1500 – The New World Review

A light, card-driven game of conquest and control of resources and land in South America

I must start by stating how accessible this game is. One or two reads of the rulebook and you're set to go. 'Rule checking' is minimal thanks to a handy game sequence on the board itself. It's one of the least arduous games I've ever played. Any wargamer can easily spend 75% of your precious gaming time scouring through rulebooks - but not here! The game flows and you can rest easy knowing you're not missing any rules or sequences out.

What are the objectives?

1500 - The New World is score-based (old-school!). Such accomplishments as maintaining successful colonies, securing resource monopolies, controlling regions, and making your opponent's colonies 'struggle' award points at the end of each player turn. You meet these accomplishments by undertaking 'actions' to make your strategy come to fruition. Actions are card-driven, allowing you to...

remove your own colonies
build colonies
blockade colonies
repair struggling colonies
adjust Royal Support

This last one, Royal Support, determines how many cards you draw per turn. There's no immediate score granted but with the potential extra cards you'll get in future turns, it could be a worthwhile investment. You may however decide that you just want quick points to rack up your score, particularly when you're nearing the end of the game.

“How long does the average game last?”

There's only 6 turns and due to its fast-flowing nature and rule simplicity, expect to spend no more than an hour on each game.

“Does it run solo?”

The option for solo opens when you buy any of the five France, England, Spain, Netherlands, or Portugal expansion sets. You could play the base game solo with yourself but it's hardly what it was designed for as part of the fun is having your own secret strategy. So yeah, the base game alone is best with 2-6 players.

“How long is the rulebook?”

17 pages. The text is huge and there's a lot of images too so it's an easy read.

Summary

1500 - The New World is easy to learn, quick to play with an interesting theme.

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