Impressions of the game 011

 Congratulations. I bring to your attention a small review of the board game "011" - by Marco Valtriani, an Italian game designer. The game was created in cooperation with the group "Therion" (Swedish metal grandfathers, playing since 1987, who love mythological themes and are happy to add symphonic sounds), which can already attract attention; well, a solid portion of steampunk stylistics (there are GEAR!!!), which is generously seasoned on the tabletop, and partly raises the question: is it a nuclear mixture, or a senseless kitsch? Let's try to figure it out.

 To begin with, about the plot. The action takes place in the 19th century: some scientist, analyzing an unknown poem by the famous Scandinavian bard Snorri Sturluson, discovered that in 12 hours (!) none other than Ragnarok (yes, the Scandinavian end of the world!) will begin, but it can be prevented by finding some The Chosen One and a special artifact - some Organ (such a musical instrument) on which this Chosen One has to perform a special musical piece - the Song of Creation; this Song has yet to be invented. Ah yes, and the action takes place in the Italian city of Turin... So the plot immediately blew the clinic: could Snorri Sturluson know something about the organ? The music that prevents Ragnarok is immediately clear, how to write? Ragnarok will explode 12 hours after reading the manuscript ... and all this in Turin? It's clear where the music comes from here (and who's against it), it's clear where the Scandinavian motifs come from, it's even clear where Turin is in the game - but it all blows the brain together. Well, good. The tie gives an idea of what needs to be done, nothing more is needed from it. drove through

 Actually, a small explanation can be made here. "011" is a Eurogame in its pure form (except for one moment, which will be discussed later). That is, as in the case of any Eurogame, it can be transferred to any setting, and this mechanic will not change at all. For example, the action could take place in the distant future, a scientist would decode a message from the stars about an extraterrestrial invasion, and we would search for the Fifth Element, along the way collecting parts of a super-cannon that would stop the invasion. It would be just as... hmm... logical.

 Now let's talk about mechanics. No, no, I'm not going to explain the rules in full (by the way, they're small and completely learnable from the first time), I'll just briefly describe what happens during the game, and also highlight the non-standard moments that appeared to me.

 So there's a field that's a map of Turin divided into blocks - you can move around them however you want, no marked paths. There are 8 characters that move around the field. And there are 3 to 6 players - they are not game characters, they play... well, let's say, for themselves. That is, here is the first surprise: there are no players on the field, all the characters of the game are pawns in the hands of the player, and he can influence each of them. But it is the players, the "invisible puppeteers", who compose the Song, seek out the Organ and the Chosen One and bring them together - with the help of characters on the field.

 The game has 11 turns, marked by clocks, each turn is divided into phases, each phase players go through in turn. The order of the turn is set anew every turn with the help of an auction. Time is the main value used as a "currency" in the game: at the beginning of the game, each player has 45 conditional units of action (or time), which he spends on all actions in the game: movement, trading for turn order, etc. The game has ways to save time: transport can make it easier to get around, and one of the characters can even restore it bit by bit.

 In the first phase, the game "goes on": an event is drawn (which, by the way, is not an event at all - the rules for this move are simply slightly changed, for example, it is forbidden to take a specific character or another character receives bonuses during activation). In the second phase, there is an auction for the turn order (here you can bargain not necessarily for the first place - often the game gives bonuses, for example, to the third or even the last player). In the third phase, the actions themselves: the player chooses the character he wants to use and walks with him. All 8 characters have their own properties: someone invents music, someone walks faster, someone helps to find the Chosen One; if the character was intercepted by another player, then this move cannot be used. In addition to the properties of the characters, the player also uses the capabilities of the current move - they are determined by the gears, which the game is already famous for (yes, there is a GEAR!!! Three gears, fastened together and screwed to the field, which each player must must rotate during its actions, the gears are different in size and therefore give different combinations each time.

 Actually, I would like to note several points from the nuances of mechanics. First, search for the Favorite. The fact is that the chosen one is one of the 8 characters on the field. At the beginning of the game, each player is given 1 character card - these are definitely NOT selected (that is, after receiving a card in your hands, you can already exclude 1 character from the search). One of the remaining cards is placed under the board - it will be the Chosen One. Next, each player also has 4 "super action" cards in their hands - cards that give special advantages in the turn; so, their shirt is identical to the character cards. If the game or character allows, a player can randomly draw several cards from another player's hand and look at them - so he can calculate another "Unchosen". It would seem, but why not open up to everyone at the beginning of the game and thus prevent Ragnarek sooner? And the thing is, dear fans of "Arkham", that in the European apocalypse everyone plays for himself, and the one who won can be only one (these are the rules))). Actually, this is the interest: the first thing is to calculate the Chosen One, bring him to the Organ and trumpet victory.

