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Uwe Rosenberg has dropped quilts and picked up pictures! Frames to be precise. Welcome to the world of Framework. And whilst his polyomino powerhouse is exclusively 2 player, Framework can be played solo!
You’ve Been Framed!
Framework is pure abstract strategy. You’re placing tiles down and the object is to complete 22 “tasks”. The box itself contains 120 tiles, 88 tokens (22 tokens per player) and a reserve board for solo play. Each tile shows nil, one, or more “tasks” and/or a number of coloured/patterned “frames”. The colours of those frames are brown, green, red, silver, and yellow, but they also have distinct patterns to assist CVD gamers.
To complete a task, you must link tiles showing the required number of matching coloured frame. And in a sneaky Uwe twist, the frames and the tasks on the tiles don’t necessarily match!
The tasks are categorised as follows:
- Place x number of y coloured frames adjacent to tiles connected to that task tile;
- Place x number of a combination of two coloured frames adjacent to tiles connected to the task tile – but note each colour must have one direct adjacent link to the task tile;
- Place x number of either y colour or z colour frames adjacent to the tiles connected to the task tile – but once you have chosen the colour, you have to stick to it; and
- Satisfy one task before you can work on achieving the second task
In regular solo mode, You will draw one tile out of the bag at a time and place it in your player space. Unlike MP mode, in placing, you are trying to complete all the tasks within a 5 x 5 grid. Why? Well, that’s because any tiles that fall outside that space will score negatively! You do have the option to store up to two tiles if you don’t want to place them immediately. But you can’t store tiles if both spaces are occupied. So saving has to be strategic. And if you want to up the ante in solo mode, you can limit game storage to 1 tile or even no tiles at all!
As soon as you place your 22nd task token, the game is over. And the closer you are to zero points by end game, the better you have done at Framework!
Final Thoughts
Solo Framework is a chilled experience. Picking one tile at a tile means you are at the behest of lady luck of the draw, of course. But being able to store tiles and delay placement adds a strategic side which mitigates the randomness of the order in which tiles come out. Sometimes it doesn’t work my way – I store tiles thinking there will be a better time to place them but then an even more meddlesome tile comes out and I have to place it!
I would say that the colours are quite muted. If you’re looking for a punchy, in-your-face, solo game that makes your eyes water with pace and a pretty palette, then you might be a little lukewarm on Framework. But I really enjoy it as a light, little-bit-thinky solo (and MP) game that calms me down and lets me accomplish something (sometimes!). If I was being nit-picky, think I’d prefer an end game scoring method that results in a positive. But scoring zero rather than tipping into the negative definitely feels like a win!
Having also played Sagani and Nova Luna solo, this Is another really enjoyable tile laying game in the series by the master that is Uwe Rosenberg.
