In "Boże Igrzysko" I played once in a group of 4 people, most of whom were unfamiliar with the game, while the host had played it a few times before. I can't say I was eagerly awaiting this opportunity, as I literally knew nothing about the game, but given that it's Martin Wallace and it's quite a rare find, costing close to a thousand złoty online, I thought it might be a chance worth taking. Anyway, wanting to learn about the history of cinema is akin to simply watching "Citizen Kane," because regardless of whether it's a hit or a miss, similarly, I thought it could be with this title. And so, we dove into the teaching.
THEME
As described, players take on the roles of representatives of noble families who are fighting against invaders surrounding the Commonwealth over the 15th to 18th centuries while building cities, which ultimately earns them a load of victory points at the end of the rounds and the game. The theme is there; however, the game rules are modified in later rounds to simulate historical events taking place beyond the borders of the homeland. History buffs might appreciate the foundations of "God's Playground," but for me, it mostly just elicited a shrug. I didn't feel immersed in the theme during gameplay, just some specific area control where one region attacks another, and somehow it all translates into the players' situation. Perhaps it's the fault of the graphics, or maybe I wasn't adequately immersed in the storyline, but the theme seemed just as "strong" (quotes intended!) as in El Grande, so it's there, but somehow it isn't.
RULES
It's difficult to describe the rules of such a complex game in a few sentences, which unfolds over four rounds, each leading us through about fifteen (if not more) phases, with roughly half being scripted and mainly focused on managing the game itself, rather than player decision-making. Simplifying it, each round can be divided into two stages, with the first being the time before the attack of the country's enemies, and the second being the consideration of that very attack and its consequences. Players somewhat collaborate in defending their cities threatened with destruction, but they can also make survival more difficult for each other, e.g., by depleting the Crown Army of its units (which are available to everyone) or vetoing the possibility of using those forces in battle. Everything is decided through dice rolls, and each player gets over ten per round of the game. It took us about 3.5 hours, including rule explanation, which, as I mentioned, evolve as the gameplay progresses and are somewhat headache-inducing (it's easy to make unintentional mistakes due to their confusing interpretation). On a complexity scale from one to five, I'd give the game a 4, mainly due to the lack of clarity in the rules, which, as far as I know, is not helped by the "God's Playground" rulebook itself. The host, who had played it a few times before, consulted it several times, often shrugging or acknowledging some illogicalities with the words "well, that's what it says."
GRAPHIC DESIGN
While the main board is just okay, the box with that big eagle's head reminds me of old history textbooks and is simply ugly and pretentious. It's aesthetically reminiscent of Cascadia; all it's missing is a deer and a sunset in the background. There are no player boards, just a few tiles that don't really catch the eye and are easily forgettable. 2.5/5
COMPONENTS
A rarely seen, albeit unattractive solution is the main board made up of puzzle-like pieces. Apart from that, we have cubes, cylinders, and tiles with troops. Nothing extraordinary, but also nothing below the standard level; there's certainly nothing to be proud of. The player aid looks very bad, printed on some piece of paper, but it saves the day in terms of content (if it's the host's initiative and not an element from the box, then Bartek, forgive me this rating!).
INTERACTION
There's plenty of interaction, as basically everything we do can, to some extent, affect other players (creating villages or cities as the last player in a turn exposes them to the greatest risk of destruction, there's veto, solidarity in fighting the invaders, taking over another player's village, etc.). There aren't many actions that directly harm other players, but they can somewhat limit their options. Everyone is the architect of their own fate, and it won't happen that someone treacherously stabs the winner in the back at the last minute—at least, I didn't see such a possibility. 4/5
PROS
I appreciate the educational value of the game; many board games, even if they talk about the history of our part of Europe, sometimes omit Poland. Here, Poland is the main theme of the game, and it's created by the great Martin Wallace himself. The design itself is intriguing; many aspects of "God's Playground" remind me of elements from other, otherwise excellent titles, like "Troyes" (cyclical invasions), "John Company SE" (dice rolls and partial player cooperation), or "El Grande" (the bidding at the beginning of the game is very similar to playing cards that determine the number of cubes we'll place in a given region). I like the idea of aiding your own luck, so to speak—dice strength represents a player's military units, but the number of rolls represents the player's cubes in the region, which is very clever and, up to a point, quite exciting. In my opinion, this is definitely the game's biggest gameplay value.
CONS
Although the historical background is there, it doesn't feel alive when making decisions. Everything boils down to invasions and some positioning in relation to their inevitable start. Personally, it didn't enchant me, but it also didn't bother me much during gameplay; events occurred for me in a thematic semi-vacuum. The game's graphical design definitely didn't impress me, especially the unit tiles, which, for some reason, when illustrating a specific type of knight, either replicate his image or use a different one (using the same illustration for each type of unit would definitely be clearer). Visually, "God's Playground" doesn't make a big impression (you can at least hide the eagle, but not the main board), the components are painfully ordinary; it's not a title that will catch the eye when set up on the table.
The biggest flaw, however, is the number of dice rolls that need to be performed every round, as they determine the most critical outcomes in the game. Not only is their quantity overwhelming, but so is their result. While it can be fun when a single stray knight causes a real massacre among enemy hordes, it becomes an exceptionally depressing experience when you've invested a fortune in an army, and the dice roll results destroy it irretrievably (a roll of one means the unit perishes in battle). Another major flaw of the game, no less significant than the required stroke of luck, is the entry threshold—the amount of rules to be mastered, which change in subsequent rounds. They undoubtedly require perfect preparation by the game host, a thorough familiarization with the game's FAQ, otherwise, you should expect surprising resolutions that can spoil the entire joy of the game (in my case, one of the players had a great chance of winning, but was unaware that the dice he needed to place in case of hitting an enemy had to come from his resources, not from another place on the board, as the rulebook seemed to indicate; it seems completely illogical, but the rules were merciless). And finally, "God's Playground" requires quite time-consuming and precise handling by the player; to some extent, the game plays itself, and the human player only sporadically makes decisions during its course. Resolving invasions, battles, the invasions that invaders can wage among themselves—all of this is a nightmare that favors skipping some minor step, a required dice roll, which can affect the final outcomes. I had the impression that both the host and all the players participating in the game were struggling with it.
FINAL SCORE
"God's Playground" was a tiresome meeting that, in my case, probably won't be repeated. I'd like to say that this game is about managing chaos, but it would be unfair to games where luck may be even more essential to win ("Stationfall," "John Company SE"). Here, however, we have a piece of a scripted game where the player only contributes to something over which they don't have full control, much like the game is an additional person at the table whose turns take as much time as the others. I see potential for something interesting here; it's undoubtedly a truly unique experiment in Martin Wallace's work, but in my opinion, it's unsuccessful, ending at the proof-of-concept stage. Perhaps I lack the patience, and something would click for me on the second or third playthrough, but even now, despite winning, I don't feel like subjecting myself to another multi-hour session of dice rolling and the nerves associated with it. I understand those who adore the game and want to keep it on their shelf; well, I regret not having it in my collection, solely because of its prices on the second-hand market. My final rating is four out of ten; "God's Playground" absolutely didn't appeal to my taste.
BGG LINK
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