Alright, picture this: you’re laying railway tracks while sheep wander nearby and tentacled horrors are about to crash your party. Welcome to my review! I’ve wrangled my friends, mustered my bravest spirit, and survived more than a few eldritch sheep stampedes just to bring you my honest thoughts about this one-of-a-kind board game. Strap in and let’s see if this crazy mashup delivers the fun or just leaves you running from Cthulhu with a broken train set.
How It Plays
Setting up
First, lay out the map board in the middle of your table. Put cubes, rails, farms, and those nasty Old One tokens in their right spots. Each player picks a character board, grabs their resources, and places their port on a coastal area. Shuffle up those card decks and you’re all set. Sheep not included—bring your own, if you must.
Gameplay
You get a pool of time tokens to spend on actions: build rails, farm, grab resources, or slap some Cthulhu. After your turn, the nasty Old Ones wake up and shuffle about, usually causing chaos. You can trade with other players but, trust me, someone will always hold back that one coal you need. Managing your actions and watching the time track (which is basically your doom-o-meter) really keeps you on your toes.
Winning the Game
When the last time token is spent, the final countdown begins (cue dramatic music). Add up your points from farms, defeating Old Ones, and leftover resources. Old Ones get points too—yes, it’s a high stakes sheep-and-monster face-off. Whoever has the most points wins! If the Old Ones score more than all the humans, everyone gets to feel like a loser together. Nice, right?
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for AuZtralia.
Why Auztralia’s Setting is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Played
I’ve played a lot of board games. Too many, according to my dog, who just wants the table space back. But when Auztralia hit my table, it felt like someone crammed H.P. Lovecraft, trains, farming, and gold rush dreams all into a box. It’s set in an alternate 1930s Australia, where you’re not just running a railway empire – you’re also trying not to get eaten by Cthulhu’s cousins hiding out in the outback. I know what you’re thinking: ‘Is Jamie making this up?’ I wish! But that’s really what’s going on here.
This setting isn’t just slapped on with a sticker either. Every part of Auztralia oozes theme. The map is dry and dusty, but dotted with mysterious ruins and dark corners where Old Ones snooze (and snarl if you get too close). Your resources? Gold, coal, steel, and – my personal favorite – sheep. Because when you’re facing eldritch horrors from beyond the stars, nothing says bravery like sheep farming.
Unlike most train games, you can’t just lay tracks and rake in points. The land doesn’t just fight back; it actively tries to end your game (and your sanity). True story: My friend Sarah thought she’d build her network in peace. Next thing she knows, a giant Shoggoth flattened her sheep. Now she won’t look at wool the same way again.
If you want a board game with a setting that actually makes you laugh, shudder, and plan your next sheep move carefully, Auztralia is for you. Next up, let’s crack open the box and see how the mechanics let us tackle tentacles, trains, and maybe each other…
Unpacking Gameplay: How Does Auztralia Keep Players on Their Toes?
If you want a board game with a little bit of everything—resource management, combat, and a ruthless time track—Auztralia scratches that itch. Each turn you take some action, but, and this is a big but, every action eats up your precious time. When that time track fills up, the Old Ones (big, mean monsters) get their go. And let me tell you, they don’t just sit around playing cards. They *move* and sometimes beat up your sheep, which is both funny and tragic.
Player interaction is sneaky. At first, you think everyone’s doing their own thing, farming, building railroads, and battling nightmares from the deep. But suddenly, you want the same coal someone else is after. I once tried to build a rail line to a port, only to find my buddy Nick had already rushed there and snapped up all the resources. So, yeah, you will step on each other’s toes and sometimes ruin friendships—just the usual board game stuff.
There’s also trading. Auztralia lets you trade with others for stuff you need, which sounds nice, but in our group it becomes a shark tank of hard bargaining. “I’ll give you steel if you promise not to wake the Cthulhu near my farm,” is a real thing I’ve said.
The Old Ones, run by the game itself, add tension. Everyone shares a sense of dread when their turn approaches, and sometimes you join forces out of pure survival instinct. My group once cheered when the monsters thrashed the guy in the lead. Only in Auztralia, folks.
Next up: Just how much does luck mess with your careful plans? Grab your dice and popcorn, because we’re talking the wild dance between luck and strategy!
Luck vs Strategy: Who Really Wins in Auztralia?
One thing that keeps popping up every time we unleash Auztralia on the table is the constant dance between luck and strategy. There’s a real push and pull here. Unlike games that throw dice for every move – looking at you, Yahtzee – Auztralia gives you control. But not total control. Sometimes, the Ancient Ones just decide they want to stomp on your sheep farm. That’s the luck part. I once had a brilliant plan to build a rail line, only for a Shoggoth to crawl out of the swamps at just the wrong moment. Classic me.
You do get choices, though. The time track means you plan ahead, and you can usually see trouble coming if you squint hard enough. Combat feels a bit random since you draw combat cards, but clever players can make odds work in their favor. The map is always different too, so you can’t use the same old tricks every time. When I played with my friend Lisa, she outsmarted Cthulhu’s minions by timing her military moves. I, of course, spent half the game drowning in tentacles. But hey, at least I tried.
So—does luck ruin it? I don’t think so. There’s enough skill to keep your brain working, and enough chaos to keep you humble. But if you hate surprises, you might get cranky when a Deep One eats your crops. Next up: let’s peek at how Auztralia keeps things fresh each game, and just how lonely you’ll feel in solo mode!
Replayability and Going Solo: Why Auztralia Keeps Hitting the Table
If there’s one thing my gaming group and I agree on, it’s that Auztralia does not gather dust on the shelf. Each game feels fresh, even with the same bunch of folks. Why? Well, map setups change every time, the location of the Old Ones is a surprise, and those random event cards never fail to raise both eyebrows and blood pressure. One time, I thought I had everything under control. Then, a cosmic goat ate my railroad and I never recovered. But hey, we’re still laughing about it months later.
What really makes Auztralia a keeper, though, is its solo mode. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have three buddies ready to battle tentacle monsters and mine coal. The solo rules here don’t feel like a tacked-on afterthought. The game actually puts up a fight! The Old Ones have their own AI, which means you’re never just flipping cards and hoping for the best. I’ve lost to them more than I care to admit, but that’s why I keep coming back for one more round. It’s a puzzle that’s just hard enough to keep me on my toes.
So, do I recommend Auztralia? Yes, unless you’re allergic to sheep, trains, or the occasional existential dread from unstoppable monsters. It’s chock-full of replay value, and the solo mode is almost as fun as getting trounced by your friends. Give it a go, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the cosmic goats.
Conclusion
And that wraps up my review of Auztralia! This game mixes trains, sheep, and cosmic monsters in a way I never knew I needed. It has smart mechanics, tense player moments, and just enough chaos to make every round exciting. I’ve played this with both hardcore gamers and board game newbies, and everyone walked away grinning—even when somebody’s farm was suddenly overrun by giant tentacles.
Replayability is top-notch with new maps and strategies every time, and the solo mode is great for those nights your friends bail on you. While luck plays a small part, there’s plenty of room for smart planning and sneaky moves. If you want a board game that stands out, Auztralia is well worth your table time. Happy farming—or, you know, monster fighting!
