Review: 1500: The New World

1500: The New World

Players: 2 – 6

Publisher: Dan Verssen Games

Year: 2017

A copy of this game was supplied by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

1500: The New World is published by DVG and features the settling of America by European colonists during a timespan of almost 200 years. The goal of this game is not to establish the most colonies or to acquire the most profitable trade-route, but to acquire as many points as possible as fast as possible. Players compete for the limited resources and there are historical expansions that allow players to play as different nations (or allow an AI to play as such a nation). The game ends after 6 rounds and the person with the most victory points is declared the winner.

The game is easy to learn and quick to play. Set-up is easy, as players need to pick an appropriate color and determine the first player. While this may seem like a benefit, it might be better to hang back and go later in the round. The first player may sometimes draw less cards than other players and it can take longer to advance on the royal support track. The appropriate number of cards are drawn. The goal is to gather as much points as possible. Victory points are awarded for the following:

+1 point for struggling a colony from another player.

+1 point for every successful colony at the end of your turn.

+2 points for each regional or export monopoly.

-1 point for every struggling colony at the beginning of your turn.

Scoring is done at several moments, as some points are calculated at the beginning of your turn, while others are calculated at the end of your turn. It helps to have monopolies or lots of colonies. Having a monopoly can be done in two ways: on a certain type of export, which can be lumber, gold, fruit, jewels or spice; or by controlling an entire region. The first works by looking at the appropriate symbols on the maps, the latter works by controlling a colored region. Successful colonies grant 1 victory point at the end of your turn, while struggling colonies cost you 1 point at the beginning of your turn. The map is small, which means a lot of time people are interacting with each other.

The map with bottom-left the Royal Support track and upper-right the score track and the turn counter.

At the start of your turn you lose points for struggling colonies. Then you can use your cards. During your turn, you can use your cards in a few ways. For their intended effect, where you use it for the effect that is stated on the card itself. However, you can also use it to build or reduce a colony. Colonies are placed on the map and exist in several states. These can be successful, or struggling and cards are used to change their states. A card is discarded to change a colony from struggling to successful or vice-versa. Other cards can be used to influence the Royal Support track, which determines how many cards a player draws and may have in their hand. A single card thus has several ways in which it can be used, but it can only be played for one of the previously mentioned effects. Once you are finished with playing your cards, the next person starts their turn and so on. After everyone’s had their turn, the game advances to the next round. After six rounds the game is over.

Reactions are good, as it gives players a choice to do during when it’s another person’s turn. This is also where a choice needs to be made. You can keep back several cards to anticipate the other person’s turn. However, if you keep many of them, you might need to discard cards later on to the appropriate hand size. Reaction cards are noted as such and do indeed provide something extra to the game.

A sample of cards. The cards on the right are reaction cards.

Another good thing is that the game plays fast. One of our players compared it to ‘Settlers of Catan, but on steroids’. Colonies are built fast and lost rapidly. While it might be a shame it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. After all, struggling colonies detract from your score, while lost colonies don’t count towards your total.  Regarding the actions of other people, you have to make a decision about this involving the cards in your hands. They can be used in your opponent’s turn under certain circumstances, but if the situation doesn’t present itself, the player is left at a disadvantage.

The amount of cards also contributes to another point. Hand size is essential to success, because the more cards you draw, the more things you can do during your turn. While this is good, it can also result in situations where a specific player gets picked on. If several people work together to keep a player small, it’s really hard to make a comeback, as you are limited in your options every turn. Someone on the top of the Royal Support track has 7 or 8 cards to spend per turn, while someone at the bottom has ‘just’ 4 cards per turn. The difference is that the top player has almost double the amount of actions than the unlucky player. The top players can then consistently use a few cards to limit the hand size of their opponents, while they can continue to grow. With a larger number of players, or an AI, this situation won’t take place, but in lower player numbers it could occur more often. Although the situation is not likely to present itself, I wanted to mention it.

The aim of the game is to acquire as much points as possible and it offers an area-control game where the players scramble for points. It’s a brutal conquest, which involves a lot of betrayal and destruction as the players fight over the Royal Support and/or the Victory Point track. While other DVG do a better job of blending theme and mechanics, the game is still good. Overall, the game is easy to learn and fun to play and provides good entertainment for a light evening.