If you ever wanted to harvest sheep while fighting Cthulhu’s angry mates Down Under, you’re in luck—because this is my review of the wild ride that is auztralia. My mates and I spent weekends yelling over a table covered in meeples, coal cubes, and the occasional plastic tentacle. In this review, I’ll tell you what makes the game tick, which bits made us cackle, and where it stumbles like a kangaroo after too much moonshine. Grab your outback hat and let’s crack on!
How It Plays
Setting up
First, everyone grabs a player board, some little cubes (not the ones you find under your couch cushions), and a pile of starting resources. Lay out the big ol’ map of Australia (with a Z for extra flair), sprinkle those Cthulhu baddies around unseen, and pick out your starting port. Don’t forget to put the time track nearby — you’ll need it to panic properly later.
Gameplay
Take turns using actions like laying tracks, building farms, recruiting troops, or mining for gold. Every action costs time (which is tracked on the time track — shocking, I know). Once you get too close to the wrong side of the track, the Lovecraftian monsters wake up and start doing their own moves. Fight them, outsmart them, or just watch them trash your farms if you’re unlucky. You’ll need to manage your resources, plan ahead, and sometimes just hope a kangaroo blocks Cthulhu’s path (this has never happened, but I still hope).
Winning the game
The game ends when everyone runs out of time or gets trampled by monsters. Tally up your victory points from completed farms, leftover resources, and, if you’re lucky, some heroic monster defeats. Whoever has the most points gets to boast for at least a week. Unless you lost to the Old Ones. In that case, no one wins and you all agree to never mention it again.
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for AuZtralia.
The Time Track & Player Actions in Auztralia: Racing Against Your Own Doom
If you’ve ever messed up a roast because you lost track of time, you’ll understand the panic the Time Track in Auztralia brings. In this game, the Time Track is not just a fancy way to keep order; it’s a relentless ticking bomb that makes every action matter. Each thing you do—building farms, laying tracks, or even grabbing a quick coal shipment—costs you time. And if you dawdle, the board will punish you. I learned that the hard way while watching my friend Sam build a railway empire, only to get crushed by Horrors because he didn’t watch his time. Classic Sam.
Here’s what keeps the game spicy: the player whose marker is farthest back on the Time Track always goes next. So, you can squeeze in extra turns if you plan right (or if you hesitate and panic, which happened to me). Want to build three farms in a row? Go for it, but you’ll inch dangerously close to waking up those tentacled nightmares. Sometimes, you’ll need to take smaller, cheaper actions just to grab an extra go before the horrors wake up and ruin your day. It’s all about picking your moments. Rush too quick, or too slow, and Cthulhu will probably eat your sheep. Or worse—your victory points.
The action choices you get are solid but tight. You’re always trading time for progress. You want to do it all—mine, fight, build—but the Time Track says no. There’s something deliciously cruel about it, and it makes every plan feel important. Up next, let’s talk about those Cthulhu enemies… because no board game night is complete without a little cosmic horror ruining your best laid plans!
Facing the Old Ones: Battling Cthulhu Enemies in Auztralia
Alright, let’s talk about the real stars of Auztralia—the Cthulhu enemies. These squiggly, tentacled nightmares aren’t just background decoration. Oh no. They’re out on the map and they’re coming for your sheep, your coal, and probably your sanity. In my first game, I thought I was so clever, expanding my railway like a pro, when Boom! A giant Shoggoth pops up two spaces away. I nearly knocked my coffee over.
The way the Cthulhu enemies work is actually super cool. At first, they just sort of sit there looking menacing. But don’t get too comfy! Once a certain amount of time ticks by, the Old Ones start to wake up and take their own turns. It gets tense fast. Suddenly, you’re in a race against not just the other players, but the entire game. They move, attack, and mess up your best-laid plans. It keeps everyone on their toes—no time for napping unless you want your farm to be trampled by cultists.
