Element: Review

Element: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Abstract

Player Age: 14+

Player Count: 2-4 Players 

Time to Play: 30 - 60 Minutes 
Designers:  Mike Richie
Artists: Grant Wilson

Publisher: Rather Dashing Games
Year Published: 2017

BGG Complexity: 2.21/5

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Objective:

The objective is simple you must trap your opponents sage and not allow them to be moved on their turn. This can be done by mastering the elements and confining their movement until they eventually have no where to escape to.

Elements:

There are four elements in the game: earth, water, fire and wind.

Fire:

Fire spreads across the board. When adding a fire element to an existing fire, draw another fire element from the bag and place at the opposite end of the fire where you placed the first. This way the fire spreads in both directions to engulf more of the board.

Water:

Water flows throughout the land. If there are multiple water elements connected together it is called a River. When a new water element is placed next to a river it will move orthogonally a number of spaces equal to the length of the river. Depending on the water element placement this can split the river and leave half of the river behind for another placement.

Earth:

Earth packs into immobile mountains. Earth is a great way to block a path as any earth element can be stacked with a second to create a mountain. These mountains are immune to being replaced by the wind element. Any earth element connected diagonally or orthanganlly to a mountain becomes a range and is also immune. A diagonal range can block a sage from moving diagonally across this space. The earth element can only be stacked up to two high.

Wind:

Wind blows across the board. This wind helps with the sage’s mobility as the sage can jump over a wind placed next to them as a free action. Picture a whirlwind that carries the sage safely over a space. If the wind is stacked two high this will have the sage move two spaces instead of one, each wind can be stacked up to four high, giving the sage an extra boost for each wind stacked. They can jump over multiple winds in a row as well there is a gap for the sage to land between the wind elements. This can't result in jumping over the same wind twice in a turn.

How to Play:

On each player’s turn they must first announce how many spaces they are moving their sage and how many elements they will be drawing. The base option for this is that the sage can move one space and four elements will be drawn and placed. However, the player can elect to draw fewer elements so that the sage can gain another movement instead. For example, a player can move their sage three spaces and draw two elements which is announced at the start of the turn.

The active player after announcing will draw the number of elements and will place them anywhere on the map following the element placement rules. If an element or a sage is already on a space then an element cannot be placed here. There is one exception to this rule though. Similar to real life, each element can be beaten by another. When beaten, the element is replaced by the new element. The rule is:
* water trumps fire - fire is extinguished when water is dumped on it
* fire trumps wind - fire uses all oxygen in the air as fuel
* wind trumps earth - gale force winds pick up and throw the earth
* earth trumps water - water snakes through the land as earth moves for no one (except wind)

The order of placement can be chosen by the player as long as all the elements are placed on the same turn. During the placement of the elements drawn, the player can move their sage at any point on their turn. When moving the sage can be placed orthogonally (any square adjacent) but cannot move onto elements. The one exception to this rule is wind (as outlined above).

Play continues between the players until one sage cannot move on their turn due to the elements successfully restricting them.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- It has a unique challenge of controlling and mitigating the elements to effectively trap your opponent.
- Good range for player count (especially considering that this is an abstract game).
- Quick and easy rules but with room to master the elements.

Cons:
- The combination of randomised elements in an abstract game can deter some major abstract players.

'Element' is an abstract game that I am definitely adding to my growing abstract collection. This is a game that can be quickly explained but will take the players many games to begin to master. Each element can trap an opponent if used effectively. I strongly believe there is no leading strategy for a particular element as each element feels strong and variable in how it can be used. Element receives a Go-To Golden Game Seal as I can see myself playing this one over and over on multiple occasions.

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