Tabletop_Gaming__Issue_27__February_2019

70 February 2019

PLAYED

e tabletop appliance of science

NEWTON

90-120m 1-4 14+ £50

WHAT’S IN

THE BOX?

◗ Map board

◗ Tracks board

◗ Four study boards

◗ 10 objective tiles

◗ 10 specialisation tiles

◗ 12 income tiles

◗ Four medicine

income tiles

◗ 20 potion tokens

◗ 48 bookshelf tiles

(12 for each colour)

◗ 32 coins

◗ 10 invention tiles

◗ 20 development tiles

◗ 18 bonus tokens

◗ Seven city tiles

◗ Six university tiles

◗ Three ancient

land tiles

◗ 20 master cards

◗ 24 starting action

cards (six for

each colour)

◗ 45 action cards

(15 for each level)

◗ Four summary tiles

◗ 16 students (four

for each colour)

◗ Four scientists (one

for each colour)

◗ 48 travel cubes (12

for each colour)

◗ Eight player markers

(12 for each colour)

◗ First Player token

TRY THIS IF YOU LIKED...

A FEAST FOR ODIN

Similar to Uwe Rosenberg’s Norse epic,

Newton treats its players to a huge

variety of options each turn, with a bit of

tile-laying to boot.

components and actions, you’ll quickly

realise that the surest way to success

is to focus on your studying as soon

as possible and set yourself up for a

steady stream of victory-point income

at the end of each round.

After all, nobody’s going to be able to

take it from you. ere is so little player

interaction in Newton that you can play

it solo with hardly any rules adjustment.

e absence of take-that will be o-

putting to those who like a bit of cut and

thrust to their gameplay, and it can feel

like each player is just sat in their point-

scoring silo. But with so much going on

each turn and everything so clockwork-

calibrated, there’s every chance you’ll

be too busy thinking to notice.

DAN JOLIN

S

ir Isaac Newton, it’s safe to say,

was a man who could handle

some pretty complex concepts.

Several complex concepts at the same

time, in fact. He was a smart cookie,

old Izzy was. So it’s only right that the

Eurogame that bears his name should

give its players a lot to get their own

brains around. So much so, it’s likely

to get your head spinning the rst

time you play it.

e loosely-tted theme casts each

player as an 18th-century scientist

competing to earn the most prestige.

ey can do this in a number of ways:

travelling around Europe, sending

their students to innovate new

technologies, studying, attending

lessons and, erm, earning money.

All this requires a lot of cardboard

on the table. One board depicts a

tangle of routes around Europe, while

another bears the work track, for

reaping coins, and the technology

track, which boasts a branching,

ow-charty array of one-way routes

towards scientic discovery. On

these you’ll randomly place a variety

of tokens during setup, which grant

a multitude of bonuses when your

meeple passes over, or lands on them.

en each player has their own study

board on which they will have to place

little tiles depicting bookshelves to

complete rows and columns on a grid,

thereby earning victory points, while

also playing down their action cards

onto their ‘desk’.

is nal aspect is the game’s

core mechanic and is by far its most

satisfying. Blending elements of hand-

and engine-building, it allows players

to add cards to their hand which,

when played to their desk, grant them

both one of ve basic actions (work,

travel, study and so on) and also

provide a unique bonus from each

card. e value, or strength, of each

action is determined by the number

of relevant symbols on display on the

player’s desk – a cog for ‘technology’,

say. You can build these up through

some judicious discarding, because

at the end of each of the game’s rst

ve (of six) rounds you’ll be forced to

chuck out one of your played cards,

losing its bonus but adding its basic

action value to your desk.

Elsewhere, you’ll be shoving

meeples from point to point around

the two central boards and positioning

tiles in a manner that will very familiar

to fans of Uwe Rosenberg’s recent

output. It’s all smartly balanced by

designers Simone Luciani (Lorenzo

Il Magnico) and Nestore Mangone

although, once you’ve nally got

your head around all those bitty

PLAY IT? YES

A heavyweight Eurogame that

demands a lot of your processing

power, but rewards you with multi-

layered depth. Though if you’re

fussed about player interaction,

it might not be for you.

Map board

Tracks board

10 specialisation tiles

Four medicine