Century: A New World Family Game Review Age 8+(Sent by Asmodee Board Game Club).

Our latest review for the Asmodee Blogger Board Game Club is Century: A New World, which has been sent to us for review. Suitable for 2 to 4 players aged 8+, this is a tabletop strategy game which is the 3rd in the very popular series by creator Emerson Matsuuchi, and can be played alone or with either or both of the other Century games (Spice Road and Eastern Wonders).

A New World sees players take the role of explorers travelling the land, trading and collecting goods... and it's all done beautifully, with gorgeous illustrations and wooden playing pieces, including tiny tiny people.

Inside the box are 6 Double-sided Location Boards, 4 Player Boards, 48 Wooden Workers, 56 Cards, 10 Exploration Tiles, 25 Bonus Tiles, 4 Bowls, 105 Wooden cubes and 4 rulebooks (depending on whether you play standalone, or with 1 or both of the other games).

5 minutes to press out parts and familiarise yourself first game, and after that it takes 5 minutes set up to distribute pieces. The little wooden people are frankly a highlight - very cute.

Every player has a Player Board and uses this to store their Bonus Tiles, Workers (people) and up to 10 wooden cubes representing trade goods.

Each of the different trade goods has a value, and the 'bank' of trade goods is stored in the green bowls during play for easy access. It's a really nice touch. The bowls are the only plastic in the game, which is a shame, but at the same time I can appreciate the cost if they'd been wooden.

The game play board itself is created from 4 of the 6 Double-sided Location Boards. These are chosen at random and mean gameplay is different each round. They aren't maps as such, more just information blocks, and workers can't move between them. Once workers are allocated to a space, they are either ousted and returned by another player, or called back to the Player Board before being sent out again.

The spaces on the Location Boards give instructions and earn trade goods. At the top of the board are the Cards which all have a points value at the end, and can give bonuses during play. Players earn Cards by placing Workers on the corresponding space and paying with trade goods. You can also earn Bonus Tiles by landing here.

There are a couple of extra gameplay mechanics, and it all flows very well. Within half an hour we were really getting the hang of it, and by the end of the first match, quite keen to play the other 2 games - we've heard of them, but I'm really surprised we haven't ever played them!

Understandably very popular, not at all frustrating and lots of fun for everyone, including our 10 and 11 year olds, and the 22 year old. 

The box says each game takes around 30-45 minutes, but it's quite an involved game and it'll take you a few rounds before you are confident each turn, so it'll be double that for the first game. Complicated as it seems initially, Century is easily learned and a great one to settle into during a game evening.

Century: A New World is made by Plan B Games, and available to buy now priced around £30 or less from a range of online toy and game shops, including Amazon (affiliate link below). For more information about the entire distribution range available see the Asmodee website.

We were sent our copy of Century: A New World for review. I was not paid for this game review. Amazon links are affiliate, which earns me a few pence if you buy through my link and helps keep the website running.