Game summary:
A game for 1-5 players
Play time 90-120 minutes
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artist: Andrew Bosley, Rom Brown
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Unboxing
This expansion got the following new components:
10 new asymmetric civilization mats
15 new tapestry cards
7 unique painted landmark miniatures
5 landmark cards
4 new space tiles
1 replacement space tile
12 landmark tokens
1 rulebook
1 exploration bag
Let’s get it to the table
This expansion for Tapestry is really something that I was looking for. Almost everything is again great quality. So let’s dive into this expansion and see if it’s really worth and needed.
First we’re going to shuffle the new mats and tapestry cards into the original components. Place all the exploration tiles into the exploration bag that comes with this expansion. Then replace the space tile with the new tile and shuffle the new space tiles with the other tiles.
The landmark tokens can be placed on the corresponding spaces on the advancement tracks. You can use it as a reminder that the corresponding landmark is still available or not.
The 5 landmark cards & buildings that belong together are selected by all the players. When you play with less then 5 players, you select cards equal to the number of players. Every player chooses a card and a corresponding building.
During the game, when a player accomplishes the goal on their landmark card, they gain the landmark and place the building into their capital city.
The rest of the setup and other rules are the same as the base game.
In this expansion they’ve also made a few adjustment for the next civilization cards;
– The Alchemist;
– Heralds;
– Architects;
– Merrymakers;
– Craftsmen;
– The Chosen;
– Futurist;
– Traders;
These changes are needed to bring the game more in balance when using these civilizations.
Final Conclusion & rating:
Weight: 3 / 5
My rating: 🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲
Overall impression
Sometimes there are expansions that you don’t really need or they just don’t add enough to the base game. Well this expansion is something I was looking for because in the base game I missed something. The things that I missed was a little balance, some of the Civilizations were too strong and some too weak. The new Civilizations are more in balance and to see if this is true we’ve played a couple of games with just the new Civilizations. After playing several games, we are convinced that these new Civilizations are definitely an added value to Tapestry.
This expansion also includes a number of new Tapestry cards, which certainly add some nice action to the game including a number of sneaky, trap-like cards that can be played during conquer actions or as a regular Tapestry card.
The addition of new buildings is also a very nice touch with each player receiving a card at the beginning of the game and a building to match. This building can be built in your Capital City once you have achieved the corresponding objective on the card. You can already take this into account and reserve the space for the building in question.
The box also contains 12 landmark tokens, this is a nice addition where you place them on the appropriate fields on the board where you can claim a building when you land on it. These tokens indicate whether the building is still available or not, if a player already has it then you must remove the token from the board immediately. It is not a spectacular addition but it does look nice. The extra space tiles are also a nice addition but these are already minimally used during play, at least in our case, so this is also not a very special addition.
So we are very excited and definitely recommend this expansion, even if it is only to increase the replayability even more. Despite the fact that we are very positive I also have to admit some downsides, this expansion doesn’t fit completely in the standard box unless you go for an insert (there will be a review soon about an awesome insert!). The other downside is the exploration bag where Stonemaier games always delivers super quality, this ‘bag’ is a huge let down. Yes we use it because it is very convenient but the bag feels thin and transparent. These are the only 2 drawbacks we can find.
My final conclusion about this expansion. Besides the extra gameplay I think you definitely get value for money, the expansion is on average about €25. As in Tapestry, the painted buildings are of excellent quality, the Tapestry cards and Civilization cards of course as well. If you play the game often then this is definitely an expansion to add to the game but if you are not convinced by the basic game then this expansion will not win you over.
I want to thank Stonemaier Games for the opportunity to let me review this expansion for Tapestry! Take a look at their website for more awesome games!
