Ierusalem: Anno Domini

Ierusalem: Anno Domini is certainly high on my list of the “weirdest theme for a eurogame ever”: we are trying to place as many of our followers as possible at the Last Supper so they can hear what the Lord has to say. What is impressive is not merely that someone thought this could become a game, but that the result feels neither awkward nor misguided. On the contrary, it is respectably thematic and, thankfully, maintains a sterilised, reverent attitude toward a subject that could very easily have gone wrong. Well done to the lady — and doubly so, since this is her first game.

In terms of flow, it is a pleasant euro combining card management with tableau building. My choices run through how I manage my cards and gradually build my personal tableau, always with an eye on serving the central objective more effectively.

The interaction is not presented as aggressive or mean-spirited; it comes more from the race to get followers into the right places and seize opportunities before the others do. It has plenty of feel-good energy, yet at certain points it asks for some honest brain-burning, because a little planning is needed if you want to cash in.

For me, it is easily one of the good games of the year. It first catches the eye with its utterly unexpected theme, but it stays on the table because it has found mechanisms that serve that theme and work perfectly well as a game in their own right.