Century: Spice Road

Century: Spice Road
Century: Spice Road box cover
Players2-5
Playing time30-45 minutes
SkillsStrategy

Century: Spice Road is a 2017 table-top strategy game designed by Emerson Matsuuchi and distributed by Plan B Games. The game is a simulation of fifteenth-century spice trading, and each player competes for points as they buy and sell spices represented by colored cubes.

Gameplay

Each turn, a player will play a card, buy a card, or take back into their hand cards they had previously discarded.[1] By doing so, the player builds a hand of cards that enable the player to collect or upgrade spices to fill orders that score points for the player.[1]

Reception

The game has received positive reviews. The Guardian calls Century: Spice Road "slick and fast-paced," noting also that the game's "speed and simplicity mask some real depth."[2] Owen Duffy of Ars Technica calls it a "tight, brain-teasing card game."[3] The New Indian Express describes the game as "clever," also praising the game's pace, a facet encouraged by the focus on series of small, quick decisions as opposed to offering many options to consider simultaneously.[4] The game currently holds a rating of 7.4 on the website BoardGameGeek.[5]

Another review at Ars Technica states that it is "slightly more complex" than Splendor, and that it is "an absolute joy to play".[1]

Expansions

Two official Century: Spice Road mini-expansions have been published as Bonus Cards Sets with unique mechanisms to introduce new strategies.[6][7] In addition, Plan B Games released a re-themed version of the game titled Century: Golem Edition. In this new version, players trade crystals and compete to build golems, and it features new art and a new setting, in a fantasy world called Caravania.[8][9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Zimmerman, Aaron; Anderson, Nate; Mendelsohn, Tom (2017-12-08). "Ars Technica's ultimate board game buyer's guide". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  2. ^ Duffy, Owen (2017-06-03). "Century Spice Road, Catch the Moon, Sagrada Games Review – Fiendish Fun." The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  3. ^ Duffy, Owen (2018-10-06). "Century: Eastern Wonders Makes Cardboard Spice Trading Fun Again." ArsTechnica.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  4. ^ Sukumaran, Arjun (2018-09-07). "Get Down to Spice Business." The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  5. ^ Century: Spice Road (2017) BoardGameGeek.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  6. ^ "Century spice road bonus cards - 1st pack" Plan B Games. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  7. ^ "Century spice road bonus cards - 2nd pack" Plan B Games. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  8. ^ Stretch, Andrew (2022-03-25). "Century: Golem Edition Review." TechRaptor.net. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  9. ^ Century: Golem Edition (2017). BoardGameGeek.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  10. ^ Century: Golem Edition. Plan B Games (PlanBGames.com). Retrieved 2024-06-02.