Illumination

I have a soft spot for how wonderfully odd Illumination’s premise is: two monks going at each other over how to illustrate monastic manuscripts. It is a proper two-player brainburner, with a theme that genuinely gives it character rather than merely being painted over the mechanisms.

At its core is a clever tile-placement system, surrounded by a whole framework of economy, cards, and scoring. This is not a game that asks you to look only at the next tile: all those smaller systems coexist, making you think about what you are building, what you are holding onto, and how your work will turn into points.

The main interaction arrives in the bounded battle: once the illustrations are framed, a small Reversi-like contest begins to determine who comes out on top. That is also where my issue lies. The idea is interesting, but keeping proper track of what is happening and who is winning becomes a headache, especially on top of everything else the game already asks of you.

I think it is good, just tiring on a Curious Cargo level. In an online, scripted version where the system would not let you make mistakes and would handle the accounting itself, I think I would play it far more happily. At the table, its cleverness is still there, but so is the fatigue.