In the outback of Australia terror lurks. Ancient otherworldly beings have made it their home, escaping the onslaught of humanity to regain their strength. They have had their rest, and as mankind pushes into the heart of the country, their vengeance shall be unleashed.
AuZtralia is a resource management game with economic and military aspects. Designed by Martin Wallace, players are tasked with building farms and railways, collecting resources and employing people, all while fending off horrific terrors from another dimension.
Players select actions from their player board, with each action moving them different distances along a time tracker. The player in the last spot on the tracker is considered the active player, making action selection a critical decision. Actions vary from building infrastructure and collecting resources to purchasing military units and fighting Old Ones.
Unfortunately, players aren’t just competing against each other. Sitting on the time tracker is a token representing the Old Ones. This allows the Old Ones to become the active player when they are in the last position, spawning monsters and moving across the board. Farms become blighted when Old Ones come into contact with them, while battle ensues if an Old One reaches a players Port.
The game continues until either a player is eliminated, or all the players reach the end of the time track. At this point scores are totalled, including the Old Ones gaining points for revealed and unrevealed tokens and blighted farms. The player with the most points wins, which could possibly be the Old Ones. Humanity is lost!
I spent some time with AuZtralia, learning the mechanics and playing a game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like a lot of resource management games, it can seem daunting at first, especially when everything has been set up and there are pieces everywhere. But get a couple of turns in and the player decisions really begin to flow.
Players aren’t lacking for things to do, with ten possible action spaces. The first time each action is used it is free, unless the player is purchasing something like military units. When an action is used a cube is put onto it, and if the player wishes to use this action in future they must pay coins equal to the number of cubes.
Each action moves the players token different distances along the time track, so choosing an action can be an exciting exercise in tactical planning and lateral thinking. It encourages players to think about what they want to achieve, and how to structure their actions in a way which yields the most beneficial results.
Old Ones are an interesting addition to the game. They force players to think about the map as a whole, and pay attention to what is transpiring during the game. As an opponent revealing an Old One right near one of your important farms could be disastrous. And while the Old Ones are tough to fight, they present a surmountable challenge. Provided you have prepared your military.
The version I played was a preview copy, with pieces from the printer which represented the intended quality of the final manufactured game. There are a number of elements which look absolutely stunning, which I believe is largely thanks to the games illustrator James Colmer. The board is both functional and detailed, and provides a space rarely seen in most games to play on. By the same token the character cards are evocative and moody, and provide a multicultural cast of people to battle the otherworldly terrors. Even the Old Ones, largely done to death in games both tabletop and digital at this point, have a unique sunburnt quality to them which I haven’t seen before.
Some of the tokens though, especially the railways and farms, need some work. They didn’t mesh well with the integrated artwork style of the character cards, board or player mat. Though I have been informed that these tokens are under review, so hopefully they can tighten these up to bring them in line with the rest of the components.
While I love the game play, there does appear to be something missing. The entire game revolves around the idea of a ‘ticking clock’, as the player turns count down to the end. It feels like it should be building towards something, but the game seems to run its course and just end. And while there is some dramatics as players jockey to make the most of those last few turns, there is an impending sense of doom that doesn’t have a payoff.
There also isn’t very much in the way of player interaction. Players cannot fight each other, team up to fight Old Ones, or utilise each others infrastructure. The most they can do is block each other from access to parts of the map, or hastily grab resources before other players. When this is considered in conjunction with the turn sequence mechanics, it is quite possible that on occasion a player will be inactive for a long period, with no real reason to be engaging with the game.
I am eager to see if any of this is addressed before the game is finalised. Martin and SchilMil Games have a great opportunity to leverage both the Lovecraftian and Australian themes to end AuZtralia with a gripping endgame. And an increased player interaction would surely only help to engage the players more.
As it is presented currently, though, AuZtralia is a fun and challenging resource management game. Loaded with player options, and the fickle whim of wrathful godlike beings, players interested in this genre are doubtlessly going to find a lot of enjoyment. This is definitely something that players should keep on their radar.
AuZtralia is scheduled to go live on Kickstarter in March. You can keep up-to-date with the latest AuZtralia news on the website.
