Awaken Realms, creators of the hit Kickstarter board games Tainted Grail and Nemesis, are well on their way to another blockbuster release with their latest, The Great Wall. This worker and soldier placement game plays one to four players in an asymmetrical structure, with each player taking the role of a different general in China during the construction of the Great Wall.
Those different generals are just the start of the asymmetrical nature of this Euro-style game, as each general has their own special power that will aid the player and each general has a different resource output (the four materials of the game are: Wood, Stone, Gold, and Meditation). From there, players can equip advisors who also have special skills, to further customize your board. But what do players do, and what's the end goal?
In the game, you'll play as a specific clan, and you'll issue order cards to send your workers and soldiers to various points on the map. in the "Wall Defense Phase," you'll send your archers and soldiers to the wall to hold it against Mongolian Hordes who attack in waves. By defeating these hordes, players gain more resources and and honor points. And while this is a competitive game from player to player, there are times when multiple players will have to work together to help the common good of the board. For instance, to continue to grow and fortify the Great Wall against outside attack, all players must contribute resources to a central pot to help build it up.
Currently, there are two pledge levels, a £45 "Tiger Pledge," which includes the entire game and all stretch goals with simple wooden meeples representing the different factions, and there's also a £90 "Dragon Pledge," which includes the entire game and all stretch goals, but with fully detailed miniatures instead of simple meeples. As of the time of this writing, the game has raised over $1.3M, with 14 days of funding left to go.
Quick Take
I think having this Kickstarter at two different funding tiers with two different levels of production quality is a brilliant idea. Too often, the only way to buy into a massive Kickstarter game like this is to shell out a ton of money. And while that's still the case if you want to purchase the fully detailed version, for those who just want to play the game, the meeple version is going to work perfectly well. More board game Kickstarters should follow suit here, as it could ease production woes for the publisher and offers an affordable option for players.
To back your copy of Awaken Realms' The Great Wall, head over to their Kickstarter now.
What do you think of The Great Wall? Will you be backing this worker placement game, or waiting for it to eventually hit store shelves? Let us know in the comments below.
