Pond: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Area Control, Assymetric, Deck Building
Player Age: 13+ Player Count: 2 - 4 PlayersTime to Play: 30 - 60 Minutes Game Designer: MingYang Lu
Player Age: 13+
Introduction:
So far Brother Ming games seem to be focused on high interaction head to head games. This time they are exploring the calm nature of fwooogs, sorry frogs. Pond is an area control game with a good blend of light asymmetry and deck building.
Game Anatomy:
Frog Cards:
Anytime during the game five frog cards will be revealed and available for purchase. The frog with big net and the frog with two knives will also always be available for purchase.
Each frog card will have a berry cost on the top right, followed by points in the middle of the card. Each frog card will have an ability. This could be one ability or a choice of abilities.
Some frog cards offer reaction cards that can be played out of turn as a response to certain conditions.
Starter Deck:
Each player will start the game with a starter deck of ten cards. Five of these will be frog cards specific to their faction, one long fwooog specific to their faction, two knife cards and two net cards. Two elements to note about the starter deck is firstly these cards are not like normal deck building games. They are useful cards, if the player doesn't add many cards to their deck during the game they will still have a strong hand of cards.
Secondly each faction contains two unique cards in their starting deck. The fwooog card which will always have a way to merge two frogs into a fwooog
and multiple frog cards which will always be able to be used as one berry while containing another option. For example the banana frogs are focused on marching while the pumpkin frog has more opportunity in creating lillypads or additional berries.
On top of the starting deck each faction is paired with a unique ability on their player board.
Hero Cards:
Pond contains one extra step each time a player's deck is reshuffled. Before reshuffling a player must hibernate. Hibernating removes one card from the players deck (of their choice). There are also some cards that will allow additional hibernate actions or affect the action.
These hibernate cards can then be used on a player's turn to purchase a hero card. Hero cards cannot be purchased with berries. A hero card doesn't enter the deck instead they stay face-up and are permanent effects added to the player's engine. The hero cards will also award additional points at the end of the game.
Frog:
Each turn one frog will spawn at every long fwooog (of their faction) location. These frogs are essential to gaining the majority and keeping the opponents at bay.
Cards throughout the game will often allow frogs to either march or attack. Marching allows a player to move any amount of frogs in one pond to an adjacent pond.
Attacking is very straightforward, a maximum of three frogs can attack the enemy frogs at once. Dice will be rolled equal to the attacking frogs. An X does nothing, a sword will deal damage, and a bomb will explode dealing damage to the enemy and the attacking player.
The attacking player can choose which player is recovering the damage (as long as they are sharing the pond), however the attacked player will disperse the damage with the long fwooog last. In this instance they will also choose the frogs sitting on the lillypad last.
Long Fwooog:
Long fwooogs aren't like the rest of the frogs. Instead they should be thought of as spawn points and point generating punching bags. Long fwooogs cannot march or attack like the other frogs.
Some other special regulations are:
- Only one fwooog per player in a pond. However, multiple players long fwooogs are allowed.
- Whenever fwooogs are successfully damaged they do not die but instead give the opponent one point per damage.
- Long fwooogs can not be placed in the centre fountain or stand on lillypads.
Pond and Lillypad:
Each board is made up of several ponds, with one side being a tighter map for two players possessing fewer ponds.
The larger map being for three and four players.
Ponds are the locations players will be fighting to control. If a player has the most units (frogs and fwooog) in a pond at the end of their turn they will gain one point token.
Each pond can contain one lillypad, these lillypads will be added in the game throughout actions on cards.
When there is an empty lillypad a frog in the pond can be moved to the lillypad as a free action. At the end of each turn the active player will gain one point for every lillypad they control.
VP Tokens:
VP Tokens are the timer for the game. Based on the player count there will be a pool consisting of a certain amount of tokens. When the tokens deplete the game is immediately finished.
Setup:
Board Setup:
- Place one lillypad in the centre pond then create a pile for the rest.
- Shuffle the main deck and reveal five cards.
- Shuffle the hero deck and reveal three cards.
- Place the stack of frog with two knives and frog with big net face-up near the other card displays.
- Create a pool of VP Tokens based on player count. Two players - 120 points, three players - 112 points and four players - 105 points.
- Place the combat dice within reach.
Player Setup:
- Give each player their frog units, long fwooogs and player board.
- Place one long fwooog in the pond closest to each player, this is their starting pond.
- Determine first player, then second player gains one; point third player gains two points and fourth player gains three points.
How to Play:
Pond is a knife in a phone booth area control game. Control of ponds and lillypads will barely last a turn let alone an entire round. At the end of every turn the active player will score one point for every pond they have a majority in, as well as each lillypad they sit on.
Players will even score points during their turn by adding cards to their deck (end-game scoring) and landing damage on other players long fwooog. Players will continue playing until an abrupt end when the victory point pile depletes. Each player will then add the points from their cards in their deck and the VP Tokens. The player with the highest points will be the winner.
On a player's turn they will spawn one frog at each of their long fwooogs pond. Then in any order they will play all five of their cards (doesn't have to be played all at once, and the leftover cards will be discarded) and buy frog or hero cards. Frog cards can be purchased by spending berries where heroes rely on hibernated cards instead. Frog cards will enter the players discard pile and the hero cards will instantly enter play as a permanent ongoing card. Whenever a card is purchased it is instantly refreshed from the respective deck. At the end of a player's turn they will draw back to five cards. Hibernating a chosen card if their deck needs to be reshuffled. Then gain victory points for the pond and lillypads in control.
Final Thoughts:
- Factions feel very assymetrical without any extra rule overhead. In fact it would be exciting to see more factions.
- Fun aesthetics with card art and whimsy units.
- The starter deck feels more useful then other deck building games.
- High confrontation but high means of respawning units, no one ever feels out.
Pond without a doubt will be in the top ten games of 2026 for me. This a great area control game with action from the initial turns. Even better the players feel that they have different options and benefits from the start. There is a mix of two unique starter cards (one of which containing numerous cards) and a faction power that creates larger benefits for certain play styles (without limiting players options). As players progress with deck-building more chaotic turns with greater changes of control will emerge. Even if a player doesn't focus as much on deck-building they never feel out of the game, firstly the starter deck feels very interesting with a range of options and then players will hibernate everytime the deck is reshuffled. Ultimately using these hibernated cards for ongoing hero cards. Resulting in a benefit of a smaller more refined deck and numerous ongoing abilities.
That is purely gameplay, the art, production and atmosphere is also very impressive. The theme is very whimsical with uniquely themed frog factions and intricate meeples to match. If you enjoy fast area control games or deck-building games that contain a board presence I can highly recommend Pond.
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