I’m always on the hunt for an outstanding board game, and I I’ve just found a top-notch option. Bristol 1350 by Facade Games drags me into a world I won’t soon forget. This light strategy-based game is fun for nearly all ages. So put down your controller and dive into something new with friends and family.
Box Design
The design of any Dark Cities game is always sure to impress, and Bristol 1350 is no exception. Their classic book design makes it unique while allowing for implementation as not just a board game but a decoration. With a weather worn look that immediately gives you the feeling that you could have found this in an old English bookshop Bristol 1350 inspires adventure with a tinge of fear at the time period it represents.
The attention to detail is incredible with a worn yet sturdy look it may as well have come straight out of the 1300s a bleached look slightly covers the runic symbols underneath giving the book a true sense of age. Paired with broken patches and a falsely frayed cover makes for a book that anyone is sure to pick up wondering what historical secrets lie within. So, blow the dust off the cover and get ready to play!
Photo Credit: Facade Games
Contents
Upon opening the box you’ll discover six dice, a deck of special cards, nine pawns, three mini carts, and a unrollable map for the pawns and carts. The carts are three colors white, brown, and red, representing three kinds of wood – those being Birch, Oak, and Cedar. The pawns are all different colors and are built to sit in the carts for the duration of the game. There are six dice with colors corresponding to the different carts as well as two different kinds of symbols apples and rats. There are nine player cards with different abilities written on the cards, as (the cards have colors that correlate with the pawn colors) twenty-seven remedy cards, and thirty-two symptom cards.
Then there’s the rollable game board featuring 1300s England in the port city of Bristol! The map is designed for the carts to travel through the city as they attempt to escape the plague! Last, but not least are the game instructions. Easy to read they quickly explain all the cards, dice, carts, and pawns as well as bonus rules for a slight variance to your games to use at your leisure. So, hop right in and enjoy the history and the fun in your attempt to escape 13th century Bristol!
Gameplay
There’s a lot to be said for the Dark Cities history-based games. Foremost, they’re a ton of fun for a host of people. They’re easy to start and difficult to stop – and they are so easy to explain to others. Therefore, gone are the days of laboring to help someone comprehend how to play along. The main goal of the game is to make it to the end of the map without anyone in your cart becoming diseased. Or, if you become diseased, then make sure everyone is by the end to win! Getting to the end alive is hard as there is always a chance of getting put over the edge by a new disease card! As with all of the Dark Cities games, table talk isn’t just allowed it’s encouraged. Therefore, even if you are diseased, you can use deception to make sure you sabotage someone else’s cart.
The pace of these games is great as it accommodates for everyone’s attention span. Just two minutes in, and already I’m suspicious that my brother isn’t telling us the truth. But kicking him off my cart results in my own demise as he wasn’t diseased leading to my own ejection from the game. This is just an example of the mini decisions laced into this action-packed game! Make sure you’re positive before making the rash but fun decision of accusing someone else. As always, Dark Cities puts the decision in your hands, will you be a super sleuth or a master manipulator?
We look forward to playing (and hopefully reviewing) other Dark Cities games by Facade Games in the future – the full series includes the following:
Bristol 1350
Tortuga 1667
Deadwood 1876
Salem 1692
Hollywood 1947
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