Combat is its own bag of tricks. You have to spend actions and resources to fight, and it’s never a sure thing. Sometimes Lady Luck is on your side, and sometimes Cthulhu gives you a slap. But here’s the kicker—if the Old Ones win, you all lose. I love this weird semi-coop tension: Do you help others fight off monsters, or sneak off and build while everyone else wrestles Deep Ones? Every play group I tried this with had heated debates that felt way more fun than a normal eurogame.
Next, I’ll talk about resource management and how you can try (in vain, probably) to prepare for the chaos Cthulhu brings!
Resource Management and Strategic Choices in Auztralia
If you think running a sheep farm and fighting Cthulhu sound like totally different hobbies, Auztralia laughs at you. This game smashes those things together with classic euro-style resource management and surprisingly deep strategy. Every time I played with my friends, my brain felt like it was doing squats—and let me tell you, my brain usually skips leg day.
You start with a handful of coins, some tasty-looking cubes (not for eating, trust me), and a map full of untapped resources. Do you blow your cash early on fancy trains and armies? Or do you invest in farms so you can roll around in gold coins later? I tried both. In one game, my friend Chris bought so many farms that he basically became a sheep overlord. Meanwhile, I spent all my money hiring soldiers, and by the halfway mark, I was poorer than a church mouse. Learn from my mistakes, folks: balance your spending!
Mining, farming, building rails, and recruiting—every action eats up resources, and scarce resources mean tough choices. In Auztralia, your food and coal vanish faster than my interest in Monopoly, and there’s always this panic that you’ll run out at the worst time. Sometimes you’ll risk everything on a big reward, only to end up with Cthulhu eating your sheep. Some players can plan everything out, while others will totally wing it. Either way, the game rewards smart timing and adaptability. There’s no one way to win, but there’s about a thousand ways to look foolish. My group’s planners and wildcards both had their moments—and their disasters.
Hold tight, because next up, we’re comparing how Auztralia handles solo adventurers and competitive multiplayer. You won’t want to miss this showdown!
Solo vs Multiplayer: How Does Auztralia Stack Up?
Alright, I have a confession. I first tried Auztralia solo, thinking I’d outsmart the Cthulhu AI and save the Outback. Spoiler alert: it demolished me so fast my coffee got cold. After shaking off the defeat, I wrangled up some friends for multiplayer and let’s just say—things got spicy.
Solo mode in Auztralia is surprisingly solid. The automated Lovecraftian baddies use a deck to dictate their sinister moves, keeping you on your toes (and sometimes curled under the table in fear). The AI is smart enough to create real tension, but it never feels unfairly stacked against you. Every win feels earned, every defeat—well, personal. If you like a challenge, solo’s your game.
But multiplayer is where Auztralia gets wild. The game makes player actions visible on the time track, so you can try to predict your mates’ plans—and then mess them up. Table talk gets heated fast, especially when someone buys the last coal you need or leaves a Cthulhu sitting on your front porch. The balance feels tight, and nobody’s out until the final whistle. There’s little downtime, unless your friends argue about sheep. (True story.)
Both modes feel well-crafted, with no obvious way to break the game or coast to victory. There’s a bit of luck with card draws, but it rarely decides the game. If you love variety and a real challenge, I recommend Auztralia—just don’t blame me if your sheep go missing.
Conclusion
Alright, that’s my full review of auztralia. After wrestling Cthulhu, counting cows, and arguing with friends about the best way to blast a shoggoth, I can say this game is pretty darn clever. The time track keeps everyone on their toes, making sure Aunt Margaret doesn’t take a nap between turns. I love the mix of planning and oh-no moments when monsters wake up and stomp your crops. The resource crunch hurts, but in the “I’m having fun suffering” kind of way. Sure, luck can sometimes tip the scales (thanks for nothing, dice), but strategy usually wins out. Solo mode is tense, multiplayer is wild and chaotic, and both are worth a go. If you want a board game that mixes farming, trains, and tentacled nightmares, auztralia brings something fresh to the table. Not perfect, but it’s grown on me like a Lovecraftian fungus. Thanks for reading—and good luck out there, farmer!
