Skara Brae – Review

Skara Brae arrived via Kickstarter, and I immediately brought it to the table – after all, I really like the games from Garphill Games, known for series like Architects of the West Kingdom or Hadrian's Wall. Skara Brae is noticeably shallower in comparison, but that doesn't have to be bad by any means. The game takes you back about 5000 years to the Orkney Islands, where you lead a small Stone Age settlement.

Lohnt sich Skara Brae?

Skara Brae bekommt von uns 7 von 10 Punkten. Das heißt bei uns: gut, es lohnt sich, das Spiel öfter zu spielen. Dafür spricht: Cleveres, wanderndes Startspieler-System. Dagegen spricht: Grafisch eher funktional als herausragend. Spieleranzahl: 1–4.

Profile

• Players: 1–4
• Age: from 13 years
• Duration: approx. 60 minutes
• Mechanism: Card drafting, light worker placement
• Theme: Stone Age settlement on the Orkney Islands

A wandering starting player order

The selection mechanism is really interestingly designed: Village cards are laid out openly, and a marker indicates who is next in turn. If someone chooses a card, the marker automatically moves further back in the order for the upcoming round. You even have the option to wait – if you let everyone else choose first, you get the last remaining card, but you are guaranteed the starting player role in the next round. A clever little system that constantly creates new tactical considerations.

Village tiles, resources, and the growing trash heap

The game is played over four rounds, each with three turns. In your turn, you first choose a village card and place it in the corresponding area of your player board, thereby gaining resources. Then you activate one of ten village tiles, each offering its own actions – such as collecting or cooking resources. During the game, these tiles can even be flipped and upgraded, making the actions stronger, for example, more food when cooking.

An exciting detail is the trash marker: The more you produce, the more waste accumulates, which you must actively break down again – if too much is left lying around, you get negative points at the end. Additionally, at the end of each round, you must supply all your villagers with food; if you fail to do so, you must discard a corresponding number of cards. In our game, therefore, at least one action per round was almost always dedicated to food production.

Background: Shem Phillips again at Garphill Games

Skara Brae comes from Shem Phillips and Bobby Hill, with illustrations by Sam Phillips, and as usual, was initially released via a successful Kickstarter campaign by Garphill Games, which significantly exceeded its original funding goal of around $14,000 with over $178,000 from 1,515 supporters. A German edition is expected from Schwerkraft-Verlag. Compared to the studio's more complex series like West Kingdom or South Tigris, Skara Brae consciously positions itself as an easier entry into the Garphill Games world.

Häufige Fragen (FAQ) zu Skara Brae

Für wie viele Spieler ist Skara Brae geeignet?

Skara Brae ist für 1–4 Spieler ausgelegt.

Ab welchem Alter ist Skara Brae geeignet?

Skara Brae ist ab 13 Jahren geeignet.

Wie lange dauert eine Partie Skara Brae?

Eine Partie Skara Brae dauert ca. 60 Minuten.

Welche Spielmechanismen nutzt Skara Brae?

Skara Brae setzt auf Karten-Drafting, leichtes Worker-Placement.

Wie bewertet Brettspiel Teddy Skara Brae?

Brettspiel Teddy bewertet Skara Brae mit 7/10 Punkten.

My conclusion

Skara Brae is a shallow but quite planning-intensive worker placement game that is more functional than spectacular graphically, but still thematically coherent. Those who like games like Nusfjord or similar accessible building games will also have fun here – I would place the complexity at roughly the same level.

For fans of Garphill Games looking for a lighter offshoot in the studio's portfolio, or for anyone who generally likes relaxed but not completely undemanding building games with a Stone Age theme, Skara Brae is a solid recommendation.

Pros & Cons

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