I've been going to Spiel for years, and one of the things that has plagued it (as has every convention) is the fact that games get hyped tremendously before the con, only to completely disappear after. Feya's Swamp was this year's game that got hyped and then fell off the face of the Earth, consumed by the voracious maw of the content machine. Being completely sold out in 5.4 nanoseconds didn't help, nor did the fact that they had one demo table that was fully booked for the entire weekend. Anyway. 

I've been diving into Splotter games recently (I'm currently trying to pull a game of Indonesia together, don't worry about it), and this game getting pitched to me as being Splotter-adjacent has made it stick around in my mind. I managed to find an English-language copy and got to play my first game last night, and impressions are good. 

It's important to say that this is not a Splotter game. Like, there's no real way to lose on turn one, and it's difficult to snooker someone out of the game entirely. This game is a lot softer than something like Food Chain Magnate or Bus, but it's still got real teeth in a market where most game designers are filing off both serial numbers and all jagged edges on all of their designs. There were multiple occasions where my opponents saw my plans and were able to meaningfully interact, which I like. 

I think the only real Splotter-y aspect in this game is the shared economy it has going for it, which I think is arguably the most interesting aspect of this game. The main way to score points during the game is by throwing celebrations, wherein you choose an island and then convert the fish there into points. There's some tension there though, as the only real way to get money is to sell fish to your opponents - which they'll get to convert into points during a celebration. The shared economy led to some interesting points of tension, which I loved. There was a meaningful communal aspect to the way our economy was developing. 

My main hang-up is the fact that the game does have some point salady aspects, which... I don't know. At one point in the game I was simply just upgrading my sail for three turns so as to set up for a big turn later on, which was fun, but then I also kept getting points for doing that, which felt strange. I'm guessing it's to incentivise people to actually engage with the mechanic, but like... what are we doing. Same was true for the torch mechanic, which felt kind of tacked on. I've never played Kaivai, so I don't know how different Feya's Swamp is to it, but these feel like concessions to get a Eurogame audience to engage with its mechanics. 

Grumblings aside, I've been really impressed by this first play. I loved how interactive it felt and how it plays with the shared game space, in a way that, emotionally at least, reminded me of some of my favorites like Hansa Teutonica, Troyes or Bus. Very eager to get into it more. No I've also not played Terra Mystica or the sci-fi sequel whose name has escaped me. I'm sorry I'll do better.

Feya's Swamp is really good