Pioneers in Peril
- Board's Eye View
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Wow! We've seen our fair share of wooden boxed games but Deadwood Games' Pioneers in Peril still stands out. It doesn't just come in a laser-cut wooden box but, with the exception of the deck of laminated cards, all of the components are laser cut and etched.
Pioneers in Peril (PiP) is an epic '4X'-style sandbox game set in the Old West. The 2-4 players each start off with two settlers, each of whom can ordinarily carry out two actions on your turn. You'll be exploring, staking claims, building a homestead and maybe a ranch or mine. Each settler can develop a specialty, represented by taking a diploma. You will need to buy tools in the General Store, along with bullets for your gun, so you can work your claim, hunt and defend yourself from a bandit who will periodically try to raid the settlers. You can start a family, adding more settlers, but you'll need to grow food or buy it because all your settlers have to be fed... You can hire laborers and you can even turn to the Almighty, tho' prayers sometimes go unanswered.
Our fondness for open-ended sandbox games probably began with the space-themed Xia: Legends of a Drift System (Far Off Games) where players can follow whatever path to 'fame' - lawful or otherwise. Pioneers in the town of Peril generally follow the straight and narrow but if farming and ranching feel like hard work, you can always spend time in the Saloon as a gambler...
The Bandit is a non-player character that's controlled by every player as the last phase of their turn. The Bandit moves towards a pioneer and will try to force a holdup. When the Bandit tries to rob you, you can meekly pay what he demands or you can try to shoot it out with him.
It's the shootouts that deliver a real adrenaline rush by putting the peril in Pioneers in Peril. When you're involved in a shootout you take the number of Attack or Defend cards equal to the number of bullet tokens you're using (up to 10); the Bandit and the Sheriff non-player character always take all 10 cards. Competing players flip cards from their attack/defence decks until a card shows a hit and that player calls out the word 'hit'. The shootout introduces a dexterity element to the game because it helps to be quick on the draw but there's a strong push-your-luck element too - especially if you're involved in a shootout but aren't able or willing to risk using 10 bullets; with fewer bullets you might not even have a hit card in your deck! Pioneers who win a shootout get to loot the loser; so if you win a shootout against the Bandit you get to take loot (money) from the Bandit's hideout. If a pioneer loses a shootout, however, they are killed. And if that numbered settler holds a diploma, that's returned to the supply.
The laser-etched wooden components are impressive and add to the game's rustic pioneer charm, tho' we would've preferred numbered meeples to represent settlers rather than identifying shaped objects (boot, bag, bottle, hat) as these might add further to PiP's immersive appeal. As is usual with laser-cut components, you must expect some soot residue from the production process. We had sooty hands on a first play before taking the trouble to gently wipe the edges of all the tiles.
Deadwood Games are launching Pioneers in Peril on Gamefound on 1 September. Click here to mosey over to check it out.
