Cavum

Cavum was the final course in our recent tasting sessions and, honestly, I had been hunting for it for a long time. It was neither easy to find nor easy to get to the table, since some members of the group seem to suffer near-anaphylaxis at the sight of empty hexes and track-like tiles. And, for some reason, people do not seem to hold it in particularly high regard. Their problem: our game was one of the most enjoyable of the year.

At its core, it is a lovely, tight, clever network-building game. We place tiles and build tunnels, trying to make use of the gems and veins on the map. The constant question is where the next tile can fit and how to place it without ruining what you have already built—or, better yet, without allowing the next player to do exactly what they want.

Interaction is anything but decorative. Cavum has take-that and hatred in generous doses: we blow up one another’s tunnels with a deeply satisfying rat-a-tat-boom, while bidding for turn order matters, especially for the player chasing the final position. That is where I have my one small objection: I would like to see a variant in which veins are filled with X-1 gems, where X is the number of players, so that the last player does not have quite such a big advantage—even if they have to bleed in the bidding to get it.

Aside from that reservation, I had a fantastic time. The laughter, the explosions, and the game’s general poison made Cavum stand out, even if the most forum-safe comments at the table were limited to the eternal question: “where am I supposed to put this tile?”