It’s a bird! It’s a grape!! No, it’s a super-game!!!
•••Game Stats•••
•Publisher: Rio Grande Games / PD Games
•Designers: Mac Gerdts
•Artists: Marina Fahrenbach / Dominik Mayer
•Players: 2-6 (Also with Team Play variant)
•Sweet Spot: 3-4
•Mechanics: Hand Management / Deck Builder-ish / Area Control-ish
Concordia Venus is, dare I say it, a masterpiece. With a litany of expansions and alternate versions, an abundance of maps and play variants are at your fingertips. Venus, specifically, is a work of art. It flawlessly combines area control, resource management, and set collection into a wonderfully seamless experience. We’re taking you back to ancient Rome! You’ll soon see that you won’t even need assistance from Venus to fall in love with Concordia!
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•THOUGHTS•
Kitty: Ah, yes… Concordia!
Lizzy: No, but for real… isn’t it also a bird and grape?
Brooks: That would be “condor” and “concord”… so close! I applaud your continued mixing of words and metaphors, though.
Lizzy: Giggles… Bird-grape…
Brooks: Mmmkay…
Kitty: Am I allowed to just say “wow” for my part of the review? Just… wow! Lets start with the art. So I’m kind of known for being a bit of a map-whore. I know, strange thing to be obsessed about, but at this point, Lizzy and Brooks know that to instantly attract me to a game, just say the words “beautiful map!” And this has some sexy, sexy maps!
Lizzy: And y’all think I’m the weird one?
Brooks: Oh, trust, you’re still the weird one!
Kitty: And there is not merely one map, but four; lots of luscious cartographical options providing rich settings for your little Roman colonies. The board is essentially an open-air market of strategic possibilities. The market components are cute little tactile nuggets of glee; the cards have a beautiful, almost impressionistic flair. I also love the box art, basic as it may be, probably because I have a crush on Venus!
Brooks: Whenever I look at the box, all I can do is laugh while thinking about what Shut Up & Sit Down said during their review of it: That Venus is looking down, very disapprovingly concerned with how rough the child is treating the goat! And disconcerting as Kitty’s fondness for maps may be, I completely agree. Everything is artfully engaging and all components feel purposeful! There aren’t any frivolous extras (which can be nice sometimes), but rather a minimal approach with maximum effect. The regions of the map are clearly delineated by dramatically different colors, although a colorblind friendly enhancement to the region borders would be greatly appreciated; maybe some bold, uniquely patterned division lines per region.
Lizzy: Yeah, during our last play I separated one specifically difficult border area with a Kit Kat for our color-impaired, Brooksby!
Brooks: And then you ate it immediately after!
Lizzy: What can I say; I’m against border walls! Also, speaking of deliciousness, the strategic options in this game are essentially a buffet! To begin with, I highly suggest planning your turns ahead! You have an allotment of personality cards that will grow and evolve throughout the game. Utilizing these cards in a strategically stacking fashion will make each card enhance or promote the next. One of the most beautiful aspects of Concordia Venus is just how personal and specific your style can be from play to play. Two of the best parts of each game are the specialist cards and the resource wheel. The province bonus wheel creates a sense of growing tension as each region can be triggered for resource production, the amounts dependent on how much land you control in that area; but triggering resource production this way could benefit opposing settlers in that region as well. As resources get activated and flipped, the track then becomes a temptation for its monetary value instead, which upon claiming will reset all of the resources. The specialist cards I also mentioned, amplify the value of certain productions making investing in them a potential game-changer. This means that one minute you may be struggling to compete, and the next you’re the queen of cloth!
Kitty: Ah, yes. It felt quite good being wine baron for all of the land.
Brooks: It’s always wine or coffee with you…
Kitty: Look at the state of the world… can you blame me?! Anyway, another main focus of Venus is the pantheon of gods that you’ll accrue favor with as you collect personality cards. Each card you acquire has specific divine affiliations, and victory points are boosted by collections of these deities. That strategy, paired with resource specialization usually has me looking like some holy-roller wino, representin’ Minerva, hawking the ancient Roman equivalent of iPhones at the market.
Lizzy: You’re so hard, Kitty…
Brooks: Yeah, you’re like the Scarface of Concordia…
Kitty: Sorry guys… I didn’t choose the thug life; the thug life chose me. And anyway, while y’all are over there with your food trucks serving wheat to the people and being Bob the Builder with your condo development, I’m dealing with the mental hamster wheel that is economic success. There are so many ways to win Venus; like food and wine pairings, strategic options come in so many delightful forms. One treat that this game offers is the (optional) intermediate scoring phase that happens for each player the first time they play a Tribune card (the gimme-all-my-cards-back card). It provides a snapshot of how everyone is faring with victory points at a moment when you would typically be in the dark. This gives you a prime opportunity to evaluate your current strategic trajectory and do an about-face if needed.
Brooks: That’s so true! So much of Concordia’s beauty stems from the fact that all players can be doing something completely different; yet you’re all still competitively driving each other. It creates a sense of freedom not usually present in tabletop games. You’re not bound to a strict doctrine of rules, but instead allowed to gallop around the countryside, flourishing where you see fit. Also, can we please also talk about how slim the rulebook is?! I’ve literally gotten more complicated rulebooks with mini card games. How can something this complex be so streamlined and lean? It’s because the layers of complexity are derived from the free will of individual play styles present in each game.
Lizzy: That’s high praise from someone who had to be strong-armed into playing it!
Kitty: Yeah, I distinctly remember a lot of protestations because it looked like: *clears throat* “just another economic, euro-game.”
Brooks: I feel personally attacked…
Lizzy: Well, it’s fortunate that we successfully coerced you into playing, because now we have another incredible game that perfectly translates to remote play. The table-to-screen learning curve is nil if all sides have a copy, even for such a deep and layered masterpiece as this. If only one side has a copy, simply doing a little preparation and upkeep is all that’s needed: take pictures of the board and send to everyone so region resources are visible, keep a dry erase token by the province wheel so that it’s ever-changing monetary value is always known to those without the copy, and have cards upright in easy-view stands to move in and out of frame when needed. If all sides have a copy though, just have one side be random, and the other sides can separate the cards into quick-search piles, and you’re ready to go!
Brooks: We promise you it will be worth the effort. Concordia is bursting at the seams with possibility, all concealed in it’s large, yet understated box.
Lizzy: Please, check this game out! It packs so much more of a punch than you can possibly imagine. There are multiple iterations of it, but we feel the Standalone Venus is the best so far. We’ll definitely be doing reviews on other versions and expansions in the future!
Kitty: Venus is as seductive a game as she is a goddess. Lithe and enticing are every strategic option. Turns are quick, yet every decision is important. You’ll manage your hand, your resources, and your favor with the gods; all while keeping a watchful eye on competitors encroaching on your territory.
Brooks: This game is as exalted as it’s title implies; as if chiseled out of marble like it’s namesake, Concordia Venus stands firm in the pantheon of gaming greats!
Brooks: 10/10 ~ Kitty: 10/10 ~ Lizzy: 9/10
!!!Game Playlist!!!
Rome ~ Dermot Kennedy
Venus ~ Lady Gaga
Emperor’s New Clothes ~ Panic! At The Disco
Architect ~ Frightened Rabbit
Drops of Jupiter ~ Train
Mars ~ Alexander 23
Concordia ~ Happy Hollows
Roman Holiday ~ Halsey
Venus ~ Sleeping at Last
Rome ~ Phoenix
Long Distance Gamers 