A Feast for Odin and the Challenge of Feeding a Village
Head off on a solo adventure with a village of Vikings and a plethora of ways to succeed in A Feast for Odin.
I’m slowly trying to get a few more of my solo board games back to my game table. For about a month, A Feast for Odin has been partially set up right next to me. I started to make progress towards some of the better scores the last time I played. There was no reason to delay! At last, I got everything properly laid out so I could head back for more fun!
Game Overview
Game Name: A Feast for Odin
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Dennis Lohausen
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The irony of this game is how enormous it appears… There are tons of different options, but it isn’t necessarily a mystery that can only be cracked by a small group.
Granted, there isn’t anything easy about scoring well. It takes time and experience… So off I went to dive in!
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
Improving the Mining Setup
Normally, all of the mountain strips must be populated with resources. Technically, the new ones are supposed to be unknown until the end of the current round. However, if this offers any sort of advantage, it’s so negligible that I haven’t noticed it. The important element is how I’ve cut down on the time needed during setup and play.
I simply use 8 meeples of a color I don’t use. Above, you should see the neat column of yellow meeples! Each one starts off the mountain strip to the left. Then, as I take resources, I simply move the correct one. When it reaches the final space, there is nothing else to take and that particular mountain strip is no longer available.
But my favorite part? The moose! There is no use for the first player token in the solo game, so I was thrilled to get this component back in play. He simply marks which mountain strips are available during that round. I move him up at the end of each round to simulate turning over and filling in a new mountain strip. So easy. Feel free to use this idea!
Included Organization
When this game first arrived, I spent at least an hour just punching out all of the goods tiles. Oh, my! Good thing I love that part of new games… But it was still a lot. A LOT.
Usually, this amount of components would equate to a wad of plastic bags for storage. I was pleasantly surprised.
The included organization allows all of the tiles to be neatly stored and grabbed during play.
Although they’re all double-sided, I like to keep mine overly organized in their own spaces. When I upgrade a tile, I’ll even replace it without flipping it.
The Value of Storage
Why do I love this so much? I often use my own storage solutions for components because bags are like my arch enemy. I can handle about 5 before I just CAN’T. Ha ha!
There are also instances during play when I need to quickly identify what a tile will turn into. Maybe it’s obvious to most, but this visual layout is really useful.
The only downside is the tendency of the tiles to shuffle about during storage. I think I’m the only one who cares!
With covers to keep everything in place, these trays are definitely one of the better elements I’ve seen lately.
Early Planning
As I set everything up, I got together with my meeples to plan ahead and think about what I wanted to do. That was the trouble… A lot of that knowledge disappeared.
There are some board games that work as occasional games. But this isn’t necessarily one of those for me.
This is also why I think I have too many games. I refuse to part with any just yet, though! There are only a couple I could even think about parting with. Must play more!
Still, I had a few ideas in mind and figured I would just go with the flow. There was no way to truly fail! Right?
The Importance of Play Style and Mindset
If you’re not active in the 1 Player Guild, I highly recommend checking it out! One of the ongoing highlights is the very active Solitaire Games On Your Table, which is a monthly list open to all. One particular entry on SGOYT June 2020 caught my attention today. It wasn’t in relation to this game, but it still got me thinking!
Approaching a game often comes down to a play style that falls somewhere between fully mathematical with the most optimal moves, and a “go with the flow” style with less analytical turns. The latter is often more for pure fun, rather than striving for the best possible score. Neither is inherently better than the other: Both are excellent.
As I thought back on some of my lackluster experiences, I usually expected to score better… Without actually analyzing my moves. It’s possible to do well without falling into the trap of analysis paralysis, though!
Perhaps it’s just a personal observation, but I can see how recognizing what I expect to get out of a play will help me. It might even tie into how I’m feeling or how much energy I have. I’ll have to look into this some more in the future.
To the Horizon
Some of my better moves involved emigrating to faraway lands. The village shrunk a bit, but that gave me a chance to cut down on the necessary food during the feast!
My, do these Vikings love to eat. I had to constantly gather food, which was much worse than producing a lot of it.
The careful balancing act of managing all of the resources takes a good deal of concentration. I had to know what I was doing the next turn, and even the one after that.
