Silos: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Area Control
Player Age: 14+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players
Time to Play: 45 - 60 Minutes
Game Designer: Reiner Knizia
Game Artist: Kwanchai Moriya
Publisher: Bitewing Games
Year Published: 2025
BGG Weight: 2.27
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Player Age: 14+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players
Time to Play: 45 - 60 Minutes
Game Designer: Reiner Knizia
Game Artist: Kwanchai Moriya
Publisher: Bitewing Games
Year Published: 2025
BGG Weight: 2.27
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Introduction:
Silos is an interesting area control game. Each location has three reasons players are vying for control. The outcome from a UFO moving onto that location, the power that can be activated at the location or a mind control event awarding humans to the players. To be awarded these benefits the player has to have control of the location (some benefits award second place) when one of these benefits activates. Players only have six aliens when six locations are vying for control, so timing is very important in this game. Moving your aliens just before locations resolve (due to an area control condition being met) is the core decision space of the game.
Game Anatomy:
Aliens:
Each large alien meeple has a whimsical double-sided art that reminds me of children dressed in a trenchcoat (just aliens this time) and a human they are disguised as on the other side. When determining who has control of a location, each alien counts as one strength. Each player will have a leader alien with a cowboy hat that will count as 1.5 strength, and through the university location, aliens can become distinguished by wearing a graduation cap and be worth 2 strength.
Board:
The board is filled with six locations and pathways connecting two or three locations to each location.
Each location except for the town hall has a UFO section at the top that will hold a cow on the left-hand side and a random human meeple on the right. There is also a mind control section that will activate when three humans are placed there. Each location also has a power that will be activated when certain cards are revealed/chosen.
0 Town Hall:
The town hall determines the order of tie-breaking. This will be rearranged in order of strength when this location's power is activated.
1 Sheriff's Office:
The sheriff's office will arrest one colour of aliens from a location and move them to the sheriff's office. Not all aliens of that colour have to move the player activating the power. They can choose the quantity.
2 University:
The university will move all of the aliens of the activating player to the town hall, then distinguish one alien for that player at the town hall.
3 Shopping Mall:
The Shopping Mall allows the activating player to draw humans from the bag until one mind control track is full and the event occurs. Each mind control track can hold different coloured humans.
4 News Station:
The news station either lets the player draw one human from the bag for their own tableu or instead lets the player trade in any three humans/cows for one societal power emblem (points).
5 Church:
The church lets you corrupt any human from any other player or a focus group and take them into your own tableu.
6 Bus Station:
The bus station lets the activating player rearrange the location of any of their aliens, completely reorganising the board into their preferred state.
Advanced Locations:
There are advanced locations that can be used as a complete swap or mixed with the original locations. Some locations have small variations but keep the focus, like the town hall being for tie-breaking and the university being for creating distinguished aliens. Some locations have massive shake-ups like the bus station costing an alien to lose a distinguish to gain three random humans from the bag, or the church taking a card from the common deck into the players' once-per-game faction cards.
Common Cards:
There is a certain amount of each card in the common deck, and this is crucial information to players. Around the side of the game board it is displayed, five UFO advance cards, four marked specimen cards, two one-power cards, and one all-power card.
The UFO advances will move the UFO clockwise the player who has control of that location will take the cow meeple and the player coming in second place will take the meeple to the right of the UFO.
The marked specimen will start with the active player and have each player draw one meeple from the bag and place it in a suitable mind control track. Remember a mind control event will occur if a mind control track is full, the player in control of the location will select two of those meeples and the runner-up will gain the last meeple.
The one power card lets each player activate the power of a location they have control of. The active player will pick first. The all-power will activate all locations starting at the town hall and the player with control in each location will activate the power.
Faction Cards:
Each player has three identical faction cards. UFO sighting allows the player to advance the UFO to the next location or reposition any of their aliens. Human confluence allows the player to draw four meeples from the bag then place them one at a time, resolving any mind control events that occur. Lastly is the Your Powers card which will activate the powers of each location the player has control of. This will be done in numerical order.
Societal Power Emblems:
The meeple will come in four colours, white, orange, blue, and green. If a player has one of each (cows count as a wild), they will immediately trade the meeples in for a societal power emblem. The first player to five societal power emblems is the winner. The game can be played at a shorter length as first to four.
Setup:
- Place one cow and one random human in each UFO location.
- Place the UFO on location four.
- Place graduation caps and societal emblem tokens withing players reach.
- Shuffle the 12 common Cards and place rhe deck within reach of all players.
- Each player takes their seven aliens, three faction cards and rules guide. One of the aliens are deemed a leader and have a cowboy hat placed on them.
- The player who most recently saw a cow, will be the first player. That player will place their disk on the highest rank on town hall, this will be followed in clockwise order.
- Starting with the first player and moving in clockwise order. Each player will place one of their aliens on a location on the board. There is no limit at any location. This will be done until each player has placed all of their aliens.
How to Play:
The game will end immediately once a player has gained enough societal power emblems. On a turn, the active player can move one alien twice or two aliens once across the paths between locations. After this, the player has a choice to reveal and activate a common card (counting the revealed cards is important here) or the player can instead flip over one of their own faction cards and activate its ability (these cards are one-use per game).
Any UFO advances, mind control events, or powers activating will occur based on the cards then it will be the next player's turn. It seems like there isn't a lot of player agency in this game but it is crucial how players move their aliens and when players activate their faction cards.
Final Thoughts:
- Amazing production.
- Many reasons you may want control of an area.
Silos is a game I really enjoy. First off the player is instantly swayed by the beautiful production quality. Large UFOs and aliens with whimsical art on them are the standouts here. The gameplay itself seems like the players won't have too much agency when the rules are first read, but it's quickly discovered that timing is everything. When players move their aliens around the board and when players activate their faction cards is critical. Essentially on a player's turn there's sort of a card counting push your luck element. Where the player knows what's in the common deck and what cards have been revealed, this information is how are player will plan their turn, as they decide which location they want to (if possible) gain control of and if they prefer to go with one of their limited faction cards. This is a great game that feels very unique in the area control genre, as it is a unique blend of mechanisms. Since it is easy to change and lose control of areas that at times it feels more like an action selection, push your luck game, wrapped in a race package. I easily recommend this game, as it is earning a Go-To Golden Seal.
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