item that gives you an extra die to roll per turn. This means the time to complete contracts goes by quickly.
The bidding mechanism to draft the contracts at the crossroads is clever and fun, as it gets all players involved. When you bid, you might want to bid not to get the contract but because you want to make it more expensive for the player who particularly wants it. Also, as part of the bidding phase, one of the players is able to claim a 'follower' card, which gives you extra scoring abilities or access to one-off useful actions. Often this is the most interesting and interactive part of the game. The decisions here can have a big impact on the other players and what you are able to achieve, either by getting that one contract that works for you or gaining a 'follower' card that gives you a valuable boost.
From a production point of view, the game quality is great. The artwork is beautiful and really aligns with the theme. The board is colourful and pops, with the only slight downside being that the letters used to draw new resources at the end of the round are often hidden with said resources. It is a tiny production decision which really doesn’t ruin the game by any means, but it can be a pain.
Overall, Leylines is a fine lightweight game. It challenges you enough with the action planning, and also rewards you for clever planning. Every group I introduced the game to enjoyed the flow of the game and said they would happily play it again. It is great for families trying to get into games, and also engaging and simple enough for kids to enjoy.
(Review by David Breaker)
