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Awards

Rating

  • Artwork
  • Complexity
  • Replayability
  • Player Interaction
  • Component Quality

You Might Like

  • The artwork
  • Well crafted and colourful components
  • The rulebook is very easy to follow
  • Options to add board games to your cosy home

Might Not Like

  • Only issue is that I don't have enough spare time to play this game!

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Creature Comforts Solo Review

CREATURE COMFORTS (1)

In Creature Comforts, players take on the role of forest creatures working to ensure their homes are cosy and ready for the cold winter months ahead. In solo mode the gameplay and goal are unchanged: gather resources, build improvements and fill your home with crafted comforts.

Standard Gameplay

In the base game, players take on the role of woodland creatures preparing for winter throughout the course of a year. By gathering resources, such as wool, stone, wood and mushrooms, players can build comforts to add to their individual homes that will earn them points at the end of the game.

On their turn a player rolls two sets of dice, communal and family. The family dice are rolled first, then players place four figures throughout the board, representing valley locations such as the forest, river, or market. Then the second set of dice are rolled and placed in the centre of the game board.

Players then use the results from both sets of dice to resolve locations where they placed their figures. To successfully resolve a location players must assign dice that match that location's requirements. For instance, to gather from the river, and earn a coin and rock, you may simply need to assign a four to that location. Other locations require more dice, such as the forest which allows you to collect wood and apples but you must be able to assign three dice in ascending order. As well as gathering resources players to purchase improvement cards that provide permanent benefits over the course of the game.

Once players gather enough resources they can build comforts, the cost of which are determined by comfort cards. These comforts might be edible, like a warm bowl of stew or jar of preserves, or they might be decorative furniture such as a lamp or a rocking chair. Over the course of three seasons the available resources will change as players fill their homes with comforts, each of which is worth points. When the final season arrives the player with the most comfort points wins.

Cosy Up For Winter

In solo mode, you remove a few cards from the improvements deck, however that is the only change, the rest of the gameplay stays exactly the same. You roll your family dice, place your figures throughout the game board, then roll the communal dice. Then you proceed to resolve any locations that you can, gathering resources and building comforts.

The objective of the game hasn’t changed either, you want to build as many comforts as you can to maximise your points at the end of the game. Once the seasons have passed you count your points and see how well you did.

Some solo games add artificial players, to add a competitive element, Creature Comforts doesn’t, but that is no bad thing. It certainly makes crafting comforts easier, you’re not competing against other players to pick up the cards you want to build. Though, I can see how this lack of competition might put some players off. However, the base game of Creature Comforts isn’t overly competitive, where gameplay focuses on worker placement and resource management, therefore it is unsurprising that this has carried over to the solo mode.

While your main aim is to score as many points as you can, the instructions for the solo gameplay also comes with a series of questions that you answer at the end of the game to determine how successful you were. These are mainly about the types and number of comforts created as well as your overall score. How you performed is then used to generate a title, on my first game I earned the title of Snuggly well stocked protector of Maple Valley. Since there is no competition in the solo mode this is an interesting way to add a measure of success, each time you play solo you can earn a new title and try and one up yourself.

Final Verdict

I thoroughly enjoy the base game of Creature Comforts and as I’ve said many times I am partial to any game in the cute animal genre. Creature Comforts is no exception, featuring adorable artwork and a balance of worker placement and luck to create enjoyable gameplay. Overall, the solo game plays like a faster version of the base game, it took me less than an hour to complete my first run through. This may be too quick for some players looking for longer solo experiences, however it was an aspect that I enjoyed. Likewise, the lack of a competitive element may not be to everyone's taste. But again, the cosy theme and easy going gameplay overcome these limitations and make it the kind of solo game you play casually, snuggled up on a wintery day with a hot chocolate attempting to beat your own high score.

Zatu Score

Rating

  • Artwork
  • Complexity
  • Replayability
  • Player Interaction
  • Component Quality

You might like

  • The artwork
  • Well crafted and colourful components
  • The rulebook is very easy to follow
  • Options to add board games to your cosy home

Might not like

  • Only issue is that I don't have enough spare time to play this game!

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