Let's check out Neotopia the board game!

 

I had a short hiatus recently when it comes to new board game reviews! We've had a busy schedule on the weekends lately which is when we usually have the most free time to be able to sit down, learn a new game, play a few rounds & get our thoughts into order. Over the weekend we carved out a bit of time to play one of our new board games which I will be sharing with you now. It is called Neotopia & we received a copy of the game from their publisher Arcane Wonders, it retails for $49.99. I am not going to lie, when I first read the title of this game my first thought was about the website Neopets, did anyone else play on that site when they were younger? Or even still play it now as the site is still going. Enough about that though, let's get into this game a bit, shall we? This game can be played with two to four players ages 8+ & each game will take anywhere from half an hour to a full hour to play which is dependent on the number of players. 

This is a tile placement game that can move along quite quickly, the goal of the game is to complete tile placement patterns that match the pattern shown on cards in your hand. You will gain points each time you cash in a completed card pattern. There are four different groups of colored round tiles - Green, Purple, Red & Blue with matching character card + score trackers. The color you select doesn't affect anything, even in a two player game all four colors are used so the only important part is the score trackers & if you like how one character looks over another. Getting everything set up & ready to play takes five minutes or less & learning the game doesn't take up much time either. It may look like it would be a slightly complicated game, but it is actually very easy to play and is very straight forward in terms of the game play. 

When it comes to the rules, there are a few, all of which are easy to understand & there was only one that threw us off a little, which was only due to us not paying attention to the board as other players were taking their turns. Every player is allowed three moves during their turn unless they have bonus coins that can grant them one extra motion. When making your three moves, there are two different movement types available - you can do three moves of just one movement or mix it up between the two. The two movement types are 1. Pick up a card from either the "offer pile" or the deck 2. Move a tile from a factory out into a region that is located on either side of that factory. If you look at the board in the image above, you will see that there is what looks like a home base with three walls branching out in the middle. Each of those branches is called a "factory" & the very center is where the next tiles waiting to be placed out will be sitting. The board is split into three regions, each region can gain tiles from the two factories which touch its borders. When placing a tile on the board it will always come from one of the three factories unless you have the specific bonus that allows you to move it from a reserve. While placing down a tile, the only thing to keep in mind is that you have to start from the center of a region & any titles placed after the first initial tile need to be touching a tile that was already previously placed. There are only four tiles in a factory at a time & they will not be refilled until all of them have been removed. Once a factory is empty (Even if it is in the middle of a players turn) you will refill that factory using the tiles in the center of the board. There is a stack of production cards in the middle of the board, so when you refill an empty factory, you will also remove the card directly under them & use the next tile under to determine which color tiles go in the middle next.

You'll want to take a look at the board & your hand before placing down tiles so you can try to match a pattern on a card & score points. There are two important things to remember when trying to cash in cards - 1. You cannot claim a pattern that was already prebuilt from someone else in a previous round, the pattern you claim you need to place the last tile down for. 2. You will need to look at the region you are trying to claim a card for & see what picture is on the previously played card. If the photo on the card, you are trying to claim matches what has already been placed you cannot play that card. You would have to wait until a different image card was played last. This is the rules that caught us off guard from time to time from not paying attention close enough while others were laying down cards. 

Here is an example of a pattern matching a card, you can see where there are two green & a purple that make up a little triangle. You are allowed to rotate the card to make the pattern work, the tiles just need to be in the same order as on the card.

Even if it isn't a ton of points you will want to try to earn at least some points in each region, balance is key to trying to win. On the score sheet your lowest scoring region will be multiplied by three which could give you a chance to slip past another opponent when it comes to points. We've been enjoying playing this new board game & look forward to more game play in the future. It is a great option for when we are short on time, but want to play a game that is easy to set up, easy to play and quick on time. We also enjoy how the game looks, the tiles are thick quality pieces that won't be ruined if you play the game a lot and the graphics on the playing cards are quite lovely as well. Over all we are pretty pleased with this game! We recommend it to any families looking for new board games to add to their game nights or looking to get into the world of board games. Stop by the Arcane Wonders website to see what other board games they have to offer. If you are looking for more board game reviews please stop by the link on the right hand side of my blog titled "Board Game Reviews" or CLICK HERE, to read other reviews I've written. 

🎲 Does this look or sound like a game you would be interested in playing? What is your favorite feature of this game?

Disclaimer- The product mentioned above was provided by Arcane Wonders for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.