Vitreum: Review

Vitreum: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Roll and Write, Pattern Building, Puzzle, Set Collection, Print and Play
Player Age: 9+ 

Player Count: 1 - 99 Players

Time to Play: 20 Minutes 

Publisher: DicePen

Year Published: 2023

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the Dice Pen they have more print and play games at their site here. 

Introduction:

Vitreum is a roll-and-write game that has players designing a beautiful stained glass window. Each round players will add two colour fragments to their design, as denoted by the dice roll, then will score one of the 12 guidelines. Each guideline will have three different scoring possibilities. In the last round, the players will score their very first guideline a second time, scoring big points if planned effectively. Whoever has the most points after 13 rounds is the winner.

Sheet Anatomy:

Stained Glass:

In the centre of the board is a 3x3 grid of stained glass windows. Each window has three to four fragments to be coloured in throughout the rounds. It should be noted here that not all fragments will be used by the end of the game. 

Guidelines:

There are 12 guidelines and at the end of each round you will choose one to score. This removes the potential to score this guideline another time except for the very first one chosen. The first guideline you choose will also be the last guideline you score.

Each guideline has a top colour that will give you one point for each window (not fragment) with this colour. The second section will score two points per adjacent window that contains a certain colour. The last scoring possibility is a pattern containing a colour across multiple windows that scores 4 or 8 points (8 points with the variant map) depending on the pattern.

This pattern can be scored multiple times, as long as different fragments are used when using the same window more than once. 

Colours:

During each round you will choose to use one of the dice that are rolled. The two colours that correspond with the rolled number you chose are shown above and below the dice value on the player sheet.

Setup:

- Give each player a copy of the same sheet

- four coloured pencils/markers in red, blue, green and yellow for each player.

- Place two dice in the centre of the table.

How to Play:

The game will consist of thirteen four-step rounds. After the last round, the player with the most points will be declared the winner.

On each round one player will roll both dice, then everyone will choose one to use this round. Players may choose to use the same die. Each player will then colour in two fragments on their sheet using the two colours surrounding the chosen die value. There are a few rules that have to be followed when colouring these fragments: 

- Each colour needs to be used in a different window.

- Each fragment coloured needs to be connected (via the side) to a previously coloured fragment.

At the end of each round, players will choose one guideline to score for themselves. This eliminates the use of this guideline for later in the game, with the exception of the first chosen guideline which will also be used for the last round. At the end of the game, the player with the most points is the winner.

Final Thoughts:

- The choice of which guideline to score and when is crucial to strategy, as you have to score one each round while planning for the larger scores at the end of the game.
- Players have to build for multiple scoring possibilities during the game as they slowly fill their window fragments. 
- Easy rules but great decision space.
- The final window display feels incomplete because not all fragments are filled throughout the game. 

Stained glass windows are always a theme that gains my attention as you create a wonderfully vivid contrast of colours. Vitreum encompasses this theme perfectly to create an interesting point optimisation game. You will gain points no matter which fragments you place but the challenge comes from when to use a guideline optimally. I enjoyed scoring a chosen guideline after each round as it creates a light, mid, then heavy scoring as the rounds continued. This mechanism creates moments that force players to widen their focus for large point gains later in the game. If you enjoy easy-to-learn roll and write games with room for decision making then I definitely recommend adding Vitreum to your collection. This was previously only available as a print-and-play but is currently on Kickstarter as a physical copy print run.

Click...feed the addiction: 

Dice Pen Physical Collection Kickstarter

Dice Pen

Vitreum on BGG

Facebook page

Expand Your Game Instagram