This time, we will discover the board game Khôra created by the group of designers "Head Quarter Simulation Game Club" and illustrated by David Chapoulet and Jocelyn 'Joc' Millet. In the latter, you will be at the head of one of the great cities of ancient Greece and you will have to develop strategies to develop and defeat the opposing cities.
Mise en Place
Khôra revolves around a central board where players can climb four tracks to earn resources and use them later. On this board, there are minor/major knowledge tokens which will also be used later to activate card effects or gain victory points at the end of the game (major knowledge token only). Next to the latter, we find the deck of events made up of 7 random cards as well as two "fixed" cards constituting the start and end of the game event (the game is broken down into 9 game rounds). The player boards are common to all players and are double-layered, which makes it easy to insert tokens and avoid having unexpected token movements (while having a clear view of the opponent's boards). Regarding the latter, they are very easy to read and offer a very clear summary of the different phases of the game.
Then, each of the players will be able to take one of the seven cities contained in the basic game, which will allow the asymmetry between each one. Small defect concerning this asymmetry: the cities are quite oriented in their gameplay. It's an interesting choice to let yourself be guided the first few times in order to focus your game, but it can lose some of its interest when you have mastered the game and want a certain freedom. Finally, players will receive seven identical cards that will serve as their choice of actions each turn, as well as starting resources: four drachmas and five political cards. Namely that the choice of political cards is done in the form of a draft where each player will have to choose a card and then pass his remaining to the player on the right or left.
Course of a game
A game of Khôra takes place in nine rounds where each is broken down into several distinct game phases. These phases will repeat until the "Conquest of Persia" event is resolved in the event deck. Unlike many games, the first player will be the one with the lowest dice value and it will be declared at the start of each round. Let's now take a closer look at the different phases of a round:
- Start of turn (Phase A and B)
- Player turn (Phase C and D)
- End of turn (Phase E, F and G)
- Phase A: Announcement of the event
The first event in the draw pile is revealed to the player. Events have no effect when they are revealed, only at the end of the turn, which will give all players time to prepare to obtain the highest reward or lose the least. Some events will only be unfavorable for players while others will only penalize the worst in a certain category.
- Phase B: Taxes
This is the phase where you can earn drachmas based on your progress on the tax track. This resource is quite complicated to acquire during the game, therefore you will have to be very careful if you plan to spend it.
- Phase C: Dice
The dice phase will first consist of rolling the dice in your possession. At first, you will only have two, but it will be possible to acquire a third by advancing on the Culture track of your player board (more dice = more actions). Before moving on to choosing your actions on the turn, the first player will be chosen thanks to the sum of the dice of each player. The one with the lowest sum will then become the first player.
Then, each player will be able to choose several actions and will reveal them to the other players as soon as everyone has made their choice. The dice are important because each action must have a dice value greater than the value of the action. If you are not good at rolling dice, it will be possible to increase the value of one or more dice by reducing your progress on the citizen track (1 citizen for one point on a dice).
- Phase D : Actions
The actions of each player will be done in ascending order of the action tiles chosen by the players. The first player will have no importance except for the Military action which affects the central board (choice of bonuses). Here are some details about the seven possible actions during a turn:
- 0. Philosophy : you can win a philosophy token (no limit). These tokens can be used in certain phases to gain citizens (phase C), ignore knowledge tokens (phase D) or even increase on the tracks of the personal board (phase E).
- 1. Legislation : you can go up three on the Citizens track as well as draw two Politics cards (you can only keep one). These cards will be used during the Political action.
- 2. Cultivation : you will earn as many victory points as your progress on your personal culture track.
- 3. Commerce : quite similar to the culture action but important for the economy track and the drachmas. You will also have the option, later on, to purchase a Minor Knowledge Token for five drachmas.
- 4. Military : As for the two previous actions, you can earn army points according to your position on the military track. It will then be possible to spend these army points to acquire knowledge tokens from the central board. On this board, the first value corresponds to the minimum number on the armed track and the second to how much you will have to go down on the latter to acquire said token. Remember to earn the resources below the acquired token.
- 5. Policy : You can play a card from your hand by paying close attention to the knowledge token prerequisites that you must have and which are indicated there, as well as paying the required number of drachmas. The cards have three specific color backgrounds that each have a specificity. The yellow cards will have an immediate effect, the purple ones will be cards with a permanent effect that can, for example, earn you additional resources, and the red cards will be cards whose effects will earn you additional victory points at the end of the game.
- 6. Development : this action allows you to increase your city value on your personal board, unlocking immediate, permanent or end-of-game effects. As for the political action, you will have to check that you have the right knowledge tokens in your reserve as well as the number of drachmas to pay for this action.
- Phase E: Progress
Starting from the first player and clockwise, each player can go up one level on one of the three tracks on your personal board while paying two drachmas at each level change (remember to recover the resources unlocked between the two levels) . You can also use philosophy tokens to advance an additional level on the track(s) you wish (always by paying the two drachmas required).
- Phase F: Resolution of the event
You will need to resolve the event that you revealed at the start of the round by applying the benefits or penalties for each player if they should be applied. In the event that players are tied, whether on a reward or a penalty, all those tied resolve the bout.
- Phase G: Success
Each player will have to check if he has met the conditions for a player success (indicated on the player/central board by a shield). These successes can be, for example, reaching a certain level on a track (12 on the citizens track) or having played a certain number of political cards. If only one player has unlocked an achievement during a round, then they will advance one on the tax and glory track. If there are several of you, then the players will only adjust their tax value. Be careful, once an achievement is unlocked, it is no longer possible for other players to obtain it.
After nine rounds and the resolution of the end-of-turn phases, each player will be able to adjust these victory points according to the end-game bonuses that you have been able to unlock, such as cards or progress on your city. Your major knowledge tokens will also have a big impact as you can earn a number of points equal to the product of your major knowledge tokens and your progress on the glory track.
As always, the winner is the one with the most victory points at the end of the game. In case of a tie, the players will share the victory.
Conclusion
Khôra is one of those management games where you will have to set up certain bases to start your game off on the right foot and above all to anticipate the rounds and the opponent's moves. One of its big advantages is surely the fact that players will be able to play at the same time during the action phases, which will reduce the waiting time during a turn, quite often reducing the time of a game to around one o'clock. The asymmetry offered thanks to the different cities is also welcome to allow significant replayability of the title.
In addition to the gameplay, the artistic direction of the game is really well done, taking up the different themes and colors of the different factions/cities. The material is of excellent craftsmanship with double-layer trays allowing the elements of the game to be well maintained. On the storage side, we are also spoiled with a well thought-out thermoforming where each space has been designed so that everything fits well as it should (be careful on the other hand in the future if extensions come out). For history fans, you should know that care has been taken in the game where you will find, on the back of the tiles mentioned, a summary of the history of the latter. The different elements of the game are also modeled on historical moments from antiquity.
Khôra really has excellent qualities for entering circles of players with a good gaming experience and who are not particularly looking for games with strong interaction. It skilfully mixes the management/development side with the use of dice which may upset your already established plans. Even if the use of citizens is there to counterbalance this side effect, it will be necessary to be meticulous about the use of the latter.
The game is available in all specialized shops for a recommended price of 50-60 euros.
