An Overlay a Day Keeps the Chaos Away in A Feast for Odin
See a cohesive strategy come to life as a Viking village sets out to survive and thrive in A Feast for Odin.
There was a very important reason why I simply had to get A Feast for Odin back to my table! Over a month ago, my husband tried to surprise me with a board game gift. He saw me playing this game constantly and ordered something that took over a month to arrive. Such a thoughtful man! I was a little skeptical… Still, off I went to try out my surprise!
Game Overview
Game Name: A Feast for Odin
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Dennis Lohausen
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
What’s this? An overlay for the home board seemed like a decent idea in some respects. There was a lot more to test out, but at least my Vikings approved… To a certain degree. I was more concerned about putting together an actual strategy and making this little village prosper. My past experience hasn’t painted me as a master leader. Ha!
First Play
April 5, 2020
Complexity
4
Latest Play
July 19, 2020
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
8
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
113
Game Area
44" x 28"
Low Score
45
Managing the Mining
Have another peek at my secret trick to the mining strips! Rather than place the resources directly on the tiles, I just move unused meeples along the tracks.
The moose serves to show which areas are open to me. Don’t worry… There were no meeples eaten in the process!
It might seem like an unnecessary change that doesn’t do much, but this has cut down on so much downtime for me. Tiny improvements can be quite important.
If I’m being honest, the main reason I love this method is the moose. He now has a role in the solo game! Go, moose!
Lighting Up an Idea
Although there are some luck-based elements, I mainly needed to formulate a strategy from the start. As I thought about it, I closed the window blinds to protect the game.
Then, there it was! A sliver of light made it through, and I remembered how rarely I went raiding and pillaging.
A life of sailing sounded like a good idea to me! There are plenty of paths to try out, of course, but I saw no reason not to give this a whirl after it turned into a lovely photo.
Sometimes, it’s just not so easy to stick with a plan. My mind often wanders, and this was not the time to do so…
A Unique Sort of Board Game
It’s likely obvious what the mechanics and goals of this game are. However, to me, it represents a rather different sort of experience. In essence, there is a solvable puzzle with an optimized sequence of actions. That word “solvable” used to make me cringe and run far, far away! How could I ever enjoy a game that had a finite lifespan?!
The truth comes down to how I underestimated that finiteness. If it isn’t clear yet, I’m no board game expert! It usually takes me a long time to do well and find the right strategies. Even with lightweight games, I routinely score horribly for many plays. It isn’t that I feel bad about that fact, though! It just requires a different perspective.
For the rare players who can solve a game quickly, the ideas of optimized paths and limited randomness might mean this won’t be a great experience. I’m not in that group, though, and have so much more to learn. I think that’s one of the main reasons why I play so much, even when I score embarrassingly low… I’ll do well and figure it out someday!
The Final Actions
I remained true to my original plan of sailing all over the place. Raiding and pillaging played a central role.
Along the way, I built plenty of ships to prepare for emigrating. Not a bad strategy by any means! It looked like I was going to have a field day at one point.
However, partway through, I got a little lost and started focusing on stockpiling for the feasts. These Vikings love to eat! I was only too glad to ship out a few. Ha ha!
In some hilarious way, I totally forgot to explore a new island with all of my ships. Whoops!
Vertical Livestock
The interesting part of this overlay involved the livestock tiles. They could be placed vertically to keep track of them.
It seemed like a novel idea, but my sheep fell over many, many times. Maybe I was just nervous to push the tiles down into the tight spots. No damage was done, though!
I suppose I may know how to write “sheep” in Russian now? I was a little sad that this overlay didn’t turn out to be amazing. How I wanted to love it!
Perhaps that’s what threw me off course… Sailing ships and raising sheep didn’t exactly have the right ring to it.
Filling the Home Board
Another exciting element of the overlay was the promise of neatly aligning all of the tiles. It almost worked… But not entirely. The corners were off by just enough.
However, onto the positives! All of that pillaging really paid off with lucky rolls and plenty of treasure.
Using trade connections, there were also a lot of top quality goods. I almost had too many, which is why the idea of exploring an island would have made sense.
All in all, though, not a terrible showing for my home board! I’ve done worse. Much, much, much worse. Ha ha!
Making It All Work
Well, maybe the title of this section is a little off. I didn’t really make the occupation cards fall into my favor.
But it did seem like a good omen when my starting card reduced the cost of emigration! I just didn’t use it early enough, unfortunately. Isn’t that always the case?!
Other cards showed up and seemed to give me a few nice bonuses. Trading was a lot more lucrative, and we definitely stocked up on milk!
I was proud of some decisions, yet had a feeling I hadn’t done too much overall. My apologies to my Vikings!
Session Overview
Play Number: 8
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Deck A
Required Play Space: 44″ x 28″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 1 Hour
Outcome: 62 Points (Loss)
Even with ships headed out to explore new horizons, I didn’t manage to pull off more than a mediocre showing. I really need to work on putting together my actions and finding ways to synergize. I blame the overlay. Ha!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
Victory Conditions
Score 80+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 50 points.
Score at least 100 points.
Score at least 120 points.
Continue the Conversation
How well have you fared with A Feast for Odin? I had an amazing score once, and know I can do it again! It’s only sad that I won’t do it with this overlay, as it added more issues than it solved. Sorry, husband! I can’t fault him for trying to do something nice, though. Are some games just better without any additions? Maybe… But never leave out the moose.
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