Quoth the Raven: 'I Hate Trolls!'--A Review of Order of the Gods
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Well it seems like it's Voluspa week here at Theology of Games. We had the review for the base game. Then we interviewed the designer. And today we're reviewing Order of the Gods, the new expansion for the game. So let's check it out!
If you haven't read our review of the base game, you'll want to do that first. It goes over the gameplay, which I won't be doing here.
The Components
25 tiles
- 6 Dwarfs
- 8 Freya
- 6 Ravens
- 5 Niohoggr
20 Zero tokens
16 Booster tokens for Freya (2 each of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 1 each of 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12)
The new crew...
The Setup
You can combine the sets in any way you want. There are a few suggestions included, though you can combine them however you want.
Order of the Gods--Combine everything from the base game and this expansion. This will be a long game, but you'll get to know every tile.
Rise of the Serpents--Combine all of the tiles from the base game, Sea Serpent and Hel from Saga of Edda, and Freya and Dwarf from Order of the Gods.
King of the Giants--Combine all the tiles from the base game, Hermod and Jotunn from Saga of Edda, and Freya and Niohoggr from Order of the Gods.
Master of Ravens--Combine all of the tiles from the base game, Hermod and Hel from Saga of Edda, and Raven and Niohoggr from Order of the Gods.
The whole gang...
The Tiles
Dwarf--Value: 2--When you place the Dwarf you add the values of the tiles adjacent to him and score half of that sum, rounded down.
Freya--Value: 3--You can play this tile normally, or discard her to immediately play another tile from your hand and then add a Booster token to it that's one higher than the tile's normal value. You can discard multiple Freyas in the same turn to boost a tile multiple times.
Raven--Value: 4--You can place the Raven twice--scoring both times you place it. You can't keep the Raven in one spot and have it count as "movement," and the Raven stays in the second spot you place it. You can cover up another tile with the Raven--including a Dragon--but not another Raven. When you bump a Raven, both it and the tile underneath move.
Niohoggr--Value: 7--When you score a line with one or more Niohoggr tiles, you score two bonus points for each Niohoggr in the line. If you cover it up with a Dragon or Raven, you score the two extra points only if you score the line. If you kill a Niohoggr with a Hel tile, you still get the two extra points. You still score the two points if a Niohoggr is next to Loki.
The Tokens
One of the best things about this expansion is the tokens. The Zero tokens are immensely helpful at keeping track of the value of tiles next to Loki. And if you flip over tokens, they can be placed at the end of a line that's reached its max. It's a small addition, but one that helps stave off analysis paralysis just a bit.
Love the tokens!
The Verdict
This is a great addition to the base game. The new tiles are fun and interesting--and they aren't just slightly different, but they change the game in major ways--you'll build and create the board differently based on the characters in the game. I really like that.
The Dwarf is fairly straightforward. But unlike most tiles, he actually likes to be near the biggies, such as Odin and Thor.
Freya really messes with things. She can make an okay tile an amazing tile. Ultimately, she opens up more possibilities to score, which helps move the game along. The downside is that since she's always tied to playing another tile, until you use her she clogs up your hand. So you have unique scoring opportunities, but at the cost of tile-playing options from your hand. Fun!
Niohoggr gives you cool ways to score more points, but since he stays on the board he also creates opportunities for other people to score points, too. So spaces around him become hotly contested.
Finally, the Raven--as tricky as its real-life counterpart. You can score lots of points with this guy, thanks to the double placement. But he's only a value of 4, so it can take some maneuvering to create the right opportunity. And if you decide to wait one more turn to try and get a couple more points, you can be foiled by someone placing a higher-level tile in that row. So it takes some skill to play it, but it's a fun character.
Firestone's Final Verdict--I like this tile set a lot. With this and the base set, there are lots and lots of combinations you can test out and mess around with. And because the tiles aren't just slight variations, each game really will feel unique. If you like Voluspa already, there's no reason not to add these tiles to the experience. If you're unsure, you can always try the game before you buy, over on the game site yucata.de. Hit me up and we can play over there together! My username is firestone.
Thanks for reading!
