Septima

Septima arrives with the familiar Mindclash finish: striking production, deluxe pieces, a carefully prepared rulebook, and a price that has wandered some way above the treeline. On the table, much of that luxury earns its keep. A coven tending a village’s sick while witch hunters pursue a rather less charitable barbecue makes for a theme that stays with you after a Tuesday at work.

At its centre, the game blends resource management, worker placement, and a race for position. One part feeds the next neatly: gather what is needed, place your witches, then try to get ahead of events in the village before they get ahead of you.

Player interaction mostly comes through that shared pressure and the contest to arrive first where it matters. The systems fit together well, and turns have that pleasing click of a game which knows its own purpose, even if chance makes a rather more regular appearance than we would have liked.

It is not a bad game. Far from it. But beside Voidfall and Perseverance, it felt noticeably lighter and more random, without reaching the same level of tension or creating the same urge to play again immediately. I would happily play Septima again, but for me it is quietly good rather than enchanting.