Caverna

Caverna is a great boardgame for one to seven players. In the game you play dwarves with a cave home and each turn you take turns placing your dwarves on action spaces on the board. The results of the actions expand as the turns go on, which can include mining areas out, building farms, gathering resources and/or animals, furnishing your cave system, expanding your dwarf family, and adventuring. The dwarf family with the most gold at the end of the game wins.

Here is what the game area looks like after a solo game. It might seem that there is a lot going on, and there is at the end of the game, but like many games out there it is about choices. With limited selections for your two dwarf family tokens, you have to plan to feed your family and expand your options for long term success. As the game continues, your earlier choices lead you to certain paths for success. In games with more than one player, those choices may get taken away from you if they choose what you want to do before you select it. 

There is a cave and an outdoor section that you have to manage. You also get negative points at the end of the game for each space you have not used and also for animals you have not gotten. You do get bonus points for quantities of different species of animal and for certain room/outdoor space tiles selected.

The selections you can have during a game are always the same, so players can devise various strategies for synergy. However, as mentioned, that can be foiled by other players choosing selections before you do. Not to worry too much as the player tokens are removed after each turn.

The room tiles are also the same each game. The options seem staggering but should be selected to benefit from other choices you made earlier or are about to make.

This game has been played before and will be played again. Recommended.