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My husband has the soul of an architect. By profession he is a project designer, and his heart beats for scaled drawings. I am pretty convinced that he actually views the entire world top-down. Every building provides him with an irresistible chance to analyse spaces, flows, and features.
And so, when I heard Deep Water Games announce Floor Plan, it went straight onto my wish list. Granted it took a little while to arrive in the UK, but my husband didn’t mind. After all, Christmas presents in May are even more exciting! And, having now played it together more than 5 times in one week, the wait was worth it (phew!).
So what is Floor Plan? Will it get you sharpening your HB pencils in delight? Let’s find out!
Super Simple Set Up!
Floor Plan is a roll and write game where you are an architect designing a house for a client. And, like most games in the genre, set up is really quick.
Firstly, select one card sat random from each of the four Design, Build, and Layout cards, and place them face up. These are the common objectives which every architect will be aiming to achieve. Then give everybody their own sheet and a pencil, and place the two D6 dice in easy reach. You will always start the game by drawing a living room, but then you are ready to roll!
Simultaneous Structure!
As Floor Plan is a simultaneous action game, once the two dice are rolled, everyone takes their turn at the same time. But each D6 presents you with options from a prescribed menu printed on your sheet. And every number on each dice represents a different room or a feature.
For example, the dice are rolled and show a 2 and a 4. If you choose o draw a room, you will choose one number as the room type. The two dice together then form the dimensions of that room (e.g. a 2 and a 4 could be a 2 x 4 sized Washroom (2) or Kitchen (4)).
Alternatively, if you forgo the chance to draw a room on, you will select the two sets of features corresponding to those same numbers (e.g. 2 doors (2) and 4 furnishings (4)) and draw them somewhere on your sheet.
As you can probably guess, your actions on each round are going to be influenced by what your demanding client wants, as well as what can be fitted into the ever reducing space on your sheet.
Once you achieve an objective, you write the corresponding number of points in the first available space on the track at the bottom of the sheet. You will also gain the bonus action underneath it. It doesn’t have to be used on the next round so can be banked for a later turn.
When a player has achieved 6 objectives (which can be multiples of the same type or different ones), the game ends and scoring begins. The player with the most points overall is declared the grade A+ Architect!
Top Floor!
I love roll and write/flip and fill games. They are generally portable, accessible, and easy to learn. You can play them over video call or around the table. You can play by yourself or in a big group. And, whilst there is a trend towards adding more elements and direct player interaction, sometimes keeping a roll and write straightforward just works.
And this is one of those examples. Floor Plan is a simple concept; you roll two dice and you make a choice.. But it has a subtle layer of calm crunch which I like. It isn’t a mad cap, sheet swapping, dice rolling rodeo type game. It is a game where you sit, you look, and you plan (literally!).
With objectives competing for space and rolls, you will have to make choices. Further, as only very few allow you to utilise the same feature or room twice, your decisions become squeakier as other players fill up their score track and your sheet space diminishes.
For that reason, Floor Plan is also on the slightly lengthier side of the genre. Our games have averaged around 35 minutes factoring in my AP proneness, which possibly takes Floor Plan out of strict “filler” territory.
Drawing Diversity!
I really like the efforts Deep Water Games and the designer, Marek Tupy, have made to promote diversity within the game. The theme works well with the mechanic. Plus the designer has seamlessly integrated need-specific objectives as well as a wide range of clients into the game, refreshingly mirroring the real world.
Plan for the Future!
I will say that Floor Plan isn’t perfect. The sheets are small (and only one sided) so the text and bonus information (including the initial freebie bonus) can be hard to see. The Design and Build objectives aren’t overly distinctive either. But that doesn’t really matter so long as you achieve some!
I am also a little disappointed that I can win despite my house making no actual sense. Now, this is probably more down to my own issues than the game, granted. But I won last time even though I had zero bathrooms. And that irritated me. Indeed, my husband concentrates so much on making his building “work” that he misses most of the objectives (hence my wins!).
I think a minimum set of basic requirements on top of common objectives with point penalties for missing out would be good. As a simple fix, we are considering a house rule along these lines to enhance the strategic gameplay. Similarly, some personal, secret objectives could also help to make Floor Plan even crunchier. They wouldn’t affect what you do (i.e. would not result in hate-drafting). But, if you see a popular room or feature regularly cropping up on another player’s board, it might force you to make different decisions to mitigate those effects at end-game scoring. On that basis, I would say Floor Plan is exciting as it is ideal for lots of fun expansions.
We love building games but nearly all of the ones we own are tile layers. As such, we really enjoy this roll and write twist on construction, and l am really looking forward to seeing what Deep Water Games do with Floor Plan in the future!