I started off strongly and ended with a lot of great moves. But the middle turns? I just can’t quite get them down!
A Bare Home Board
This wasn’t my worst result, but I left open a ton of spaces with negative points. You might guess how that went…
My biggest stumbling block is often the initial income. I somehow feel like I absolutely must build from the bottom left to earn coins. But this can be a foolish act.
I had other ways to pick up coins and probably should have relied on those. These goods tiles could have been used to cover up a substantial amount of negative point spaces.
Another stumbling block for me involved the green goods tiles. No need to upgrade so many of those next time!
Diversifying Points
Although I failed in some regards, I felt pretty good about the way I diversified my points. At the same time, perhaps this was a little too much unrelated diversification.
I played a lot of cards purely for their points, which wasn’t ideal. But what a terrible selection I had the whole time!
With a better plan, I probably could have transformed more ships into emigrations. Going from 5 or 8 points up to 21 points is often worth the cost in coins!
The only card that helped me out was the woodcutter, which encouraged me to clear out the mountain strips.
Session Overview
Play Number: 7
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Deck A
Required Play Space: 44″ x 28″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 55 Minutes
Outcome: 58 Points (Loss)
Not my worst score, but also nowhere near the ideal of around 100+ points! Maybe I should have gone for livestock or tried to find other ways to fill in my sheds. Oh, well! There’s always next time to do “well.” Maybe? 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
What is your high score in A Feast for Odin? I definitely have a long way to go before I get to more respectable levels! Do you enjoy any of the expansions for solo play? My plan is to take a short break to get some other games back into rotation. Then, I’ll be back to guide my little village to glory and greatness! As in… Maybe 60 points. Start small. Ha ha!
I have yet to get this game, but I was wondering whether you think this game, and winning or losing, is more dependent on strategy or luck? Interesting write up you have; you seem to be blaming your strategy on the outcome.
Oops – you already answered my question. I just re-read all your posts on A Feast for Odin (can’t get the moose out of my mind now) and it seems as if randomness is at a minimum; how you play is the primary way to win. This may just become my first Uwe game.
It never hurts to ask, though! And that moose is quite amazing, indeed. Randomness really only enters the picture with the cards, which often gently nudge you down certain paths. It’s a very strategic sort of game with lots and lots of possibilities.
If it seems like a lot to learn, I also recommend taking a look at Nusfjord. Although it introduces more randomness into the equation, it’s also not as dense as this one can be.
It all depends on what you’re looking for, though. I’m happy to go into more detail! Although we know how that goes… Wallets often take more damage in the process!
I see your continued comment, but I just wanted to confirm that I must blame myself for this outcome! Much like the wallets of the world blame me for so much damage… It was all me in this case. Ha ha!
I just played my first solo game last night for a grand final score of … 9! Definitely a lot to learn going forward. But the real reason I’m commenting is because your mountain strip idea is Brilliant!
Best of luck! It’s been quite some time since I last played, and scoring well takes some experience. I always recommend enjoying the journey and slowly watching your scores improve. At 9, there’s only one way to go, and that’s up. You’ll find that you learn the more you play. Enjoy!
And thank you kindly! The mining setup always slowed me down tremendously, and this saves time… While also adding in the moose. Who doesn’t want to use the moose?! Ha ha!
Totally, the moose is amazing. Uwe even says in the solo rules that he sets up all the mountain strips then uses paper and pencil to mark which ones are available, so it seems he would agree that it is an onerous task in the solo game, but I wonder if he wouldn’t find yours a better solution? Anyway, I’m thrilled to find your blog, as I’ve just taken the plunge with gaming in the past year, and there’s nothing like a pandemic to show you how many cool solo games there are available!
Thank you so much! I’m known for being the Breaker of Wallets with all of the purchases I tend to cause, but hopefully you’ll be able to resist a lot of my favorites! There is a huge world of solo games and such a wonderful community. If you’re on BoardGameGeek, I highly recommend stopping by the 1 Player Guild and monthly SGOYT lists if you haven’t already. The only danger, again, is damage to your wallet from wanting it all. Ha! All the best to you!