OUR REVIEW
WINE OR WHISKY?
Ora et Labora
SET UP MONASTERY HUSBANDRY IN FRANCE OR IRELAND
A few years have passed since the two games by Uwe Rosenberg, Agricola and Le Havre, have been published by Lookout Games. I can still remember that I have remarked in my review of Le Havre that this could be start of a series which could outshine the series of alea games in the big box, published at the beginning of this century.
Well, since then, a few more big game by Uwe Rosenberg have been published, Loyang (Hall Games) and Mercator (Lookout Games), But those, at least in my opinion, do not equal the quality of Agricola or Le Havre by far. My playing partners seem to feel the same way, because I do not know anybody who puts Vor den Toren von Loyang or Mercator regularly on the table, despite in the period immediately after publication.
Now we have another game on our shelves with Ora et Labora, and at least by its look it fits seamlessly into the range, because not only designer (Uwe Rosenberg) and publisher (Lookout Games) are the same, with Klemens Franz as the illustrator the same person was employed who has been providing the illustration for all the other games mentioned above. And while Mercator, the last one, has been a slight break in the pattern, as it was illustrated somewhat more realistically, Ora et Labora returns to the comic style illustrations that already have given Agricola and Le Havre their distinctive appearance.
So, on the outside all is well and as was, and when you open the box, too, you get what you already know from Le Havre, innumerable card board tiles, several game boards, lots of cards and a few wooden pieces shaped to fit the topic.
Setting aside the components, you find four different rule books and four double-sided overviews of the game in size A4 – WOW!
But don’t panic, basically the rules of the game are rather simply; one of the rules provides information on how to set up the game, one other is the real rulebook featuring all that is important for the smooth flow of the game, one is a listing of the buildings that you can consult if you have a question on a card detail, but need not be read completely. And the fourth set of roles is the so called explanatory rule, which gives a good summary that is sufficient to let you play the game.
It is clear that people have put a lot of attention and a lot of brainpower into the structuring of the rules and I think that it makes absolutely sense to split them this way albeit me not using the explanatory rule not for this purpose. But I did explain the game based on the summary, which works, well too. But the explanatory rule is very useful if you did not play the time for a while and want to kind of recap it quickly.
But now enough of the talk of all the side issues, the most important feature of a game is the game itself, and on this topic so far I have written nothing.
At the start of the game you must decide if you want to play in France or in Ireland. Those two fundamentally different versions of the game offer different sets of buildings and partially also different resources. Both variants play somewhat differently, but the course of the game is the same.
The game is played in rounds; 24 rounds + 1 bonus round in the long game, 12 rounds + a bonus round in the short game.
In the middle of the table you play a polygon disc on which a spinner arrow is fastened. Each corner of the disc represents one round and in each round you move on the arrow by one corner. Basically you play turns in clockwise direction. In a round each player has exactly one action, with the exception of the starting player, who has a second action, when all players are done with theirs, and then the starting player marker is handed on.
Parallel to this the polygon disc governs the supply of resources. For each basic resource there is a wooden piece which sits on a spot for a certain round. When a player takes one of the resources, the wooden marker is placed on the spot for the current round; if nobody takes the resource, the marker stays where it is. The longer a resource is not taken the more you get of this resource when you take it.
In the final outcome the mechanism is totally different from the one used in Le Havre, but the result is somewhat similar: Players have actions in turn with changing starting players, and the resource stores mount up until somebody harvests them.
If it is your turn you can choose one of three possible actions:
Before or after the actual action you can acquire a new landscape tile. These get more and more expensive in the course of the game, provide new building sites and are the only way to acquire new cards for forest and moor.
Always, after a number a rounds, as well as at the end of the game, there is a settling phase, which you can use to set up settlements. Settlements are building cards, too, which do not allow additional or new actions, but can – when cleverly placed - score a lot of victory points at the end of the game.
With each settling phase, with the exception of the last one, new buildings are introduced into the game which spur on the flow of the game.
At the end the game is scored. You can already collect many victory points during the game in the shape of tiles, all buildings that you constructed earn you victory points and settlements yield additional victory points, the more the better you did place them, because all buildings, as the settlements themselves, yield positive or negative dwelling value for neighboring settlements which is converted 1:1 into victory points. So you should rather set up your settlement next to a marvelous castle instead of next to a stinking slaughter house. This optimization of building placement is a separate game within the game which can quickly decide the outcome, win or lose.
All these rules are those for the normal, that is, long game for three and four players, which will take even experienced players all of the two or three hours mentioned on the box. For newbies who want to have a go at the game with four, you should plan four to five hours. But the rules explicitly advise against this.
For the two-player game and the short versions for each number of players special rules are provided, which I do not intend to cover here.
And of course, as in the games mentioned at the beginning, there is also a solo version. This of course plays fundamentally different, but can be very much recommended to all who like to fiddle about and have fun in breaking their own high score. And the solo version is also very nice for getting acquainted with the game.
So we come to the resume. Is Ora et Labora a good enough game to be mentioned in the same sentence with Agricola and Le Havre?
Well, the future will show if it will be put on the table regularly or collect dust on the shelves. My first impression is very, very positive. Despite simple rules the different buildings offer many varied possibilities, which in turn make the game a rather complex one. The game plays very similar to Le Havre, the feel of the game and the standard are all but identical. A direct comparison seems to be in order.
An advantage of Ora et Labora seems to be the additional feature of building placement. You should deliberate from the start where you want to place which building without knowing if you will acquire the building before another player snatches it up. I also have the impression that Ora and Labora offers more possibilities to score victory points and therefore offers more different strategies to win the game.
Sounds like a clear win on points for Ora at Labora?
On the other hand, the missing variability could be a disadvantage. In Le Havre there are at least some small chance-driven features like order of buildings, order of resources supplies or special buildings. All this is missing in Ora at Labora; all buildings enter the game at the same time. Differences only result from interaction.
Of course, France and Ireland provide two fundamentally different versions, which in turn allow you other strategies and the short game, too, plays totally different without being much weaker than the full game. And surely it is an advantage to play the game with different people.
But I am not able to answer the question whether Ora et Labora will remain interesting and enticing in the long run, yet, after the small number of games I have been able to play so far. But I am sure that you will have spent many more hours with Ora et Labora before it loses its appeal than you will have with most other games.
And, finally, I must mention that Ora et Labora is of course targeting the same group of players as is Le Havre. The first games can be well called brain burners before you achieve a certain routine in playing the game. If you love such challenges and have enough patience and staying power for a game that easily fills an evening, you should try Ora et Labora without fail.
Markus Wawra
Players: 1-4
Age: 10+
Time: 180+
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Klemens Franz
Price: ca. 43 Euro
Publisher: Lookout Games 2011
Web: www.lookoutgames.de
Genre: Resources management game
Users: For experts
Special: 1 player
Version: de
Rules: de en
In-game text: yes
Comments:
Well-structured rules
Lots of components
Relatively long playing tie
Lots of strategic and tactical possibilities
Compares to:
Le Havre, Agricola
Other editions:
My rating: 7
Markus Wavra:
Simple rules, but many possibilities! For me this is a better Le Havre and one of the most interesting games of this season!
Chance (pink): 0
Tactic (turquoise): 3
Strategy (blue): 2
Creativity (dark blue): 0
Knowledge (yellow): 0
Memory (orange): 0
Communication (red): 0
Interaction (brown): 2
Dexterity (green): 0
Action (dark green): 0