Fireside Games Village Crone

My wife and I have been playing board games for about 4 years now, and we've been interested in making the leap into worker placement games...but none of the themes out there interested us (Agricola, Lords of Waterdeep, etc). We do, however, LOVE witches and magic, so when we hear about this one, it went on the list. We have had so much fun playing Village Crone! It scales great for 2 players--things move quickly enough that the game ends before there's much repetition. For those of you (like my wife and I) who play mostly co-op games, and are concerned about "gotcha!" type games that end in one of you sleeping on the couch--don't worry! The individual goals occasionally overlap, but due to the passive-active scheme mechanic, what your opponent does may not affect your longer plans. And for those of you who LIKE to beat up on each other, there's plenty of opportunity to cancel spells, scatter minions, and throw your opponent for a loop. It's a rare game that can accommodate multiple types of gamers, but Village Crone does it! Additionally, the modular board makes for new challenges with every play, especially in the solitaire version of the game, which functions as a resource race to the finish for one. This has hit the table more than most, and I'm hopeful that expansions are on the way, but until then..."from the belly of desire, and the laws of attraction, be chained now without distraction"--to Village Crone!

found it complicated to learn

its okay, if i could i would give it 3.5 starsits fun, but not something I rave about to my boardgame friends. at times it seems very simple, but then there are moments where the rules dont cover a situation and your left kind of making up a temporary rule or googling what to do. its a fun theme but i think it could be better, i bought it for its unique mechanics and the fact none of my friends have it yet. easy game for younger players to figure out, not not something they think is incredibility fun. Takenoko is our go to family game right now, weve only played this a few times. Dont get me wrong, there are worse games out there, this is well rounded and straight forward, but there are better games out there as well.

I have only played it once but we really enjoyed it. The boards are quality and offer variety & replayability. I knocked off 2 stars because there is a note inside saying that you can download an updated copy of the rules on the website but you can't. The piece of paper included has the updated text for the privacy screen. There is only one and if you want to glue it where it should go you need to make 5 copies. This is tacky. For the price I expect correctly printed privacy screens & rule book. I will never know if there are more corrections on the website because the reference to the rulebook is gone. It seemed to play fine with the rule book I have. The only other problem is the love spells are designated by a cardboard heart that goes on top of two villagers. It just won't stay put and keeps falling off. It is impossible to move the couple without it falling off. I'm not requesting a refund because I did have fun playing it.

I got this for my wife as a gift and we both absolutely love to play it now. It's a resource game, with a witchy twist of fun where the players must read incantations to make their spells work. It only took one game for us to both feel knowledgeable about the rules. This has been our go to go recently. I recommend it for some spellbindingly fun times!

We bought this game thinking it would be a light, quick to play "beer and pretzels" style game for our collection. We were pleasantly surprised to find that there is actually a lot of strategic depth! The theme is fun and the artwork fits wonderfully and is consistently good across all the components. We didn't have any trouble with the rules as the rulebook is clear and laid out well. Gameplay moves along quickly enough and requires you to think on your feet paying close attention to what your opponent(s) are doing. We've played this game about four times so far as a 2-player and have truly enjoyed it.

A fun and unique experience which I highly recommend. Trying to complete your objectives create challenges for other players to overcome. This play mechanic makes a very special and competitive game.We played with 4 people and it was very challenging. I expect with 5 and 6 players the game would be extremely challenging.

I've played three times now and have had fun each time. My groups enjoys "sticking it to one another" by sabotaging the other players spells, so there's always lots of laughs. the spells get a bit repetitive at times so you can get tired of hearing them in long games, but my nerds do accents and stuff so that helps. I love that you get to use your brain a little for strategy, and that the rules were easy to follow.

A fun and fairly light boardgame. Works well as a solo game as well as a multiplayer.Typical of Fireside Games, not too complex, good quality pieces and cards and a clear rulebook.

Great game, solid game play and good quality components.

Doesn't seem very balanced. The game encourages screwing each other over and at the same time doesn't allow for a lot of planning. The state of the board can change massively between turns so you can't plan too much ahead. The players objectives change too quickly so you can't determine what other players might be up to. This means you can only really start thinking about your turn when it starts, which doesn't make the game very interactive. You need quite a few points to win so it takes ages to finish.The theme sounded interesting and the spell books and board are nicely done, but it doesn't seem like the game was properly tested.