Expedition to Newdale

In the German school of great designers, it feels as though the thesis reads: “find a gimmick and make it your trademark.” Gerdts has his wheel; the “Great Alexander” seems to want campaign-style play. In Expedition to Newdale, at first, it did not come together for me as it did in Maracaibo. My first impression was of a somewhat middling game that did not particularly push me to find out what lay ahead.

At its core, it is set collection and resource management. Alongside that sits an additional map, where movement feels largely scripted according to how you began. It is not that the game gives you nothing to do; it is that, in my introductory encounter, those things did not form a particularly exciting journey.

Player interaction is minimal, which makes it a fairly quiet game at the table. The campaign idea is that the eight scenarios change not only what you need to achieve and how you achieve it, but also the map itself. That turned out to matter a great deal: the scenarios’ variety is ultimately the game’s main selling point, rather than any intensity of conflict between players.

I did not have a bad time in the first game; I simply did not feel a strong urge to exhaust the whole campaign. After giving it a second chance, though, I see it more positively. It remains a notch below its designer’s classic creations, but it plays pleasantly and, for anyone wanting a light Pfister in their collection, I consider it a better choice than Cloud Age, with a similar feel and level of complexity.

Updated session

After a relaxed return to Cloud Age, which seemed better to me than I remembered, I gave Newdale a second chance as well. Rather than the introductory scenario, we played the third one, and there it began to feel more like a game by the “Great Alexander.” My opinion improved clearly: the distinct scenarios and changing map give it considerable replayability and make exploring the campaign feel much more worthwhile.