Lands Of Galzyr Review by Boardgameswithjoe
Posted by Joe Kearns on
Our favourite Instagram board games content creator Boardgameswithjoe reviews Lands of Galzyr. We are publishing his thoughts ahead of an expected restock due soon, so we hope this helps our customers...
Lands of Galzyr Review
Lands of Galzyr is an open world adventure game for up to 4 players. Embark on a quest of discovery and glory as you explore the world of Galzyr. Choose your character, receive your starting items and traits and dive into a huge world, full of possibilities and rewards. Players can choose to play cooperatively or competitively. Each game is played over a series of days (rounds) and if playing the competitive variant, afterwards the highest prestige scoring player wins!
A true open world experience
This is a game of true freedom. What you do and where you go are entirely up to you. Setting up the game requires you to bring out the beautiful map of Galzyr, which features a summer and winter side of the board. You use a weather card to set up the game, place your locations and any previous cards from the last game. These can be quest cards or local events that may have occurred. Your chosen character, which consists of 1 of 4 wonderfully drawn animals, has a small player board which depicts its traits, a money tracker and a skill dial. You get your possessions, items cards, trait cards and other positive or negative effects and begin the game.
There is no particular goal here. On your turn you move up to 2 spaces and then, using a brilliantly designed web browser, choose a scene based on where you are. This can be a quest card you’ve found, a mysterious item, a companion or even just a location or random event you want to draw. You input the scene number and follow the on screen prompts.
This transports you into the world of Galzyr with hundreds of stories and adventures you can find. You might meet mysterious characters, save a town, avoid mercenaries, travel to a temple and more, the possibilities are almost endless.
Explore and roll
Gameplay does take a backseat here with a higher focus on storytelling and world building. After you’ve moved to a location and chosen a scene, players will be promoted to perform skill tests. This involves any of the 6 skill traits and a difficulty setting, which can require a higher number of successes. You will then take the 5 black dice and replace a number of them with the matching coloured ones based on your characters skill checks. After you roll, compare your results to the chart and follow your outcomes.
This can also be boosted with various cards such as items and companions. These cards can give you extra traits to help you out on scenarios, give you extra success results in tests, help you modify dice rolls or gain extra rewards.
This simple yet effect skill check system is easy to understand and very accessible. There’s a huge range of traits and abilities to help modify your character. For instance you could become more skilled at negotiation and stealth, or have more popularity. All these small abilities and changes help you grow attached to your character and give them much more personality,
Heavy lifting
The true star of this game is the combination of the web browser and library system of cards. Lands of Galzyr features a whopping 480 cards. These include location, event, status, items, characters and more. The browser not only contains all the story text, skill test prompts and rewards but also helps you organise your cards.
Players will be presented with many choices during their adventures and these can lead to certain skill tests, ideally you will choose ones your character is more proficient at and then follow the script. At the end of the quest you will will gain rewards such as prestige and more cards. Each card is numbered and organised with dividers in the game box.
It’s truly impressive how Snowdale Design has managed to design this system. It’s easy to use and helps keep the game flowing quickly.
Not for everyone
Although Lands of Galzyr is a delightful, open world adventure, it may not be for everyone. As I mentioned earlier gameplay takes a backseat and at 4 players it might be a case of waiting for your turn while other players read through their chosen scene.
The game can be played competitively but there isn’t really any player interaction or ways to gain the upper hand on others. The game does feature the ability to let partners in on quests and help out but this is only when playing co-op.
The strange thing about this game is it can appear unfocused and lack a clear goal. There is no overall mission or endgame, you kind of just keep playing. I can see how some players may find this a little odd and, unless your really into the world of Galzyr, might not enjoy it as much as others.
Final Summary
Lands of Galzyr is a beautiful, well crafted and unique open world adventure game. A true sandbox experience full of wonderful artwork and clever storytelling.
It’s an easy going, lightweight experience that feels like gameplay elements of Arkham horror mixed with the charm of Everdell. It may not be for everyone but it’s production quality, replay value and world building is truly impressive. .
Final Score
86%
Pros
- Open world, sandbox adventure
- Almost endless replay value
- Easy to pick up gameplay
Cons
- Gameplay takes a backseat
- No player interaction
- More suited for solo gameplay or 2 players
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