Welcome to... review

Mechanics: Roll and write

Game difficulty: easy

Game duration: 30 min

Number of players: 1-100

Best number of players: None

Subject matter

The game is about the fifties of the last century, when the population of the United States recovered after the war, the standard of living improved and many young families had nowhere to live, so new villages of private houses were intensively built, which is also a very profitable business. The task of the players is to create one village of such private houses each. The game has very successfully integrated mechanics that justify their theme. Points are awarded for logical things such as green streets, swimming pools or completed blocks of houses. Even the simple writing of numbers is justified as specifying house numbers. All in all a very thematic game which is not usually typical of such small and simple games. It has even been thought of that there is a place left in the game pages to name your home village.

Components

The game consists of two components - 100 paper playing fields and cards. The components are of good quality, the graphic design is both visually attractive and functionally thoughtful. The playing field is easy to read and intuitive to understand. It really has a fifties feel to it and looks simply charming. My only criticism is the playing fields, which come with 100 sheets. Theoretically enough for more than 20 4-5 player games, but a better option would probably be laminated sheets with markers. This can still be done when the playing fields become really scarce.

Mechanics

This isn't actually a roll and write game, as nothing is technically rolled, but each turn the players choose one of three combinations of two cards with the house number written on them and an improvement such as a fence, putting green or pool on the other. From the selected pair, players write the house number in one of the three rows of houses with one rule - the numbers must be in ascending order, while upgrades help to collect points in different ways, for example, making combinations of certain houses more valuable or completing different missions.

The gameplay choices are interesting but not overly complex. You often have to choose between a number and a more appropriate enhancement. It must be said that the most interesting moment is the second half of the game, when many of the free places have already been filled and there are cases when the optimal choice is no longer possible, but you have to adapt. I have to say that I find some choices better than others at the beginning of the game, which depends on the missions chosen each time. True, this does not make the game less strategic, but it leads to the fact that many people have the same optimal moves at the beginning of the game.

It should be noted that one of the biggest advantages of the game is its pace - in the game, everyone works in parallel 100% of the time, so there is no such thing as waiting time. The duration of the game will be identical for 2 and 10 players. Unfortunately, this also means that interaction between players is practically non-existent, each playing their own game and comparing results.

Multiplayer

The game offers a wide variety of different common missions that make each game a slightly different strategy, and the random nature of the gameplay makes each game a little different. The choices will be a little different each time. Also, the game is a bit addictive, there hasn't been a night where we've only played it once. I think the multiplayer is very good with it.

Rating

I love "Welcome To...", I think it's a great game for family or events. It is easy to take with you on a trip, the game supports unlimited players. The game choices are a bit too primitive for my taste and I would like more interaction between the players, but so far the game has been a big hit with everyone we've played with so I think considering the game is very cheap it's great a purchase that will get the most out of it. Rating 7 out of 10.

If you are interested in the game, write to Alexander - aleksandrs@brain-games.com

Board Game Geek rating: 7.7

Author: Kristaps Auzāns

Pictures from Board Game Geek