Windward
Produced by: El Dorado Games
Players: 1-5
Age: 14+
Play Time: 30-90
Overview:
As the captain of a flying ship,
navigate the gaseous planet of Celus, building up your ship and crew, hunting down giant sky beasts called Cresters, fighting other ships, ultimately working to be the most notorious crew.
Main Mechanics:
Pick-up and Deliver
Engine Building
Dice Rolling
Hand Management
Components Review: The beautiful box of Windward gives a hint of what you're in for, and Windward packs a lot into that beautiful box. Included is a modular game board, score track, large boats, smaller long boats, custom dice, cards, and cardboard chips. Though the box and cards are bit thin, I find the rest of the components to be really high quality. One area where this game shines is how good it looks on the table. Using a modular circular board, you create the planet of Celus that sets the stage for your adventure. The board is double sided to adjust for player count. Once adding the boats, Trading Post and Cresters, the world feels full and becomes that much more immersive. I received the Kickstarter edition with pre-painted minis (which is great since I don't paint) and they are both sturdy and attractive. This game includes incredible art. From the rules, to the simplicity of the cards, to the board, everything draws you deeper into the them. So, even though a few components are lacking in quality (an issue already being addressed), Windward is a huge win in the components category for me, for how immersive it is.
Gameplay Review:
The gameplay of Windward is fantastic. The game takes place over a series of rounds where players are trying to gain notoriety, and ends at the end of a round once a player has reach 15 notoriety points. On their turn, players can do several actions: move ship/boats, give orders, spend gas, play a card, initiate a battle. Moving is how players leave the trading post to battle Cresters and other crews. It is also a way to gain notoriety, though the morale of the crew goes down when ending a turn in the sky. Giving orders is the worker placement aspect of the game. Each turn players have 2 crew members to place, allowing them to do a variety of things, such as gain cards, additional movements, or boost morale (these are just a few of the possible orders). Spending gas is how players upgrade their ship, making for more strategy down the road. Gas is gained by defeating and processing Cresters or collecting from gas pockets on the planet. Playing cards is exactly what it sounds like, with each card clearly stating what it does. Initiating battles is how a player would take down a Crester, or even sabotage other crews. Battles are won by having the higher total in a combination of base stats, cards played and dice results. Celus also has strong planetary winds that change at the start of each round (or when a specific card is played). The wind is a unique mechanism that can either help or hinder your movement.
I really like the gameplay of Windward, it is just packed with strategy and theme. Everything you do feels important as your decisions pretty immediately effect your crew in positive or negative ways. The way you move is a puzzle. What cards you play and when is nerve-wracking. The crew that you for hire feels major. There's a lot that this game does well and I really can't say enough good about it.
Windward also includes solo and cooperative variants, both of which I have yet to try.
Final Thoughts:
Windward was easily my favorite gaming experience of 2020, which was great because it was one of my most anticipated for the year. The theme and gameplay is incredibly immersive and really engages you. I highly recommend Windward and can't wait for my next playthrough.
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