Merlin

MERLIN

As my first game article here writing about a game that is difficult (but not impossible) to get and a little on the pricey side is probably a dubious decision. I purchased my copy through Queen's kickstarter for the game, which also meant you had to get Pioneers as part of the bundle - there was no way to get it separately. But as a big Stefan Feld fan and with Queen stating that Merlin would probably not get a North American retail release (or even any retail release) I felt it was worth it (there was maybe a little FOMO in there too). As Pioneers turned out to be a good game anyways I felt that the risk paid off. In the end the Board Game Geek Market has a number of copies of Merlin for sale on their own for those seeking it out. I am hoping future games from him come through more normal distribution channels.

For anyone familiar with Feld games, Merlin is as Feld-ass Feld game. Even co-designer Michael Rieneck (of Cuba fame) could not restrain the dice rolling points pizza of Merlin's design. The basic game mechanics of Merlin have you rolling a few dice at the start of each round and then in turn each player uses one of their dice to move one of their playing pieces clockwise (or the neutral Merlin piece either way) around the "round-table" of action spaces. Each of these spaces allow you to perform a huge variety of actions all which move you ever forwards in the game. Get flags to defeat traitors, place influence to score area majority points, place your workers in key locations to complete quests, get banners that allow you to modify your dice rolls, place manors on the environs map for end round points. It goes on and on. Each turn you try and take advantage of the best way to use your die to get you the most points. There is no blocking, really only a few true interactive elements such as the first-come-first serve territories on the map and hoping someone doesn't move Merlin before you can use him for a clutch points grab. It's a heady race to just get as many points as you can in the few turns the game gives you.

As a fan of Feld points-pizza games there is a lot about Merlin I like. The dice as a way of determining your turn by turn strategy has been a favorite of mine since Castles of Burgundy. Any player being able to use the Merlin piece (and even move him counter-clockwise) is a good wait-or-dare mechanic. The general flow of Merlin really works for me. The two turn build up to a scoring round, building up your influence, getting the banners you need to defeat approaching traitor forces. Hoping you get the die rolls you need or being forced to spend the limited resources you have to manipulate them. I think it's really good. The art on the boards and pieces is really nice, though at times a bit cluttered (more on that latter), I like the style. All the components are of good quality, I've not found any bits that feel flimsy or cheap.

There are a few things that bother me, the board set up being the biggest. The game has you set up all of the dozens of bits onto particular locations on the board, into their respective regions. It takes a lot of time and really makes no difference in game play, you could have just has them in piles next to the board. You could still do that but then there would be all the clearly empty bit specific spots left open, maybe some can deal with that but my gaming OCD won't. The art on the environs board also seems a little last minute and doesn't quite cut it when compared to the detail on the rest of the boards and tokens. None of these issues I have affect the game play though, which is nice.

I really like what Merlin has to offer. It scales well (2-4 players), doesn't take an entire evening to play and offers a large mix of interesting mechanics. If you like Feld games and have played out your copies of Trajan and Notre Dame see if you can get ahold of Merlin.