A game about completing tasks for the Spirits of Nature, so they can live in harmony.
1-4 players, ages 8+
30-60 minutes
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artwork: Lukas Siegmon
Publisher: Skellig Games
https://www.skellig-games.de/
The comparison with Nova Luna seems inevitable. Players place tiles with discs in front of them, try to fulfill them, and score points. But as Nova Luna was clearly the result of a marriage between Patchwork and Habitats, the gameplay in Sagani feels different enough for me to own both.
Each tile has a number of arrows on it. The more arrows, the more points, but of course also the more difficult to complete.
The rules are easy to teach, it took me just a little bit over 5 minutes to explain the game to my wife and son.
On your turn, you pick a tile and place it next to another tile that’s already in front of you. You put just as many discs on the tile as it has arrows. If you manage to place arrows pointing in the direction where there’s already a tile of the same color, you place a disc on the arrow, and you check if the tile matches with arrows on earlier placed tiles. When a tile has all of its arrows covered, you flip it and score points.
!! Don’t try to take only the high-value tiles! I did try it, and I can’t say it was a very successful strategy.
I think the artwork on the tiles looks great, but clearly the theme doesn’t really matter as the game feels very abstract. The components are OK for me, this is a little puzzle game so I don’t feel the need for any unnecessary ‘upgrades’ that would only increase the price.
Conclusion: Sagani is a fun puzzle game, very accessible but thinky enough for me to keep in the collection. I’m sure this game is going to hit the table on a regular basis, it’s perfect for casual sunday-afternoon gaming with the kids, but also in between our heavier games with more experienced players.
Tabletopping 