 The second moment is the search for the Organ. There are a small number of special, "mystical" locations on the field; and sometimes players draw special tiles, which usually offer some bonuses, or can simply mark given locations. If you go last, then you have the right to put such a tile on a special place on the board to indicate in which part of the city the Organ is located in relation to this location (you will also be given bonuses for this). That is, with each laid out location tile, the place of the Organ on the map is specified, and with the last tile you simply place the Organ (and there is a special figure for it) on any block in the exited zone.

 Finally, when everything seems to be clear, and the players have adjusted to the competition usual for Eurogames (we seize the initiative and the necessary characters from each other, save resources, go to victory), the game throws out a knee worthy of Battlestar Galactica. At the end of 5 hours, Fenrir appears in the game.

 Fenrir, if it is such a mythical wolf that will begin to devour everything in the world with the beginning of Ragnarok. So, one of the characters in the game becomes obsessed with Fenrir - he wants to find his embodiment, and for this he needs, oddly enough, to compose his Song (shorter), catch the Chosen One and, apparently, devour him). Only the player who received a special card knows which of Fenrir's characters (this card is played at the end of the 5th turn, until then the player plays like everyone else). Now for the player who knows about Fenrir, the task changes: he must, by writing a Song, bring the "possessed" character to the Chosen One. Considering that the characters are moved by any player as he wants (often focusing on the bonuses they provide), hunting is far from an easy task.

 The most interesting thing, of course, is that if by the 12th hour none of the players have managed to finish their work, then everyone loses - and Fenrir, since he did not have time to incarnate before the start of Ragnarok.

 Summarizing from the mechanics, I would like to note the following: we have a Eurogame in which a task is set that is not typical of the rest of the Eurogames. Usually we just collect points - whoever has more, well done; here you either win or lose, there are no second places for you. Interesting.

 A few words about the components. Everything is made at the highest level - thick cardboard, excellent art, very accurate steampunk style. Even the notorious gears are not attached to the field with plastic bushings, like, for example, arrows in Runewars, but with brass screws on the thread! And the field with the gears attached to it is folded so that they are outside and fit well in the box. The plastic figurines of the characters and Organa are well made - there are even runes on the stands that mark each character on the cards so as not to get confused; however, we came to the conclusion that it would be good to paint the runes more brightly so that you don't have to look every time. Finally, the characters themselves are presented on the cards in the form of photographs — members of the band Therion posed for them.

 A big advantage of the game for our audience will also be the fact that the game is completely language-independent. There is no inscription in the game - everything is marked with icons, the icons are learned after a few turns - we remember "Struggle for the Galaxy".

 A rather large downtime can be called a minus. It seems that the player is not given a lot of actions, but here you go - as soon as he starts planning, and everyone else, half the company goes for a smoke break. Moreover, this problem is almost unsolvable: playing with less than four people is not that interesting at all (in this case, there is no Fenrir!!!), and it is not always possible to plan your actions during the turn of other players - because it is not known which of the characters you can count on.

 Finally, for the most patient, I will say a few words about the steampunk mushroom. Our friend, who bought the game, took it precisely because of the "steampunkness" - moreover, he evaluated this component purely visually, we did not know much about the game itself at that time. So, purely visually, from a steampunk point of view, the game looks like a solid "5". Character costumes, era, field, transport — airships, railways, trams, art on maps, GEARS!... But it must be honestly admitted that, apart from the visual component, steampunk is not felt in the game. And, in my opinion, this is not the problem of this game - it is the problem of the Eurogames in general. They have universal mechanics — that's great, but it doesn't provide any connection to the setting, no immersion in the atmosphere. As good as "Battle for the Galaxy" is in the sense of mechanics, it is just as faceless in its essence - after five games you are just sitting and calculating combinations, looking at icons, and not fighting for the galaxy. Even players who honestly play the atmosphere just for fun come to the same thing after a few games. I will emphasize once again: this is not a minus of the Eurogames, and "011" in particular, is their feature that should be kept in mind.