Manage tiles, resources, and workers in Days of Wonder's newest game, The River
August 29, 2018 - 6:59am

"In the game, you embody pioneers embarking down a river in search of a new lands to settle. As you explore the untouched frontier, you will have to work twice as hard to manage your workers as they start to settle down along the way. The player with the most impressive settlement will be declared the winner!"
I'm excited to see such a blend of mechanics enter at this gaming level, because I feel that there needs to be more gateway worker placement games than Stone Age that can do something a bit new with it. While resource management itself is nothing revolutionary, how that interacts with the tile placement here is unique since new tiles have to progress down the titular river and they cover up resources you'd been using up until that point. Deciding which tiles to pick at what time is just as important as where to place workers, and on top of that there are buildings that can be bought and reserved much like the cards in Splendor. There is a good mix here, and it'll be a highlight of Essen to see how well it's received. If you're interested in learning more about The River, be sure to check out Days of Wonder's news post and also their product page which features the full rules in 6 languages!