By Breaking Games. Designed by Luke Laurie.
If you have not heard of this game then I guess I need to say "Welcome back from your coma. The year is 2021 and you need to know about this game!!" Dwellings of Eldervale is the best looking game of 2021 easily. Every time it is on the table it just looks amazing. The box art is also incredible and the monster miniatures are superbly done. All of the other components are amazing too, from the Game-Trayz to the printed Meeples. I just love it all!! I have the Deluxe Edition so this comes with 8 monster minis and wooden resources. Standard Edition comes with standee monsters and cardboard punched resources and the Legendary Edition comes with 16 minis and sound effect bases for the miniatures. If I'd have realised that it came with 8 extra monsters I would have gone for Legendary but, I didn't so I just cry to myself at night instead haha.
The art on the box is amazing and varies slightly for the limited edition cover but, I prefer the original as it is more colourful and the limited edition is the same but of black and white pretty much (there are some small differences I believe but, I've not studied them carefully).
The components are quite simply the best I have ever seen in any game. That is a very bold statement but, 100% true. If you can find better I would be very surprised!! The colours are so bold and bright that the game looks amazing no matter how poor your photography skills, which is needed for me haha. They trays make set up and tear down simple too. If the trays were not in Dwellings of Eldervale then I do not think it would see the table much, if at all. The components just work together magnificently as well. I wish all games were this well designed in the component department!!
The game plays very smoothly too with some really interesting and deep strategy to your moves. The map of Eldervale on the table is random every time and the layout depends on the number of players. Each player chooses a faction of a certain color which, have slight differences in the player powers but, not enough to make any of them over powered or guaranteed to win. All of the player's colours plus 2 more random colours are shuffled together to make a random map and a random draw pile made from high quality hexagonal pieces that have been printed on very thick high quality card.
The gameplay sounds simple enough when your turn is either place a worker and receive the benefits on the tile or return workers to your player board and use them to gain benefits on your tableau but, actually it is a lot more than this. Some moves can get you extra men but, if you go there are you allowing your opponents to get the better resources first. Are you building a Dwelling that gains you points now and helps towards your end game points but, leaves you with 1 less worker for placing out in Eldervale? Should I go onto a tile by a monster and have a fight where I will gain some great benefit to start with but, my man may be sent to the Underworld which means when pulling back they cannot be used on your tableau to gain other useful things.....but, if you could however defeat the monster with some nice dice rolling then that may bring even greater benefits to you. These seemingly small decisions have really impactful results. If things do not go your way the game is not super punishing and for every unit sent to the underworld you get a sword resource which you can use to get an extra dice in future battles.
You start with 3 workers but in total you can have up to 6 workers and 3 special units; a wizard, a warrior and a dragon. Workers can only be placed one space away from other units, wizards can be placed anywhere, warriors are placed like units but roll 2 dice in battle instead of one and dragons can fly one extra space away from any unit and can roll 3 dice in battle instead of one. Battle itself is a little complex but, doesn't take long to understand and you need to be careful as most monsters will rush in on you if you are in an adjacent hex.
You also need to try to focus on moving up the magic (not sure of it's official name) tracker in the colours that will best benefit you at the end of the game. If you get to the top each colour that matches a Dwelling of yours will score you 5 points at the end of the game. There are also magic cards to keep an eye on that come in 3 different types; spells for use any time (usually in battle), contracts that you can fill when you meet specific criteria and end of game scoring cards that as expected you save for end game to get extra points. There is a lot going on in this game and it takes a good few plays to be able to fully understand what you are trying to do, how to make sure your end game points are efficiently gained and where/when to place your different units.
One thing I really did not like was that because I have the Deluxe Version is came with a full set of standard resources as well. As well as the wastage from these I was also left with a lot of plastic waste. I expected more environmental thought to have gone in to a game/project of this size, especially from a big company and for a game that costs so much to buy.
Some people also may not enjoy the combat mechanic. It's a simple dice roll battle, better characters can roll more dice but, the person with the highest dice score/s wins. So even if you roll all 6 of your dice you can lose to someone who is only rolling 1. I enjoyed this mechanic but, I know some people who have hated it and say it ruined the game for them.
Final Score: 9/10
Overview: "Amazing components, gameplay as smooth as butter and an experience more delightful than a well-crafted Pornstar Martini. I recommend this game to all and it is a huge hit in my house. It can seem a bit overwhelming to start with but, my fiancé who prefers light games is now a Dwellings convert. I love playing this game and love teaching it to others also as it is still quite hard to get your hands on a copy here in the UK. Everyone I have played with has enjoyed the game and we have had many great times playing. If you can afford it go and buy it"
Thanks for reading this review. See you at the game table, DB.