Lacrimosa

Lacrimosa from Devir won me over chiefly because it does not simply paste a theme on top of an engine builder. The idea that we are trying to complete Mozart’s Requiem and win the commission from his widow is original, but more importantly, the theme, actions, and overall flow feel designed as a single whole. That marriage is not decorative: it makes the choices feel meaningful and gives the game an identity.

At its core, it is a clever action-selection euro with engine building, where each player manages a personal deck of only nine cards. The cards determine both the action I will take and what my engine will produce at the end of the round. It is a compact structure with substantial consequences: as I improve the deck, I am considering not just the immediate move, but also how it will strengthen my future production.

What is especially good is the way the systems lock together. There is the pleasant feeling of building my own engine, but this is not sterile solitaire: we race for objectives, contest space and resources, and there is honest friction between different strategies. The second play also made one point clearer that may slightly unsettle veteran eurogamers: first, you need to understand and connect the more advanced sections of the Requiem, so that you can see where your strategy is pushing you, before focusing on the smaller parts.

For me, the balance between feel-good building, racing, and the necessary bit of burning is exactly where it should be. Everything clicks together logically, the replayability looks substantial, and the production is genuinely top-notch. It is one of the very good games from last year, deserves recognition, and deserves a place in your collection. If there is no room, well, Bitoku can find a new home.

Updated session

The second play did not overturn my initial impression; it strengthened it. It was also the game everyone wanted to play again from this year’s Essen crop, and it highlighted even more clearly just how tightly constructed it is, despite its few initial quirks.